British Columbia Hansard — 13 February 2019, p.m., Issue 197 (41st Parliament, 4th Session)

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British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Fourth Session, 41st Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday, February 13, 2019 Afternoon Sitting Issue No. 197 THE HONOURABLE DARRYL PLECAS, SPEAKER ISSN 1499-2175

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

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

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

Jinny Sims Minister of Education ............................................................................................................................................................ Hon. Rob Fleming Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources ...............................................................................................Hon. Michelle Mungall Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy............................................................................................. Hon.

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

Scott Fraser Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology............................................................................................................................ Hon. Bruce Ralston Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon. George Chow Minister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon.

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

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

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

Raj Chouhan Assistant Deputy Speaker................................................................................................................................................................... Joan Isaacs Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole ................................................................................................................

Spencer Chandra Herbert Clerk of the Legislative Assembly ....................................................................................................................................................Craig James Acting Clerk of the Legislative Assembly...............................................................................................................................

Kate Ryan-Lloyd Clerk Assistant — Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..........................................................................................Susan Sourial Sessional Law Clerk...............................................................................................................................................Loredana Catalli-Sonier, QC Parliamentary Counsel ...................................................................................................................................................................... S.

Suzie Seo Sergeant-at-Arms ................................................................................................................................................................................. Gary Lenz Acting Sergeant-at-Arms......................................................................................................................................... Randall Ennis, MMM, CD

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal) ........................................................................ Penticton Bains, Hon. Harry (NDP)...............................................................Surrey-Newton Barnett, Donna (BC Liberal) ................................................... Cariboo-Chilcotin Beare, Hon. Lisa (NDP).............................................Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Begg, Garry (NDP) ..................................................................... Surrey-Guildford Bernier, Mike (BC Liberal) .......................................................

Peace River South Bond, Shirley (BC Liberal)......................................... Prince George–Valemount Brar, Jagrup (NDP)..................................................................... Surrey-Fleetwood Cadieux, Stephanie (BC Liberal)....................................................... Surrey South Chandra Herbert, Spencer (NDP) ..................................... Vancouver–West End Chen, Hon. Katrina (NDP).....................................................Burnaby-Lougheed Chouhan, Raj (NDP) ............................................................... Burnaby-Edmonds Chow, Hon.

George (NDP)............................................... Vancouver-Fraserview Clovechok, Doug (BC Liberal) ................................ Columbia River–Revelstoke Coleman, Rich (BC Liberal) ...............................................................Langley East Conroy, Hon. Katrine (NDP)......................................................... Kootenay West Darcy, Hon.

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

Doug (NDP).....................................................................Stikine Eby, Hon. David, QC (NDP)............................................. Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (NDP)....................................................... Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Hon. Mike (NDP) ...................................................... Port Coquitlam Fleming, Hon. Rob (NDP) .....................................................Victoria–Swan Lake Foster, Eric (BC Liberal)........................................................... Vernon-Monashee Fraser, Hon.

Scott (NDP) ................................................ Mid Island–Pacific Rim Furstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) ........................................... Cowichan Valley Gibson, Simon (BC Liberal) ................................................. Abbotsford-Mission Glumac, Rick (NDP)........................................................Port Moody–Coquitlam Heyman, Hon. George (NDP) .............................................. Vancouver-Fairview Horgan, Hon. John (NDP) ...............................................

Langford–Juan de Fuca Hunt, Marvin (BC Liberal) .......................................................Surrey-Cloverdale Isaacs, Joan (BC Liberal) .........................................Coquitlam–Burke Mountain James, Hon. Carole (NDP)...................................................Victoria–Beacon Hill Johal, Jas (BC Liberal)...............................................

Richmond-Queensborough Kahlon, Ravi (NDP)..............................................................................Delta North Kang, Anne (NDP)..................................................................Burnaby–Deer Lake Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal)............................................................................ Shuswap Larson, Linda (BC Liberal) .............................................Boundary-Similkameen Lee, Michael (BC Liberal) ......................................................

Vancouver-Langara Leonard, Ronna-Rae (NDP) ....................................................Courtenay-Comox Letnick, Norm (BC Liberal)............................................Kelowna–Lake Country Ma, Bowinn (NDP) ................................................... North Vancouver–Lonsdale Mark, Hon. Melanie (NDP) ..................................... Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Martin, John (BC Liberal)...................................................................... Chilliwack Milobar, Peter (BC Liberal)....................................

Kamloops–North Thompson Morris, Mike (BC Liberal) ..........................................Prince George–Mackenzie Mungall, Hon. Michelle (NDP).................................................... Nelson-Creston Oakes, Coralee (BC Liberal) ...........................................................Cariboo North Olsen, Adam (BC Green Party)........................... Saanich North and the Islands Paton, Ian (BC Liberal)......................................................................... Delta South Plecas, Hon.

Darryl (Ind.) ..........................................................Abbotsford South Polak, Mary (BC Liberal) ............................................................................ Langley Popham, Hon. Lana (NDP)..............................................................Saanich South Ralston, Hon. Bruce (NDP) .......................................................... Surrey-Whalley Redies, Tracy (BC Liberal) ..................................................... Surrey–White Rock Reid, Linda (BC Liberal) ................................................

Richmond South Centre Rice, Jennifer (NDP) ............................................................................ North Coast Robinson, Hon. Selina (NDP) ....................................... Coquitlam-Maillardville Ross, Ellis (BC Liberal)..................................................................................Skeena Routledge, Janet (NDP) .................................................................. Burnaby North Routley, Doug (NDP) ................................................Nanaimo–North Cowichan Rustad, John (BC Liberal) ..............................................................

Nechako Lakes Shypitka, Tom (BC Liberal) .............................................................Kootenay East Simons, Nicholas (NDP) ........................................Powell River–Sunshine Coast Simpson, Hon. Shane (NDP)................................................ Vancouver-Hastings Sims, Hon.

Jinny (NDP) .............................................................Surrey-Panorama Singh, Rachna (NDP) ........................................................Surrey–Green Timbers Stewart, Ben (BC Liberal) ................................................................Kelowna West Stilwell, Michelle (BC Liberal)..............................................Parksville-Qualicum Stone, Todd (BC Liberal)........................................

Kamloops–South Thompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal).......................................West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Sullivan, Sam (BC Liberal)...............................................Vancouver–False Creek Sultan, Ralph (BC Liberal) ......................................... West Vancouver–Capilano Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal) ................................................................ Fraser-Nicola Thomson, Steve (BC Liberal)..................................................... Kelowna-Mission Thornthwaite, Jane (BC Liberal) .............................

North Vancouver–Seymour Throness, Laurie (BC Liberal) ..................................................... Chilliwack-Kent Trevena, Hon. Claire (NDP) .............................................................. North Island Wat, Teresa (BC Liberal) ................................................Richmond North Centre Weaver, Dr. Andrew (BC Green Party) ......................... Oak Bay–Gordon Head Wilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal) .............................. Vancouver-Quilchena Y ap, John (BC Liberal)..........................................................

Richmond-Steveston Vacant...........................................................................................................Nanaimo LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission ..........................................................................Simon Gibson Abbotsford South ..................................................................... Hon. Darryl Plecas Abbotsford West .................................................................... Michael de Jong, QC Boundary-Similkameen.....................................................................

Linda Larson Burnaby–Deer Lake ...............................................................................Anne Kang Burnaby-Edmonds ..............................................................................Raj Chouhan Burnaby-Lougheed................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Burnaby North................................................................................

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scott Fraser Nanaimo ..........................................................................................................Vacant Nanaimo–North Cowichan.............................................................. Doug Routley Nechako Lakes ...................................................................................... John Rustad Nelson-Creston.................................................................. Hon. Michelle Mungall New Westminster ......................................................................... Hon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky ..............................................................Jordan Sturdy Party Standings: BC Liberal 42; NDP 40; BC Green Party 3; Independent 1; Vacant 1

CONTENTS Wednesday, February 13, 2019 Afternoon Sitting Page Routine Business Introductions by Members..................................................................................................................................................... 6973 Tributes ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 6973 Gerry Furney Hon. C.

Trevena Introductions by Members..................................................................................................................................................... 6973 Tributes ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 6973 Kathryn Gibbons S. Chandra Herbert Paul Lazenby D.

Routley Introductions by Members..................................................................................................................................................... 6974 Introduction and First Reading of Bills................................................................................................................................ 6974 Bill 2 — Protection of Public Participation Act Hon. D. Eby Bill 3 — Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2019 Hon. S.

Robinson Statements (Standing Order 25B) ......................................................................................................................................... 6975 Real Acts of Caring Week R. Glumac Lunar new year celebrations T. Wat Art Kube J. Routledge Canadian Pacific Holiday Train and food bank fundraiser L. Throness Moose Hide anti-violence campaign B. D’Eith Jordyn Huitema J.

Martin Oral Questions......................................................................................................................................................................... 6977 Ride-sharing services A. Wilkinson Hon. J. Horgan J. Thornthwaite Hon. C. Trevena Response to Speaker’s report and Clerk meetings with MLAs A. Weaver Hon. M. Farnworth Hon. J. Horgan Ride-sharing services J. Johal Hon. C. Trevena Ride-sharing regulations and conflict-of-interest concerns L. Throness Hon. C. Trevena S. Bond G. Kyllo P . Milobar M.

Polak Tabling Documents................................................................................................................................................................. 6982 Labour Relations Board, annual report, 2017

Orders of the Day Throne Speech Debate ............................................................................................................................................................ 6982 R. Singh R. Leonard P . Milobar A. Weaver S. Thomson

WEDNESDAY , FEBRUARY 13, 2019 The House met at 1:35 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Prayers. Introductions by Members Mr. Speaker:Members, in beginning introductions, if I may make the first introduction, and that is to introduce and welcome a new Table Officer. Earlier this month Suzie Seo joined the Legislative Assembly as Parliamentary Counsel for a one-year term.

