Second Session, 42nd Parliament

(2021) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Monday, April 26, 2021

Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 58

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Routine Business

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

Opioid crisis and multilingual Overdose Intervention app

M. Starchuk

Cancer awareness and Daffodil Month during COVID-19

R. Merrifield

COVID-19 response and resilience

J. Sims

Kootenay East community response to COVID-19

T. Shypitka

Health care services project by grade 7 students at St. Catherine’s Elementary School

A. Mercier

Friends of False Creek and water quality protection

E. Ross

Oral Questions

COVID-19 travel restrictions and enforcement

S. Bond

Hon. J. Horgan

COVID-19 travel restrictions and tourism accommodation reservations

T. Wat

Hon. R. Kahlon

COVID-19 response and use of rapid testing

A. Olsen

Hon. A. Dix

COVID-19 travel restrictions and enforcement

T. Stone

Hon. M. Farnworth

M. de Jong

Hon. J. Horgan

Addiction services in Interior Health Authority and status of Pathways Centre

T. Halford

Hon. S. Malcolmson

P. Milobar

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate

(continued)

D. Davies

Hon. A. Kang

S. Cadieux

Hon. B. Ralston

B. Banman

S. Chant

Committee of the Whole House

Bill 3 — Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2021 (continued)

G. Kyllo

Hon. H. Bains

Report and Third Reading of Bills

Bill 3 — Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2021

Budget Debate

(continued)

S. Chant

K. Kirkpatrick

MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2021

The House met at 1:35 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

OPIOID CRISIS AND MULTILINGUAL

OVERDOSE INTERVENTION

APP

M. Starchuk: Last year 1,724 individuals in British Columbia lost their lives

due to illicit drug overdose. This represents the highest number of

overdose-related deaths recorded in a 12-month period in B.C.’s history.

As a form­er firefighter, I have seen firsthand the pain and loss

of this crisis. Individuals are suffering, families are hurting, and the

impact on our communities is devastating.

Amongst those that we’ve lost to this crisis, racialized

communities have been disproportionately represented in terms of

overdose deaths. Racial disparities are deepened by the many systemic

barriers faced by marginalized communities in accessing the health care

and social support networks which are so essential in both harm

reduction and long-term recovery.

It’s clear that there are ways that we can all help save lives in

overdose emergencies. However, the sheer lack of resources available in

culturally relevant formats is a huge barrier. For this reason, I’m

introducing a grassroots initiative which was developed in my home

riding of Surrey-Cloverdale, the Overdose Intervention App. It’s a free,

multilingual tool that empowers individuals to identify the symptoms of

opioid-related overdose and call 911 directly through the app’s built-in

feature, and it provides instructions for emergency first aid and

delivery of naloxone.

Punjabi and simplified Chinese, with plans to add more. This app has

over 32,000 downloads in Metro Vancouver. The Overdose Intervention App

enlists the entire community in responding to this crisis, a vital step

in our collective response.

This afternoon my thoughts and deepest condolences are with the

friends and families of those who are no long­er with us.

Intervention is urgently required now more than ever. To address this

crisis, we need a diverse set of approaches and tools. Inclusive and

culturally relevant resources now exist. We must act swiftly, and we

must act now.

CANCER AWARENESS AND DAFFODIL MONTH

DURING

COVID-19

R. Merrifield: Every spring, as the world wakes up from winter, we watch as

daffodils fill our gardens with colour for the first time in months. A

sure sign of spring, of hope and of determination, these first flowers

have been a symbol for cancer awareness in Canada since the 1950s.

That’s when the Canadian Cancer Society held the first Daffodil Days to

raise money for cancer treatment and research.

Since then, the Canadian Cancer Society recognizes April as

Daffodil Month. This year the campaign has gone virtual, finding

innovative ways to fundraise and bring awareness to this cause in a

COVID-19 environment. The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that one in

two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. We have

all been impacted by this disease in some ways. For me, it’s my aunties,

my uncle, my best friend and my dad. All have battled cancer.

Cancer has not taken a break during the pandemic, so it’s vital

that the hard work of the society does not take a break either. In fact,

the changes in the way that hospitals and clinics have operated during

this pandemic have created new challenges for those diagnosed with and

getting treated for cancer. As the Cancer Society says in their

description of the daffodil campaign, this year they need our help more

than ever before.

I hope that every member of this House can take

part in this

year’s daffodil campaign in some way. Let’s join other Canadians and

together make a real difference for those affected by cancer.

COVID-19 RESPONSE AND RESILIENCE

J. Sims: Just over a year ago we started to understand that this COVID

pandemic was going to be a marathon, not a sprint. What happens as we

head towards the end of this marathon? We get tired. We can see the

finish line, but we haven’t crossed it yet. This is where we are

today.

[1:40 p.m.]

As we question whether we will ever go back to what we once knew

to be normal, it’s worth taking a step back to see how we can build on

what we have learned. It’s worth remembering that every challenge we

have in life, whether personal or collective, also provides the other

side, which is opportunities.

COVID has taught us that we are resilient. We all have strengths

that we took for granted and courage we didn’t know we had. It has

taught us that regardless of how challenging the times are, there is

core goodness and generosity in our society and that British Columbians

rise to the challenge. It has reminded us to be creative and flexible,

reinvented the way we play and encouraged us to explore our immediate

surroundings, encouraged us, and almost forced us, to eat home-cooked

meals. We have learned to make the most of what we have and appreciate

that we live in a beautiful province.

Perhaps the most important lesson we have learned is that even the

smallest act of gratitude can make a huge difference. So I remind each

and every one of us to reach out to all in our lives and all we come

across and say a thank-you for their resilience.

As today is cancer awareness week — I didn’t know I was going to

do this, but I am — I also want to do a huge shout-out to all the

survivors and to all who are battling this disease in this pandemic. My

daughter went through her surgery at seven o’clock this morning, and we

have our fingers and toes crossed. So a huge shout-out to all the health

care workers who are not only dealing with the COVID pandemic but with

cancer and so, so many other health issues.

I raise my hands in gratitude to each and every one of you. Thank

you.

KOOTENAY EAST COMMUNITY

RESPONSE TO

COVID-19

T. Shypitka: We all celebrate our front-line workers during this pandemic, but

there are also those private citizens and groups that have also upped

the ante in providing services and care for many of us suffering from

the angst that this health crisis has presented us. Most of these folks

and groups do this without financial gain or recognition. It is at this

time I would like to highlight just a few in Kootenay East that have

made our region a better place to be during these anomalous

times.

In Kootenay East, a group called the Elk Valley COVID Support

TEAM, created by the Mountainside Community Church, has successfully

coordinated about 200 volunteers between Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford to

bring together a coordinated approach to helping hundreds of

COVID-affected people in the Elk Valley, in just over a year of

operation.

Elkford, a city that’s celebrating its 50th anniversary this year,

is also celebrating this year’s Citizen of the Year, Christine Caville,

and her volunteer work in hand-sewing and donating over 2,700 masks to

fellow community members. Christine has also held two community

fundraisers to assist families that faced unexpected financial

hardships.

As a Rotarian, the Cranbrook and Fernie Rotary support Rotary

COVID Bingo, which was first started in April 2020 by Greg, Kristie and

Madison Ehman from the Gold­en Rotary Club. It was started to keep

people entertained during the stay-at-home provincial health

order.

This project has grown from a living room with a handful of people

to now including rotary clubs from Cranbrook, Creston, Rossland, Trail,

Waneta, Grand Forks, Nelson, Kimberley, Nakusp, Castlegar, Radium,

Invermere and Fernie. The money raised from COVID bingo goes to support

rotary community projects. There are more than 10,000 members now

playing Rotary COVID bingo, and it is now the biggest online bingo in

B.C. The progressive Bingo on Friday this week is over $100,000. Check

out the Rotary community online bingo Facebook page to win. Under the B,

wonderful.

I would like to thank all our Kootenay COVID heroes for making

Kootenay East the greatest place to live.

HEALTH CARE SERVICES PROJECT BY

GRADE 7 STUDENTS AT

ST. CATHERINE’S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

A. Mercier: Recently I had the honour to attend the grade 7 class at St.

Catherine’s Elementary School in Langley. Their teacher, Mr. Jason

Jones, had the students engaging in a project for understanding public

health services and had all of the students identify a public health

service in Langley where they felt that there was a gap in delivery. I’m

proud to report to this House that the kids are all right.

[1:45 p.m.]

I received over 27 letters from these students on all ranges of

issues on health care services in Langley, from blood services and guide

dogs to the need for more medical specialists, particularly an

identified need among the students for dermatologists, more imaging

services, hospice beds, chemotherapy and a new cancer centre.

Well, we had a great discussion about all of the good things that

have been happening in Langley to help resolve these issues, from the

new MRI suite at Langley Memorial Hospital that’s now running two

shifts, 16 hours a day, to provide imaging services to folks in Langley,

to the new hospital upgrades at Langley Memorial which are now

substantially complete, to the construction of a new hospice just below

the Langley Memorial campus and, of course, a new hospital in Cloverdale

with a cancer centre only five minutes away from Langley city

hall.

I think of particular interest to the students was the

no­tion that when they’re ready to begin their medical studies,

they can take the SkyTrain from Langley all the way to SFU in Surrey to

attend medical school. This was a room filled with the future leaders of

this province.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to their vice-principal and

teacher, Mr. Jason Jones. I’ll just say to Mr. Jones: a SkyTrain to

south Delta right now isn’t in the books, but we’re going to work on

fixing that Massey Tunnel problem.

FRIENDS OF FALSE CREEK AND

WATER QUALITY

PROTECTION

E. Ross: Quite recently I was invited to visit False Creek in Vancouver

and, more importantly, to meet the False Creek Friends, who are a

fledgling group that has deep con­cerns with the health of our

waters, whether it be creeks, groundwater or oceans. More importantly,

they want to do something about it, and they want to start in their own

backyards, specifically False Creek.

The issues they want to tackle are huge, overlapping in historical

nature, but their dream is achievable if we do it with a mindset of what

our world can look like in five, 20 or 100 years. Yes, there are

jurisdictional issues. Yes, there are problems with past treatment of

the original Indigenous Peoples. And of course, we have pollution

problems. But now, more than ever, this is the time to dream and,

somehow, turn these dreams into visions and, ultimately, some day a

reality.

I’ve been invited to help. I will help where I can, but the one

area that I’ve always been interested in, since 2004, is water quality —

specifically, sewage in amounts so great that Vancouverites couldn’t go

swimming in our waters because of E. coli levels, which, I’m glad to

say, Vancouver is starting to address. This is a worldwide problem as

our population grows. But there are very smart and keen people that have

been working to address this in a cost-effective manner using newer

technologies.

B.C.’ers and Canadians have been the leaders in trying to do

better in terms of the world around us. What I’ve noticed is we’re not a

country that rests on our laurels. Is the plan to clean up False Creek

going to be easy? No. Will it take time? Yep. But can we do it? Yes, if

we put aside our differences and focus on the goals. Is it worth it?

Definitely — for the world that we plan to leave to our descendants, and

they will thank us for it. In the meantime, the False Creek Friends are

off to a good start.

Oral Questions

COVID-19 TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

AND

ENFORCEMENT

S. Bond: Well, it’s been a week with the Premier taking zero accountability

for the confusion and anxiety that he caused with his botched rollout of

the travel restrictions in British Columbia. How bad was it? Well, it

was so bad that the key people responsible for implementing these orders

on the ground are still confused about how they will be enforced one

week after it was announced.

Rob Farrer, B.C. director of the National Police Federation, said:

“Well, there was sort of a quasi announcement about roadblocks and

audits and stopping the public and determining if they’re leaving their

health zone, and we’ve had a week of people trying to figure out exactly

what that means.”

