2011 Legislative Session: Fourth Session, 39th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Monday, October 17, 2011

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 25, Number 8

CONTENTS

Page

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Tributes

Service to Legislature by MLA s

H. Lali

Introductions by Members

Tributes

Alex Campbell

Hon. I. Chong

Introductions by Members

Introduction and First Reading of Bills

Bill 11 — Greater Vancouver Transit Enhancement Act

Hon. B. Lekstrom

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

Organic foods

J. van Dongen

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

S. Simpson

Homelessness and housing initiatives in Kamloops

K. Krueger

Groups participating in Missing Women Inquiry

J. Kwan

Waste reduction and recycling

J. Yap

Worker layoffs and workplace incident in Kamloops

G. Gentner

Oral Questions

Termination of CLBC CEO and community living services review

A. Dix

Hon. C. Clark

Group home closings and community living services review

N. Simons

Hon. C. Clark

C. James

J. Kwan

Hon. S. Cadieux

Community living services for children in transition to adulthood

K. Corrigan

Hon. S. Cadieux

S. Simpson

Tributes

Recognition of 20 years service to Legislature by member for Richmond East

Hon. M. de Jong

Hon. C. Clark

Gail Roberts

Hon. C. Clark

Petitions

H. Lali

M. Elmore

N. Macdonald

Tabling Documents

B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, annual report, 2010-2011

B.C. Ferry Commission, Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2011

Orders of the Day

Throne Speech Debate (continued)

Hon. C. Clark

M. Karagianis

D. Hayer

L. Krog

Hon. M. Polak

Second Reading of Bills

Bill 3 — Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2011 (continued)

D. Routley

R. Cantelon

G. Gentner

C. Hansen

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2011

The House met at 1:34 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

L. Reid: Mr. Speaker, my first introduction, actually, is on your behalf. Visiting the gallery from Penticton is Derek Badger. Derek has had the distinction, Mr. Speaker, of working as your constituency assistant for many years. He is visiting today with his associate, Jo-Ann Stuart Chatterley. Would the House please make them both very welcome.

I have guests in the gallery today who have actually known me longer than my husband. They have been with me close to 20 years. I have Tanya Deutsch, Bill Jones, Debra Danny, Alex Danny, Shelley Leonhardt, Laurie Sewell, Cathy Reid, Dr. Joan Hansen, Laurence Scott, John Wong, Elsa Wong and Kelly Guichon. I'd like the House to please make them welcome.

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C. James: I have two guests here from my constituency who are also, as you may recognize from the last name, related to a member of the press gallery. I have today the daughters of Keith Baldrey — Kate Baldrey and Madeline Baldrey — in the legislative precinct. They're here with their cousin Meredith Baker from Owen Sound, Ontario, and their friend Bronwyn Thompson. Would the House please make them all welcome.

Hon. D. McRae: I have some guests here from the Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia. I have Mary Forstbauer, who is the president of COABC; Kris Chand, who is the vice-president; and Annie Moss. What I ask the chamber is to please make them welcome.

Tributes

SERVICE TO LEGISLATURE BY MLA s

H. Lali: When the member for Richmond East got up, I think she was being a little modest. I thought she might have made a little mention today. But today is a real special day. It's October 17 today. A lot of folks sitting here might be wondering: "Well, what's so special about October 17?"

Well, 20 years ago exactly, to this day, a number of people that are still sitting in this House today first got elected as members of the Legislative Assembly in 1991. The member for Richmond East — it's a 20-year anniversary for her. I might add that the member for Richmond East is the reigning queen of the Legislature, the longest-serving member of the House right here today — 20 years.

There's also my colleague, the member for Port Coquitlam — 16 years today; the member for Surrey–Green Timbers — also 16 years today; the member for Nanaimo — it's 11 years he's been a legislator and was first elected in 1991. And of course, the former member for Yale-Lillooet, who now occupies the seat in Fraser-Nicola — that would be me — joins that group as well.

We were all elected on October 17, 1991, for the first time to this Legislature.

Introductions by Members

M. Sather: I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce our grandson to the House, who I believe is the most recent addition to the MLA family, although I haven't had the chance to check with the minister from Chilliwack to see if he's added to his double-digit tally. Thales Moir Rowe was born on October 7 at 6:08 a.m., weighing in at 8 pounds 9 ounces. Would the House please join me in welcoming Thales to the world.

Tributes

ALEX CAMPBELL

Hon. I. Chong: Last week, on October 11, we were saddened to hear of the passing of a proud Canadian, a generous philanthropist, a distinguished entrepreneur, one of Victoria's homegrown heroes — Alexander A. Campbell, the co-founder of Thrifty Foods.

Everyone who knew Alex, everyone who had ever met Alex, spoke of him with fondness. He was an incredible businessman, quiet in nature, and yet his actions were loud and profound.

I was fortunate to speak with Alex on many occasions and was even more fortunate to hear him speak when he received an honorary degree from Royal Roads University several years ago. In a statement released last week by the Premier, I think she, perhaps, summed it up best.

She said: "While there is no doubt he had a knack for business, it was his philosophy of treating everyone with respect and kindness that made Thrifty Foods such a huge success. The enduring admiration of his many employees is perhaps his greatest legacy."

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you convey every British Columbian's deepest sympathy to his wife, Jo; to his three children — Alex, Lorne and Bonnie; and to their families.

Introductions by Members

M. Elmore: Joining us in the House, I'd like to introduce a number of members from Canadian Auto

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Workers Locals 111, 114 and 333 based in Victoria. They're here at the Legislature rallying, raising concerns around the issues of the Canadian-European trade agreement and are joined by members from the human rights committee, the women's committee and also the lesbian-gay-bisexual committee.

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I'd like to introduce the vice-president, Carlos Moreira; the women's committee chair, Ruth Armstrong; Julie Young; Jean Lamond; Velia Laval; Agata Matyszczuk; Chris Hammond; Eileen Ryan; Adam Ryan; Ella Ryan; Steve Buckton; Paul Hudson; Lee Stebner; Gerda Schultz; Kathi Wallace; Desiree Gill; and also friends Lolita Cantuba, Daireen Palmes and Marilou Villarr. I ask the House to please make them welcome.

L. Krog: Also joining us in the gallery today is a constituent of mine, Jim Sadlemeyer. Would the House please make him welcome.

R. Chouhan: In addition to my colleague the member from Kensington, I would also like to introduce some of the members from the Canadian Auto Workers Union, from Locals 111, 114 and 333: Yvonne McNeice, Wendy Ratcliffe, Sandra Montgomery, Ashleigh Rennie, Lori Ducharme, Kevin Daine, Gian Sahota, James Krickan, Dru Phillipe, Thomas Harwood, Erin Murphy, Jim Sadlemeyer, Kori Malcolm, Noel Kristoff, Jennifer Nguyen. Welcome.

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

Bill 11 — Greater Vancouver

Transit Enhancement Act

Hon. B. Lekstrom presented a message from His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Greater Vancouver Transit Enhancement Act.

Hon. B. Lekstrom: Mr. Speaker, I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

Hon. B. Lekstrom: Bill 11 amends the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act and provides consequential amendments to the Motor Fuel Tax Act. At the request of the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation, the amendments being introduced today will help Metro Vancouver raise money to expand priority transportation services and upgrade existing infrastructure in the Lower Mainland.

The Mayors Council has requested that the province raise the regional motor fuel tax by two cents per litre, starting April 1, 2012. The additional two cents will generate $40 million for vital transportation services in Metro Vancouver, including the new Evergreen line rapid transit project in Burnaby, Coquitlam and Port Moody.

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

Bill 11, Greater Vancouver Transit Enhancement 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.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

ORGANIC FOODS

J. van Dongen: I'm pleased to speak to the House today about National Organic Week. This week helps bring awareness of organic food products and the benefits of sustainable organic farming.

Eating healthy has become part of our Canadian consciousness. Starting in elementary school various programs are helping kids develop healthy lifestyles, from exercising regularly to eating five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

By raising awareness of healthy choices, we've raised consumer demand for healthy, organic food products. In 2008 the value of organic food products sold in Canada was estimated at $2 billion. Despite the global economic downturn, the demand for organic products has increased.

There are over 475 organic farms in B.C., with more making the transition to organic every day. Certified organic farmers follow nationally recognized farming standards, avoiding synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and growth enhancers.

It is important to note that organic food production will not replace low-cost, safe and efficient commercial food production, but organic farmers have given consumers additional choices which may better reflect their personal views about how food should be produced. On my own farm we made the transition from a low-input commercial milk production format to organic milk production about five years ago.

Despite the organic sector's growth, demand is still increasing. About 80 percent of organic food products sold in B.C. stores come from the United States, but we all know that our first choice in food is food that's grown closest to home. By buying locally, we can help support our own organic farmers, which will in turn help our local farming industry and local economy.

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So this week, hon. Speaker, I'd like to encourage everyone to buy local and support our own B.C.-based organic producers.

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INTERNATIONAL DAY

FOR THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY

S. Simpson: I'm pleased to stand today to recognize October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This is the 19th time this United Nations resolution has been recognized globally. This resolution's intention is to cut global poverty in half by 2015. The UN has identified a number of rights that all citizens should have, including the right to health, housing, education and adequate food, to a decent standard of living and to decent work, among others.