Suzie has a wealth of parliamentary experience, having pre- viously served as Parliamentary Counsel, Assistant Law Clerk and Table Officer for the Senate of Canada for many years, and joins us from her position in the office of legisla- tive counsel and Ministry of Attorney General. I should add she’s joined here today in the gallery by her husband, Dan Bourgoin, and her two sons, Noah and Adam. Let’s all please give them a great welcome. We are very lucky to have her. R. Chouhan:It gives me great pleasure to introduce two of my dear friends. Mark Olsen is the president of LiUNA.

We call it LiUNA 1611, but it is the Labourer’s International Union of North America. With him is Bruce Ferguson, my other dear friend, who has served the labour movement for the last many, many decades. He’s the president of the retired members of LiUNA. Please join me to give them a very warm welcome. D. Davies: It gives me great pleasure to introduce two people that made the trek through planes, trains, automo- biles and ferries a couple days ago, all the way from Fort St.

John: my constituency assistant, Tamara Wilkinson, coming down today to view all the great happenings in the House, as well as Wendy Maldonado. She is an intern in my office in Fort St. John, and she is a social services worker diploma student who is doing a practicum at my office. If the House would make them both feel welcome. [1:40 p.m.] E. Foster:It gives me great pleasure today to introduce a young man from my riding who has a great interest in poli- tics. This is his first opportunity to see the House. He is a member of my executive. He is a vice-president of the B.C. Y oung Liberals.

He will be heading to Thompson Rivers Uni- versity in the fall, so I will lose him out of my riding, but my colleagues from Kamloops will have him to work in their riding. Would the House please make Corbin Kelley very welcome. Tributes GERRY FURNEY Hon. C. Trevena: Y esterday in the throne speech, the Lieutenant-Governor recognized those British Columbians who had passed away in the last year. I would just like the House to recognize a legend of B.C., from my constituency, who was mentioned, who did die just last week: a former mayor of Port McNeill, Gerry Furney.

I think there’s nobody in this House who hasn’t got a fond recollection of Mayor Furney. He was a true legend in his time and has left a legacy for the north Island that will go on for many, many years. Mr. Furney emigrated from Ireland. He came to Port McNeill in 1956 as a logger, ten years before it became incor- porated. When it was incorporated, he became an alderman, and he became the mayor. While there is no way to match across the country who has been the longest-serving mayor, I think that with his more than 40 years of service, he was set to be Canada’s longest-serving mayor.

He stood down five years ago, and the role has been taken twice since then. Nobody has been able to continue with his solid majority in Port McNeill. Really, he invested so much in the north Island, in the community, in Port McNeill. He will be sorely missed, not just for his community-mindedness, not just for his great heart and great ideas that he had — some of which we agreed with, some which we didn’t agree with, but he was always open to talk about them — but for other things. He was a very social man. My colleagues know he played the trom- bone. He wrote poetry.

In fact, his poetry bookPopcorn for Breakfast is in the Legislative Library. I hope that the House will pass on condolences of this House to his wife, Carmel, his children, and make sure that the memory of Gerry Furney will live long in British Columbia. Introductions by Members J. Routledge:I am delighted to introduce Laird Cronk, the president of the B.C. Federation of Labour. Please join me in giving him a warm welcome. Tributes KATHRYN GIBBONS S. Chandra Herbert:I wanted to speak to honour the memory of a constituent of mine who passed away yesterday.

Kathryn Gibbons was an incredible mom, an incredible act- ivist. She formed the West End Families in Action committee — really, a voice full of life and joy. Her husband, Tom, just said: “Do something fantastic in Kathryn’s memory. Be an activist. Speak up for someone or perform a random act of kindness. ” I think that’s a good mes- sage, good advice for every day of the year. 6973

I just want to say thank you to Kathryn for being such a light in our community. PAUL LAZENBY D. Routley:I’ d like the House to help me celebrate and remember Paul Lazenby, who as a Cowichan Valley resident has been a volunteer and a dedicated servant to his com- munity for many, many years. His dear partner, Rhoda Taylor, a dear friend of mine, has lost her life partner, and we are all forlorn about that. Paul never lost an idealism that fuelled an overwhelming desire to make things better — bet- ter for community, better for family, better for environment.

Those who loved Paul and love Rhoda, and I count myself chief among those, are devastated by his loss. I’ d like to have the House remember what a dedicated and lovely person Paul Lazenby has been. Introductions by Members R. Glumac:I have two introductions today. First, I’ d like to introduce a good friend and mentor from my constitu- ency whose energy and enthusiasm grow exponentially every single day: Jacqui Boyer. Would the House make her feel welcome. [1:45 p.m.] I’ d also like to introduce Coquitlam school district ele- mentary school counsellor Harriette Chang.

Almost 50 stu- dents, who you’ll see up there, are joining us in the Legis- lature today. Harriette teachers at Heritage Mountain and Mundy Road Elementary School. Students accompanying her are representing five schools in school district 43 — Heritage Mountain, Mundy Road Elementary, Charles Best, Port Moody and Gleneagle secondary schools — and one school in the Okanagan school district, Summerland Middle School. Accompanying them are numerous parent volun- teers, teachers and principals.

They’re here to help us celebrate Real Acts of Caring Week and are truly making a positive difference, not only in their own community but across Canada. Would the House make them feel welcome. D. Ashton:I, too, would like to emphasize what the mem- ber for Port Moody had stated. Today I’m really proud to have some folks here from Summerland that have come down to show what many of us do in this House. We all do acts of real caring. It’s not noticed all the time, but each and every one of us steps out of that boundary quite often and ensures that others are helped.

The kids from Summerland, if I could just be so quick: Lily Keys, Mackenzie Stevens, Kate Robinson, Sam Plant, Everett McKinley, Samantha Robertson and Maria Scarfo; the teach- er, Melissa Burdock, who actually brought this to Summer- land Middle School; the principal, Darcy Mullin; and last but not least, and I may have missed one, Jillian Stevens, a neigh- bour of mine. Would the House please make these kids and all the other kids here, who have really stepped forward in society to make a difference. Introduction and First Reading of Bills BILL 2 — PROTECTION OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ACT Hon. D.

Eby presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Protection of Public Participation Act. Hon. D. Eby:I move the bill be introduced and read a first time now. I’m pleased to introduce the Protection of Public Particip- ation Act. The bill is virtually identical to Bill 32, 2018, intro- duced on the 15th of May last year. However, as the bill did not proceed during the limited time available in the fall sit- ting of last session, the legislation is now being re-introduced in the new session.

The only substantial difference is that in this bill, it is pro- posed that the act would apply to litigation commenced on or after May 15, 2018, that being the date this legislation was first introduced, in order that the legislation not apply to cir- cumstances arising prior to its introduction. The purpose of this act is to enhance public participation by protecting expression on matters of public interest and lit- igation that unduly limits such expression.

Lawsuits that are improperly motivated by the intent to silence expression are often referred to as strategic lawsuits against public particip- ation, or by the acronym SLAPP . The act would not, however, require the difficult assess- ment of a plaintiff ’s motive.

Rather, the act would provide for a legal basis and expedited process by which, at an early stage in the proceedings, a court would be able to determine whether a lawsuit arises out of expression on a matter of public interest and, if so, to weigh whether the likely harm to a plaintiff is serious enough that the public interest in allowing the lawsuit to continue would outweigh the public interest in protecting the expression that gave rise to the law- suit.

In so doing, the act would improve access to justice, would balance the protection of freedom of expression with the protection of reputation and economic interests. The act is based on the Uniform Protection of Public Par- ticipation Act adopted by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada in 2017, which in turn is based on the 2015 Ontario act of the same name. Many British Columbians and a large number of civil society groups in B.C. have called for legislation to protect public participation. In 2017, the Union of B.C.

Municip- alities adopted a resolution endorsing such legislation, and in February of last year, 15 eminent legal figures signed an open letter calling for legislation based on the model of the Ontario act. The ability of citizens to participate freely in discussion 6974 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

and debate on matters of public interest without fear of undue legal threat is vital to a vibrant democratic society. The Protection of Public Participation Act will be of great importance in protecting that fundamental democratic value. Mr. Speaker:The question is first reading of the bill. Motion approved. Hon. D. Eby: I move the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 2, Protection of Public Participation Act, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today. [1:50 p.m.] BILL 3 — MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS AND HOUSING STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2019 Hon. S. Robinson presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2019. Hon. S. Robinson:I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now. I’m pleased to introduce Bill 3, the Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2019.

This bill amends the following statutes: the Building Act, the Cultus Lake Park Act, the Local Government Act, the Resort Municipality of Whistler Act and the Vancouver Charter. The amendments address regulatory gaps in issues that have been identified in the Building Act, make targeted changes to help modernize key aspects of the Cultus Lake Park Act, allow local governments to better respond to vari- ous community needs and ensure that local government legislation is up to date.

The amendments will have meaningful impact by ensur- ing that local government legislation is clear and operates effectively and by enabling local governments to respond to circumstances in their communities. Mr. Speaker:The question is first reading of the bill. Motion approved. Hon. S. Robinson:I move this bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 3, Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2019, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today. Statements (Standing Order 25B) REAL ACTS OF CARING WEEK R. Glumac:Giving flowers to strangers, buying someone a coffee, asking respectful questions in question period — these are all examples of real acts of caring. It’s doing some- thing kind for another person without expecting anything in return. It began in 2005 in grades 4 and 5 in Central Com- munity School in Port Coquitlam.

Thanks to the continued efforts of the students that are here today, the idea continues to spread. To date, there have been 55 local proclamations passed in municipalities recognizing Real Acts of Caring Week. Each one of these was initiated by local students. I’m pleased to announce that, once again, our government is issuing a Real Acts of Caring Week proclamation for Feb- ruary 10 to 16, 2019. That’s going to be happening right after question period. This initiative is helping students feel safe and welcome and connected at school.

It’s helping to reduce bullying, and it’s supporting students’ overall mental health and well- being. These students are true leaders, and it’s great to have so many of them here today so that we can honour their leadership and commitment to spreading kindness. I think the best way that we can do that is for all of us to do our part to promote kindness and empathy to our colleagues, to our neighbours, to our co-workers and to all British Col- umbians — not just during Real Acts of Caring Week but all year long. LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS T.