The Premier has his opportunity today, because he has been MIA

since he made the announcement. Maybe he can stand up today and tell

British Columbians exactly what information a person is expected to

provide when they are stopped at a roadblock.

Hon. J. Horgan: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question.

I appreciate…. As we’re in the 14th month of a global pandemic,

when we’ve seen case counts rising in British Columbia, I would have

expected the official opposition to be supportive of the measures that

are being brought forward.

[1:50 p.m.]

I would have thought that being able to have a discussion and a

bit of runway so people can understand what’s expected of them…. The

Minister of Public Safety did that very clearly last week and will be

doing more as the week unfolds.

With respect to E division, for example, the head for the RCMP

here in British Columbia — fully supportive of making sure that they do

everything that they can to keep people safe, making sure that they do

everything they can to do so that does not make racialized communities

feel like they’ve been put upon.

We’ve gone as far as we possibly can to make sure people

understand that this is not to be punitive. This is to protect people.

This is saying, forcefully, with orders to back it up, that it’s time

for British Columbians to stay home. Four more weeks and we will have

achieved significant immunity through the immunization program so we can

have a safe summer. I know the Leader of the Opposition supports

that.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition on a

supplemental.

S. Bond: To be clear to the Premier, this isn’t about the mandate. It isn’t

about the opposition’s view of the merit of travel restrictions. This is

squarely about the Premier’s botched rollout a week ago. And let’s be

clear. Most British Columbians, including the opposition, would be happy

to have a definitive position, if they could figure out exactly what the

Premier was talking about. There is confusion across British

Columbia.

Let’s just remind the Premier what happened. Last Monday he stood

up, he messed up, and he disappeared. So let’s be clear. Here is what

the Premier said — his words, not mine. This is what he said: “This will

be conducted through random audits…roadside stops for… all travellers,

not just a few travellers. And again, they will be random.”

Once again, the Premier made an announcement, caus­ed mass

confusion and then disappeared. As Harsha Walia of the B.C. Civil

Liberties Association said….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members, let’s hear the question, please.

S. Bond: Let me repeat that. As Harsha Walia of the B.C. Civil Liberties

Association — not the B.C. Liberal opposition — said: “It is alarming

that we now have three public announcements in the span of one week

about increased police enforcement powers, but we still do not have the

details…and the public still has no answers about what precisely to

expect.”

The members opposite can laugh and giggle all they want. That is

what B.C. Civil Liberties are concerned a­bout. It is up to this

Premier to get on his feet today, and he should start with an apology to

British Columbians for the mess he created.

Let’s try it again. Could the Premier explicitly tell British

Columbians exactly what information will be required? Because no one has

been able to figure it out since his botched announcement.

Hon. J. Horgan: I always worry when the Leader of the Opposition gets so exercised

about what are pretty basic premises. On Monday, I said by the end of

the week, we would have orders in place to ensure that we were

restricting travel between health authorities. What did we do? By the

end of the week, the Minister of Public Safety stood up and told people

this is how we’re going to proceed. And he said at that time…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Let’s listen to the answer, please.

Hon. J. Horgan: He said at that time we will come forward with enforcement

measures next week.

Now, I appreciate that the B.C. Liberals want to rush to the end

of the mandate. But we want to slowly and methodically bring British

Columbians along. If the group on that side is so obtuse that they don’t

understand “more details coming on Friday….”

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. J. Horgan: When those views come forward on Friday, that’s not good enough

either. “We want to know now, now, now, now, now.” Hurry up and wait.

That’s the Leader of the Official Opposition, Mr. Speaker.

What we have been doing for the past 14 months is listening to

British Columbians. We’ve been listening to public health officials as

we lay out a plan to get all of us together through this. Now, I

appreciate that must be very vexing for those in a diminished size on

the other side of the Legislature. But we on this side are focusing on

people, making sure they’re safe, and we’ll never apologize for

that.

[1:55 p.m.]

COVID-19 TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AND

TOURISM ACCOMMODATION

RESERVATIONS

T. Wat: So here’s more mess and confusion from this Premier. A week ago

the Premier announced: “We have been working to reduce — in fact, to

eliminate — hotel and campground bookings from people outside of a

particular area.”

Tyson Solmonson, manager of Kilby Provincial Park in the Fraser

Health region, took the Premier at his word and cancelled dozens of

bookings of people in Vancouver. It turns out that he didn’t have to,

and he blames the Premier for the confusion: “It’s at the expense of the

public. They are bearing the biggest burden of this fiasco.”

Can the Premier explain exactly how the hotel and campground ban

he announced a week ago is supposed to work?

Hon. R. Kahlon: Thank you to the member for the question. I think we all should

congratulate that business owner that did the right thing by making sure

that the people that are coming to visit his business, his community,

are local — that they’re not travelling from out of the health zones

that have been announced, that they weren’t travelling from out of

province. That business owner should be applauded.

Today we announced $75 million, additional dollars, to support

businesses. Part of that is dollars that are available for hotels,

resorts — businesses that the member just mentioned — that are doing the

right thing, that are ensuring that people from outside their

jurisdiction don’t come. The dollars are available for them so that they

have the supports to offset some of the costs that they would have

incurred by that.

Again, we encourage more hotels to follow the lead of the business

that the member just mentioned. That’s what we’re going to need to do to

get through this pandemic.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Richmond North Centre on a supplemental.

T. Wat: I’m afraid the minister hasn’t really responded to the question. I

guess we need the Premier to respond to that.

On Friday, the Minister of Public Safety said: “The tourism sector

is cancelling reservations from out-of-area people. That’s taking

place.” The very next day Bryan Pilbeam of the B.C. Hotel Association

said: “Origin­ally, we were asked that we would be calling people

and cancelling their reservations. That’s not realistic. Not going to

happen.”

To the Premier, is there a booking ban or not?

Hon. R. Kahlon: I want to take this moment to thank the leaders in the tourism and

hospitality industry for stepping up to the plate, knowing that this was

a challenge, and listening to Dr. Henry when she said that reducing

travel, reducing contacts, is the best way to get through the pandemic.

We’re grateful for them to step up and say, “You know what? We’re going

to take proactive action” — to work with the Minister of Tourism, Arts

and Culture, to work with the Solicitor General to ensure that their

members are following the rules and, in many cases, as the member has

mentioned, cancelling all their bookings.

We know that comes with a financial impact. We respect that.

That’s why we announced the additional $25,000 — up to $20,000 for

hotels that have stepped up to take this action to keep our communities

safe. We want to thank them for their efforts. We want to encourage more

businesses to follow their lead.

COVID-19 RESPONSE AND

USE OF RAPID

TESTING

A. Olsen: British Columbia has a stockpile of 2.7 million rapid tests. Those

tests produce results in 30 minutes. Out of those tests, we’ve used

24,000. It’s less than 1 percent.

This period is critical as this third wave, with multiple variants

of concern spreading like wildfire around the province…. We’ve only used

1 percent of the rapid tests available to us.

My question is to the Minister of Health. Why has this government

not used 99 percent of the rapid tests at our disposal?

Hon. A. Dix: Thank you very much to the member for his question. Our policy

with respect to rapid testing has been determined by the public health

experts who we use to guide this policy. When we received rapid tests

originally from the federal government in November, we moved to have

them validated, because the federal government doesn’t have the ability

to do that. We did more than 40 pilot projects.

[2:00 p.m.]

Then we established a policy for their use on March 4. This policy

was determined by public health and determined by the recommendations of

the national committee, which had provided advice on how to use rapid

testing. Unlike other jurisdictions which had politicians setting

testing policy, here in British Columbia we followed the excellent

advice that was provided by Dr. Bonnie Henry and others in public health

as to when it is appropriate to do this testing.

We are using rapid tests more in British Columbia, and we will do

in the future. But the gold-standard test, the PCR test, the one that

we’ve used millions of in B.C. — that continues to guide policy, while

rapid testing, in many circumstances, can help support that

gold-standard testing.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Saanich North and the Islands on a

supplemental.

A. Olsen: Thank you to the minister for the response. We see the Prime

Minister standing, I think, in front of Canadians just a week and a half

ago or so, talking about the need to use rapid tests in Ontario. We have

the Prime Minister of this country extolling the benefits of rapid

tests. We see, in the United Kingdom, that they’re offering twice-weekly

rapid tests and that they have identified 120,000 COVID-19 cases through

the use of these rapid tests. In fact, the U.K. government is framing

the rapid tests as an essential element of their response to

COVID-​19 and the eventual complete reopening of their country and

of their economy.

We have 2.7 million rapid tests at our disposal. This government

is sitting on them. These tests have been arriving since October, as the

minister responded, according to our federal government. Yet only 13

percent of those tests have been distributed, and only 1 percent of

those tests have been used.

My question is again to the Minister of Health. What is his plan?

How and when will the remaining 2.7 million rapid tests be used as a

part of his government’s strategy for asymptomatic

infections?

Hon. A. Dix: There’s a lot to unpack there, but I would say this: that over the

past year, our policies with respect to specific issues such as testing

has been guided by public health. I appreciate the advice of the Prime

Minister, but I appreciate even more the advice of the epidemiologists

of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. I would further say that the

tests that the member refers to in the United Kingdom and the home-based

tests are not licensed in Canada as of yet.

Finally, I’d say this: rapid testing will play, and is playing, a

role. The member wants to know where the policy is. The policy was

delivered, provided to him, on March 4 of this year. It’s clearly on

public view. It’s been guided by public health direction, and I think

it’s the right approach.

COVID-19 TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

AND

ENFORCEMENT

T. Stone: Well, the Premier has still failed to explain the basic elements

of his travel ban, including random police roadblocks, that he announced

a week ago. British Columbians, frankly, have no idea what the Premier

was talking about. Neither do the police. Brian Sauvé, president of the

National Police Federation, says they are “opposed to this proposal” as

there is a “risk of public backlash, legal ambiguity and risk of

exposure and possible infection due to the continuing slow immunization

roll-out for police.”

My question to the Premier is this. What information does a person

need to provide at a roadblock, and will they be turned away if they

can’t prove that they are travelling for essential reasons?

Hon. M. Farnworth: I thank the member for the question. What was made clear on Friday

was that the details and further information would be coming out later

this week, in terms of what is going to be required. What I can tell you

is that we have been working very clearly….

Interjections.

Hon. M. Farnworth: Do you want the answer, or do you not want the answer? If

the….

Mr. Speaker: Members, let’s listen to the answer, please.

Hon. M. Farnworth: We have been working very close­ly with police agencies,

both municipal and RCMP at E division, on how the kind of enforcement

would take place, what would be required and the right approach to do

that. What we have made clear is that we want to get it done right. So

do the police. They’re acutely aware of all the issues. When that’s

done, then we will have an announcement. But what I can tell you, right

now, is that enforcement has already been taking place.

[2:05 p.m.]

We have seen how it works this weekend, for example, with the

ferries. Police were in attendance when required, and it went quite

smoothly. There were a number of people turned back. What’s also been

clear is that this isn’t all over the place. This is about key

checkpoints, in particular in the Hope area, where the No. 1 — as the

member quite rightly knows; I know he’s driven it many times — diverges

into the canyon, the Coquihalla and the Hope-Princeton. That’s where you

would put a place. We’re working with the police, and the details will

be coming out later.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Kamloops–South Thompson on a

supplemental.

T. Stone: Well, I appreciate the highways geography lesson from the

Solicitor General, but the fact of the matter is this: the Premier made

this announcement a week ago. A week ago, he said that there were going

to be roadblocks. The Solicitor General then stood in this House last

Thurs­day and said: “Just wait. Just wait. The details are coming

tomorrow.”