As a province, it is critical that we not only recognize this important day but commit to doing what we can to support these initiatives. We need to advocate with our federal government that they continue to support global matters. We also have to look within our own borders and recognize our own challenges. Some 12 percent of British Columbians live in poverty — that is more than half a million of our citizens who need our help; 120,000 of these are children.

Addressing poverty is a challenging and complex issue. It requires real commitment if we are to break the cycle of poverty and give these children the opportunity for a different future than the one that too many of them face today. Voices are growing across our nation calling on elected representatives to take action, calling on us to blunt the growing inequality that the Conference Board of Canada has recently warned us about. We cannot be complacent.

I believe these concerns were reflected this Saturday in the Occupy Vancouver action and in similar events across Canada. These are British Columbians and other Canadians calling on us to have a plan and to take action, calling on all of us as legislators to look at our priorities and to talk about them with our citizens.

I believe the majority of MLAs understand these challenges and would agree that we need to work together to reduce inequality and, with it, poverty. I believe the majority of members would also agree that we need to put our united voice of support behind the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and I am hopeful that a majority would embrace our collective responsibility as legislators to do everything we can to support the half a million British Columbians who are looking for the opportunity to escape poverty here at home.

HOMELESSNESS AND HOUSING

INITIATIVES IN KAMLOOPS

K. Krueger: Homelessness is a debilitating condition that deserves the focus of every member of this House. Together, our work has provided housing for thousands of homeless or at-risk people with stable housing.

In Kamloops the province contributes housing assistance to 1,850 people. Last week Kamloops took

part in Homelessness Action Week. Volunteers with the AIDS Society of Kamloops Wellness Centre searched the city for the fourth consecutive year to record the number of people who are homeless. The 2011 homeless count in Kamloops was 45 people — less than half the number counted in 2010 and the lowest number they've counted in the four years. It's a direct result of the community devoting ever-increasing amounts of time and resources to address this important issue and to the phenomenal success of the approaches of the Minister for Housing and this government.

Everyone agrees that this challenge needs action every day of the year, and Kamloops is demonstrating that leadership. Organizations such as ASK Wellness Centre, the United Way, the Elizabeth Fry Society, John Howard Society, New Life Mission, Canadian Mental Health Association, Thompson Rivers University, Interior Health Authority, city of Kamloops, Kamloops Indian band, B.C. Housing and the private sector are raising their voices and dedicating their resources to end homelessness in Kamloops by 2015.

The Kamloops homelessness action plan was conceived two years ago, and a leadership council was formed, with representation from many of the agencies I just mentioned. The Kamloops MLAs are honoured to be witnesses to and participants in this amazing energy and community spirit and its results.

One of the exciting, unique and innovative programs emerging from this initiative is the adult addiction supportive housing program. The ASK Wellness Centre, CMHA and Kamloops have partnered with Interior Health in providing housing to those individuals who have gone through detox and want further assistance to improve their lives. Once they've lived in transitional housing with supports, the agencies find market rental housing and mediate tenancy agreements in partnership with the landlords. Even hard-to-house tenants have been provided suitable housing agreements directly with these agencies.

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GROUPS PARTICIPATING IN

MISSING WOMEN INQUIRY

J. Kwan: The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and the February 14 memorial march committee are amongst the groups granted full standing as participants in the commission of inquiry into missing and murdered women. The inquiry's proceedings will not just examine the past but recommend measures to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again.

Many of the groups granted full standing had close connections with the women at the time they went missing and were amongst the first to raise the alarm that women were going missing and suspected that there was a serial killer in our midst. They have cultivated trusting

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relationships with the women who are still at risk today, which is integral to facilitating the testimony that is so vital for the inquiry.

Now, they are amongst the groups that say they feel shut out from the process. They say that the very structure of the proceedings fails to include the voices of aboriginal people and women who have been and continue to be targeted by violent and systemic discrimination.

The groups say they fear that the current process deepens systemic discrimination against aboriginal community and women, who are already marginalized by poverty, violence, homelessness and racial discrimination and are hindered from informing the very policies that would prevent the mistakes from the past from recurring. They want to have equal treatment to other entities granted standing which enjoy full legal representation of their choice.

The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and the February 14 memorial march committee have prepared a joint submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women regarding an inquiry into the missing and murdered women in Canada. B.C. has once again turned to the UN for justice. The world is now watching to see what measures we take in Canada. I'm in full support of this, sought by the organizations, and I hope that the members of this House are too.

WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING

J. Yap: I rise today to discuss Waste Reduction Week in British Columbia, which runs from today through October 23. It raises public awareness about the importance of recycling and what we can do to reduce waste in other ways. Reducing waste and recycling help divert products from our landfills and recover increasingly scarce resources needed to make new manufactured goods.

The Recycling Council of B.C. began sponsoring October Waste Reduction Month back in 1996. In 2001 the Recycling Council teamed up with organizations across the country to establish Waste Reduction Week, which is now a national event.

When it comes to my city of Richmond, I'm very pleased to say that we are making great strides when it comes to recycling. In July of this year the city of Richmond, the Canadian Beverage Association, Encorp Pacific and Nestlé Waters Canada launched Go Recycle!, a pioneering initiative making recycling easier for people in places such as parks, transit stops and on the streets throughout Richmond, including my riding in historic Steveston village.

Richmond schools are pitching in. All of the schools I have recently visited in my riding, for example, have recycling programs, many of them led by students. As we participate in Waste Reduction Week, it's great to see the examples set by municipalities such as Richmond and by companies and organizations such as the Canadian Beverage Association and Encorp Pacific and the Nestlé Waters corporation. Most of all, it's inspiring to see the commitment to recycling on the part of our children and youth.

I hope all of us in this House will learn more about Waste Reduction Week and how we can all help out in this important endeavour.

WORKER LAYOFFS AND

WORKPLACE INCIDENT IN KAMLOOPS

G. Gentner: In tough economic times many organizations, businesses and many, many families are struggling throughout B.C. around the world. Although cutbacks may be real, there must be sensitivity and understanding of what workers who may be laid off will go through.

I knew Jim McCracken personally, but horribly, on October 15, 2002, trouble struck in the regional offices in Kamloops of the then Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.

As a regional supervisor, Jim was following his assignment to discuss changes, cutbacks and downsizing. The meeting later that day with shop steward David Martin was interrupted and the unimaginable happened. Jim McCracken, David Martin and Dick Anderson lost their lives. The details of that day were left to history, but we do know that many lives were changed, affected for years to come, and some would never be the same.

Through tragedies like that of nine years ago this week and subsequent investigations, businesses and governments can learn how to manage work assignments and downsizing, how to diffuse volatile situations and give emotional and psychological support when tough economic times hit the workplace. The actions that day can never be condoned, but let us not forget that what started out as just an ordinary day, at least in the light of a workplace adjustment, became a real tragedy.

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As legislators, we must insist that workplace sensitivity and understanding are commonplace for workers and for their families as they face the economic turmoil and possibility of cutbacks and downsizing.

Oral Questions

TERMINATION OF CLBC CEO AND

COMMUNITY LIVING SERVICES REView

A. Dix: My question is to the Premier. On Friday evening, eight hours after the minister responsible said, "The CLBC was a pretty fantastic system," the Liberal-appointed board fired Rick Mowles, the CEO of CLBC. Can the Premier explain to this House why Mr. Mowles was fired?

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Hon. C. Clark: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's nice to be back in the Legislature after a week away. I trust that everyone had a good Thanksgiving break with their families and in their constituencies in their communities.

Mr. Mowles's departure was a decision that was made by CLBC, by their board, as the member knows. They are independent of the government. They make those decisions.

Nonetheless, I certainly, on behalf of the government, welcome the change. I think the organization is ready for change. We certainly welcome the change and look forward to what that will bring in the future for CLBC and the clients who depend on it.

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

A. Dix: Well, the Premier and the minister are responsible for CLBC, to this Legislature, and it seems to me they can answer to this Legislature as to why Mr. Mowles was fired. After all, it's Liberal policies that left 2,800 people on wait-lists. It's Liberal policies that are making it hard for youth transitioning into the community living sector. It's Liberal policies that have closed 65 group homes.

So will the Premier today agree to our proposal for an independent review of CLBC so that we can get to the bottom of the crisis there?

Hon. C. Clark: You know, it is B.C. Liberal policies that have meant that the budget for CLBC has been increased every single year since its inception. And it is B.C. Liberal policies that mean that clients receive — on average, across the province — about $50,000 each in support across government.

Now, the government spends a significant amount of money supporting people in British Columbia with disabilities, as we should. People with disabilities are often the most vulnerable people in our society. We live in a wealthy society, and we should be generous. We do our very, very best to support people with disabilities all across the province.

The system is not perfect, and it may never be perfect, but we certainly are doing our best to make sure that people across the province with disabilities get the support that they need so that they can live with the dignity that every Canadian deserves.

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member.

The Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.

A. Dix: O ne of the former ministers speaks out, hon. Speaker. How out of touch can the government be? Out of touch with parents, out of touch with families, out of touch with self-advocates. There's a crisis going on at CLBC, and the Premier seems to be completely unaware of it — out of touch.

She's even out of touch — and this won't be a surprise to anyone — with her own caucus. The member for Abbotsford-Mission today called for a top-to-bottom examination of CLBC — top to bottom. He said that we should immediately move to provide service for those needing it — appropriate service, which to the greatest extent possible honours both the vision and mission of CLBC. That's what we need to do.