Wat:It’s a great honour for me to rise in the House today to take note of one of the most celebrated festivals among Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Malaysi- an and many other communities the past week. February 5 marked the beginning of the month-long lunar new year celebrations. The Leader of the Official Opposition, our colleagues and I were proud to join local communities in attending two of the largest celebrations, including the countdown at the Aberdeen Centre in my Richmond North Centre riding and the Vancouver Chinatown parade.

The countdown and parade have attracted thousands of participants, spectators and cultural groups. British Colum- bia is home to a large Asian population. Almost 1.3 million or 28.3 percent of British Columbians are immigrants, the majority of which were born in Asia. In our province, lunar new year carries a meaning beyond the traditions of just family dinners, lion and dragon dances and red envelopes. It is an occasion that reminds us of the contributions Asian Canadians have made to the province’s Wednesday, February 13, 2019 British Columbia Debates 6975

culture and to our economy, making British Columbia a diverse and vibrant place to live. Being a multicultural society helps us attract skilled immigrants to grow our economy and nurture understand- ing among different cultures. As the critic for multicultur- alism and a former Minister for Multiculturalism, I have always recognized that our strength lies in tolerance, accept- ance, mutual understanding, harmony and cooperation among the many people that call this province home. [1:55 p.m.] And 2019 is the Y ear of the Golden Pig, which symbolizes wisdom, luck and fortune.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous Y ear of the Golden Pig. 新年快樂. Xin Nian Kuai Le. 萬事如意. Wan Shi Ru Yi. 身體健康. Shen tin Jian Kang. 恭喜發財. Gung Hay Fat Choy. [Text and transliteration provided by T. Wat.] ART KUBE J. Routledge:It is with great sadness that I rise today to mourn the passing of a labour legend and community leader. Art Kube passed away on Sunday, February 10. He leaves behind a rich legacy of advocacy and activism. Broth- er Kube’s commitment to the people of British Columbia and Canada never wavered, and for that, he was awarded the Order of Canada in 2015. Art was born in Poland in 1935.

He apprenticed in struc- tural layout in Vienna before moving to Canada in 1954. Art spent his early years working as a heavy-equipment operator and steel fabricator and volunteering as an in-plant organ- izer for the United Steelworkers of America. Art was an organizer and then regional director of edu- cation with the Canadian Labour Congress. He was elected president of the B.C. Federation of Labour in 1983, during which time he chaired Operation Solidarity, one of the largest worker-led movements in B.C. ’s history. Art’s volunteer activities were as varied as his union work.

Art was a founding member of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a founding member of the national co- op housing foundation and a founding member of Seniors on Guard for Medicare. He was a longtime board member of the United Way of the Lower Mainland and Council of Canadians. He also helped negotiate the creation and imple- mentation of the labour studies program at Simon Fraser University.

After he formally retired in 1995, Art became president of the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of British Columbia and a director of the New Vista Society, a non- profit housing and long-term care facility for seniors. He was also president of the National Pensioners and Senior Citizens Federation. Art Kube, you inspired generations of leaders who came behind you. CANADIAN PACIFIC HOLIDAY TRAIN AND FOOD BANK FUNDRAISER L.

Throness:Every year for two decades, the CP Holiday Train travels for nearly a month from Montreal to Coquitlam and many places in between, stopping at locations big and small across Canada to give a concert in December and raise money for food banks. Over the years, they’ve raised $16 million and 4.5 million pounds of food for food banks nationwide. One of those regular stops is at the town of Agassiz in my riding, and it’s a big hit.

People travel for many miles along with their kids to greet the brightly lit train, see the side of a boxcar open up to reveal a full band and enjoy a concert, this year by the Sam Roberts Band. I’ve attended in blizzard and driving rain, but that doesn’t seem to deter a crowd of thousands. This year Canadian Pacific gave a cheque for $7,000 to the Agassiz food bank for their Christmas hampers, and the event sparked further donations from the audience, which brought with them almost 1,500 pounds of food and $1,500 in cash as well.

I had the privilege of speaking to the crowd to thank CP for its efforts, and this year I reminded everyone that CP wouldn’t need to do this. There are a number of roads into Vancouver, but only one railroad track, and every year CP dedicates that precious space to those who are most needy at Christmas. The Holiday Train reminds us that the people of Canadian Pacific have big hearts, and in a time when the company is hurting from the tragic loss of three staff members in a derailment in our province, our hearts go back out to them both in sympathy and in gratitude.

Special thanks to Mike LoVecchio of CP for being there on the ground every year to direct traffic and welcome guests. Thanks to the performers who travel and play in all kinds of winter weather. And thanks to the good people of Canadian Pacific for going thousands of miles out of their way for food banks every year. MOOSE HIDE ANTI-VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN B. D’Eith:At lunchtime today, members from all sides of the House gathered on the steps of our parliament proclaim- ing today Moose Hide Campaign Day. This is the eighth year of the B.C.-born campaign.

During this time, the cam- paign has grown from small beginnings — a moose, two people, Paul Lacerte and his daughter Raven, and a big idea to inspire men to stand up against violence towards women and children. [2:00 p.m.] No one should ever have to live in fear. No one should have to know fear in the company of a loved one. In the last 6976 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

eight years, these small pieces of moose hide have become a huge symbol. Last year the campaign reached a landmark one million pins, and this year it reached 1.5 million pins. This begs the question: what makes these pins so power- ful? They start conversations. They spark debate. They make strangers stop in the street and ask questions, because it’s silence where violence can flourish. Now, sometimes violence is in plain sight, because people don’t understand what they’re seeing. Sometimes they just don’t want to see it or don’t want to believe. That’s why we gathered on the steps today.

That’s why we wear the moose hide pins: because we want to talk about violence. We need to see it when it happens under our noses. We need to recognize the signs so we can take action. Today it was really exciting to hear of a campaign launched with K-to-12 students, because education is the key to ending systemic violence. The children and youth on the moose hide learning journey today are the parents of tomorrow who will teach their kids healthy attitudes towards women and children. Now, my challenge to all of my colleagues here in this chamber is to take the message of the Moose Hide Campaign Day to heart.

Talk to your sons and daughters, nephews, nieces and grandkids about why violence is never the answer. Talk to them about a moose, a father and a daughter on the Highway of Tears and why one small square of moose hide can change lives. Haychka. JORDYN HUITEMA J. Martin:Jordyn Huitema is a 17-year-old grade 12 soc- cer phenomenon from Chilliwack who, in 2018, won the Canadian Soccer Association’s female Y outh International Player of the Y ear award.

When she turns 18 in May, it has been reported she will be turning professional with the French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, a team she has previously played two games for in the 2018 International Champions Cup. Jordyn was also the recipient of the Golden Boot award at last year’s Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association of Football under-20 Women’s Championship. This young soccer phenom has had a myriad of accomplishments, including playing for Canada’s under-15 team for three years, two years for Canada’s under-17 squad and two years with the under-20 team.

Jordyn has also had the privilege of playing for our senior women’s national team and has played in 16 international matches for this distinguished squad, which is ranked fifth in the world. She first played for this team at the age of 15. In the Confederation of North, Central America and Carib- bean Association of Football World Cup qualifying round last year, she scored an incredible four goals in a match against Cuba. Did I mention she was a phenom?

If that wasn’t enough, last year Jordyn became the first participant to play for the under-17, the under-20 and the senior women’s national team all in the same year. Last fall she captained the under-17 team to a fourth-place finish in the under-17 FIFA World Cup, an event in which she scored three goals. Will the House please join me in recognizing this excep- tional young woman from Chilliwack, Jordyn Huitema. Oral Questions RIDE-SHARING SERVICES A. Wilkinson:We gathered here yesterday for the throne speech, of course, the first day of the session.

We were greeted by a throne speech that was virtually devoid of con- tent, apart from a few tidbits for consumers. Now, there’s one major item of consumer interest that this government has chosen to thoroughly and completely obstruct. Y esterday at Vancouver Airport, there were between 200 and 300 people waiting for taxis. There was no taxi service available in real terms in Victoria or Vancouver. Y et we have this government doing everything it can to block ride-sharing.

It’s available in every other part of the world, and we have this government creating a regulatory night- mare of quotas, caps and price controls. Last week it reached the point where the federal Com- petition Bureau weighed in. I don’t know if this has ever happened before. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members, we shall hear the question. Members. Proceed. A. Wilkinson: I’m not sure this has ever happened before — that the Competition Bureau has felt the need to weigh in on the ineptitude of a provincial government.

But they came out and said that this is simply unacceptable in a modern society. [2:05 p.m.] Can the Transportation Minister explain to us why it is that she’s triggered the remarks from the Competition Bur- eau that British Columbia is far, far behind the world in con- sumer interests? Hon. J. Horgan:It’s great to be back in the Legislature, it’s great to be back in question period, and it’s great to see the Leader of the Opposition starting with kindness and gener- osity in his first question.

Dismissing consumer protection as tidbits is ironic when he then segues into: “What are we going to do to let con- sumers have more choice?” Well, I’ll tell the member. I’ll join with members on this side in saying that for five years, ride-sharing tried to break through the wall of Liberal indifference to consumers. It was only when the government changed that they were able to Wednesday, February 13, 2019 British Columbia Debates 6977

enable ride-sharing, and it’s coming this year. We’re pretty excited about it. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Official Opposition on a supplemental. A. Wilkinson:Well, it’s a pleasure to see that the Premier has decided to continue the tradition of protecting his min- isters from questions. We’ll try this one again.

The Competition Bureau said: “Instead of regulating things like caps on the number of drivers, geographic boundaries and price regulation, just let the principles of supply and demand decide what is best. ” Perhaps this time we can extract an answer from the min- ister responsible rather than the Premier, but I see he’s ready to leap to his feet to answer the question. Has the minister responded to the Competition Bureau…? Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members, if we may allow the Leader of the Official Opposition to finish his question. A.