The Solicitor General then holds his press conference last Friday,

and the reality is that we still don’t have all the details — simple

things like: if a ticket is issued, are drivers required to immediately

turn around and go back home? We’re told that that question has been

asked. We’re told that we have to wait more time this week to get an

answer. What grounds would initiate a police officer to pull over a

vehicle? That’s a pretty simple, basic question. We’ve asked it. We’re

being told that we’ve got to wait as more work is done on

this.

British Columbians are rightfully confused, and they’re rightfully

frustrated. Again, this speaks to a pattern of the Premier going out and

announcing stuff and then others having to try and come in and make

sense of it for British Columbians.

Ralph Kaisers, the president of the B.C. police association, said

this: “It puts police in a very tough position.” I say that because

again…. “We’re not supposed to be doing random and arbitrary stops,”

police checks, but now the government is “wanting us to do

it.”

Again to the Premier, can the Premier tell British Columbians why

he just blurted out a half-baked idea without first consulting the

police?

Hon. M. Farnworth: I appreciate the member’s question, and I’m glad that he doesn’t

need a geography lesson. I just hope that this weekend he doesn’t need a

speeding reminder. Now, having said that, look, I appreciate the

member’s question. We have been really clear. This is not about

arbitrary or random stops. What it is about…. The Premier also made it

clear.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members, come to order. Members.

The minister will continue.

Hon. M. Farnworth: It's similar to the CounterAttack program, which is infrequent and

periodic — or if you want to say the word, random — but the point is, we

all know how it works. The police know how it works. We also want to

make sure it’s done right. What has been made very clear, right from the

beginning, is that, on the announcements, the Premier said that details

would be coming. I also said what the announcement is, and I explained

that there would be details on the enforcement side coming out later

this week. That’s exactly what’s going to happen.

We have been working very closely with the police on this, the

people who make the operational decisions. I’ll remind the member: it’s

not the Solicitor General that directs the operations of the police; it

is the police. They want to make sure that we’re going to do it right.

We want to make sure that it’s going to be done right. That’s exactly

what we’re doing.

I would put it this way: the only confusion is not the public of

British Columbia; it’s on that side of the House.

M. de Jong: The only thing becoming clear, I’m afraid, is the reputation that

the Premier is acquiring — steadily acquiring — for causing

confusion.

Look, on Monday, he said this three times. Road checks, he said,

will be random. “In my mind,” he said, “it’s random.” We’re going to be

randomly checking. Then, just a few days later, on Friday, the Solicitor

General, the Minister for Public Safety, steps forward and says: “Well,

they’re not roadblocks. They’re not road checks, and they’re not

random.”

The question people want an answer to, because it has become a

recurring trend, is: why did the Premier cause mass confusion, in the

middle of a pandemic, by announcing something when, apparently, he

didn’t have a clue what he was talking about?

[2:10 p.m.]

Hon. J. Horgan: It’s good. I guess I got the member be­tween his testimony

to have the question today.

It is clear….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Interjections.

[Mr. Speaker rose.]

Mr. Speaker: Members will come to order now.

[Mr. Speaker resumed his seat.]

Hon. J. Horgan: It is clear that there’s a pattern emerging in the questions

brought forward by the official opposition. Heap scorn and invective

upon me and avoid the whole point, which is to protect British

Columbians in the middle of a global pandemic.

Now, I want not just the member from Abbotsford West but all

members of the Legislature…. I’m quite happy to have you heap your scorn

and your ridicule upon me, but let’s be clear about one thing. That is

that the whole objective, from the beginning of this global pandemic,

was to protect people, businesses and communities. That’s what we’re

doing. If you want to make political points punching me in the nose,

fill your boots.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Abbotsford West has a supplemental.

M. de Jong: I’m thrilled to know that the Premier wasn’t offended that I ceded

way at the commission so his Attorney General could give testimony as

well.

Look, police don’t seem to know what the Premier was talking about

last Monday. Health officials didn’t seem to know what the Premier was

talking about when he made his announcement last Monday. But most

importantly, British Columbians didn’t know what the Premier was talking

about when he made his announcement.

We are in the third wave of a pandemic. Lives are at stake, and

people’s individual freedoms are being curtailed. People need

information that is accurate and information that is precise. If the

Premier can’t provide information that is accurate and precise, will he

make this promise today, and that is: to stay silent and let people talk

who know what they’re talking about?

Hon. J. Horgan: “I demand you stand up and give me an answer. I demand you sit

down and not give any answers.” I think that that summarizes the B.C.

Liberal opposition. “We demand to know something. We’re not sure what it

is, but we want to know it right now. Unless we don’t like what we hear,

and then we want you to sit down.”

We have been talking about movement of people and physical

distancing for 14 months in this province and across this country. I

appeal to Premiers across the country to say to the citizens: “Please

stay home.” We’ve been talking to British Columbians about staying close

to their neighbourhoods and staying within their bubble for months and

months and months. The only people that are resisting this good advice

from public health officials are the official opposition.

Mr. Speaker: Before I recognize the next member, I just noticed that people who

are participating virtually are also trying to show some signs, which

are not allowed. Be careful. If members have any issue or point of

order, they can indicate and tell us, then we will deal with

it.

ADDICTION SERVICES IN

INTERIOR HEALTH AUTHORITY

AND STATUS OF PATHWAYS CENTRE

T. Halford: Well, I think the Premier needs to answer for this. When the

government defunded Pathways recovery centre, the Premier and his

minister tried to deflect the blame: “It wasn’t our call. Entirely a

decision of Interior Health.” In fact, the minister said the following.

The Interior Health Authority assures us that “when the existing

con­tract with Pathways ends on May 31, there will be no

disruption in service for people that are reliant on it.”

Well here’s a problem. The Interior Health Authority says that

recovery won’t be coming to Penticton. In fact, what we get from a

senior member of Interior Health is the following: “Residential

treatment is not effective.” And: “This is not what first-line treatment

will look like in Penticton.”

Can the Premier tell us why this government is defunding recovery

beds in Penticton?

[2:15 p.m.]

Hon. S. Malcolmson: The most unfortunate part of that question is that it spreads

misinformation. First of all, Pathways did not operate any recovery beds

in Penticton. Secondly, Interior Health has stood up, just in the last

two months, 20 Interior Health youth treatment beds, part of our

doubling of youth treatment across British Columbia, and has stood up 27

new adult beds just in the last two months, funded by the province and

implemented by Interior Health.

Harm reduction is a focus of our government. But absolutely —

building more treatment beds. That’s a belief of our government. That’s

a belief of Interior Health. If we didn’t believe that treatment beds

would help with addictions treatment and the overdose crisis, we

wouldn’t have just committed another $330 million to overdose response

and addiction recovery, and we wouldn’t have just an­nounced an

additional 195 treatment beds for British Columbia.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Surrey–White Rock on a supplemental.

T. Halford: Here’s the fact. It’s that this government has closed recovery

beds. You’ve closed them in Penticton, and you’ve closed them in

Vancouver, and you’ve closed them in Pathways.

Interjection.

T. Halford: Do you want to listen for it?

Mr. Speaker: Members.

T. Halford: We’re talking about overdoses. We’re talking about

recovery.

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: The member has the floor.

Continue, please.

T. Halford: I heard the minister’s remarks. But what she didn’t address is the

remarks from the Interior Health Authority. “Residential treatment is

not effective.” That is from a senior official of Interior. They’re

saying residential treatment is not effective.

My question is to the Premier. Does this rhetoric match why we are

actually closing recovery beds?

Hon. S. Malcolmson: This government and Interior Health are opening treatment and

recovery beds. We’ve opened them already: 27 adult, 20 youth, just in

the last couple of months. Just last week, as part of our historic

half-a-billion-dollar investment in mental health and addiction

services, we announced another almost 200 treatment beds, which is part

of our half-a-billion-dollar commitment to furthering the continuum of

care that people need both for mental health and addictions.

The official that the opposition member cites — quotes from

Interior Health — was talking about the continuum of care and has said

persuasively to the newspaper that her comments were quoted out of

context. She assures the media reporter that she absolutely believes

that recovery beds and treatment facilities are one of the vital parts

of addictions treatment and support.

The

article has been updated. I am reaffirmed by Interior Health

and by this employee, in particular, that they agree with the province

and with addictions specialists across B.C. — that we need to invest

across full continuum of care, and treatment and recovery beds are an

important part of that.

P. Milobar: Well, the confusion lies when the minister stands in this House

and says: “Hands off. It’s all Interior Health Authority’s. The Interior

Health Authority is in charge of this. I’m just the minister.” Just the

minister. A minister whose budget has stayed static this year, while the

Premier’s budget, for his office, has gone up by 30 percent. But just

the minister, nonetheless.

So the problem arises when we have Interior Health senior

officials saying one thing about recovery and treatment beds and not

correcting and not seeing anything from this government until today

correcting that. When we look at Pathways in Penticton being defunded by

this government, for around a half-a-million dollars. Well, I guess they

couldn’t even have paid for the toilet in Vancouver for that

half-a-million dollars.

The residents of Penticton are rightfully concerned a­bout

the services they’re going to see provided in their community. They hear

the minister saying one thing and the heads of the health authority, of

which she has deflected things to, say something totally different. We’d

like some confirmation.

Again, to the Premier: does the Premier support that position

around treatment beds in Penticton? Or will Penticton actually see no

loss whatsoever of services in their community?

[2:20 p.m.]

Hon. S. Malcolmson: As I have said in the House many times, Interior Health has

assured me that there will be no loss of care as a result of Interior

Health choosing not to renew the contract of Pathways.

As I’ve said before in the House, Interior Health assures me that

this is part…. Bringing services in-house and inside the primary care

system is intended to broaden the range of supports and broaden the

regional reach of supports. They say it’s better for patient care, when

they’re accessing mental health and addiction supports. That’s what it

is that we’re working towards as a province, building that continuum of

care and having people be able to access mental health and addiction

support on a level that’s equal to physical care.

An example is all the urgent primary care centres that our

government has opened across the province, where people can get

seven-day-a-week immediate access to mental health and addiction

support. In March, in Interior Health,we funded 20 new residential

treatment and recovery beds for youth. We have publicly funded 27 adult

treatment and recovery beds in Interior Health.

Interior Health is innovating, in particular, with integrated

treatment teams — nowhere else in the province is doing this yet — where

workers go out and meet individuals where they’re at, where they can

receive addiction treatment and recovery treatment where they’re at,

where, in the past, they might not have been able to access it. Interior

Health and the addictions team are innovating, and we’re proud to work

with them.

[End of question period.]

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued debate on the budget.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

D. Davies: I take pleasure, again, to continue my debate on Budget 2021. Of

course, I made it roughly halfway through my remarks last time.

Just a little bit of a recap. I was just actually starting to get into

the nuts and bolts of this budget. I briefly talked about the lack of

support for farmers and businesses, lack of support in the resource sector,

you know, which are really a direct attack on the livelihoods of the

residents of Peace River North, the residents that I represent.

I touched base, as well, on the grant program. Just a little over a

fraction of the $340 million that was put towards supporting businesses that

were in dire needs has barely been put out the door — in fact, now is

looking for another year to move that forward.

Just recently, of course, the government has put a ban in place on

in-restaurant dining. No new money, no new supports for the restaurant

industry that has already been brought to its knees across our province.

This business grant program has so many barriers in place that make it

nearly impossible. I can’t remember if I mentioned them last time. I’m

actually dealing with two restaurants in my home community of Fort St. John

that are struggling to get access to this grant.