He goes on to say: "We need to give them hope, and we need to give it to them now." He understands that there's a crisis at CLBC. Parents understand it. Families understand it. Self-advocates understand it. When will the Premier finally understand it and bring in an independent review of CLBC?

[1400]

Hon. C. Clark: As I said, CLBC is getting a new CEO, and that CEO is certainly going to be making sure that CLBC is doing everything that it can and making sure that its services are absolutely appropriate for the individuals who are receiving them. We as a government have an absolute duty to look after the people who are most vulnerable in our society, and we have an absolute duty to make sure that CLBC is doing its job in making sure that happens.

Now I will say this at the end, because the member does like to talk about the fact that he thinks the government should be spending a lot more money in a lot of different areas. He may be right about some of them, but I would ask this. Where would he get the money to do that?

His plan, which we haven't seen yet, doesn't talk about enabling the growth in jobs. It doesn't talk about growing the middle class. His plan, which we haven't seen yet, only talks about putting people out of work. How can we continue to be a generous society? How can we continue to be a more generous society, which we'd all like to continue to be, if we aren't making sure we are producing the revenues that government needs to look after the people in society who are most vulnerable?

GROUP HOME CLOSINGS AND

COMMUNITY LIVING SERVICES REVIEW

N. Simons: Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm not surprised that the Premier wants to change the subject. There is a crisis in British Columbia facing many families in the north, in the Interior and on the Island, and the Premier knows it. Most of the members of the government know it. When will this government recognize the crisis, recognize that the chaos is causing stress to families throughout this province and do something — call for an external review of CLBC services?

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Hon. C. Clark: I'm happy to answer that same question again to say this. There is a new CEO coming in at CLBC, and I believe that will make a difference. That kind of change in the organization will certainly make a difference in the way that the organization runs.

But let me say this. While the organization provides excellent service to many thousands of people across the province, as I said, it absolutely isn't perfect. We always have to be making sure that we are striving for excellence in every area of government, particularly those areas of government where we are serving people who are incredibly vulnerable.

Having said that, though, change also happens. Change, I recognize, is very difficult for people who may have a disability and who may feel very vulnerable. One of the primary jobs of CLBC is to make sure that when change happens, they work through it with clients and make sure that clients who feel vulnerable when they are experiencing change can find a way to also feel safe because they know what's coming next.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

N. Simons: There are 2,800 people on wait-lists. There are 1,200 people waiting for residential services, and the minister last week said that there's no need to place a moratorium on group home closures. There's a disconnect between the needs of people in this province and what the minister is saying. The minister has said there won't be any moratorium.

The province recognizes the crisis; everyone in the province recognizes the crisis. Will the minister or the Premier finally do what's right and say to the people who have developmental disabilities and their families that they're going to stop the suffering that this government is causing, call an external review and call for a moratorium on group home closures?

Hon. C. Clark: You know, I want to be really clear. The government, of course, needs to meet a higher standard than, clearly, the members of the opposition feel they need to. That's with respect to people's privacy.

We cannot discuss the specifics of individual cases in this House, as the members across the way feel free to do, but I do want to say this. When it comes to group home closures, for example, some group homes in British Columbia have closed, or some people have had to move group homes because they've gotten old enough that they are in wheelchairs. In a group home that has stairs, they need to move. Now, that's not the case in every case, but it's certainly an example of some of the cases where we've seen change.

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I recognize that change is really difficult, even though sometimes it's necessary and sometimes it would provide a better service. But I do think the member needs to be clear about the full story here.

I know that they are quite willing on the other side of the House to throw up information and paint just one half of the story for the public, knowing that the government is bound by confidentiality and protection of individual privacy.

We will continue to respect our obligations with respect to privacy, but I would caution the members opposite to make sure that when they want to tell the story about what's going on out there, particularly as it impacts vulnerable people, they should try and be honest and make sure that they offer all the facts.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

I remind the Premier to be careful in her choice of words.

C. James: I'd like to say to the Premier that if I had a choice of who to believe, I would believe the families and the caregivers before I'd believe this government. Day after day, month after month we have been bringing forward cases to this House that have shown that this is not about change. This is about a lack of support and services for the most vulnerable in British Columbia.

We heard the current minister say that there was no need for a moratorium, that group homes would be there when we need them. We know that isn't accurate. We heard the former minister say the same thing — "People aren't being forced out of group homes" — and then CLBC itself had to admit that the former minister was wrong.

Well, it's no wonder that families are feeling ignored by this government. It is long past time for action. I would like to ask the Premier: will she do the right thing now? Will she order an independent review of CLBC and stop the group home closures?

Hon. C. Clark: I'm still waiting for the constructive tone that the Leader of the Opposition and the former Leader of the Opposition once promised us. However, in the absence of a constructive tone, I'm still delighted to answer the question, and I'll say this.

You know, we are bound on this side of the House to respect individuals' privacy, and I know that the members on the other side don't hold themselves up to that standard. But let me say this. Without speaking about individual cases, I'll give an example so that people can have some context.

Sam lives in a group home that costs an average of $117,000 a year. He's involved in community programs that cost $26,000 a year. He receives $10,000 in disability benefits a year, MSP premium assistance of $700 a year, Fair PharmaCare that supports his medication. In total,

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that's about $150,000. Now, no one on this side of the House begrudges Sam or anyone like him the amount of money he's receiving — absolutely not. He deserves it; he needs it. We live in a wealthy society, and we need to make sure that we provide for him.

I offer that as context for the other side of the story so that we can clear up this impression that the former Leader of the Opposition and the current Leader of the Opposition would like to leave, which suggests that people with disabilities don't receive any support from government whatsoever. They do. It isn't always perfect, but in many cases it is exactly what individuals need, and in many cases it's very generous as well.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

C. James: I don't know where this Premier has been over these last number of months, because anyone who has been listening, anyone who has been paying attention in British Columbia over the last number of months has heard not impressions but heartbreaking stories from families about a lack of care for their children.

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While the Premier talks about numbers, this is about real people. These are about individuals, families like Robin Birmingham's, who are dealing with the closure of a group home that Robin — she's now 44 — since she was 25 years old has been living in. Robin's mother, Diane, knows that her daughter needs more care than a home-share program. The Premier's family-first rhetoric obviously doesn't apply to this family or families of the most vulnerable.

I would like to ask the Premier again today to commit to an independent review of CLBC and to put, immediately, a moratorium on the closure of group homes.

Hon. C. Clark: As I said, not all group homes are closing for the reasons that the opposition would lead people to believe. Some close because the people who operate them retire. Now, it's pretty hard to put a moratorium on those kinds of closures of group homes, but of course, it's typical of the opposition to stand up in this new, constructive tone that they purport to have and to offer just one-half of the story.

You know what? I don't necessarily begrudge them that. I used to sit as Children and Families critic. I know the game the member is playing.

But I will say this. It is important for families, particularly, who are looking after vulnerable people to have the full set of facts. It's important for people who are living with a disability to know the full suite of services that is available to them. And it's important that we talk honestly and fairly with the full set of facts in front of us when we're discussing these issues, because you know what? This isn't just politics. It isn't just politics. It is people's lives. It is individuals who could be easily frightened by some of the stories that the NDP tell.

It's important that we talk about the full set of facts and that we do it in a constructive way. And when the CLBC budget is at an all-time high, the government is going to continue to do our best to support families with disabilities.

J. Kwan: To the Premier: this is not a game. These are real lives, people's lives. We, the NDP, are telling the story of the families' lives. The B.C. Liberal policies have thrown their lives into chaos. The people with loved ones with developmental disabilities are in crisis. This is as a result of the government's policies. Make no mistake about that. They are crying out for help, and it's not outside noise. Sixty-five group homes have closed to date, and more are still slated to be closed.

The minister and the Premier say that there are legitimate reasons why group homes are closing, that some of the folks might be aging out, that the operators might be aging out. Well, let me tell you this. In Williams Road none of the residents there are aging out. They're happy there. They've lived there for 20 years, and they want to stay.

Mrs. MacLean — she's 87 years old. Her son Brian has been in this group home for the last 20 years, and yet that group home is being forced to close.

My question is to the Premier. Will she stand up today and respect the families and the residents of Williams Road and many other group homes like it, keep those group homes open, and put forward a moratorium on all group home closures and conduct an independent review immediately?

Hon. S. Cadieux: I'd like to recognize that every day, day after day, month after month, the fact remains that CLBC provides residential services of a number of types, one of which is group homes. In fact, there are over 700 group homes operating in the province. They also provide other residential services — shared living arrangements, live-in support and other options. They provide community inclusion activities, employment supports, respite for families who care for their loved ones in the home, and other professional and behavioural supports.

[1415]

Our community-based system of supports is one that was derived from the passion of individuals, advocates, family members and a partnership with government, because we all believed that there was a greater opportunity to provide greater inclusion for people with developmental disabilities in our communities. We all benefit from that. In fact, CLBC is doing that, and they've done that with a budget that has grown every year.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

[ Page 8106 ]

J. Kwan: CLBC is in chaos, and as a result of that, they have thrown the lives of the families with developmental disability into crisis. People are being forced out of group homes. In the case of Williams Road it is driven by funding. Make no mistake about that.