Wilkinson: Has the Minister of Transportation responded to the Competition Bureau’s critique, and what did she have to say? Hon. J. Horgan:I apologize for my unbridled enthusiasm, but I’ve been waiting months and months and months for the Leader of the Opposition to come forth with some sub- stantive questions.

It’s ironic that he starts with an area where his government, when he was in power, had ample oppor- tunity to address the shortcomings of ride opportunities for the public, to put in place consumer protections to ensure that the existing industry was protected while we introduced competition that would free up the market for the people who are asking for this. Again, I thank the member for his question. I’m delighted to know that we’re now on the same page. All sides of this House want to see ride-sharing coming as quickly as pos- sible, and the good news is, because of this government, it’s coming this year.

Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Official Opposition on a second supplemental. A. Wilkinson:Well, the Premier seems to have embarked on his little study in glaciers, as it melts in front of us and takes two years to implement something that could have been done in two weeks. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Thank you. A.

Wilkinson: The Premier’s concept of serving con- sumers’ interests is to create blockades, price controls, caps on supply — all designed to obstruct the consumer interest, when everyone knows the level playing field required for this to proceed and to keep the taxi industry viable is well known and well described. But this Premier hasn’t got the necessary drive to get this done and is dragging it out over two years, perhaps to open an election window. Premier, why the delay? Hon. J.

Horgan:Based on the results of the by-election in Nanaimo, an election window is something I’m sure the member on the other side will want to jump through at an early opportunity. In all seriousness, the question about introducing ride- hailing in British Columbia has been active since 2012. Now, I appreciate that the Leader of the Opposition just arrived in 2013, but there are members on the front bench of the oppo- sition who were here in 2012 and did absolutely nothing.

After the last election, we came into government hope- ful that we would be able to access some sense of progress over that five-year period and found zero. It was only after the election, after the introduction of legislation on this side, that the courageous people in the Liberal caucus decided they had a solution, and it would only take about five minutes. Well, if it only takes five minutes, hon. Member, why did it take you five years to get zero for the people of British Columbia? J.

Thornthwaite:Every group that is interested in ride- sharing, apart from all of the NDP’s friends, are slamming the quotas, the boundary restrictions and the heavy-handed price controls. Even TransLink is telling the minister: “Hurry up and get with the times. ” My question is for the minister. Has the minister told TransLink why she is blocking ride-sharing for British Col- umbians? [2:10 p.m.] Hon. C. Trevena:I’m very pleased to be talking about ride-hailing again in this Legislature and answering the opposition’s questions again. The opposition, when they were government, the B.C. Liberal government….

Five years, as the Premier said. They had five years, from when Uber first came to British Columbia, to get it right. They did nothing. With the support of our friends, the Third Party, the Green Party, we got legislation through the House. The Pas- senger Transportation Amendment Act is in place, and by fall this year there will be app-based ride-hailing in B.C. Mr. Speaker:The member for North Vancouver–Sey- mour on a supplemental. 6978 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

J. Thornthwaite:Except that nobody believes ride-shar- ing will come under your legislation. Everyone agrees that the quotas for NDP friends are a bad idea for consumers. Even the Vancouver police department calls the minister’s boundary controls “counterproductive and one of the problems we’re trying to solve. ” When is the minister going to stop blocking ride-sharing? Hon. C.

Trevena:I know that the member has only been here in this place for five years so may still just be getting to grips with the fact that when you bring in legislation that leads to regulation to enable something, it takes time to get those regulations in place. I’ll leave it there for the member. We are introducing…. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members, if we may hear the response. Hon. C. Trevena:We have the legislation in place. We are working on the regulations. App-based ride-hailing will be in B.C. later this year. RESPONSE TO SPEAKER’S REPORT AND CLERK MEETINGS WITH MLAs A.

Weaver:While the official opposition and government quibble over the bringing in of ride-hailing here in the province of British Columbia, it could have happened four years ago if my private members’ bill had been debated on this floor. B.C. Greens stand ready to ensure and bring ride- hailing here. There is no excuse for delays — no government excuse, no opposition excuse. Let’s get on with it and do it. Hon. Speaker, it’s been three weeks since the 76-page report that you wrote containing allegations of misconduct by senior officers of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly was released.

To suggest that the public is outraged over the culture of entitlement exposed in that report would be a gross understatement, yet government has been largely silent on the matter, almost acting as if nothing has happened. Frankly, this is irresponsible and unacceptable. My question is to the Premier. What is his government planning to do to increase accountability and transparency in this place as a first step to rebuilding public trust? Hon. M. Farnworth:I thank the member for his question. I would say that every member in this House takes that report extremely seriously.

That’s one of the reasons why it was publicly released. It’s one of the reasons why the Legisla- tive Assembly Management Committee has been discussing and looking at ways of dealing with that report. More importantly, from the government’s perspective, hon.

Member, most recently we had a letter received, which members of your caucus also received and which was made public, from the three key independent officers of this Legis- lature — the Merit Commissioner, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Ombudsperson — on three import- ant reforms that could in fact take place that would help to restore confidence in many of the activities that this cham- ber is responsible for.

I have made it clear, on the part of the government, that we will accept every single one of those recommendations, and I also made it clear that every single one of them will be implemented. We have already let the independent officers know that we intend to work with them to implement them, and they have expressed satisfaction with that. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Third Party on a supple- mental. A.

Weaver:Well, that answer demonstrates exactly the point I’m trying to make: yet another reactive approach by government and no proactive leadership on a file that’s cry- ing out for leadership. [2:15 p.m.] Rebuilding public trust in this institution for British Col- umbians, listening and responding to external parties, is one thing. We need leadership from this government, and it’s sorely missing on this file. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the report is the alleged partisan nature of the Clerk’s office.

The report details 39 entries of in-province trips taken by the Clerk since March 2017 for individual meetings. Four of these involved former B.C. Liberal Speaker Bill Barisoff. Four involved the former Premier Christy Clark, all of which occurred after she was no longer Premier. Fourteen were with former B.C. Liberal MLA Geoff Plant. Two were with the B.C. Liberal MLA from Abbotsford West. One was for a meeting at the B.C. Liberal Party offices. Let me be clear. The Clerk has never once visited the B.C. Green Party, nor any of our MLAs, outside of this Legis- lature. My question to the Premier is this.

How many times since March 2017 has the Clerk visited the B.C. NDP party office or an individual MLA ’s office in Vancouver or else- where in the province of British Columbia, those MLAs being NDP MLAs? Hon. J. Horgan:I thank the member for his question and his concern about the report tabled by the Speaker in the break after the last sitting of the House. I agree with him that it’s incumbent upon all of us, all members here, to demon- strate leadership. It’s not one party. It’s not one person.

It’s all of us that have to demonstrate to the public that we’re seri- ous and genuine about real reform to make sure that there’s transparency and absolute certainty that the activities of all members of this House, all Table Officers of this House…. Welcome, Sue, to the Table. I bet you didn’t count on this, did you. In all seriousness, the Clerk has never been to my office, whether it be at the Legislature or in my constituency. He has never visited the party office of the B.C. NDP . I have no Wednesday, February 13, 2019 British Columbia Debates 6979

knowledge of any of the members of my caucus ever having a visit from the Clerk of the Legislature. Again, the questions of partisanship are in your report. The questions of partisanship are in the public domain. And I will remind members that when the Clerk, Mr. James, was appointed, it was not with the support of the official opposition — the first time in our history that an individual was appointed to head this jurisdiction, to head this table, that did not have unanimous consent.

I think we need to start, as we go forward, to ensure that all of us, all 87 of us, are focused on restoring public confidence in the work that we do. I know that each member, regardless of their political stripe, regardless of their former vocation, came to this place with a good conscience to make life better for their neigh- bours. I know that in my heart, and I know that we can demonstrate that to the public if we work together and not hector each other on who was right and who was wrong and whose fault it is. There’s a problem here. We all have to fix it. RIDE-SHARING SERVICES J.

Johal: This NDP regulatory disaster is deliberately designed to block ride-sharing in favour of NDP friends and insiders. This is what senior Lyft executive Joseph Okpaku told me: “We’ve never entered a market with all these restric- tions in place. ” To the Transportation Minister, why is she blocking ride- sharing? Hon. C. Trevena:I thank the member for his question. I find it very amusing to think that we’re being accused of blocking ride-hailing when that side, as the B.C. Liberal gov- ernment, had five years to do something and did nothing. We acted as quickly as we could to bring in legislation.

We have legislation. The only benefit of that lengthy delay and the fact that the then government failed on the ride-hailing file is that we’ve been able to learn from other jurisdictions. We’ve been able to learn, to ensure that we get it right for B.C. Garland Chow has said — he’s a professor emeritus of transportation at UBC — that we aren’t going to need a whole bunch of band-aids next year and the year after because we’re going to get it right the first time. Mr. Speaker:Richmond-Queensborough on a supple- mental. J. Johal:Last year the Crown Corporations Committee was looking into ride-hailing.

We presented a thorough report. We should be moving forward at this moment. Instead, the Transportation Minister wants the committee to look at class 4 licensing quotas and boundaries. It’s clearly there, clearly stated by her, to stifle ride-hailing. [2:20 p.m.] The ride-sharing industry is very clear that they will never come to British Columbia under this minister’s draconian rules, which is exactly what NDP friends and insiders have asked. They will benefit directly from blocking what con- sumers want. Why is the NDP putting the interests of their friends above the interests of consumers? Hon. C.

Trevena:As I say, we are learning from other jur- isdictions. We’re seeing what has happened in other jurisdic- tions, which have been dealing with incredible congestion thanks to the introduction of app-based ride-hailing. We are learning from that. We have a commitment to safety of pas- sengers, drivers and other people on the roads. We cannot ignore that responsibility.