I think I had also touched briefly on…. We hear the government often

bragging about job creation. We know that there have been upwards of 60,000

public sector jobs created, but where has the protection been for the 45,000

private sector jobs? Where’s the protection for those?

[2:25 p.m.]

Where’s the program? Where’s the plan to build these jobs? We’re not

complaining about public sector jobs. We realize that we need many of them,

but British Columbians also want to know where these jobs are. Is it

increasing the bureaucracy? Is it increasing red tape? We understand, and I

think we all agree, that we need social workers. We need teachers. We need

doctors. I think that is the big worry around this massive increase of

public sector jobs.

Forestry is another issue, something that’s very important to my

riding, at a time when we not only need to be promoting our forest sector,

but we need to be looking at ways to do it better. I think that there is a

direction toward that.

The government only lightly alluded to promoting and looking at doing

forestry differently. But they’ve been cut $41 million this year, and nearly

the same amount next year, which, again, does not make sense at a time

when…. This is one of the founding resource sectors of our pro­vince

and one of the major resources of our province. There’s a cut in the budget

at a time when the government is talking about how we can do things better,

how we can promote value-added, how we can, again, promote private sector

jobs, which are extremely important.

Our communities need help — our communities across the province.

Forestry impacts not only rural commun­ities. It has a massive impact

on our urban communities as well.

In fact, another thing tied in, speaking briefly of rural communities,

that’s not in here…. The rural dividend fund has not been brought back.

Again, something that…. Ma­ny rural communities that have been

devastated by the downturn in forestry need this support, and it is not in

the budget.

Unfortunately, instead of these big ideas and this excitement and

vision that British Columbians are looking forward, all we’ve got is

enormous debt for the next decade. Enormous deficits for the next decade,

with, overall, few supports. Enormous deficits that all of us are going to

have to pay, as well as future generations.

When we see a budget ballooning…. Let’s be honest. This happened

pre-COVID as well. We saw the budget ballooning. In fact, it started in

2017. Let’s see what happened in 2017. Oh, an election. A new government

happened in 2017. We now look at these massive deficits with no end in

sight. We cannot tax our way out of this, but this government is trying.

It’s hurting British Columbians. In fact, by the time this government is

finished, there will be an additional $10,000 per person of additional debt

in British Columbia. That’s going to be owed by, again, not only us — not

even my kids, probably not even my great-grandkids. That’s looking at just

what it looks like today.

Affordability. I just don’t understand that buzzword that comes from

government, because everything in this bud­get is quite the opposite.

Vancouver is now the most un­affordable housing market in the world,

and only increasing. We see this in other urban areas across our

province.

[2:30 p.m.]

Affordability — 23 new taxes and fees that have been levied by this

government. Affordability — the new Netflix and soda tax. Well played,

government, at a time when everyone is promoting that you stay home, you

watch Netflix, and you avoid your interactions with people. I, like most

others, do watch streaming devices. I have my fa­vourite shows on

Netflix and Crave. I drink my soda water, Bubly. I don’t know if that’s an

endorsement or not. It’s not meant to be an endorsement, but I like Bubly.

There’s tax on that soda water now. There’s tax on this Netflix at a time

when government is telling people to stay home.

Affordability? Affordability. Air tax. Applying a speculation and

vacancy tax to the air above businesses — talk about a gut punch to small

businesses, a punch in the guts for our non-profit groups, our arts groups

that are already struggling. Many of them have already collapsed,

unfortunately. They’ve shut down. Yet this government continues to throw

sandbags on people’s shoulders, pushing them down. Affordability.

Hmm.

Another thing that was mentioned in this budget was the community

benefits agreement. These community be­nefits agreements that we’ve

seen over the past little while are creating project delays. They are

increasing, and we’ve seen this. This isn’t just us saying this. We’ve seen

costs skyrocket. We’ve seen the scope of projects being reduced because of

these community benefits agreements.

The Illecillewaet four-laning project is just one example — a 143

percent increase in its overall budget. This is just one project. Someone

has to pay for these overruns. Combine that with everything else. There is

zero affordability in this budget. In fact, there is zero affordability for

the foreseeable future.

This is just the start, I’m afraid. The worst part about this — if

there is a worst part; I guess there is a worst part — is 85 percent of B.C.

construction workers are being told that they can’t work on these projects

because they are not part of one of B.C.’s handpicked unions — completely

discriminated by this government.

Just a little piece out of the Journal of Commerce where they

talk about…. And this is not new information. We know that we are going to

need a significant increase of tradespeople across our province. Sixty

thousand more are going to be needed by 2030.

I want to bring forward a little piece the member from Chilliwack had

mentioned last week, if you recall that. The community benefits agreement is

going to be the solve-all, the fix-all, the be-all and end-all to get people

into trades. Well, that’s not true. That is not true. In fact, today more

than 85 percent of the men and women working in construction, including 82

percent of trades apprentices, are learning their craft in open-shop

construction companies. I’m not sure where the member from Chilliwack got

his information — or other members, for that matter.

This is not helping families. This is not helping British Columbians.

This is not helping businesses. This is not helping build British Columbia

forward to a better future following this pandemic. We are all going to

continue to pay the price of this NDP incompetence,

unfortunately.

[2:35 p.m.]

Our party had put forward a plan calling for a private sector jobs

plan, a plan for women, a plan for youth. These are missing in action on

this budget.

Infrastructure, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, is also severely

lacking again in my riding — the rural resource roads, a four-laning program

for the Alaska Highway. I do want to recognize the former Minister of

Transportation for the help that they did in getting an additional washroom

and pullout between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, but we need a lot more.

There are ten hours of highway north of Fort Nelson without cell service,

without, really, a formalized pullout. We need to make sure that we are

looking at improving those and getting some cell service, or even some

little hotspot areas, north of Fort Nelson on the highway.

Since I was first elected in 2017, I’ve been fiercely advocating for

the replacement of the Taylor Bridge. In fact, I’ll read a little piece.

This was one of the very first letters I ever wrote as an MLA in 2017, to

the then minister, Claire Trevena. The letter is basically saying: “We are

in critical need of a new bridge.” I’ll just read this. “On the inspection

report, the Taylor Bridge was given an urgency rating of 4 out of 5. While

the highest score could indicate that the bridge is a danger to life and

limb, a 4, which is our bridge, alerts to the dire issues that would arise

should a span be closed.” This was written four years ago. We need the

Taylor Bridge in the budget.

In a pandemic budget, again, I was absolutely shocked to see cuts to

education, cuts to school district budgets. As the former Education critic

myself, I had the chance to talk to many school districts across the

province, and I commend school districts, trustees and teachers for working

within the tight confines of the moneys that they receive from this

provincial government. But this was a blow, again, to them during the

pandemic to see this cut.

In fact, interestingly enough…. This is just one news report from

schools here in Victoria protesting this government’s cuts. School districts

are having to make the choice: are they cutting band programs? Are they

cutting sports? What are they cutting? Maybe the Minister of Education needs

to reach out and tell these school districts what programs they need to cut

because of this government’s cuts to education. Unbelievable from a

government, a party, which has always talked about this. Yet, in the middle

of a pandemic, they cut education.

Homeless numbers are up. We’ve seen that. In fact, this was actually….

Homeless numbers were up before the pandemic. This is the Ministry of Social

Development and Poverty Reduction issue note from 2020, just before

every­thing started: “Preliminary results from the 2020 homeless

counts conducted just prior to COVID-19 public health measures showed a

provincial increase of 10 percent from previous counts.” There is very

little in here to really be supporting and getting people into housing and

the supports that they need.

I see my time is quickly ticking away, so I guess a bit of a

summary.

On affordability, which is kind of funny…. There’s no renter’s rebate that

was promised. And 23 new taxes and fees. No $10-a-day child care. The $300

clawback from persons with disabilities has still not been returned. Failed

to address rental housing costs and supply.

Affordability. This budget is anything but affordable to British

Columbians. Rather than take ownership of these failures inherent to British

Columbians, this government has blamed everything on everyone but

themselves.

To the government: people are worried about their health. People are

worried about their economic well-being. This government continues to fail

to put forward a plan. We need a plan. We need those supports. The future of

British Columbia depends on it.

[2:40 p.m.]

Deputy Speaker: Recognizing the Minister of Advan­ced Education and Skills

Training on her birthday.

Happy birthday, Minister.

Hon. A. Kang: Thank you so much, hon. Speaker.

I am grateful to be here on the traditional territory of the Musqueam,

Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people, and I thank them for the ability to

gather and work on their land.

I am honoured to rise today to speak on and support Budget 2021. Last

year was extraordinarily difficult as each of us learned how to cope with

the new reality of COVID-19. I am proud to be part of a government that

continues to work tirelessly to support British Columbians through the

global pandemic. Budget 2021 is about making life better for all British

Columbians. It includes funding for more health-related education programs,

economic recovery initiatives and post-secondary capital projects, and it is

my privilege to talk and speak in support of Budget 2021.

I’m going to begin by talking about housing. Burnaby–Deer Lake is a

beautiful community that over 60,000 people call home. I know that times are

tough right now and that many families, seniors, young adults and

individuals are struggling to afford rent. As the MLA for Burnaby–Deer Lake,

constituents often share with me sad stories that they are about to become

evicted because they cannot bear the high rents in addition to their daily

living expenses.

I am so glad to know that in Budget 2021, our government is working

with B.C. Housing to provide $11 million of capital funding through the

supportive housing program, adding 43 units to the property at 3986 Norland

Avenue. This is a direct response to combatting the growing risks of

homelessness in the area.

I know that many of my constituents are also members of B.C. Housing,

and with this valuable and important investment, it will provide many

families a safe and affordable place that they can call home.

Since 2017, we have made historic investments in education and towards

the health and safety of elementary and high school students in Burnaby. At

University Highlands Elementary, a school that is located in my colleague’s

riding at Burnaby-Lougheed, our government invested $6 million in expanding

eight classrooms to offer 195 more student spaces. This means that more

students were enrolled in this school and benefited from these new

infrastructures to enhance learning experiences.

We also implemented new seismic upgrades in Burnaby North Secondary

School, which included their neighbourhood learning centre space for child

care and language development program spaces. We also invested in seismic

upgrades at Seaforth Elementary, at Parkcrest Elementary and École Armstrong

Elementary.

Today our government continues to put education and the health and

safety of our students as a top priority. With this new budget, Budget 2021,

we will also be investing in a seismic replacement for Stride Avenue

elementary school.

As a longtime resident of Burnaby, I am so proud of Burnaby Hospital

and all its staff, the leadership team and especially their service of care

during the many months of this unprecedented pandemic. I am also proud that

my two kids were born in Burnaby Hospital. The level of service that I

received in the maternity ward was excellent, and I am forever grateful for

the team, the state-of-the-art patient care that helped deliver my

babies.

Our government has made record investments in modernizing, upgrading

and implementing safe infrastructures throughout B.C.’s hospitals, and

Burnaby Hospital is one of them. Our government has successfully completed

the emergency department and community health services renovation at Burnaby

Hospital, which includes a new mental health and substance use department

and community health service area. We continue to develop the phase 1

upgrade of the hospital so patients can receive the best and the most

efficient care possible.

[2:45 p.m.]

I have been living in Burnaby since 1986. That was a time even before

the SkyTrain was built here. I have seen this community develop from a quiet

city to a vibrant and stimulating city. Burnaby now has four city centres,

each with its own unique neighbourhoods, SkyTrain and transportation hub.

The community around Brentwood city centre is the riding of my colleague in

Burnaby North, and it is becoming an exciting new central location with new

mixed-use towers, malls and new amenities. Burnaby residents can look

forward to increased station capacity, escalator upgrades and improved

ridership.