At a meeting earlier this month this is what CLBC had to say: "Just get it done. Move the residents out, and get the budgets under control." There is no mistake about that message. There is no compassion about that message, and there's no consultation with the families about that message.

My question is to the Premier. She is the head of this executive council. Will the Premier put a stop to this closure and all other closures like this, put a stop to the chaos in CLBC and conduct an independent review today?

Hon. S. Cadieux: As I've said before and as we've already heard in this House today, we're not going to talk about individual cases in this House for reasons of privacy. Again, I say that I have had contact with family members of folks at the Williams Road home, and I am also aware of the plans that CLBC has. I would be happy to have those discussions with the member in my office.

There will always be group homes in this province for the folks with the highest level of need who require group home care, but there are all sorts of options for people. Not everyone wants a group home. We want to be able to provide options for people in this province, and we'll continue to do so.

COMMUNITY LIVING SERVICES

FOR CHILDREN IN TRANSITION

TO ADULTHOOD

K. Corrigan: Well, the minister repeatedly asks for people to bring forward cases that need attention. We have been bringing forward cases for months.

Several months ago we raised the case of Dave and Kathy Martin's son Jonathan. Back in May we raised that case. Jonathan's schooling ended in the summer, and he turned 19. CLBC actually did have a plan for Jonathan's needs, and it said in part that Jonathan "requires significant supports in virtually all areas of personal care needs." Well, guess what. Since we've raised those concerns several months ago, CLBC has not been able to provide any supports to Jonathan.

The Martin family was back before the Finance and Government Services Committee hearings last Friday, telling their story again. Kathy Martin told the committee: "We feel an unending sense of pressure, if not anxiety or guilt, to do more for him. But there is only so much we can manage."

Families want to do everything they can, but their government is failing them. Will the minister take action to finally provide hope to families like the Martins by committing to an independent review?

Hon. S. Cadieux: Once again, I will reiterate that we're not going to discuss individual cases in this House, because we have to protect people's privacy, unlike the members of the opposition, who feel that this is the best place to raise those conversations.

CLBC is a recognized leader worldwide in providing innovative supports for community inclusion. I know that personally from my years in the disability world outside of government.

[1420]

Government is very supportive of CLBC's vision. We demonstrate that vision with an annual budget of $710 million.

There is going to be increased demand for services. That's a good thing, because it means that CLBC is actually delivering on its vision and people are feeling more able to be more involved in their community. That's a good thing. We have challenges. We will work through them, but this is not a crisis.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

K. Corrigan: Surely the minister is not saying that this is not a crisis for the Martin family and the hundreds of families that are in similar situations. Kathy Martin is at her wits' end. She works graveyard as a nurse at Children's Hospital, and she cares for Jonathan during the day with very little sleep.

Kathy told the Finance Committee hearing: "I don't see how I can meet the demands of work, home and caring for Jonathan, and I worry about making a critical mistake at the hospital from fatigue and stress. I drove through a red light for the first time last week, endangering myself, Jonathan and those on the road. That tells me I'm not okay, and this is more than I can take."

Kathy and hundreds of families like hers need help. But what they hear instead is that they're just outside noise. Would the minister take action now and order an independent review of CLBC so people with developmental disabilities and their families start getting treated with the dignity they deserve?

Hon. S. Cadieux: Well, once again I will remind the member opposite that I am not going to discuss individual cases in the House, in order to protect people's privacy, as I am required to do by law. But I again will make the offer that if the member opposite is concerned about an individual case, she most certainly can come and speak to me about that in my office and, provided she also has the requisite release for privacy, I'll speak to her about the case.

But let's talk more in general terms about the fact that CLBC provides a range of services to over 13,000 people in this province with a range of individual needs. Not every person is the same. Not every person requires the same things, and I would suggest very strongly that if

[ Page 8107 ]

there are individuals who feel that their needs aren't being met, they can raise those with CLBC directly through the Advocate for Service Quality, who has an excellent record of resolving circumstances that people bring forward, or with my office.

S. Simpson: The minister talks about people's privacy. These are people who are in these situations who don't necessarily want to speak, but they have no choice. They are anxious. They are desperate. The government is ignoring them, and CLBC is ignoring their needs, so they're speaking out. We're hearing this more and more.

Young people — they receive services from MCFD. They turn 19. That envelope of services disappears. Kirsten Eikenstein's daughter Corrine turned 19 in March. There has been no meaningful plan for her. Kirsten believes she is on her own. She is worried, and she is speaking out. While the chair of CLBC may consider her outside noise, her concerns are real.

My question to the minister is this. Is the minister listening to Kirsten, or does she believe that she's outside noise too, just like her chair?

Hon. S. Cadieux: I find it really surprising that the opposition can't understand that I cannot comment on individual cases in this House. I'm not sure how many more ways we can say that we must abide by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in our dealings in this House, and without express consent to discuss those, I cannot.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

[1425]

Hon. S. Cadieux: I understand that transitions are really difficult. They're difficult for anybody. Transitions are difficult. They're stressful, and these are certainly challenging times for families that are also then coping with the added challenges and financial stresses that a developmental disability places on a family.

That's why CLBC and the Ministry of Children and Families do have a protocol in place to ensure that transition planning starts with the family as early as age 15. If, in individual cases, something is going awry, then certainly we'd like to hear about it.

[End of question period.]

Point of Order

J. Horgan: A point of order. Hon. Speaker, I'm just wondering. It has been a week since we were here, and the Premier was consulting her BlackBerry. I thought that the rules of this place prohibited such behaviour during question period, and if we're going to amend that, then perhaps you could advise all members of that change.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. Members, the rules haven't changed. All the members realize that the use of BlackBerrys during question period or during speeches by the Premier or the Leader of the Opposition is prohibited.

Tributes

RECOGNITION OF 20 YEARS

SERVICE TO LEGISLATURE

BY MEMBER FOR RICHMOND EAST

Hon. M. de Jong: Members, the year was 1991. The Prime Minister was Mulroney. The Premier was Rita Johnston. The Cold War was drawing to a close. The highest-grossing movie was Terminator 2: Judgment Day .

Interjections.

Hon. M. de Jong: Hasta la vista , baby.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Continue, Minister.

Hon. M. de Jong: October 17, 1991, was also the day that a school administrator from Richmond was elected for the first time to this chamber. Since that day we have had four Prime Ministers and six Premiers. The Vancouver Canucks have been to game 7 of the Stanley Cup final twice, with incredibly consistent results.

But the member for Richmond East has endured in the service of her constituents. Who knows what possessed her to place her name on the ballot in what many considered a hopeless and lost cause back in '91? Who knows what prompted her to irresponsibly consider risking a split in the free enterprise…? Sorry, that's a different speech.

She was not alone in entering the chamber for the first time. As we heard earlier today, the members from Nicola, for Port Coquitlam, for Nanaimo and from Green Timbers joined her in that honour.

She alone amongst them, however, is the only that has served for 20 consecutive years in this chamber, and she joins today an exclusive group. I've only known two: Emery Barnes and Colin Gabelmann. There have been others in our history, but not many others. It is an exclusive group.

[ Page 8108 ]

She has served in numerous capacities: as an opposition critic, as a minister and also as a servant of this House as Deputy Speaker. She has, I believe, always done so with honesty, with professionalism, with dedication, with distinction and with civility. Along the way she managed to get married and have two beautiful children.

[1430]

If I may be permitted this breach of parliamentary protocol, Mr. Speaker. Linda, you are much loved on both sides of this assembly — much loved for the humanity you have brought to the fulfilment of your duties and to your constant recognition of the fact that whatever the debates are that separate us, we are all linked by a common desire to represent the people of British Columbia to the very best of our abilities. You have fulfilled your responsibility in that respect with great distinction. All in this House count you as our friend and are honoured to have served with you along the way. God bless. [Applause.]

Hon. C. Clark: Along that same note, the minister has spoken so eloquently about what the member for Richmond East has achieved in her time here. I simply want to say this. When she ran in 1991 in, as he said, what appeared to be a hopeless cause, I was working with her on that hopeless cause. I went on to become her researcher here at the Legislature — a plum patronage appointment that paid about $18,000 a year at the time.

From the day that she first got elected, she devoted herself to public office like very few do. She devoted herself with a willingness to listen, to be open to new ideas, with a real profound depth of caring for what happens in families in British Columbia.

It's tough. You know, 20 years in politics can change people a lot. It never, ever changed the member for Richmond East. She always stayed focused on the things that she believed in, and she never, ever forgot the reasons that she decided to run for office in the first place. It is difficult to stay true to what you believe in, in any walk of life. It's tough to be consistent, but she has managed to do that throughout her career.

I will say this. The minister has talked about how she has, over the years, brought members together around various causes. People on both sides of the aisle respect and like her. Many will remember the party that she organized, with the former member for Vancouver-Hastings, where they brought something that danced into the party. But since then she has continued to serve with great distinction.

The thing, I think, that I will hold as her achievement most of all is something that many might think is a small one. I have dedicated a great deal of my time to the cause of anti-bullying in British Columbia over the years. The member for Richmond East was there supporting that cause long before anyone else here was, and she was doing it by supporting a program called Roots of Empathy. She brought that program to British Columbia. She invented the Seeds of Empathy, which came from it, and she has continued to support it throughout her time in public office.

I hope the member for Richmond East will be here in this chamber for many years to come. But on the day when she finally does decide to retire, people will look back and say: "She made a very, very real difference."