I have to say that I really find it incomprehensible how the opposition can continue to say that we have been block- ing things, that we are favouring one side or the other when the former Transportation Minister, now the MLA for Kam- loops–South Thompson, said back in 2014…. He was the minister. He was faced with ride-hailing, which that side did not bring in. He said at that time: “My message to Uber and any other company like Uber is: we have rules. We have laws in this province that are all about protecting the travelling public and ensuring people can travel safely.

If Uber wants to oper- ate in this province, they’re going to have to operate under the same rules taxi operators currently abide by. ” We have moved beyond that. We are working to design the regulations to ensure that app-based ride-hailing can come to B.C. RIDE-SHARING REGULATIONS AND CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST CONCERNS L. Throness:There are only 234 taxi licences in B.C., and just one of them can be very valuable — hundreds of thou- sands of dollars. Their value would be directly impacted by decisions on ride-sharing.

If the minister or a member of her office working on the file had any private interest in a taxi licence, it would obviously be a perceived or a potential con- flict of interest. My question: if the minister found such a conflict in her office, would she remove the staff member from the file? Hon. C. Trevena:I thank the member for his question. I’m somewhat confused by it, but I’m sure that his supple- mental will try and bring some more light on it. Mr. Speaker:The member for Chilliwack-Kent on a sup- plemental. L.

Throness:I would like to take this a little bit further, because the public needs to know the motivations of those working on the ride-sharing file. If anyone, either directly or through an immediate family member, owns a taxi licence, they shouldn’t be making the rules for ride-sharing. 6980 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Would the minister require anyone with a potential or perceived conflict of interest on ride-sharing to recuse them- selves from the file? Hon. C. Trevena:Thank you to the member. I’ve got to say I have every faith in the professionalism of all my staff, both my political staff and the public servants who’ve been working diligently on this file, who absolutely have integ- rity. I think the member is making insinuations…. I think it would behoove all of us to either be clear about them or drop them. S.

Bond: The Parliamentary Secretary for Sport and Mul- ticulturalism is the lead government member on a commit- tee that is making recommendations on ride-sharing regu- lations. However, licensing documents from the Passenger Transportation Board confirm that the parliamentary secret- ary’s immediate family member is the owner and operator of a Bluebird Cab taxi licence. To the Minister of Transportation, is she aware of this per- ceived conflict? Hon. C. Trevena:I think that the member is trying to dig up some dirt that does not exist.

I have huge respect for the work of all members of the committee, who have been work- ing diligently — both in the first round and in the second round, this latest round — to ensure that we are bringing app-based ride-hailing to B.C. I think the question that this member really needs to address is why we can bring app-based ride-hailing to B.C. and that side of the House was unable to do so. Mr. Speaker:The member for Prince George–Valemount on a supplemental. [2:25 p.m.] S. Bond: That’s a very unfortunate characterization of a legitimate question that British Columbians are asking.

Most British Columbians have a pretty hard time accepting that someone can make the rules for ride-sharing when their family owns a taxi licence. This government continues to block ride-sharing, and ultimately, it benefits the private interests of a member of the committee making the rules about ride-sharing. Will the minister stand up and explain her member’s involvement in the ride-sharing file given his family’s private interests? Hon. C. Trevena:I think that every member of this Legis- lature behaves with integrity. We are all honourable people. We are all appointed to various roles as honourable people.

The member that the opposition member for Prince George–Valemount is talking about has been active on the committee, as have all members been active on the commit- tee. They are coming up with recommendations that I as the minister will be making decisions upon. I’m the decision-maker. The buck stops with me. It does not stop with the committee members. G. Kyllo: The Parliamentary Secretary for Sport and Multiculturalism has been one of the most active members of the government side on the ride-sharing file.

Just weeks ago he led the government side in a meeting where he grilled ride-sharing representatives for what he claimed were safety concerns. Given the private interests of his family, can the parlia- mentary secretary explain his extensive involvement in this file? Hon. C. Trevena:I believe I’ve answered that question. Mr. Speaker:The member for Shuswap on a supplemen- tal. G. Kyllo:We do know that the parliamentary secretary has been actively involved in the file, both publicly and behind the scenes.

Emails from the Premier’s chief of staff, Geoff Meggs, last fall make it extremely clear that political staff were directly in contact with the parliamentary secret- ary to discuss the Hara review on taxis. Will the parliamentary secretary disclose the nature of those internal conversations and how he has worked behind the scenes to block ride-sharing in B.C.? Hon. C. Trevena:Obviously, the member is aware that he’s not allowed to ask a parliamentary secretary a question. I think I have answered the questions here.

I think that we’re very clear that we believe that everybody who’s working on both sides of this House — in all three parts of this House — has integrity and wants to get to a solution that works for all of British Columbia. That is what my focus is as the minister who is making the final decision. P . Milobar:It’s disappointing to hear how much confu- sion there seems to be from the Minister of Transportation today on almost every question asked. However, what this really is about today… Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Members, if we may hear the question. Thank you. P .

Milobar:…is the serving of private interests of the NDP friends and insiders, friends like Moe Sihota. The min- ister has rolled out the red carpet for the NDP-connected taxi cab app, Kater, a business backed by private interests that want ride-sharing blocked. Why is the minister favouring Kater over other compan- ies? Hon. C. Trevena:This government is neither associated Wednesday, February 13, 2019 British Columbia Debates 6981

nor affiliated with Kater or the developers in any way. Any suggestion that it is, is untrue. I think what that side of the House is trying to do is deflect from the reality that for five years, the B.C. Liberals absolutely failed on this file. For five years, they had the opportunity to do something, but they did nothing. We will ensure that app-based ride-hailing is available in British Columbia this year. Mr. Speaker:Kamloops–North Thompson on a supple- mental. [2:30 p.m.] P .

Milobar:I haven’t been in this House for that long, but even I know this government’s approach to ride-hailing has Moe Sihota’s fingerprints all over it. When did the minister make a backroom deal with Moe Sihota and others connected with Kater to give Kater the advantage over other ride-hailing apps? Hon. C. Trevena:I’m stunned at this line of questioning. I know that these are challenges that are really unfair, but it’s the classic question. I would wonder if the member would like to have this discussion out in the corridor where he’s not protected by parliamentary privilege.

As I have said, our government is not associated with Kater. Our government is committed to getting app-based ride-hailing in operation in British Columbia, because people have waited too long. They have waited too long for this to come. They knew, from 2012, that there was this solution out there. Five years, and the B.C. Liberals ignored it. “Five years, ” they said. “We will get to it eventu- ally. ” We got to work on it immediately, and we now have legislation in place. M. Polak:Well, I’ll be really clear.

I’ d be happy to talk about any of this outside in the hallway, and I imagine the minister may be forced to very shortly. The facts are these. There is a member who has influence on the file whose family has an interest, ownership, in a cab company. That’s a fact. The fact is that Moe Sihota is directly working together with Kater.

The facts, as we’ve displayed today, are that in spite of all of the commentary from those in the public realm, those third parties who have an interest in pursuing ride-sharing and supporting it have pointed out the apparent flaws that exist in the legislation, the flaws that are going to ensure that ride- hailing never gets here. Well, I would put to you that they aren’t just flaws. They aren’t just mistakes. These are very purposeful actions to ensure a certain outcome. What is that outcome? Well, the public wants ride-hailing. The NDP friends don’t. The min- ister’s decision. Whose side is she on? Hon. C.

Trevena:I’m happy to receive a question from that member who, as I think this House is aware, was a former Transportation Minister herself. In fact, I think she must have been the Transportation Minister when Uber first came to B.C. in 2012. At the time, the member was so open to Uber coming that she suggested that there would be a minimum fee of $75 per fare. If anything is going to be blocking ride-hailing, I would think it would be that. She said at the time that “Uber is using rates below those required by the Passenger Transportation Board, ” our ulti- mate safeguard on transportation.

We have an independ- ent Passenger Transportation Board. She continued: “However, we must ensure that it’s fair and it does not detract from existing businesses that are licensed to oper- ate. In the interim, starting this weekend” — that was back in November 2012 — “the company can use a minimum rate of $75 each trip. ” I’ve got to say, with that kind of ridiculous approach, it’s no wonder that we’re only getting to app-based ride-hail- ing now. [End of question period.] Tabling Documents Hon. D.

Eby: I have the honour to present the annual report of the Labour Relations Board for the year ending December 31, 2017. Orders of the Day Hon. M. Farnworth:I call Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. [2:35 p.m.] [R. Chouhan in the chair.] Throne Speech Debate R. Singh: I move, seconded by the member for Cour- tenay-Comox: [That we, Her Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Session assembled, beg leave to thank Y our Honour for the gracious speech which Y our Honour has addressed to us at the opening of the present Session.] Mr.

Speaker, it’s my great honour, and I’m very pleased, to speak in support of the throne speech, which is focused on the work that our government is doing to make life better and create opportunities for people. Making life better starts with the choices we make today. The choices of the past…. We know for the last 16 years we had a government that was not working for the people of B.C., but our government is making different choices and putting people first. From affordability to services and a strong, sustainable economy, our government is fixing the problems and making progress on the things that matter most.

I can say, especially hearing from my constituents in Sur- rey–Green Timbers, that affordability remains the biggest 6982 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

challenge facing B.C. families. Too many families are living paycheque to paycheque. No matter how hard they work, they can’t seem to get ahead. And rather than letting costs rise uncontrolled, our government is making life more affordable and helping families get ahead. I’m so proud of the work our government has done to make life more affordable. I hear, whenever I go out in the community and talk to my constituents and also to people in Surrey, that they are so happy with the changes our govern- ment is making. We reduced the MSP prices by half, and we are going to eliminate them fully in the coming year.

This has made a big difference in an average working family’s house- hold. Now a family of four, a couple, can have about $1,800 in their pockets that they can spend on the things that really matter to them. I have heard from so many families who are benefiting from it. Also talking from the Surrey context, the tolls that we eliminated last year are making a big difference.

Even now, although it’s been almost a year and a half since we did it, I still hear from people in Surrey how happy they are that we eliminated that unfair tax. [2:40 p.m.] Also, our government will maintain its freeze on ferry fares for major routes and discounts on minor and northern routes. That is also something that we were hearing a lot from people, and our government is committed to making life more affordable. One thing that I keep on hearing often — it comes in, in every discussion everywhere I go — is housing. For far too long, housing prices have left too many people unable to find affordable housing.