I am so excited to see investments such as these made to Burnaby to

modernize and improve the safety of our public infrastructures. This

supports the concept of safe and walkable neighbourhoods with convenient

access to public transit.

As MLA for Burnaby–Deer Lake, I am incredibly proud to serve my

constituents. The livability and the strong sense of community in Burnaby

are a result of many great investments that our government has put in place

to build a stronger and better city.

In my role as Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training, I am

so excited for the work that is ahead of us during this mandate. For 16

years, the B.C. Liberals had the chance to make life easier for students,

but they chose to do nothing while B.C. students struggled with the highest

student loan interest rate in Canada. All the while, the cost of tuition

tripled.

As a mother, as a former elementary school teacher and a lifelong

learner, empowering people through education is a value I hold close and

dear to my heart. That is why I will be doing things differently. I will be

working diligently with my colleagues to make post-secondary education more

affordable and accessible. The opposition would undo our progress and make

life more expensive for students. Our government will be doing things

differently.

In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, our government responded

quickly to the needs of post-secondary students — financial needs — and

introduced the B.C. access grant. The B.C. access grant is the first new

provincial post-secondary grant in 15 years. It provided up to $4,000 per

year, upfront support, so that students can focus on their studies rather

than worry about paying their bills. This doubled the number of students

supported by previous grant programs to more than 40,000 students

annually.

Now our government is working to expand eligibility so that even more

students are able to access the high-quality education that our province has

to offer. While some students pursue a degree or certificate, many students

are choosing a career in trades. Moreover, many of the workers in our

communities are tradespeople. These are our restaurant cooks, electricians,

painters, carpenters, beauticians, hair stylists, builders, automobile

mechanics and so many more. They are essential to our B.C.

economy.

In fact — a little-known fact — my mom was a certified esthetician,

and my aunt is a certified hair stylist. She is the only hair stylist that I

will allow to cut my hair, style it, colour it. Ever since I can remember,

and even until this day, my aunt is my only hair stylist.

Before my family immigrated to Canada, my parents knew life would be

hard in a new country. My dad immigrated our whole family to B.C. because he

was a theology student at the Vancouver School of Theology. So, before we

left Taiwan, my mom studied to become a certified esthetician to ensure that

her skills would be recognized and valued, that she would be able to find a

job and support our family in a new country. With their certifications, both

my aunt and my mom started a small business in Vancouver, which my aunt

still has today.

[2:50 p.m.]

In 2003, the old government, the B.C. Liberals under Gordon Campbell,

made a choice to eliminate the compulsory trade system, with no thought to

the long-term impacts on our trade system in the province. Since then, B.C.

was the only province without compulsory trade, and that is wrong. That

devalues skilled trades.

Our government will be righting the wrong. We are going to be putting

value back into the trades. Together with my good friend the Parliamentary

Secretary for Skills Training and with my colleague the Minister of Labour

we will be working to restore the compulsory trade system to add value back

into our trades jobs.

The previous government imposed tuition for adult basic education and

upgrading their skills. Our government made this free again. Furthermore, we

expanded a tuition waiver program to all public post-secondary institutions

for former kids in care under the age of 26.

Right now we are working to expand this to all former kids in care,

regardless of age, because education is a life­long journey. Sometimes

this journey for former kids in care takes a bit more time and has many more

detours. Expanding this program is a step towards breaking down barriers and

ensuring that education is accessible and affordable for all. I am so proud

of the team I have in my ministry. My ministry is working hard to deliver

the results that make a difference in people’s lives.

Our post-secondary education system serves over 500,000 students in

every corner of the province. Students are our future scientists, trades

workers, leaders, caregivers, creators and innovators, who will find the

21st-century solutions our province needs to rebuild and thrive. After years

of neglect by the old government, our government, since 2017, has worked

hard to increase access to education so businesses, industry sectors and

service sectors throughout the province can meet the demands of the future

for highly skilled workers.

Health care. Next, I want to talk about health care. All of us, at one

time or another, need to call upon our health care, whether it is to welcome

a new baby into the world; have a routine health checkup; or address

emerging issues, chronic issues, aging issues and, of course, those

unexpected issues. As a benefactor of B.C.’s high-quality health care

system, I am graciously thankful.

Health care is one of B.C.’s fastest-growing fields of employment and

is an important part of a strong and resilient economy. Our government is

making meaningful and impactful investments in our health care system by

training more front-line workers to provide people the care they need, when

and where they need it. Since 2017, our government has provided steady,

ongoing annual funding for health education programs to public

post-secondary institutions across B.C. and also pro­vided one-time

additional investments to respond directly to health workforce

demands.

I would like to highlight some examples of recent funding for health

care education, which includes: new sonography programs at College of New

Caledonia and Camo­sun College; an expansion of the nurse practitioner

program at UBC, the University of Victoria and the University of Northern

British Columbia; 311 additional specialty nursing seats at the British

Columbia Institute of Technology, BCIT; a new northwest nursing program in

Fort St. John; physiotherapy program expansion and distribution to Prince

George; and occupational therapy expansion. Budget 2021 builds on this

health education program growth with major new investments in nursing,

allied health and targeted physician training programs.

[2:55 p.m.]

My ministry will be working closely with post-secondary institutions,

the Ministry of Health and other partners in the coming months to finalize

the details of where these expansions and new programs can make the most

difference. Budget 2021 commits more than $65 million over three years to

fund these key training investments for the health sector. Programming,

training, re-skilling and up-skilling are just some of the ways our

government is investing in and enhancing B.C.’s health care.

We are also making significant and necessary capital investments,

which means that there will be more seats in nursing programs,

rehabilitative therapy programs, medical laboratory science programs, the

midwifery program and the list goes on. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “It is

health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” B.C. puts the

health and safety of all British Columbians first. We will benefit for

decades to come from the investment that is being made now to open up more

training spaces for people who will be our future health

professionals.

Technology has been able to connect our communities when we have been

physically apart during this pandemic. B.C. is a leader in technology.

Investing in technology and tech seats each year, we are supporting the

important developments in our province. In 2018, our government announced an

additional 2,900 technology-related spaces that will produce 1,000

additional tech graduates by the year 2023. The B.C. NDP government plans to

increase investments of up to a steady state of $42 million a year. We are

looking forward to working with partners to develop a plan for an additional

2,000 tech-relevant student spaces.

To help graduate students focus on their studies, since 2018 we have

allocated over $15 million to graduate scholarships at ten public

post-secondary institutions, which will support more than 1,000 awards of

$15,000 each by 2023. This fund represents the largest investment in the

province’s history in scholarships for graduate students.

Our post-secondary institutions have been a critical beacon of

stability throughout COVID-19, and they will continue to be an essential

part of propelling B.C.’s economic recovery. It is important that we

continue to invest in our facilities and institutions to educate and train

the workforce of the future for the emerging economy and to bolster economic

development.

Some of the projects underway will provide jobs and economic boosts to

our communities, including student housing at SFU, BCIT and Okanagan College

and the new national centre for Indigenous laws at UVic. For instance, in

Burnaby, there will be new capital investments at BCIT on a 464-bed mass

timber student housing project that will cost $114 million. This process

will create job opportunities across sectors and increase affordability and

environmentally friendly student housing for students to study and live on

the Burnaby campus. Ensuring that this work continues is why we’re investing

$1.7 billion over the next three years in new and expanded buildings on

public post-secondary campuses, as an investment in recovery and our

future.

Budgets are about choices. The previous government chose to refuse to

expand affordable student housing during their time in office, completing

only 130 beds in their 16 years in office. We are making different choices.

Our government is building 8,000 student housing beds with nearly 6,000

completed or under way. When British Columbians can access affordable

post-secondary education and housing, we all benefit.

[3:00 p.m.]

COVID-19 sent us down an irreversible path, one with formidable

obstacles. B.C.’s economy is facing unprecedented challenges. Everyone in

British Columbia deserves a seat at the table, so that they can fully

participate in British Columbia’s economy.

We know education levels the playing field, especially for

underrepresented and vulnerable people. Times are changing. Nowadays, most

of the good-paying jobs re­quire some sort of post-secondary

education. I am deep­ly passionate about education and about improving

the opportunity to be equal participants of our economic

recovery.

I want to share two of my favourite quotes. One is by Kofi Annan, who

says: “Education is the great equalizer of our time. It gives hope to the

hopeless and creates chances for those without.” Similarly, Jim Clyburn

said: “Education is a great equalizer and shouldn’t be limited to the

wealthiest few.”

To help the people most impacted by COVID-19, our government committed

$47.5 million in 2020-21 as part of the immediate response through

StrongerBC, B.C.’s economic recovery plan to help thousands of people

upskill or re-skill and to find their place in the post-COVID economy. The

old government chose to leave people behind. Now more than ever, we need to

build an economy that includes everyone. These investments include

short-term skills training for in-demand jobs, Indigenous community skills

training and education, targeted training for health and human services jobs

and micro-credentials. New short-term training programs are giving British

Columbians the tools they need to get back to work quickly.

Budget 2021 will provide further funding of $29.5 million to continue

the work of the economic recovery plan. These investments are in addition to

the ministry’s ongoing investments into post-secondary education, which are

vital to B.C.’s economic development, and last September’s commitment to

include a $20 million investment to support short-term skills training for

almost 2,500 unemployed or precariously employed British Columbians. The new

short-term skills training projects will help people upskill, so that they

can access in-demand jobs in the community and get back to work more

quickly.

In addition, we invested $15 million to support the ex­pansion

of community-based skills training, an education program for approximately

1,700 Indigenous people whose employment has been impacted by COVID-19.

These new training projects align with in-demand jobs in the community and

will empower Indigenous learners to upskill so that they can access jobs and

get back to work more quickly or pursue further education. Programs have

been designed to respond to communities’ needs and priorities and are

delivered in accordance with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls

to action and B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Act.

Health care systems are critical to ensuring that vulnerable residents

in long-term care and assisted-living facilities get the care they need.

That is why we invested $8.4 million in 2020-2021, and Budget 2021 commits

an additional $30 million, so that more people can access training for 3,000

positions as health care assistants across the province. We are working with

the Ministry of Health to ensure that people who want to retrain or upskill

as health care assistants will be able to receive a comprehensive health

care education, as well as essential on-the-job paid training, for a

high-demand career through the health career access program.

[3:05 p.m.]

New short-term-duration, easy-access micro-credential programs are

helping learners re-skill or upskill so that they can prepare for

high-demand jobs in their communities and get back to work more quickly. A

total investment of $9 million over two years is helping to support

micro-credential programs for more than 9,500 British Columbians who want to

re-skill or upskill to take advantage of opportunities in high-demand

sectors.

As a part of the immediate response last summer, we invested $1.26

million in 2020-2021 to continue to provide training opportunities for

people to build a good career in the high-demand field of early childhood

education. To continue supporting B.C.’s ten-year health care B.C. plan, we

will be investing an additional $1.32 million in 2021-2022 to continue the

expansion of early childhood education programs at public post-secondary

institutions.

To help provide support to our most vulnerable citizens, we’ve

invested $800,000 in 2020-2021 so that more people can access training to

become community mental health workers. These members of our communities

provide invaluable supports, such as mental and physical health promotion,

shelter support and addiction counselling to individuals who struggle with

mental health and addiction issues. Budget 2021 expands our COVID-19

investments to include $5.5 million for the new work-integrated learning

opportunities that will ensure that valuable, practical experience is a part

of post-secondary training.