GAIL ROBERTS

Hon. C. Clark: On a more sombre note, if I could say this. We all — many of us in this chamber, particularly on the government side of the House — will know Gail Roberts. She worked for ten years in the Premier's Vancouver office. She was the first face that people saw when they came in the door, and no matter who they were, she treated them exactly the same. It was with the same kind of sunny optimism and the same kind of welcome she offered to the most senior minister as she would for the young person that came in to water the plants.

Gail Roberts was a woman who also made a very real difference in people's lives. She lost her fight with cancer, but she does leave a legacy for all of us who knew her, of love and laughter and warmth. On behalf of this entire House, I'd like to extend to Don and her children our heartfelt prayers and our thanks to them for letting us share Gail.

H. Lali: I seek leave to present a petition.

[1435]

Mr. Speaker: Proceed.

Petitions

H. Lali: I have a petition with 243 signatures from the community of Spences Bridge, Save Our Spences Bridge Committee. They're asking government to follow the Buckland and Taylor engineering report's ten-year plan to keep the bridge open.

M. Elmore: I rise to table a petition.

Mr. Speaker: Proceed.

M. Elmore: It's a petition raising concerns about the Canadian–European Union comprehensive economic and trade agreement signed by 265 members — many are here today — from the Canadian Auto Workers Local 111, 333 and 114, initiated by the human rights committee, the pride committee and the women's committee.

[ Page 8109 ]

They're joined, as well, by protests in Ottawa on the same issue. They're asking the Premier to raise concerns about the lack of transparency and to advocate to the federal government to protect our public services from privatization and deregulation, and to ensure that municipal purchasing is upheld and our public health care and environmental regulations are protected.

N. Macdonald: It's a petition as well. Five hundred members and supporters of the Revelstoke snowmobile society have written letters to the Premier's office on an issue of great importance to them. They've yet to receive a response. They have asked me to present this petition today, appealing to the Premier to consider their concern.

Tabling Documents

Hon. S. Bond: I have the honour to present the following reports today: the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal annual report, 2010-2011, and the B.C. Ferry Commission Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2011 .

Orders of the Day

Hon. R. Coleman: For next couple of hours, approximately, we'll be debating the Speech from the Throne. At that time we will probably move into Bill 3, intituled the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, second reading. Should we complete that today, we would then move to second reading of Bill 4, the Offence Amendment Act.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Hon. C. Clark: It is an honour for me to rise today in response to the first throne speech delivered in this chamber since I became Premier. I have to say, as I start, that I am proud to respond to the throne speech, but I am even prouder to stand here with the members that I do, on the government side of the House — a group of people who don't sit back and sit around and say: "I wish somebody else would do this." A group of people on the government side of the House who consistently get up and say: "What can I do to make my community better? What can I do to bring hope to communities when they may be struggling? What can I do to leave a better British Columbia than the one I found?"

I am surrounded by people who are optimistic, by people who are hopeful and by people, heaven forbid, who even sometimes find a way to smile. They are people — we are people — who want to bring change in British Columbia. We are people who want to make sure that we protect our clean air and our clean water — the majesty of British Columbia.

We want to be generous with those who are less able, and we want a thriving, growing middle class in every community across the province. While others may choose to be negative and pessimistic and divisive, that is not the path that this government will choose.

Of course, the opposition has the right to critique, and that's part of democracy. I was there; I understand it. But they also have an obligation to put forward a plan — ideas. Tell us where they stand on the issues. They have yet to do that. They have yet to come forward with any concrete ideas about where they would take British Columbia.

They talk about wanting to make sure that people are working. They talk about wanting to make sure that we are supporting those who are more vulnerable. But they never tell us how they would do it.

[1440]

They have yet to come forward with a plan for defending and creating jobs in British Columbia. They have yet to come forward with any suggestions — I would argue, even a single suggestion — of how they intend to pay for all of the promises they make. It's important that they do that, because British Columbians will surely be disappointed to discover that the opposition, with all of the promises that it makes, has no plan to figure out how we could pay for them.

They're anxious to make those promises, but they don't seem to be concerned if they turn out to be empty ones. I am. I am concerned that we restore the credibility of government. I am concerned that British Columbians know that when we make promises, we're prepared to stand behind them and find a way to keep them.

That is why I am so proud to stand with this group of people who sit with me on this side of the House — and a few on the other side too, thank goodness. It's a group of people who are committed to making sometimes tough decisions, a group of people who will sometimes have to make the very difficult decision to say no, a group of people that wants to live within our means.

Respect for taxpayers. Make sure that when we make promises, we can keep them. That's what the members on this side of the House stand for.

When I say we are in a season of change, I mean that it's a season to proceed with new jobs and a plan that actually looks forward, rather than one that takes us backwards to the 1990s.

It's a season to focus on putting families at the front of the agenda, to recognize that families do the most important thing in the world, and that's raise children. It's not government that raises your children. It's not schools that raise your children. It's not other institutions that raise your children. It's families that do that. It's families that instil character and give children the moral guidance that they need, the ethics that they need to grow up and build great neighbourhoods. When they build great neighbourhoods they build a great province,

[ Page 8110 ]

and that's how you get a great country like Canada. Woe be it to the government that forgets that families are the most important institution in any society.

When I say it's a season of change, I also mean it's a season for government to open up to citizens, to listen to British Columbians. There's already evidence of that change. I know the member for Nanaimo must be very happy that we've decided to put forward funding to support the E&N Railway. I know the members for Esquimalt–Royal Roads, Victoria–Swan Lake, Saanich South and Victoria–Beacon Hill will be happy about the money that we've invested in the shipbuilding training centre and Camosun College. Or maybe not.

I know that they will be even happier — the members on the south Island, the members on the North Shore and people all across British Columbia who depend on shipbuilding jobs — when 6,800 new jobs come to their communities when Seaspan is awarded the shipbuilding.

Now, they don't like to show it, and we all know they're engaged in politics, for sure, but I know that the member for North Coast must be happy because we're helping to develop a road and rail corridor at the Port of Prince Rupert. The construction alone of that project will create 570 new jobs, and once….

Interjections.

Hon. C. Clark: There is more. So 570 new jobs, and then once the terminal expansion is complete, there will be 4,000 new jobs at the Port of Prince Rupert.

As one of the members of the longshoremen's union said to me: "Christy, we are grateful." They are grateful that the government understands that the growth of a thriving private sector economy supports the growth of private sector jobs — some of them non-union, some of them union. But that's the basis of a thriving middle class in any country, and that's why we're focused on it.

[1445]

Now, I saw that the member for Skeena is still here, and I was up in that member's riding just a couple of weeks ago. I met with the Haisla First Nation. They are really excited about liquefied natural gas, and they have a big problem up there. The Haisla have a big problem. Liquefied natural gas is going to create more jobs than their community can fill. They're really struggling with that. You know, it's a problem that a lot of communities would like to have, and it's a problem that we on this side of the House would like to create for a lot of communities in British Columbia.

This is our chance to turn the page and move forward with an agenda for change that will allow British Columbia to weather what is a very unstable international economy and move ahead united, confident, optimistic and excited about what we can do if we can come together and get behind a plan for jobs.

Now, the throne speech laid out an agenda, one that was focused on defending and creating jobs here in British Columbia. It's one that will, by creating jobs, put families first, make it easier for families to put food on the table for their kids, make it easier for government to be able to provide and support the essential services that families depend on from government and one that will open up government.

It was a vision for the future — one that is designed to make sure that we don't repeat the mistakes of the past, because we cannot go backward. We cannot go backward to when the Leader of the Opposition sat in the Premier's office and B.C. lagged behind or missed the economic boat altogether. Don't forget that in the 1990s North America underwent one of the biggest economic expansions in its history, and British Columbia sat it out. While other provinces across this country were growing and thriving, while jobs were being created in communities all over Canada, they weren't happening here.

When we were undergoing the biggest economic expansion in Canadian history, 50,000 people fled this province in search of jobs. British Columbians went from being in a have province to being a have-not province when the Leader of the Opposition last had his chance at looking after B.C.'s economy. British Columbia became a have-not province, and British Columbians became ashamed of their own government and what it was doing. We can't go back to that. We can't go back to that era, when government decided who was worthy of being rewarded and who deserved to be punished.

Ten years ago British Columbians turned the page. They turned the page, through a government that offered an agenda of prudence, and British Columbia discovered that a little common sense goes an awful long way. Now we're going to turn the page again. We're going to build on that platform of the last ten years, and we're going to set aside those divisions of the past, set aside those divisions that we saw in the 1990s that set British Columbia on a path for failure.

So 2001 wasn't an easy year for British Columbia, but it was a year that was full of hope because it was a year of change. Finally, British Columbia's economy was free to grow again. Finally, families in small communities in every corner of the province had hope that they could find work again, because they had a government that cared about making sure that our private sector economy was thriving.

They had a government that understood that if you pick winners and losers, everybody loses; that if you decide you want to raise taxes through the roof, everyone loses; and that if you decide you want to make sure you're spending more than you're taking in, you can't look after the people that are most vulnerable in our society.

Our jobs plan has one focus. That's good, stable jobs for B.C. families. It's called Canada Starts Here , and we called it that for a reason. We believe that we can

[ Page 8111 ]

reach out. We believe that this is our chance to lead Canada like we never have before. It's about optimism. It's about having hope for the future. It's about a belief that we can go forward if we decide to focus on doing better. If we believe we can do better, if we believe we can be positive about the future, then we'll go forward instead of back.