The previous government failed to address the housing crisis. They made choices to benefit the wealthy few while costs spiralled up for everyone else. I’m so glad that our gov- ernment’s choices are making a difference. We are seeing a drop in foreign and domestic speculation, moderate home prices in the Lower Mainland and increasing vacancy rates for rentals. It means a lot for the people of B.C. I can say that for my constituents in Surrey, this is huge for them. Whenever I go and talk to them, there are so many families who are strug- gling to be able to afford a house.

This is a dream, especially, I can say, for a lot of newcomers who make Surrey their home. It is their dream to come to a new country, a new city and be able to get a new house, be able to buy a new house. For the last so many years, they were just falling behind. They were not in any position to get into the housing market. I’m so proud that our government is making changes and making efforts to make it possible for those people to get into the housing market. One thing I also want to say is that the housing crisis wasn’t created overnight, and it won’t be fixed overnight.

But our government is determined to fix the problems and make housing more affordable for people. Another issue that is very close to my heart is child care. We know that families were paying tens of thousands of dol- lars a year for child care, and they were waiting for months and years on wait-lists. Past governments have not helped parents to find the child care they need and move their lives forward. But this government has taken its first steps to make quality child care more affordable and more available to more B.C. families. We are starting to make progress.

Tens of thousands of B.C. families are enjoying the benefits of more affordable child care. Child care costs have been reduced by hundreds of dollars a month. Y oung families can purchase a home for the first time, and more parents can participate in the workforce. This has come to me…. I’ve heard firsthand from fam- ilies. A lot of women in my constituency had to make a choice because child care was so expensive that they were not getting into the workforce. It was not that they did not want to work.

They just could not do it because they could not afford the child care costs, so they were making the decision to stay at home. With the steps that our government is taking, more and more families are benefiting from the child care discounts. Also, more women — I say women because it’s usually the women who are the primary caregivers — are coming into the workforce, which is, in turn, helping our economy. In the throne speech, it was announced that the govern- ment’s plan is to develop new collaborative legislation that will give universal access to quality, affordable child care the force of law.

I’m proud that our government is taking steps to make sure that affordable child care is there for every family that needs it. Quality public services are the key to stronger and health- ier communities. After years of underfunding, our govern- ment is making record investments in education, with more support and better learning environments for students. This is something which was resonating in my community of Sur- rey — that in services, we were just lagging behind. Surrey, as we know, is the fastest-growing community in B.C. We get more than 1,200 people who make Surrey their home every month.

But we were just lagging behind in the services that we were providing. [2:45 p.m.] Education is the one thing that we all should be investing in. I am so happy that our government has approved 24 seismic upgrade projects. One-third of them are completed or underway. We have hired 3,700 new teachers, including special education teachers, teachers at colleges and counsel- lors. And we are working to make schools more inclusive, with the expansion of anti-bullying programs and additional resources for mental health and wellness.

Along with that, I can say that for Surrey, with the growing community and the more kids we have in that community, I’m so glad that we have so many new capital projects that are coming up. Our government is committed to build more schools in those communities. Public health care is a right, yet too many British Colum- bians can’t find a family doctor and are waiting for too long Wednesday, February 13, 2019 British Columbia Debates 6983

for care. This was another issue that I was hearing from my community over and over again — health care. I’m so glad that the throne speech underscored our government’s work to provide better, faster access to health care in all corners of the province. The government has opened a network of urgent primary care centres, and I’m very glad to say that the first urgent care centre that opened was in my community of Surrey. Along with the urgent primary care centres, we have 200 more fam- ily practice physicians, 200 nurse practitioners and 50 clinic- al pharmacists and other health care providers.

We are building, renovating and expanding hospitals in communities around the province. Government is increas- ing staffing hours in residential care homes so seniors can get the care they need and deserve. I hear so much about it every day — about our seniors who have given so much to build our communities, and when they need the care, the staff do not have enough hours to care for them. So I’m really glad about the announcement that the Health Minister made to increase the hours in residential care settings. We have also added thousands more surgeries and MRI exams throughout the province.

To make sure people don’t have to choose between food or medicine, government cut or eliminated Fair PharmaCare deductibles for 240,000 people last year. I can say that this has personally affected me. My parents, who are seniors, don’t have much income here. The first time they ever went to get some medications, they did not have to pay anything. I could see the smiles on their faces when they came back. There are so many more seniors — as it says, 240,000 seniors in our communities — who are benefiting from this.

Another emergency that we dealt with and our gov- ernment has dealt with and is very committed to is the overdose emergency. It’s the worst public health crisis in B.C. ’s history, and our government is working hard to help save lives. We are expanding harm reduction and increas- ing access to naloxone, connecting people to life-saving supports, including treatment and recovery, and allocating more resources to law enforcement to address the criminal elements of this crisis.

Only last week I was standing with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions in Surrey, where she announced the expansion of services to deal with this crisis — and services that are more culturally sensitive, clinics like Roshni Clinic, which is in Surrey. I’m so glad that our government is not only looking to address this crisis but also keeping all com- munities in mind and providing the culturally sensitive care that is required. The throne speech presented a vision for a strong, sus- tainable economy that works for people. For far too long, choices were made to benefit only the wealthy few.

This gov- ernment is making different choices and building a prosper- ous economy that works for everyone. We want to make sure people can afford to live and work here, with a good job, with good pay and a home that families can afford. We are cre- ating opportunities for people so that they can see a future for themselves in their communities. We are committed to shared prosperity for many, not just for the few. [2:50 p.m.] I’m also very proud of our government’s bold action on climate change. CleanBC was created in partnership with the B.C. Green caucus.

It is our road map that will help us build a low-carbon economy that creates opportunities for all while protecting B.C. ’s air, water and land. CleanBC will improve where we live and work through building retrofits and new net-zero energy standards for new buildings. As we reduce emissions, we also create jobs and opportun- ity for people, businesses and communities. A cleaner, better future for everyone is what CleanBC is all about. We need to work together to seize this opportunity and address the chal- lenges of climate change.

Also, I’m very proud of the work this government is doing to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. This is a cross-government priority, and B.C. will be the first province in Canada to introduce legislation to implement the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. It gives me so much pleasure that I’m part of a government which, instead of focusing on just one single sector, is invest- ing in all sectors and supporting innovation across the board. We believe that a prosperous economy works for everyone, not just the few.

The LNG Canada project will create thousands of jobs and generate $23 billion in government revenue that will be reinvested into the infrastructure and services B.C. fam- ilies depend on. This project met government’s four con- ditions for any major infrastructure project: a fair rate of return for our natural resources, job opportunities and train- ing for people in B.C. and meaningful partnership with First Nations. It is included in government’s CleanBC plan as well. The throne speech outlined government’s plan to strengthen traditional industries while making sure they work for people.

We’re increasing processing and promoting partnerships with Indigenous communities and creating jobs and opportunities for local workers. Our government recognizes B.C. ’s potential to be a global hub of connectivity and innovation. Encouraging technolo- gical advances across all sectors will benefit every part of our economy. Also, infrastructure and mobility are critical to our economy and the livability of our communities. This government is making sure public investments provide public benefits.

That’s why community benefit agree- ments on major infrastructure projects will provide better training and more trades opportunities for Indigenous people, women and youth around the province. Our gov- ernment is opening doors to skills training so that people can get good jobs with good wages and businesses have the skilled workforce they count on. I’m pleased to see the throne speech confirm that ride- hailing will enter the market this year.

I’m so proud to be part of the committee that is working on making ride-shar- ing a reality in the coming year, and I’m so glad of the Min- ister of Transportation’s commitment to ride-hailing. For so 6984 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

many years, people were asking for ride-hailing, and the pre- vious government was not listening to them. I’m proud of the government that is listening to the people and is commit- ted to provide ride-hailing, which will come this year. In closing, I just want to say that our government is mak- ing a different choice. We are committed to making life bet- ter. We are creating opportunities for people so that B.C. ’s bright future and unlimited potential is shared with every- one, not just a few. I really look forward to this work and to continuing to serve the people of this province. R.

Leonard: I’m pleased to second the motion moved by the member for Surrey–Green Timbers. It is my priv- ilege today to be able to speak to this government’s second throne speech. I want to acknowledge that this is…. Interjection. [2:55 p.m.] R. Leonard:Is it our third? Interjection. R. Leonard:Not at all, not at all. Okay, let me start that again. I am privileged to address this government’s third throne speech, as we enter into another full budget cycle. I would like to acknowledge that we are in the tradition- al territories of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples, particu- larly the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.

I think this is an important thing to acknowledge especially today as the Moose Hide Campaign began once again this year — and the acknowledgment of all the work that’s being done by the organizers for the Moose Hide Campaign, recognizing that today has been proclaimed as the Moose Hide Cam- paign Day. It’s a real privilege to be able to stand here and acknow- ledge that, knowing that every party and every member of this House is supporting the work to reduce the violence that is perpetrated against, particularly, Indigenous women and children.

I’ d like to also acknowledge that in my constitu- ency, it’s the territory of the K’ ómoks First Nation. I would also like to take an opportunity today to acknow- ledge my husband Ron Eby’s constant support and his com- mitment, particularly, to reducing our energy consumption in the house. I’ d like to share with you that I have to endure the power being turned off to my hot water tank so that I’m never sure if I’m going to have a hot shower in the morn- ing, as he tries to reduce our energy consumption.

But it’s his commitment, and it’s part of the many things that he does every day to make life better for British Columbians and to do our part helping to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, which is a big part of why I stand here today. I’ d also like to acknowledge my executive. They are very involved. They’re very committed. They have a lot of special talents and skills to support the work of this government. I have been privileged to have them support me through many trials and tribulations, as this is a first term for me as MLA.