While the fight against COVID-19 continues, there is a light at the

end of the tunnel. The work of the largest mass vaccination in B.C.’s

history continues. Our institutions did amazing work throughout the pandemic

to ensure that British Columbia’s post-secondary students could continue

their studies. As a result, we have seen very few cases of COVID-19

transmission at our universities and colleges in B.C. While most classes are

being delivered remotely to limit the spread of COVID-19, hundreds of

thousands of students continue to receive the high-quality post-secondary

education that B.C. is known for and are working towards a valuable

credential.

There are some wonderful examples of pandemic partnerships and

collaboration that I would like to share. Camosun College loaned a portable

X-ray unit from its medical radiology program to Island Health and began

manufacturing face shields. BCIT’s health sciences department donated

ventilators, gloves, masks, gowns, face shields and sanitizing wipes to

local health authorities. SFU students 3D-printed hundreds of medical mask

ear-savers for Vancouver General Hospital staff, and VCC opened their

kitchens to provide food for people in the Downtown Eastside and other

food-insecure areas in Vancouver.

These are just a very few of some of the amazing and heartwarming

stories that came out of our post-secondary institutions and communities

this past year. I am so proud of all of our universities and colleges for

the contributions they have made to the communities and around the

pro­vince during the pandemic. I am so proud of the faculty, staff,

leadership team and all the students and learners for their steadfast

perseverance and resilience. They have all risen to the challenge and

supported our communities when times of need were there.

My role as Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training

continues to humble me. I am genuinely touched by the stories of students,

faculty and staff who have gone beyond extraordinary expectations to give

back to their campus communities.

Ryleigh, a master of arts student specializing in Fre­nch at the

University of Victoria, is a recipient of the B.C. graduate scholarship.

Ryleigh had intended on completing their master’s in one year, instead of

two, to avoid the financial burden. When informed about their nomination,

they were intrigued and began reorienting their research goals. Instead of

narrowing their research path, Ryleigh embraced their opportunities,

participating in two additional composite and graduate workshops, to prepare

for their future.

[3:10 p.m.]

I continue to hear from students and stakeholders about concerns for

issues such as racism, sexual violence, student debt, housing and mental

health.

Many thanks to everyone in my ministry, and thanks to all of our

students, faculty and staff — our post-secondary institutions who are coming

together every day to ensure that B.C.’s post-secondary sector continues to

be one of the best in the world. As Helen Keller ex­pressed so

beautifully and eloquently: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do

so much.”

Thank you, hon. Speaker, for this opportunity to speak on and support

Budget 2021.

S. Cadieux: I will, as we do oftentimes with these budget and throne responses,

just say a few words about some people that mean a lot to me.

The small but mighty team that got me re-elected this fall in the

middle of a pandemic. It was truly bizarre campaigning virtually. But the

team pivoted so nicely, and I appreciate their assistance so

much.

A thank-you, as well, of course, to my husband Daniel for putting up

with me 24 hours a day for the last year, taking over the den, as my

makeshift office, with piles of books and papers everywhere.

To my constituency assistants, who have remained flexible and pivoted

to working remotely as needed. They are a terrific support to me. Both Kiran

Dhaliwal and Ekamjit Ghuman do tremendous work for the residents and

constituents of Surrey South.

I want to make a special mention, as well, to Ekamjit’s brother,

Kamalveer, who has been working through the pandemic on the front lines and

as a COVID contact tra­cer. So a thank-you to him, specifically, and

to all of our health care heroes that are really putting it all out there

for us.

Lastly, to my parents, who I miss terribly — not being able to get

together for our regular visits — but who regularly drive out and drop off

Mom’s homemade soup and lots and lots of baking.

It’s been a long year, and we’re not there yet. You know things have

gotten really bad when trips to medical ap­pointments become welcome

outings. We’re all wishing for brighter days ahead. So please, if I can do a

little PSA here, when it’s your turn, get vaccinated. And remember to

continue to wash your hands, to social-distance, to wear a mask and not

touch your face. With all of the talk on vaccinations, it seems we’re not

hearing that much about the basics, and the basics still matter. So it’s

worth repeating those facts.

Now, as I start my critique of the budget, I must comment first on my

astonishment at the content of most of the government members’ speeches. Not

the comments about how great they think the budget is, which are completely

not surprising. But it’s been four years since they’ve been government, and

they still seem to be spending a significant amount of time referencing

B.C.’s Liberal governments, including Premiers who haven’t governed for more

than ten years. It seems they’re incapable of standing on their own merits

but, instead, must find time to dredge up their complaints from ten years

ago and more.

They still, after four years, sound more like an opposition than a

government. The “B.C. Liberals don’t care” message is old. It’s tired, and

it’s just plain offensive. Think that if you want, but don’t insinuate that

I don’t care about people. It makes the otherwise pleasant and

respect-worthy ministers sound like trolls on Twitter. I would think

ministers of the Crown could rise to their level of office. But then again,

they also sound ridiculous repeating “the former government” over and over.

These members are not able to recognize that they are the former government.

Really. Get better writers, folks.

But I digress, because we should move forward, and I will move on and

address the contents of the budget. First, I will give credit where I

believe credit is due. I’ve done this in every budget the NDP has presented,

and I will continue today.

While I don’t support much of the budget, and I’ll get to why, there

are a few things that are supportable at first blush. Reconciliation funds

to continue our work with First Nations on a government-to-government basis.

Absolutely necessary. Child care worker wage enhancements. These can really

make a difference in communities, and I think they’re the right thing to do.

The expansion of Foundry centres. Of course I support these. I was one of

the ministers that helped establish them in the first place.

[3:15 p.m.]

Mental health supports in schools. We know these are needed. Continued

investment in CLBC. We know these investments are also needed. An income

assistance in­crease, absolutely. I do support it, as the former

minister. Now, I recognize it isn’t what the people were hoping or expecting

from this government, and for that they will have to answer to the people,

but I do think investments in income assistance were due.

Improvements to access to justice for vulnerable groups, especially

for women and women fleeing violence. We need these things in place, and

it’s good to see that government is looking to make that happen.

That said, though, that leaves a lot undone, promises unmet and

priorities to question. Largely, I would suggest this second-term NDP

government has let down British Columbians. Instead of big ideas, we’re

getting big deficits and bigger government.

Think about it for a minute. If the economy is recovering so well on

its own, as government keeps saying, and we don’t need a plan for economic

recovery, then why on earth does government plan to spend $9 billion more

than they have this year? Why are they predicting so many more years of

deficits if the economy is growing?

It’s because they’re planning excessive spending and doing it under

the cover of the pandemic. It’s COVID camouflage at best, because that’s

what it is. In a year where the pandemic has decimated jobs across the

country, the B.C. government is boasting pre-pandemic employment levels. Of

course, what they neglect to tell you is that that’s because they have grown

the public sector by 60,000 jobs, while the private sector has lost 40,000

that haven’t re­turned.

Where’s the plan to grow back the jobs in the private sector? Where is

the post-pandemic economic plan? This government has been completely

ineffectual at getting help to businesses, and now the money we approved

more than a year ago is being pushed over to this next year because it still

isn’t out the door.

At a time when British Columbians are looking for opt­imism and

light at the end of the tunnel, as the Premier has quoted, the NDP has

abandoned all commitment to affordability. They’re balancing the budget on

the proceeds of a hot and hotter housing market. I don’t have to tell you or

the folks that may choose to listen how absolutely hypocritical that

is.

Every time they’re asked how added taxes on housing have helped make

it more affordable, they talk about units and rentals, but they won’t tell

you about how many of those units are rented and how many were affordable.

They certainly are not there to discuss housing purchase prices because,

despite all of the posturing of this NDP government over the years, they

haven’t done a thing. Prices are up everywhere 20 percent over last year.

Rents are up $2,500 a year. The time for “Trust me” has passed for this

government and this Premier.

While British Columbians are facing rising counts of COVID and the

spread of variants, people are worried about their health. They and

businesses are worried about their economic well-being.

This government fails to put forward a real plan. The budget has no

new supports to help people immediately. There is no new comprehensive

funding for jobs and re­covery. In fact, the budget for that ministry

has been lowered.

Now, admittedly, the NDP is sitting on 1.1 billion un­allocated

dollars in recovery funding that they have no plan on how to deploy. I

remember many a budget and many a year where they would call money put aside

in contingencies a slush fund. We don’t hear them using that language

today.

The $500 million InBC Investment fund is designed to exert government

control over start-ups and ensure they meet NDP priorities like staying in

B.C., which is, of course, great in theory but, if you’re a start-up, could

be, potentially, very limiting. Time will tell.

[3:20 p.m.]

There is no new money for a struggling restaurant in­dustry

under new restrictions, just the reworked and bot­ched business grant

program. Maybe a little bit of money here or there to cover some lost money

on the food costs at the beginning of this closure, but definitely not

enough to support businesses from closing their doors. This government’s

inability to get supports out to those who need them most and a failure to

put forward any economic recovery plan is putting the future prosperity of

British Columbians at risk.

In my riding, there’s a new restaurant that had the misfortune to open

right at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s a beautiful restaurant. They

serve wonderful food. They have great staff. They had a great staff. They

haven’t been eligible for government programs because they weren’t in

business the year before the pandemic. Meanwhile, they have overhead costs

they can’t meet while they’re closed by government order.

Women and youth most affected by the pandemic. Ma­ny of them are

from the restaurant and tourism sector. Well, there’s no plan to get them

back to work or to support them in the meantime. When asked about how

laid-off restaurant workers would be helped to pay their bills, the minister

boasted about a minimum wage increase coming. Well, news flash to the

minister. If you aren’t working, you don’t get a raise.

Let’s focus on women for a minute. In fact, the word “women” is

mentioned 19 times in this budget document. It’s recognized or mentioned as

beneficiaries of the lack­luster supports provided for the tourism

sector. The budget document assumes, somehow, that 15 percent of investment

is somehow going to save all of the women working in the sector their jobs.

Investing what 15 percent of the sector needs to remain viable is somehow

going to save all the jobs, and women are going to benefit. We’ll

see.

It’s mentioned again as one in a group of beneficiaries of investment

in access-to-justice programs, as I mentioned — much-needed programs. Not

specific, though, to wo­men. They are just one of the beneficiaries of

these potential new programs.

It’s mentioned once in the $3 million investment in trails

infrastructure, which will provide exactly 72 jobs for women, Indigenous

people and youth. Not a lot there for women.

Women are mentioned as a beneficiary of the $26 billion capital plan.

They’re mentioned there because, on CBA capital projects, of course…. Let me

just say, as an aside, it’s great if we can get more women into skilled

trades. I’ve been a big supporter of that my whole time in government. But

at this point, CBAs are only on seven projects, and at what cost? Is there a

better way to ensure that we get more women into the trades without freezing

out 85 percent of the construction workers in this province? This is in no

way a big investment in women, nor an option for getting the majority of

women displaced by COVID back to work.

Women are mentioned once as part of a group of groups that might

benefit from a $5 million investment in micro-credentialling, if they need

to go back to school or upgrade to get back to work. I was talking about

micro-credentialling four years ago, when I was the critic for Advanced

Education. The government hadn’t yet picked this up. So I’m glad to see this

investment, but it certainly is not in­vesting in women.

Women are mentioned as a reason for the tax-free status of e-bikes,

believe it or not, because fewer women ride bikes to work. Maybe if they had

e-bikes, they would move to active transportation. Okay. So not the focus,

just maybe a benefit.

Women are mentioned twice in the name of Women’s Hospital in an update

of capital projects — nothing new there — and once in the note that women

are more likely to be…. In fact, they’re 57 percent of the self-employed

recipients of the B.C. recovery benefit that will not be asked to repay the

grant if they accessed it in error — oh, whoopee. And three times as

recipients of child care investments. This seems to really be the NDP go-to

as support for women. I guess if you don’t have kids, you’re not important

to government. I’ll come back to child care in a bit.