[1450]

The plan is built on three pillars. The first one is enabling job creation, getting government out of the way when we're often in the way. The second is about continuing to build smart infrastructure, so that once we get out of the way, we can get our goods to market. The third is about opening up new markets. Every single member on the government side of the House, every member of cabinet, knows that they have a specific contribution to make to making the jobs plan work.

Never before has a government come together around a plan where the energy of every part of government has been harnessed behind it. This is the most comprehensive job plan any government in my memory has implemented. It is a jobs plan that we are going to stick with.

There will be tough decisions, and I'm sure there will be controversy. There will certainly be naysayers, who are all about what British Columbia can't achieve, and I'm looking at a few of them right across from me right now. But nonetheless, we'll persevere, and we'll stick with the plan because we have a duty to that next generation of British Columbians to do better, not worse. We have a duty to go forward, not backward. We have a duty to leave a British Columbia better than the one we found.

Now, there's one thing we know on this side of the House that I hope the members on the other side can learn from — that government does not create jobs. Let me repeat that. Government does not create jobs. The private sector creates jobs. Government can impair the creation of jobs. Government can enable the creation of jobs, but government doesn't create jobs. It's the private sector we need to depend on to do that.

We need to be out there making sure we are doing what we can to enable that thriving private sector economy. We see it with the LNG plants, with the new mines reopening, with mills reopening across British Columbia.

Twenty-seven mills reopened across British Columbia because government did as much as it could to enable them to do so. We did as much as we could to enable them to do so, and now a lot of families are putting food on the table that weren't before. A lot of families are finding ways to support their kids. A lot of families are supporting the rest of the private sector economy through the wages they earn at those jobs.

It's important that we make sure our citizens have jobs. It's important that we create jobs all across the province or that we enable the creation of jobs all across the province, because when we strengthen the economy, we strengthen families. I think one of the things that members opposite need to understand is that the economy doesn't exist as an abstract concept simply to be attacked. The economy exists to support families and communities. The economy exists so people can go to work every day and provide for the people they love.

That is why we want to have a thriving private sector economy. The economy isn't something that just exists as a set of numbers to get angry about every time Statistics Canada issues a report. The economy exists to support families and make sure they're able to do the job that only they can do, and that is to raise their children with character.

There are two things, though, that need to underlie this plan. The first is a skilled workforce, because if we are enabling the creation of thousands of jobs across the province — and that is clearly our intent — then we need to make sure there are British Columbians ready and trained and able to take those jobs.

The second is to make sure that we maintain the fiscally prudent course that the government has charted over the last decade. When you look around the world at the chaos that has unfolded, you realize that investors are frightened. Capital is mobile. We need to send a message around the world that British Columbia is a safe place to invest. We have a triple-A credit rating, we have some of the lowest taxes you'll find anywhere in North America, and we have a stable, predictable government that meets its targets. Those are all things that we can sell about British Columbia to the world.

[1455]

It's not the only thing we can sell about British Columbia to the world. We also have our proximity to the biggest markets on the globe. The fastest-growing middle class in history is in India. The biggest human migration ever undertaken in the history of humanity is in China. We're three hours closer in our ports to theirs.

We have an incredibly diverse population — look around you — that has been connected for over a century across the ocean. We have world-class infrastructure. We have those sound fiscal fundamentals, which were tough to achieve, which required some difficult decisions but which are serving us well now.

We have a wealth of natural and intellectual resources that the world is very hungry for. We have a chance to build on this position of strength now. I believe that this is a unique moment in British Columbia's history for us to do more than our fair share for the rest of Canada. It's an opportunity for us to lead, an opportunity for British Columbia to build an even greater country.

We are the only Pacific edge that this country has. We are literally facing the future of the world across the Pacific Ocean. The B.C. jobs plan represents a change, an opportunity to take advantage of that.

[ Page 8112 ]

Now, the throne speech noticed that we are looking at all of the decisions that government makes through a family lens. I call it putting families first. I was particularly proud that in the throne speech we recognized that families are as diverse as British Columbia. There are all kinds of families. You'll find all different shapes and sizes everywhere across the province, and every one of them is bound by this single thing: a group of people that supports each other through the difficult times in life.

Our government is very much focused on making sure that we put all of those families first. We provided a much-needed break for families during the long haul between New Year's and Easter through a family day holiday.

We raised the minimum wage. We're reviewing all Crown corporations, aimed at making life a little bit more affordable for families. As we did with the B.C. Hydro review, we cut planned rate increases in half. That's the kind of change that I'm talking about when I talk about change for British Columbians.

We'll modernize the education system so that our students are getting the skills that they need for the next century, not for the last one. We're going to make sure that students feel safe in our schools by making sure we are focused, plain and simple, on anti-bullying policies in every school across the province.

Our goal is to make sure, as well, that British Columbia is the most open government in Canada. We will listen to British Columbians as our jobs plan unfolds. We'll look for ways with our citizens to make government services more effective and more economical. As the job plan unfolds and evolves, we'll continue to add to it and change it, based on the feedback that we get.

We'll respect taxpayers — taxpayers at all levels — through the introduction of a municipal auditor general, a decision that I am very disappointed to see the members across the aisle oppose. It's just common sense that all levels of government should be subject to value-for-money audits.

I am interested. At first, I was delighted. Since then my delight has been diminished just to being interested — however, I hope to get back to delight — in the Leader of the Opposition's promise that he will be optimistic, that he will be positive and constructive. I hope that will continue and maybe, perhaps, we'll even see him smile every once in a while. Good for him. Maybe smiling has become the new black for the NDP, and maybe we can encourage lots more of them to find reason to be optimistic about the future of this incredible province.

But you know, if you want to be optimistic, you need to find a way to be constructive. So I'll look for some constructive comment from the members across the way. Maybe they'll have a plan, as well, at some point, and maybe we'll be able to work with them on their plan to help make our plan even better.

But there is a difference in this House. That is that we do have a plan and that we have a plan that is based, founded, rooted in our belief in the greatness of British Columbia, our belief in the people of British Columbia, our belief that if you focus and work hard and you are optimistic about the future, you can make a difference.

[1500]

We believe that change can happen in British Columbia if we can find a way to do it together. So during this session and in the months to come we'll bring an optimistic attitude, Mr. Speaker, because we really do believe that Canada starts here.

I really do believe that we can lead this country like we never have at any time in Confederation. This is our chance to do more for Canada than we ever have, and we can't afford to miss it, because families in every corner of British Columbia are depending on us.

M. Karagianis: I rise to address the throne speech that we heard here in this Legislature a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say that I'm very, very fascinated by this new rebranding process that's going on. We've just heard a 30-minute pep rally here, rebranding a government that's been in power for ten years; that has a proven track record; and that has very clearly established its policies, its principles and its priorities after a decade of running this province.

I know that the people of British Columbia are not fooled in any way by this attempt to try and claim that somehow this government is new, that it's offering us anything new, that it has done anything in the last number of months except repackage promises that we've heard over and over again by the previous Premier and that are now being repurposed and repackaged again by the current sitting Premier with a lot of hype.

[L. Reid in the chair.]

Sure, that's pretty understandable here, but when you look at the substance, the depth of this, you will realize that this is a hollow shell. This is lots of rhetoric, lots of pomp and ceremony but no substance involved in here. So I want to talk today a little bit about the content of the throne speech.

Before I talk, I would like to take this opportunity, though, to offer special thanks to my constituency staff, who work tirelessly every single day in my community. Jayne Ducker and Heather Gropp do an amazing job. They interface every single day with members in my community.

They're the front-line services that actually hear the real stories of what's happening to British Columbians and deal with helping those people try and navigate their way through the fractured services that are now available in this province and the lack of real supports for family, and they try and find ways to help these families navigate the system.

[ Page 8113 ]

I'd also like to welcome the newest member to my staff, and his name is Andrew Barrett. Yes, for those of you who can put that name together with a historical character, that is Dave Barrett's grandson, who is now taking his place, working in my office and doing a fantastic job in my constituency office.

I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that a good friend of mine received a fabulous award here a few days ago, and that is my friend Crystal Dunahee, who has been awarded the Order of B.C.

I was really struck at that ceremony by the contrast of others receiving the award and, really, the sacrifice that Crystal Dunahee has made on behalf of missing children across the country and in this province and the personal commitment that she has and how very worthy she was to receive the Order of B.C. and how very humble she is about that honour. It was a great privilege for me to be involved in nominating her and to see her get that award.

I would like to talk a little bit here about the throne speech and what it means in real terms for real people in real communities. Despite all of the hype we've heard in the last half-hour here, the reality for most people is entirely different on the front lines.

The jobs plan that the government has rolled out seems to be more one of imagination than reality, and too many communities have, over the last couple of years, suffered incredible job losses that they have been unable to recover from.

You know, under this government we saw a loss of 21,800 full-time jobs in the last year, full-time, family-supporting jobs gone and replaced by part-time jobs or in the case of many young people now, a series of jobs that they go to — three and four jobs.