I’ d like to also make a special shout-out to my constitu- ency assistants, particularly Leanne Rathje, who’s been with me since, oh, almost day one. For many months this past year, she has had to take on the challenges of meeting the needs of people in my constituency, alone. I’ d also like to welcome a new constituency assistant, Matt Landry. His youthful energy and enthusiasm and his skills and talents are most welcome. I’m looking forward to work- ing with him. I’m sure that the constituents in my com- munity are going to be very well-served by this young man. The first speech that I remember….

I remember the excitement and the anticipation of being part of a new jour- ney that was being charted by our new B.C. NDP govern- ment. It was like a ship setting sail on its maiden voyage. I get, now, a year later, to look back on what has been an amaz- ing, amazing trip so far. We had 16 years of inattention to the plight of all but the top 2 percent of British Columbians. Today there is a very different feel in our province. We see the positivity, the hope and aspirations, after so many years of barriers for people wanting to make life better. There are so many things that were mentioned in the throne speech.

I’m sure I won’t touch on all of them, but I’ll go through a life cycle. I’m going to start with health, because most people’s first introduction to the government is through our health care system. We’ve done so many good things to make life better for British Columbians. [3:00 p.m.] I’ll start with the Fair PharmaCare. As the member for Surrey–Green Timbers mentioned, 240,000 people are benefiting from the cuts to Fair PharmaCare. That’s a lot of impact. We’ve also supported urgent primary care provi- sion, and it’s happening in my community. There are more family doctors, more pharmacists.

In my community, I’m particularly proud that we are supporting nurse practi- tioners in a big way. We have a new hospital in the Comox Valley, and when it opened, there simply weren’t enough beds, right from the get-go. As time went on and things didn’t settle out, we were very privileged to have more beds added to try and relieve some of the pressures in the health care system in our community. On top of that, we have a desperate need for residential care for seniors, and our government created temporary beds until the request for proposals was approved.

This request for proposals added on to the 70 beds that had been approved through the previous government. What we did was made permanent those temporary beds that were a stopgap measure, and we added more respite beds, added more hospice beds and added more residential care beds. So instead of 70, our community is going to be receiving 151 beds. It’s going to be provided through two different models. We’re going to have a dementia village, which is a really Wednesday, February 13, 2019 British Columbia Debates 6985

exciting possibility that’s opening up with Providence Care. We also have an inspiring new facility that’s coming to town, a new provider. We’ve also seen an increase in the community care hours so that people are able to stay at home, where we know people want to be. We’ve also, of course, added, across the board, throughout the province, an increase in hours so that residential care beds have the kind of care that they need. It’s a standard that is being met by millions of man-hours, staff- ing hours, to make sure that people, if they have to go into care, are going to be well cared for. I know that this is….

I’ve witnessed that with a lot of friends who have aging parents. The last place they want to see their loved ones go to is a residential care facility. In fact, it can be a wonderful experience, taking people out of isola- tion, if it’s done well, and we have that commitment to doing things better. We’re also, in the health care field, adding more hip and knee surgeries and more MRIs. One of the things that we all hear about is the long wait-lists. That’s starting to be chipped away at so that people don’t have to suffer and can get on with their lives.

We also have more health care training spaces at our North Island College. The Minister of Health made a com- ment, when he was making the announcement around the residential care beds recently, about how we really need to value the jobs of the people who do the care. It is not a place where you’re going to see people entering into that as a profession unless we actually value it and celebrate it. I think that’s one of the avenues that we are pursuing — to make sure that we are reflecting, in our policies and pro- grams, that value.

After you’ve given birth and you go home and you’ve dealt with all of your aches and pains…. The next big thing that was in the throne speech was child care. So many people have had to wait very long periods of time to find decent- quality affordable child care. Many families end up having a parent stay at home because they simply cannot find it.

Our economy really deserves to have people who have developed their skills and talents come back into the workforce when they are ready and not be seeing child care as the barrier for the advancement of people in their careers, an advancement for the businesses where they serve. I’ d like to make a comment, too, about women who leave the workforce for a period of time to raise their children. It’s an admirable thing that women do. It’s, generally speaking, women. But when they leave the workforce, there are long- term effects. They’ve reduced their earning power.

They’ve reduced their pensionability. [3:05 p.m.] They have to take a place where…. They haven’t advanced their careers for so many years, and getting back into the workforce is often a very difficult thing. So for us to take the steps to really make child care a number one driver of our economy is something that I value so much. In terms of what’s going on in my community, we’ve seen new spaces come. We have more spaces at North Island Col- lege for training the early childhood educators. Again, the issue around valuing that job, the early child- hood educators. We’ve increased wages.

We’ve added bursar- ies and on-the-job training so that people can work and improve their skills. We’ve also made more affordable the child care for families. I’m very proud to say that not only do we have the programs relating to reducing child care fees and subsidies; we’ve also introduced pilots for the $10-a-day child care. And one of those pilots is in our community. We are also working on partnerships. At Lake Trail School, where we’re doing a $26 million renovation replace- ment, it includes 60 new child care spaces.

Of course, we have a program where we will partner with local govern- ments and school districts, public institutions, to provide $1 million to develop those child care spaces, a half a million dollars for non-profits and a quarter of a million dollars with for-profit child care institutions. What we have done is focused on quality affordable child care. The throne speech makes mention of the fact that we are going to have new collaborative legislation that will give universal access to quality affordable child care the force of law. Not a program that’s going to be dismissed at any time in the future.

Now after you get the kids in school, you have a whole new set of issues to deal with. I have mentioned Lake Trail, and we know that the funds are going into not only seismic upgrades but also new builds, to make sure that we get rid of portables. We also know that there’s been the contract language reinstating so many teachers that are coming back into the classroom. That’s so important, especially after see- ing a 14 percent increase since 2013-14 in mental illness and behaviour categories.

Our government is providing for 3,200 special education resource teachers, 180 educational psychologists and 918 school counsellors. I know in my own community, kids entering into kindergarten on the vulnerability scale are doing abysmally, and they need all of the supports that they can have to become successful in life. Nearly half of the students who have mental illness or behaviour categories don’t graduate. One of the issues around mental illness is anxiety. As I say, the numbers are growing. There are things that we can do to make life a little less anxious for our young people.

If they see that there’s hope in the future and that they can have confidence that they’re going to have a place in our economy and that they are going to have a better life, that helps. It’s not all about the supports. It’s about seeing that there is a future for them. In my community, it’s been forever that kids leave the valley — that they don’t see those opportunities and have to leave their families. It’s a big scary world out there, and there’s a lot more that needs to be done to train our young people so that they see that future.

I want to talk next about the environment, because I know that that’s a deep concern for the youth of this province. [3:10 p.m.] 6986 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

I also know it’s very important to my constituency as a whole. People are very, very passionate about the environ- ment. I want to say that the path forward on climate change has not been very stellar with our old government. They undermined the recommendations that were being brought forward by people who work in the field, even going so far as to go outside of the province to make sure that they got the direction they wanted. However, we now have a new government, and we have charted a new course, in partnership with the Greens.

I think that it’s going to give the confidence that people need in our future in B.C. The CleanBC plan offers clean energy jobs. It’s going to be dealing with solid waste, cleaner transport- ation, dealing with buildings and reducing pollution from industry. I’ d like to just touch on that because a lot of people hear the word “CleanBC, ” but then they don’t get a fleshed- out version, a sense of what it is that we can accomplish if we stay the course. The training. As I mentioned earlier, that’s the future of our youth. It’s a place to build confidence and a place for suc- cess, and we are investing in that.

On solid waste. I know in my community, particularly, the issue around solid waste is that it’s getting more and more expensive. The opportunities for solutions are dimin- ishing. The throne speech makes mention that we are going to be helping communities to achieve the reductions that they need. I know that’ll be welcome news to many in our communities, especially in local and regional governments. On clean transportation. I had somebody come into my office who was just so excited that they were getting one of the electric vehicles.

She said: “It’ll be my last vehicle, and I never would have been able to do it without the $6,000 incentive program that’s available. ” We really need to be focusing on those renewable fuels because, by and large, the biggest contributor to our greenhouse gases in our everyday lives is our vehicles. In terms of our buildings, of course, there’s the whole issue of retrofits — another thing my husband is very keen to hear about. I know that we spent $1.7 million additionally on an affordable housing project called the Braidwood housing project.

I was told by the organizers that it was, in major part, to increase building efficiencies. We all have a part to play. It makes life more affordable when we have reduced energy costs. I’m excited that we are going to be looking at net-zero energy building standards so we can make sure that everybody benefits from that now and into the future. Of course, all of that reflects on the ability for us to increase our jobs and opportunities. There’s a company in my community called Prisym, which I was just reading about in our local community development newsletter that comes out every week.

They’re a solar energy provider, and they’re integrating renewable energies into new and existing buildings. They’re going out and providing complimentary information sessions so that contractors, as well as people who are doing their own contracting, can benefit from those possibilities. I remember many years ago when I was in local govern- ment and hearing about the opportunities and the incred- ible savings there are if you are building new — being ready to adopt those renewable energies, rather than try- ing to fit them in long after you’ve built the houses.

Of course, most of us don’t live in brand-new houses. Most of the marketplace is older buildings, so we have to find ways to make that happen. I’ d like to just make a comment about the consumer pro- tections that were mentioned in the throne speech. I don’t go out to concerts a lot, but I do remember having an oppor- tunity to see Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, and it was pretty exciting. It was before there was such a thing as bucket lists.

It would’ve been on my bucket list to be able to see such performers. [3:15 p.m.] There are performers now who try to make it accessible for people to see them perform, and the whole scalping industry has made it inaccessible to so many people. I’m very proud that we are going to be taking action to try to circum- vent the software that is making it difficult for people to be able to enjoy concerts and other events throughout B.C. Also, I know that people — oh, so many people — have to live paycheque to paycheque. The idea of dealing with short-term loans in a way where….