[3:25 p.m.]

Women are also mentioned once in a group of target groups for

affordable housing investments. Of course, we know that four years into the

NDP government, the NDP has only opened about 3,500 of the 114,000 units

they promised. And they’re dealing with a homelessness crisis, not the low-

and middle-income affordability that I believe the NDP was talking about

when they talked about housing affordability. So no progress

there.

Women are mentioned four times in the discussion of economic

projections in the labour market, which all times notes women have been

adversely and more affected by pandemic job losses. Yet no programs at all

to target women in the workforce and get them back to work. What is this

government thinking? Where is the plan?

There is no mention of the need to deal with wage in­equality

for women in B.C. There’s no transparency about GBA+, gender-based analysis,

measures in the budget this year, contrary to previous years. There’s no

dollar promise to support the NDP’s promise in the election of free

prescription contraception. That would be an investment in women. But it’s

not there.

Government has a responsibility to be a leader and to guide our

province through this pandemic and into economic recovery. But delaying

vital relief, failing to implement policies necessary to protect and support

families, communities and businesses and taking actions that serve their own

self-interests before the well-being of British Columbians means they’ve

failed our province and the people they’ve been elected to serve.

The Premier says he called a snap election in the middle of a pandemic

so we could put politics behind us and B.C. could have a clear path forward.

But it still seems he can’t find that path forward, even with a majority

government. After failing to get the COVID relief to families and botching

the small business supports and not providing a budget on time, by the end

of this government’s second term, the NDP will have added the equivalent of

$10,000 in additional debt for every British Columbian. That’s one heck of a

plan to get ahead as a province.

This government is making a habit of breaking promises. There’s no

renters rebate. Rents are up around the pro­vince, but no renters

rebate. It’s absolutely vanished from the commitments.

Now, let’s come back to childcare. For years, the NDP has overpromised

and underdelivered on its $10-a-day child care plan. This uncertainty is

only adding to the stress that families are feeling. The current $10-a-day

plan funds about 2,500 spaces in the pilot program. This budget adds 3,750

spaces. So my quick math, based on the data I saw as minister when looking

at all the options for expanding child care in B.C. and on the plans put

forward by the child care advocates who wanted the $10-a-day plan…. The

promise for universal daycare is based on 63 percent of children zero to

five, by the way — not every child, and nothing about before- and

after-school care, but again, I digress — and would need to fund more than

150,000 spaces and cost more than $1½ billion a year.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

So four years into the plan, even being generous and including the

spots that are announced and not yet open, they will be at 6,250 $10-a-day

spaces. That’s just over 4 percent of the way to their ten-year plan. At

this rate, they must be taking lessons from the Housing Ministry, because

they’ll take another 100 years to meet this promise too. Thank goodness for

the federal government planning to sweep in and save them.

In this budget in the middle of a pandemic, where, on a relatively

regular basis, the ministers of government tell us they can’t focus on that

question or they can’t get you that answer because they’re focused on COVID,

health authorities are going to see a cut of $1.1 billion. Families are

struggling to find a doctor that’s taking patients. Others are scrambling as

they learn theirs is retiring.

There’s a clinic in my constituency that has been desperate to recruit

new doctors. They found a young couple from the U.K. willing to relocate to

Surrey. But one of the doctors is pregnant, and this government won’t waive

their MSP wait time to ensure she has medical coverage for her

delivery.

[3:30 p.m.]

It’s these kinds of bizarre stories we hear about a government that’s

unable to pivot and get creative to solve problems that British Columbians

are facing today.

The Surrey hospital won’t be completed until 2028. Oh, wait, or is it

2027? The budget doesn’t even know. There is no plan. There is no money in

the three-year fiscal plan to support it. An NDP member was out talking

about it today and trying to explain away the differences and the

challenges. “Oh, it’ll be open in 2027, and it’s just the landscaping that

won’t be done until 2028.” Are you kidding me? I don’t think so.

The reason there’s no clarity in this budget and it’s just mentioned

in notional funding is because they don’t have a plan yet. The budget says

that the hospital will be net new beds as opposed to an entirely new

hospital. So what is it they’re cutting? Is it beds at the cancer centre

that currently exists at Surrey Memorial, and they’re moving those into this

hospital? Why only 168 net new beds? Is that really investing in the largest

and fastest-growing city in our province? Talking about hospitals…. Well,

hospitals need doctors. The NDP promised a medical school in Surrey during

the election. There’s no mention of that in this budget either.

Commuters are spending hundreds of dollars on gas and are waiting for

the Premier to deliver on the gas price relief he promised almost two years

ago, but the Premier hopes you’ve forgotten that one. Commuters are stuck

south of the Fraser. They need a new safe replacement for the Massey Tunnel.

They’re dreading ten more years being stuck in the travel bottleneck. Yet

this government thinks it’s prudent to spend $50 million on new lights for

the tunnel, insisting that the Massey replacement is a priority. But no.

It’s seriously a new definition for the word “priority.” Better contact

Merriam-Webster’s , because this budget has no funding for the

replacement project of the tunnel.

The people crossing the Pattullo Bridge were shocked to find out, when

this government announced it, that they were going to build a new Pattullo,

exactly the same size as the current one, with at least an extra $100

million going into the pockets of union friends and insiders. But the

project has already been delayed by another year. They announced this three

and a half years ago. It’s already a year delayed, and it hasn’t even

started yet.

The excuse is the fish windows in the river. The reality is that

that’s a known issue. It should’ve been planned for. If they couldn’t get

that right, this early in the project, why should we believe that next year

or the year after will be any better? Add years, add costs. That’s how it

works. So the yarn they’re spinning that this will be on budget is

absolutely laughable.

There’s no money for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain either. Well, sure,

they talk about it in the budget. They’re planning to continue planning.

We’ve heard that before: a plan to make a plan to get a plan. I think,

again, this government is planning to wait until the federal government

swoops in to save them once again.

Now, I’m happy that the NDP are continuing to invest in new schools in

Surrey. But I was dismayed, the other day, when the Premier suggested that

we did nothing and didn’t care. I’ve had to remind this government numerous

times of the 14 new and expanded schools in my ridings alone during my time

in government. Yet they have failed in their promise to the people to

eliminate portables in four years. They were past that date, and we still

have 360 plus — 30 percent more than when they took over.

Instead of just owning up and saying that they couldn’t do it, that

they broke their promise, this government and the Premier continue to resort

to statements that demean my efforts as an MLA, my real efforts, of getting

government to address a very real and challenging rate of growth in the

largest district in the province, the same problem that plagues them now.

The thing is that it was their bravado. It was their promise. It’s their

failure.

[3:35 p.m.]

As the Surrey school district adapts to the new COVID rules and the

changing landscape of modern education, school districts are seeing a cut of

$53 million. Surrey alone is looking at a $43 million deficit and no funding

this year to continue safety protocols for COVID. Well, that’s interesting

for a government that professes to care more about education than any

government ever before.

legislation. Presumably there would be some money needed for implementation.

But I guess that, too, will be a wait-and-see.

Ownership of their inherent failures to British Columbians is

necessary. This government has blamed everyone and everything else —

everyone and everything but themselves. They’ve blamed the third wave of

COVID on millennials, warning them not to blow it for the rest of us.

They’ve blamed the previous government countless times, and when they’re

able, they blame the federal government. It’s always someone else’s

fault.

We hope this government will move forward with openness, transparency

and accountability for their own ac­tions, because people deserve

that. When the Premier says that good ideas can come from anywhere, I agree.

I ac­knowledge positive things in this budget. I acknowledge efforts

of members of this government to do good.

But after failing to get COVID relief to families, botching small

business supports — programs that we acknowledged were needed and provided

financial support to government to put out there last year that have still….

After repeated calls from the opposition on how they could make the program

work, the changes they could make and just being stonewalled by government,

the promise and the sentiment that good ideas can come from anywhere rings

really hollow from this Premier.

At a time when British Columbians are looking for opt­imism and

light at the end of the tunnel — I know I am — British Columbians deserve so

much better than this bungled budget. Let’s hope that this government can

learn from its mistakes and move forward together.

Hon. B. Ralston: It’s an honour to rise in the House and speak to our government’s

Budget 2021, a stronger B.C. for everyone. It’s an unprecedented budget for

unprecedented times, a budget that recognizes that we’ve come a long way

through the pandemic, and we can see light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps

the previous speaker can’t, but I definitely can, and I know many people can

as more and more people get vaccinated.

Of course, we’re not there yet. People from all over our province

continue to be challenged in ways we could never have imagined several years

ago. Clearly people are worried. We are worried about our health, the health

of our families and friends, as powerful and unpredictable variants of the

virus move through our communities.

After over a year of relentless pressure, the physicians, nurses and

other health care professionals and front-line workers continue to work

long, demanding and stressful days. Our hospitals are under strain.

Thousands of British Columbians have lost their jobs or had their businesses

slowed or shuttered completely. Times continue to be tough. But we will get

through this. British Columbians are resilient. People are working hard to

fight the virus and get life back on track. People are looking out for one

another, and our government is there working alongside people.

Budget 2021 is helping people now to address challen­ges, and

it’s about building the foundation for a safe and prosperous future and a

safe economic recovery. I want to make a few comments about the impact of

the budget on my city of Surrey, the second-largest city and, one day in the

future, the largest city in British Columbia.

[3:40 p.m.]

I’ll begin with talking a little bit about transportation. It has been

said by some that the SkyTrain, the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, does not appear

in the budget. That is not accurate. In fact, on page 28, completing the

planning for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain project is included in the $7.6

billion transportation investments.

In the table on page 53…. I think it’s fair to acknowledge that the

communications director for the Ministry of Transportation said that there’s

$376 million allocated for the SkyTrain expansion, although — I’m quoting

him — “it’s not an obvious line item.” It’s a line item in the budget, and

$376 million is allocated to the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. It’s for planning

work and to get the whole business process started, the business plan for

this immense project.

Previously thought to be built in two stages, it will now be built in

one stage. It requires the final touches on the business plan. The work is

beginning on it, and there is definitely money in the budget for it. I know

those in Surrey, particularly the ridings and the areas of Surrey and of

Langley that it will be established in, are very much looking forward to the

completion of that project, and it will be completed.

Let me talk a little bit about health. Clearly, that’s uppermost on

most people’s minds — protecting their health and the health of our

communities through the pandemic. Since we formed government in 2017, we

have made significant capital investments in health care. Let me highlight

some of these investments in Surrey.

These investments include $4.7 million in provincial funding for MRI

expansion and equipment procurement for the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and

Surgery Centre. I know the Minister of Health has made it a particular

interest of his to expand the availability of MRI testing for ordinary

people, operating the machines and providing the budget to operate the

machines outside of what sometimes might be considered normal business

hours. There’s been considerable expansion of the access to MRI testing, a

vital part of medical diagnosis these days.

So $6.3 million for the renovation of the ambulatory care and

chemotherapy unit at the Fraser Valley Cancer Centre. And $4.4 million for

the Surrey Memorial in-patient psychiatric and seclusion room. These are

important investments here in Surrey that have changed lives and saved

lives.

Budget 2021 continues to underscore this government’s commitment to

the health and well-being of British Columbians. It includes $900 million in

new funding for COVID testing, contact tracing, personal protective

equipment for front-line health care workers and the largest vaccine rollout

in B.C. history. And $258 million in this year’s budget will help to keep

long-term-care centres safe by providing additional supports for health care

workers.