[1505]

B.C.'s unemployment rate in August was 7.5 percent, the third-highest in the country. So the reality is that when you hear the hype about a jobs plan that is going to deliver jobs years in the future or imagine how those jobs will look in 2013, 2015, 2020, it doesn't help communities at all. It certainly doesn't help the people in my constituency. It does not help any of those young people who are patching together enough money to support themselves on two and three different jobs. It seems to me….

Interjection.

M. Karagianis: It seems to me, other than the heckling from the other side, that when the government claimed they do not create jobs, I guess that's true. Again, we'll have to imagine that all of this hype will deliver something tangible from the private sector in the years to come.

In my community we are looking for real job opportunities, and I'll tell you right now that there is one very low-hanging piece of fruit that the government can seize on now. It has been repeatedly in the media, and that is to do something about getting rid of the HST in under 18 months. That will create and ensure real jobs in my community and communities across British Columbia.

We know that the homebuilders are saying that they are in a crisis mode right now because the HST has paralyzed that industry. Those are jobs people could have tomorrow, building homes in our communities, if the government would speed up the process of getting rid of the HST.

Now, the HST has been a debacle from day one — from the time it was brought in under a shadow, every single day since then, a public initiative like nothing we have ever seen in this province and then a referendum that was a colossal vote of non-confidence for this government. Yet this thing is still dragging on, hanging around our neck like an albatross. We will have spent almost four years paralyzed in this province, in real terms, of real jobs in many sectors because of this disastrous HST.

In the south Island I know that we could be building homes. We could listen to our homebuilders, listen to their plea right now for the government to speed up this process. We could make sure people were really working, not in 2013 or 2015 or 2020 in an imaginary job but right now in real jobs in communities that would feed families and ensure that our economy was thriving here.

Also, in my constituency we need a couple of very real, tangible capital projects that could be invested in, again, that could start jobs right now — real jobs for real people in my communities. We could build Belmont School.

We have, time after time, petitioned this government to get on with building this school. It is falling down around the ears of our students in the Western Communities, and yet the government says: "No, we don't have any money to invest in that. That's not a high priority for us. We're going to go off and invest in things in other parts of the province, and we're going to ignore the young people in this community and the need for this school to be replaced."

Real jobs right now in my community that could happen like that — a flick of a switch from the government to say, "Yes, we're going to build Belmont School. Let's get it started," and we'd have real jobs.

Transportation solutions. This government categorically refuses to deal with the crushing transportation issues that face our communities every single day. Again, these could be real jobs, family-supporting jobs, in my community.

Now, the Premier talked earlier about the shipbuilding contracts. I sure hope we are going to get those, because if there was ever a time when we needed that kind of investment, long-term investment, and capital

[ Page 8114 ]

here in this province, it is now. This government has decimated parts of our shipbuilding industry by a vote of non-confidence when we sent shipbuilding jobs to another country.

I did hear the Premier earlier talking about jobs in China and India. You know what? We want jobs in British Columbia. We want jobs on Vancouver Island. I sincerely hope we're going to hear an announcement very soon on these shipbuilding jobs, because I know of the vast number of people in my community who are depending on and waiting for those jobs to come in, to ensure that for the next ten or 15 or 20 or 30 years we have opportunities to grow the shipbuilding industry and to once again take our place in the world as leading shipbuilders.

I am hoping that the government…. Because they were late coming to the game, because they were clumsy, as always, in their attempts to try and get a part of this, I hope that we have not found ourselves missing out on this. I am waiting very anxiously to hear the announcement there.

[1510]

A decade of this government, of B.C. Liberal government power. And when the government tries to stand up and tell us that they are somehow a remade entity at this point, you only have to look back at ten years of action and inaction and misplaced priorities in this province to see what it has resulted in.

The reality, other than the sort of glossy picture that the Premier wants to paint, is that we now have the highest rate of child poverty for the eighth year in a row. It says something very critical about this community and about this province that we would continue to lead the country in child poverty.

We have in the last decade coined the words "the working poor," where people who hold down full-time jobs are the poor, have managed to slip below the poverty line and struggle every single day to make ends meet. Now when in our lifetime did we imagine that by working two full-time jobs in a household, you would be below the poverty line and struggling? That is what has been delivered after ten years of B.C. Liberal government.

We have user fees. We have increased costs every single day just for simple services in this province. MSP has gone up. Hydro has gone up. Tuition is through the roof. We've got the added burden of the HST that we've had for two years and will have for another 18 months.

Repeatedly, we have seen services — vital services — cut time and time again as the government struggles to balance off the corporate interests. Let's be clear. I think that when we talk families first in British Columbia under the B.C. Liberal government, we talk corporate families first. If you dig down into every single essential policy this government has made, it benefits the corporate families long before it benefits the families in our communities, in my community.

Privatization has been their answer to many of the challenges here that we have been faced with — how to provide better and more opportunities in British Columbia to improve things like a greener, cleaner hydro future. We've seen the mess that the government has made there. But each and every turn of the screw here results in more costs to families, more hardships for families. And I'm not even going to, at this point, touch on the really vulnerable. I'm talking about the working families in British Columbia.

I'm talking about the fact that we have a growing inequality here that has, over the last ten years, been magnified over and over again. We have families and seniors regularly going to food banks to feed themselves — that in a prosperous society that brags and boasts about it being a great place to live? We have families and seniors who regularly go to the food bank in order to feed themselves and make it through the end of the month.

A crisis is here in our community. Our local Mustard Seed Food Bank has run out of its capacity. They now have to borrow against their own property to keep the doors open, when there is a huge and growing demand for food banks, for families to come and access food. That is the real picture of what's happening in British Columbia.

This growing sense of inequality is manifesting itself in this whole Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria. Now, I know that the Premier kind of blew that off, saying: "Oh, nobody will really go there. We're happy in British Columbia." Well, we saw the very opposite of what the Premier expected.

Thousands of people turned out to talk and gather and try to come to grips with the growing inequality in this province. That's what we've had. Ten years of B.C. Liberal government, and we now have such a state of inequality that we have people standing in the streets, asking to be heard.

Perhaps the upshot of that is that they'll pay more attention at the polls the next time. Perhaps they will get out and vote. They will pay more attention to who is running their city, who is running their province, who is running their country. If nothing else comes out of this mass movement, mass awareness about the lack of equality in this province, I am hoping that it is re-engagement with the system.

[1515]

To get a simple education now you have to come away with a debt that you will take perhaps 20 years to pay

[ Page 8115 ]

off — a $30,000 debt coming out of university right now. I know. I have children who have been working in the workforce for ten or 15 years now and who are still paying off student debt. And that has only grown worse.

We have created an environment of a huge have and have-not society, and that inequality will be there and will magnify itself and grow exponentially in the years to come, because we will have a workforce that is not competitive.

We're busy looking to bring international students into this province when we can't even guarantee that every single person in this province who wants an education can afford to do so. The real solution to poverty and inequality is education, but we have not seen an investment or any kind of statement by this government that that's a top priority — none whatsoever. Instead, it's all, as usual, about the private sector.

I'd like to talk a little bit about the other side of the government's activities and ten-year legacy in this province, and that is this history now that is emerging of such gross ineptitude and mismanagement that we are seeing Crown corporations in dire economic straits.

B.C. Ferries. B.C. Ferries has now come out and said: "We have a huge financial problem." Why? Well, because we have had the government put in place someone who got paid a million dollars a year to manage the system, not for the people of British Columbia but to manage the system in a way that added costs and expenses to families and reduced the ability of even tourists to come to this province and use the ferry system.

We find ourselves in a crisis now — an economic crisis with B.C. Ferries — after ten years of the experimental management plan of this government, and we're now saying: "We're going to have to cut services."

I spent a number of years in business, in retail business in the fashion industry, and rule number one is that when business starts to slow down, you don't reduce the amount of your stock, and you don't reduce the hours you operate and keep your doors closed, because that is a sure route to absolute bottom end, into the gutter, close your doors, go out of business.

We are not providing B.C. Ferries as an extension of the highway system. We have basically priced ourselves down in the marketplace, and now we're talking about cutting services, vital services to communities that need that as their economic lifeline.

How can you be planning to create jobs and pat yourself on the back about some kind of jobs plan when on the other hand your B.C. Ferries system is crushing jobs in small communities and ferry-dependent communities up and down the coast?

You can't have it both ways, Madam Speaker. If you're going to put up the banner and say, "This is our…."

Deputy Speaker: I remind the member: through the Chair.

M. Karagianis: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

So if you're going to put up a banner and say, "This is our new slogan of the month," you have to look and make sure that everything else you've done is not hypocritical to that.

B.C. Hydro. We talked about that a little bit, but we look at the other history here of the big projects this government has taken on. B.C. Rail — that became a legend that I'm sure will go down in history.

We'll look back at the story of B.C. Rail…. I can't wait for the movie to come out. In fact, that in itself is such a historical disaster, from the time the government misled voters about what was going to happen with that company, to the way they sold that company, to the ensuing corruption trial and corruption investigation that went on, to its final culmination in a payoff of those that did the most corrupt work in that, where taxpayers paid off a legal bill.

We'll juxtapose that against the questions that have been raised in this House in the last few weeks, which is the lack of services for the most vulnerable in this province, for the developmentally disabled. While we have stood in here and communities have stood on the doorstep and in offices of MLAs across this province asking for pennies, asking for a small amount of money, we've watched the government manage to write off $6 million in B.C. Rail payoff for the corruption trial without so much as a blink of an eye.