We’re increasing con- sumer education and providing oversight and some cap- ping so that we can start to influence the direction, to make life more affordable. Y ou don’t want to be seeing people being taken advantage of, and I applaud our gov- ernment for taking that on. I can’t tell you how many people have turned to me about cell service, saying: “Oh, if you can do something about cell service…. ” I recognize — it was mentioned in the throne speech — that we don’t have all of the power on the issue of the cost to consumers of cell service.

But where we have authority, we are paying attention and doing what we can. On the issue of ICBC, I hear a lot of comments about: “Oh, we need the competition. We need to go into private insurance. ” It’s been just shown over and over again that that’s not the way to drive down the costs and make sure that people have quality insurance. We’re committed to that — to having a public insurance system that provides the lowest cost and a quality product. The lack of regu- lation and the skimming off of ICBC’s revenues is over.

Our government last year put in $950 million to try and straighten out the books, and I’m pretty impressed with the work that’s being done. I’ d just like to conclude by saying that we have so many opportunities. The future is bright; hope is in the air. We have every opportunity to turn to our youth and say that we’ll hand on the baton to the next generation, once we start to further implement the things that we have started in the last year. It isn’t a rehashing. It is the beginning of the build- ing of the foundation that we started last year.

We have to Wednesday, February 13, 2019 British Columbia Debates 6987

build on it. It’s going to take time, and people need to be patient. They need to be persistent in making sure that they hold our feet to the fire, and we will accomplish a better B.C. for everyone. P . Milobar:As I rise to address the throne speech…. I was thinking back yesterday, as I was listening to it, and throughout the night and today, getting ready to rise and speak, and I reflected on many years ago, when I and a great many in North America were really taken by, really enter- tained by and quite the fans of a television show that was a show about nothing.

Unfortunately, this throne speech is about nothing. That’s not a good thing for the citizens of British Columbia. That’s by no means a way to try to run a government. When I was listening again yesterday to the throne speech being read by the Lieutenant-Governor, it struck me…. I thought: “Well, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I’m just not quite hearing correctly. I’ll wait, and I’ll read it in print after it gets printed out by Hansard. ” When you read it, it’s the same as it sounded.

It was a throne speech that sounds like and was read like each minister was asked to submit two to three sentences that they would like to see inserted into the throne speech. Everything just seemed to be cobbled together in a random order of commitments and looking back on things. [3:20 p.m.] It wasn’t a throne speech that was actually looking forward and of any great significance. In fact, it was a throne speech that sounded more like a year-in-review interview that you often see around Christmastime than what you would expect to start a legislative session. It’s not just me.

That’s widely what we’ve heard out there from pundits and other organiza- tions in the 24 hours now that it’s been out there. And there’s no wonder. It was a throne speech totally devoid of any for- ward-looking, of any substance issues. What it was, was a throne speech that really just started to reiterate announcement after announcement that had already been made over the last year. I guess that for this government, that feels like a forward-looking document. In spite of their insistence that they have checked off a whole lot of things on their to-do list, all they’ve done is create task forces.

They’ve created studies. They’ve created enabling legislation that has zero regulations attached to it. They haven’t actually followed through on the vast major- ity of things, in actual practice, that they promised in the election back in 2017 — two years later, three throne speeches later. And, yes, I agree. It’s easy, with how bland they have been, to realize it has been three and to actually think it has been less.

In the 18-plus months now that these three throne speeches have been brought forward, and des- pite repeated press releases reannouncing the same things, there has been very little progress, in a real, tangible way, that this government can point to on a wide variety of things — things that they touched on in the throne speech. There’s all sorts of motherhood-and-apple-pie language in there about working together, about working with com- munities. Y et what do we see in action with this govern- ment when communities try engaging?

What we see, when it comes to the employer health tax, is communities being told point-blank by the Finance Minister: “Suck it up. Deal with it. Pass it on to your property tax payers. It’s not my problem. ” What do they get told by the same minister when they bring forward legitimate concerns around the speculation tax and the arbitrary way it was implemented? “Deal with it. And you know what? If you’re lucky, we’ll change things a little bit so that I’ll meet with you once a year. ” How mag- nanimous is that — a meeting once a year with the Finance Minister so the municipalities can get told: “Too bad.

The tax stays”? That’s been the response, in actuality, by this government towards partners that they referenced in this throne speech. That’s why, I think, people are very disappointed in this throne speech. It hasn’t actually brought through anything of significance. It’s somewhat sad that much earlier on in the throne speech, there’s great deference and acknowledgment of the CASA agreement and the Greens, but the word “job” had to wait for 20 minutes in.

I think that speaks volumes to the citizens of this province about the importance within this House that the government places on trying to cling to power or not and whether or not they’re truly concerned with what’s going on in communities around this province. If they were really concerned with what’s going on with the job creators in this province…. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Y esterday we heard the Premier make it very clear. In fact, it was referenced in the throne speech as well. The only way people are struggling to keep their heads afloat in the last 18 months….

People who used to have one job now need two, while the government is trying to say they’re making life more affordable for them. That doesn’t sound like a more affordable B.C. It doesn’t sound like a B.C. that holds the promise of opportunity for people. It sounds like a province where people, through no fault of their own, are starting to see their hours cut, are starting to see their shifts removed, because of government policies that are layering 19 different taxes on individuals and employers in this province, job creators in this province, entrepreneurs in this province.

The ripple effect is starting to happen. [3:25 p.m.] So what happens? The person gets their hours cut a bit, and we get a throne speech that acknowledges that they now need two jobs to try to keep their household afloat — a household that hasn’t quite yet received the full brunt of those 19 taxes, a household whose jobs rely on those same job creators, who have already started to cut hours, not quite receiving the full brunt of those 19 taxes.

But boy, do they start coming on in a hurry in 2019, because like most things this government has done over the last 18 months, they’ve done nothing but delay. 6988 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 13, 2019

[J. Isaacs in the chair.] Well, at a certain point, the bill gets sent in the mail, and 2019 is that magical year where this government needs to come up and start finding their extra $5.5 billion in taxa- tion that their latest budget had created — $5.5 billion spread over 19 different taxes. That’s what the public has in store. That’s what the job creators and the innovators in this province have in store for them in 2019.

When people start to open their bills, when people in May get a speculation tax bill that was sent in error for sever- al thousands of dollars, when they get it layered on with their property tax bill that comes in June to the municip- ality, which is inflated because of the employer health tax, when people’s bosses start to get a further assessment of the employer health tax and people start to see their hours cut even more, the government’s answer is a bland, vision- less, benign throne speech on how they’re going to deal with things in 2019.

The poverty reduction plan is a great example of delay and kicking things down the road. The poverty reduction plan was supposed to be a key pillar in the election platform of the government. The poverty reduction plan was supposed to be out and started to be actioned last spring, a full year ago. What happened last spring? We were told: “Oh, wait till the fall. ” What happened in the fall? We saw it right at the very end of the legislative calendar. What did we see at the end? We saw enabling legislation. That was it. No dollars attached, no programming attached.

Instead, we have people living in poverty and the agencies that work with those people, our most vulnerable, being told by their government: “It’s okay. We promised this. But just wait another year. ” Let’s look at the timeline. The budget doesn’t come out for another week. Something like the poverty reduction plan spending won’t be approved through this chamber for some time after that. Nothing can actually happen, moving for- ward, with the poverty reduction plan until those approvals are made.

This means any substantive change to programming, any substantive change to staffing to try to help with the pro- gramming, any substantive change within the poverty reduc- tion plan, in all likelihood, won’t be instituted until late, late 2019, or this time next year — hardly a government that was putting the poverty reduction plan as a high priority, as they campaigned on. We know why that was. They had many other serious pri- orities at play to occupy their time.

They needed to make sure that the debacle of a PR referendum got rushed through in their first year instead of dealing with things that would actually impact people’s day-to-day lives, like a poverty reduction plan that they had campaigned so hard on. They made great promises during the election. All of your dreams can come true if you just vote for the NDP . Everything we’ve committed to in our platform fits under the existing B.C. Liberal budget framework. There would be no new taxes. There would be no increases needed. In fact, they could do everything.

All they would do is shuffle the cards a little bit, and magically, massive commitments around hous- ing, poverty reduction, transit, schools, health care…. Y ou name it. It was all fully funded within the existing B.C. Lib- eral framework. [3:30 p.m.] So what did we see when the very first actual budget was brought forward by this government? Nineteen new taxes and $5.5 billion extra in taxes. Did that accomplish things in their platform? Absolutely not.

In fact, the vast majority of their promises sit totally unfilled with token little injections of the start of a program here or a pilot project there, with no real deliverable that people in their everyday lives, en masse, can point to. They campaigned on affordability. Only with B.C. NDP math is adding over $5 billion of taxes considered affordab- ility. It hits the end-user. Needing to find these new taxes, which they campaigned that they would not bring in…. Job one was to make carbon tax no longer revenue-neutral. Now, we introduced the carbon tax.

In fact, the Finance Minister, who’s now in charge of the carbon tax, campaigned aggressively against a carbon tax when it was first being brought in. My, how the times have changed. The Finance Minister has gone from campaigning against carbon tax to now trying to use it as a revenue cash cow for government. The first year was last year. The fiscal year is just winding down. No new spending of any significance for all that extra carbon tax revenue that they brought in. Now we’re heading into another budget, another $5 lift.

Industry is uncertain if there’s going to be anything for them to help innovate and reduce their footprint. Homeowners are unsure if there’s going to be anything of consequence there. When you ask the Environment Minister about that, whom I’m the critic of, the Environment Minister says: “Whoa, although I’m the minister responsible for climate change, I’m not responsible for how carbon tax gets spent. ” It seems like a bit of a moving target for people to try to get a handle on where all this extra revenue that’s being gener- ated goes. Why it’s significant is….

We go through this Feb- ruary cold snap across our province, including the Lower Mainland, the capital regional district and the rest of the Island. If anyone takes the time to look at their Fortis bill…. I know a lot of people don’t. In this day and age of di

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20190213pm-Hansard-n197
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20190213pm Hansard n197
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	4777a9fe3a716195502790976e84cbc5a9825095

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