The government continues to make significant health care investments

in the second most populous city in British Columbia and a growing

municipality. Budget 2021 commits provincial funding to the new Surrey

hospital. In the budget document…. Let me just turn to page 9. It appears in

a number of places, but let me just, here, turn to page 9. “Budget 2021

funds significant capital investments for major hospital projects, including

the new Surrey hospital and the cancer centre project. These are detailed in

the capital

section on page 50.”

On page 50 in the budget document…. I take this level of detail

because there have been a number of suggestions, I think particularly in the

last year, that this project was not proceeding and that it wasn’t in the

budget. So again on page 50: “A net-new integrated hospital and cancer

cen­tre in Surrey to help meet the needs of a growing and aging

population.” It goes on to list the many services and the new cancer centre

that will be constructed. Construction is planned to begin in summer

[3:45 p.m.]

That money is in the budget. It also appears in the capital

expenditure projects, table 1.8 on page 59, the new Surrey hospital and

cancer centre. It is in the budget, and construction will begin in

As one can imagine, building a modern hospital and cancer centre is a

huge endeavour. It requires planning, a business plan and many other

preparations for construction. But that project is underway. It will be

designed to achieve net-zero on-site carbon emissions. It will be one of the

first hospitals to achieve this status in Canada. So I’m very proud of the

health care investments that prepare Surrey for the future.

As we all do our part to stop the virus from spreading and get

vaccinated, we will soon emerge on the other side of COVID-19. With Budget

2021, we’re laying the groundwork to make sure that when that time arrives,

we can move to a safe, exciting and prosperous future. That means making

health care better and more resilient to prepare us for future

challenges.

Our budget will reduce wait times for surgeries and give patients

faster access to diagnostic imaging. We’re building new hospitals and new

urgent primary care centres in communities around B.C. to give people better

care closer to home. I’m particularly proud — I feel I have to mention it,

as the MLA for Surrey-Whalley — that there’s a new urgent primary care

centre in my riding, just across 96th Avenue from the Surrey Memorial

Hospital.

As we look to the now, we’re also focused on protecting people’s

livelihoods. B.C. is providing more supports per capita for people and

businesses than any other province. Budget 2021 includes over $1 billion in

further supports for people and businesses. We’re helping the most

vulnerable in our society by delivering the largest-ever permanent increase

in income assistance and disability assistance rates.

Budget 2021 invests $500 million to continue to expand mental health

and substance use services to better connect people to the culturally safe

and effective care they need. An additional $265 million in 2021 will

maintain 3,000 emergency shelter and hotel spaces that have supported people

facing homelessness with a safe place to go during the pandemic.

Budget 2021 builds on our strengths in our StrongerBC economic

recovery plan to help businesses get through these most difficult days.

Ongoing business supports include a tax credit for private sector employers

who increased their payroll to new employees for compensation increases in

the last quarter of 2020 and $195 million for the small and medium-sized

business recovery grant program. That has responded to the public and is now

easier to access and makes more businesses eligible.

With these and other investments, Budget 2021 is helping people and

businesses get through the immediate challenges of the pandemic. Budget 2021

will help put people back to work and get businesses back on their

feet.

The first step in helping people back on track is alleviating the

stress of securing shelter. Since 2017, this government has made substantive

efforts in helping British Columbians who are homeless or at risk of

becoming homeless. That includes $29 million in capital funding from B.C.’s

supportive housing fund for 100 transitional beds and 30 shelter beds as

well as $7.3 million for a 20-unit housing project and $9.4 million for a

103-unit housing project in Surrey.

Budget 2021 continues to provide capital investments for housing

projects in Surrey. Through B.C. Housing’s community housing fund, we are

providing $12 million to the Vancouver Resource Society for the purchase of

a 91-unit project at 10626 City Parkway in Surrey. This project aims to

provide affordable housing rentals to veteran seniors with disabilities.

Through B.C.’s homelessness action plan, we are providing $16 million for a

61-unit project at 14706 104th Avenue. This modular apartment building will

help the most vulnerable in our society get off the streets.

[3:50 p.m.]

We’re making record investments to create over 85,000 jobs in three

years, building roads, schools, hospitals and more, right across the

province.

Through Budget 2021, schools in Surrey are receiving much-needed

provincial funding to ensure our children have a safe place to learn. The

South Newton area elemen­tary is receiving $38.9 million from the

province to pro­vide 655 student spaces with a neighbourhood learning

centre. Sunnyside Elementary is receiving $11.4 million for an additional

215 new student spaces. Ta’talu Elementary is receiving $39.1 million from

the province to provide 650 student spaces, with a neighbourhood learning

centre. Morgan Elementary is receiving $10.4 million for 190 more student

spaces.

K.B. Woodward Elementary. That, I’m obliged to mention, is in my

riding of Surrey-Whalley. It’s an older school, but it’s a very successful

school. It’s a growing one. It’s receiving $14.2 million for an extension,

which will ac­commodate 240 more students. Prince Charles Elementary

and Queen Elizabeth Secondary are receiving $11.8 million and $13.8 million,

respectively, for seismic up­grades. We are supporting our families

and communities by investing in the future generations.

While the pandemic has brought out the very best in most people, it

has brought out the very worst in a few. The increase in racial attacks

targeting minorities over the past year has been extremely saddening and

alarming. Our government remains committed to fighting against racism and

making B.C. more inclusive for everyone. We will continue to combat racism

through the reinstatement of the B.C. human rights commission, stronger

anti-racism supports for schools and the development of a new anti-racism

act and legislation on race-based data collection.

Let me talk a little bit about our green recovery. Budget 2021

provides a clear road map for our post-pandemic economic recovery. It will

help grow high-potential businesses in B.C. A new $500 million strategic

investment fund will help to attract and anchor high-growth talent,

businesses and good jobs in British Columbia. That will be coming forward

very shortly.

As you would expect from the Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon

Innovation, I am particularly excited about the investments we’re making for

a green recovery. Let me say a few words about that today. When we look

around Canada and to other countries, there can be no doubt that a cleaner,

low-carbon economy is the way forward as we build beyond the pandemic to the

future. Through our continent-leading CleanBC program, we are already a

leader in climate action, advancing programs across our transportation,

building, and industrial sectors to reduce carbon emissions.

You can see that we’re blessed with abundant hydroelectricity in B.C.

that is 98 percent clean, and we are seizing that advantage. You can see it

on our streets, where you’re more and more likely to see an electric

vehicle. Our zero-emission vehicle incentives have led British Columbia to

the highest rate of uptake on new electric light-duty ve­hicles in

North America, with more than 54,000 EVs on the road in December 2020. Not

only is this good for the environment; the zero-emission vehicle sector

contributes about $600 million to our provincial economy.

But going green has to be affordable for people. Beyond electric

vehicles, a range of rebates and incentives are also helping to reduce

emissions from homes and buildings and across industry. As we chart a course

for recovery, we are building on the progress we’ve made to create a

cleaner, stronger economy for everyone. Budget 2021 invests an additional

$506 million in our CleanBC climate action plan. It takes our total CleanBC

investments to nearly $2.2 billion. It includes a further $130 million for

zero-emission vehicle incentives, EV charging stations and the

electrification of school buses, ferries and government fleets and $10

million to develop policy on reducing the carbon intensity of fuel and

developing the hydrogen economy in British Columbia.

[3:55 p.m.]

British Columbia is already known as a leader in the hydrogen economy,

but there is therefore a strong economic base of world-leading companies to

build upon and to develop that economy much more fully. We are investing $69

million to support energy efficiency in buildings, schools and communities

and to reduce diesel consumption for electric generation in remote

communities. We remain committed to developing a property-assessed clean

energy framework to help home­owners and building owners finance

energy-efficient improvements that can reduce costs in emissions. It’s

sometimes a challenge to finance those kinds of improvements, particularly

in older buildings. The so-called PACE program, property-assessed clean

energy framework, will provide the means to do that.

With that continued funding of $519 million through CleanBC’s program

for industry, we’re helping industries, including forestry and mining

operations, reduce GHG emissions and stay competitive, with cleaner fuels,

im­proved energy efficiency and innovative technology. Our mining

sector has the potential and the capacity to supply many of the raw

materials that will be needed to advance clean energy technology.

This sector is one where there is huge potential, given where we are

in the resource pricing cycle. There’s a lot of real interest in investment

in British Columbia and in many significant examples of new investments in

British Columbia. I think particularly of the Artemis project, south of

Vanderhoof, west of Quesnel. That copper-gold project is on track with the

$200 million investment and working its way through the approval process. It

has its EA, environmental assessment, already. I’m looking forward to seeing

that mine opened as soon as possible.

Indigenous Peoples are key partners for our government as we advance

reconciliation and strive to realize the full potential of our rich natural

resources sector to stoke economic recovery. B.C.’s mining and mineral

exploration sector is a leader in economic reconciliation with Indigenous

people. This industry remains the largest private sector employer of

Indigenous people in British Columbia, providing economic opportunities for

rural and remote communities.

B.C. is the first province to sign mineral tax revenue-share with

First Nations, having signed 48 benefit agreements. Revenue-sharing has

provided $100 million to date to advance Indigenous community priorities and

self-de­termination.

I’m pleased to see that Budget 2021 adds $60 million in annual funding

to the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation to support

Indigenous participation in land and resource activities, as well as $17

million from the StrongerBC plan to partner with Indigenous communities and

organizations to expand access to skills training.

In British Columbia, with our highly trained workforce, our

world-class advanced education and training institutions — you heard from

the Minister of Advanced Education earlier in this debate — our clean

electricity, our mining resources and expertise and our proximity to global

markets, there is incredible potential to advance the development of clean

technology, creating skilled jobs for people and economic opportunities for

businesses and communities.

Budget 2021 invests $35 million in a new centre for innovation and

clean energy to support the rapid scale-up and commercialization of energy

technologies that can reduce carbon emissions. A further $25 million from

Bud­get 2021 will help to expand partnership opportunities with the

federal government to advance the development of clean technology, including

continued support for the B.C. innovative clean energy fund.

To date, the ICE fund has committed over $100 million to support

pre-commercial, clean energy technology projects, clean energy vehicles,

research and development and energy efficiency programs. With these and

other investments, Budget 2021 will drive our economic recovery forward, to

a tomorrow rich in opportunity.

Let me begin to conclude. Our government recognizes that people are

hurting now as we continue to battle with the global pandemic. But once

everyone is vaccinated and we can start to put COVID behind us, we can look

forward to a future that holds tremendous promise.

[4:00 p.m.]

Budget 2021 is about better health care, supporting people, helping

businesses and building communities today and tomorrow.

In closing, I would like to thank the many, many people and

organizations around the province who provided in­put and helped us

build Budget 2021. Particularly, I’d like to thank the hard-working and

dedicated staff and executives of ministries across government who helped to

design the budget measures. I look forward to working with members on both

sides of the House to advance and implement Budget 2021 for the benefit of

the people of British Columbia.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak today.

B. Banman: It is, indeed, an honour to speak with re­gard to the budget on

behalf of the constituents of Abbotsford South. I want to say what a

privilege it is to be able to do so. Before I begin my comments, as I look

out my window here, on the beautiful day that it is and acknowledge that

it’s spring…. It’s a time of life being reborn. It’s a time of hope. It’s a

time of being thankful and looking forward to whatever harvest or crops may

lie ahead.

I think we’re all tired. We’re tired. This pandemic has taken a toll

on us all. This pandemic, as the previous speaker mentioned, has brought out

the best in people, and it has brought out the worst in people. I’m an

optimist, so I think, now with spring around the corner, that there is hope.

The grass is rising, the birds are returning, the flowers are…. I think that

we just need to hang on a little bit longer.

I would urge anyone who is listening, including members of this

House…. I know we go at one another during question period, but I was

heartened by the conversations I’ve had with members of this side of the

House, be it briefly i