The convention centre went grossly over budget. The roof on B.C. Place. I raise this, Madam Speaker; I raised it even this morning. The people who come to me with developmentally disabled children who are looking for services that don't end the day their child turns 19 have said to me: "How can the government spend half a billion dollars on a roof?"

[1520]

To my calculation today, it leaks and has some kind of limited warranty, we heard from the manager, and we're still investigating to find that out. Does it have a limited warranty? Is that what we bought? We bought something that doesn't even have a long-term warranty. I mean, talk about buyer beware. When the province can't get it right, then what can the voters of British Columbia expect in the way their tax dollars are spent. Now it turns out that if there is a sudden rainstorm, you can't open and close this thing, and yet we spent half a billion dollars.

So when families come to me and say, "My children are aging out, and I've been told there will be no services for them. I've been told that their whole life now will be put into crisis, as will mine, and their safety and security for the future is definitely uncertain…." They say: "Yet we watched the debacle of this roof, which we spent half a billion dollars on, that may or may not do what we said it would do."

We have seen a huge piece of educational software written off — another absolutely bad deal years in the making,

[ Page 8116 ]

hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, invested. That goes along with many other things. I guess the HST brochures that the government printed up but could never use because they hadn't registered to be an opponent of the HST went into the shredder.

How are families supposed to look at the government with any sense of confidence when they see the way dollars had been squandered, the way serious matters of governance have been so brutally mismanaged, and they are told that the savings will be made on the backs of their developmentally challenged children?

I have raised numerous cases in this House of people who are asking simply to be treated in a decent way, in a humane way. We have asked for a moratorium on the closure of group homes. People can see very clearly when they look at the way the government has conducted itself after ten years. They see that the price that is being paid for mismanagement, at the end of the day, will be on the backs of the vulnerable. Is it any surprise that people are skeptical about what their vote means, about what their politicians that they send here are doing?

People are now standing in the streets saying this cannot continue. Greed at the top end cannot continue. Mismanagement and ineptitude by government cannot continue at this rate, because more and more people are struggling; more and more people are having difficulty making ends meet.

I was fascinated to hear the Premier talk about the myths that the government has created about the 1990s. I just really want to get it on the record here, some information from Stats Canada — not from me, not from this side of the House, just some straight-up data from Stats Canada.

I know that the B.C. Liberal government likes to create these myths, and they like to speak them frequently. They like to be loud and proud about it, but the reality is that Stats Canada tells us that the economy in the 1990s was little bit different than the way the government likes to paint it. That is sheer, hard numbers from Statistics Canada, not from this side of the House.

Economic growth in the 1990s in this province was at 3 percent. Under the B.C. Liberals, economic growth for the last decade has been 2.4 percent. Which is less, Madam Speaker? So when the Premier and members on that side of the House like to stand up and talk about the myth of the economy in the 1990s, Stats Canada says it is simply not true. Growth was better in the 1990s under a New Democrat government than it has been under the B.C. Liberal government.

Job growth. Let's talk about that because, you know, the jobs plan is the flavour of the day. Let's talk about job growth. Under the B.C. Liberals, job growth has been slower, just 1.5 percent growth per year on average compared to — wait for it — 2.2 percent in the 1990s. So in fact, job growth was greater in the 1990s.

[1525]

When we hear these myths talked about loudly, we can actually go and look up the data, and the proof says to us something entirely different. The reality is that over the last decade we have lost jobs. We have created more inequality, and we have seen such a gross mismanagement of Crown corporations and of the government's own assets that I think it is time for change. I heard the Premier say that. I heard the Premier say it's time for change.

I know she wants more smiling, but so many of these issues are so serious that when you are standing in this House day after day trying to get some justice for those who get community living services or who have been cut off services; when you stand in your office and you listen to seniors who talk about the struggles they have to make it from day to day; when you talk with young people who know they have to work three or four jobs and their chances of buying a home are very, very remote; when you meet with community members and they tell you about the erosion of services around them; and when you meet with families who are struggling every single day, then yes, I sincerely think it is time for change.

I think that what has happened — the phenomena here — over the last year with the HST has shown us that the voters of this province are ready to stand up and be counted and push back against a government that has not put their interests first. Time after time we have seen that private interests come before public interest. We have seen that cost savings, when the government has mismanaged or misrepresented the budget, will come on the backs of those that are least able to stand up and fight for themselves.

What it's painted is a picture of a decade of a government that has been so callous towards the needs of young people, of seniors, of the most vulnerable, that it is time for a change. It's unfortunate that we have to wait 18 months for some of these things to play out.

I do believe that people in my community are not getting a fair share from this government. I believe that people across this province are standing up and saying that they are not getting a fair share.

You know, we have seen a continual erosion of everything from our education system — the needs of special needs students in our education system, the fight that the government has had to undertake with educators in this province, who had to take the government to court to get a fair deal because the government wouldn't voluntarily give them a fair deal and even now is in dispute with them about that. But what is happening in real terms in the classroom today is that all of our children are being compromised by the refusal of government to do the right thing.

And I have seen, over the last six years of standing in this place and debating with this government, that over and over the government is so reluctant to come to terms with doing the right thing, that in every single case it has to be forced upon them. When we saw the en-

[ Page 8117 ]

tire province stand up and resoundingly vote against the HST, I thought that it would send a message to the government that the people of British Columbia had had enough and that things had to change.

So I was greatly disappointed, and I continue to be greatly disappointed, that all we have really seen is sort of repackaging, an attempt to rebrand and try and take what was old and call it new again and sell it to the people of B.C. I think the people of B.C. know better. I think they have learned. And I think that in the next 18 months we are going to see that it is time for change, because despite the taunting by the other side of the House, people of British Columbia do want a change.

It's time for a fair and compassionate government. It's time for a leader and a Premier who is caring, competent and actually has the confidence of the people of this province. I believe that time will come, and I look forward to it.

[1530]

D. Hayer: Thank you, Madam Speaker, for this opportunity to respond to the throne speech delivered by His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor. This was the first throne speech from our new Premier. It conveys the importance of families and the need for jobs to keep those families strong and healthy and, by extension, keep our province and our future strong and healthy. It was certainly clear to me from the throne speech that families are at the heart of the Premier and our government's agenda. Our blueprint for the future will ensure that families will be supported through job creation.

Nowhere in the province is it more clear that jobs are the key to our future prosperity than in my city of Surrey. We have seen over the past decade enormous job-creating projects throughout Surrey and within my constituency of Surrey-Tynehead. Driving along Highway 1, we can all see the thousands of jobs building our future today, the construction of the new ten-lane Port Mann bridge and widening of Highway 1 to four lanes each way from Vancouver to Langley.

Every day construction workers are building new overpasses, rebuilding old ones and improving traffic routes throughout Surrey, Langley, Vancouver area, Burnaby and Coquitlam. This month we're opening the new pedestrian overpass in Tynehead linking Tynehead Regional Park to the Fraser Heights area of my riding. This pedestrian overpass and bike connector will allow people from north of the freeway, Highway 1, easy walking and cycling access to the rest of Surrey and vice versa and to the Tynehead area, Guildford area, Fleetwood area and Port Kells area.

This is family friendly. It creates jobs in construction. It is environmentally friendly. It is good for health and will improve the connection between communities.

One of the biggest advantages of all the freeway and bridge construction is that it will greatly improve the air quality for everyone in Surrey and throughout the Fraser Valley. Our government's expansion of highway infrastructure will clear up day-long traffic jams that our commuters currently face with the old Port Mann Bridge. With the extension of the highway infrastructure, it will get our traffic moving again.

Many times to go to the Port Mann Bridge from my office, it takes 45 minutes to an hour and 25 minutes. When there's no traffic, it only takes five minutes. Most days, almost 14 or 15 hours a day, there's a traffic jam. We will be extending SkyTrain right there to the Guildford area, to Fraser Highway, 168th Street in Fleetwood, to Langley and to the Newton area.

[D. Black in the chair.]

This is important because Surrey is the fastest-growing city in Canada, and over 1,000 people are coming to live in Surrey each month. When the construction of the new ten-lane Port Mann bridge and widening of Highway 1 to eight lanes will be complete, tens of thousands of cars and trucks each day will move through the region quickly instead of stopping, idling or crawling slowly through the area spewing emissions and polluting the air while stuck in traffic.

The movement of traffic will also have a significant economic boost. It has been estimated that $1.5 billion is lost each year to the provincial economy due to the traffic jams at the Port Mann Bridge. Moving vehicles quickly means less cost to individuals and to businesses and cheaper transportation costs and possibly even cheaper consumer goods as a result.

Improving the ease of traffic flow will also create opportunities for more jobs in the transportation industry because of the incentive that this incredible highway improvement project provides to my residents and to people of the Lower Mainland and in British Columbia and Canada.

It isn't just Highway 1 that is creating a better future for Surrey and for British Columbia. We have over the past few years widened 176th Street, also called Pacific Highway, to four lanes from the U.S. border to Highway 1 in my constituency. The newly widened route eases congestion and encourages and increases cross-border trade. The new route is better for tourism, making it easy for Americans to tour our great province and spend their money here in British Columbia and in Surrey and the Lower Mainland.

This means more jobs for Surrey and for our province. We have widened the Fraser Highway. We have widened Highway 10 to four lanes, and all of these projects create jobs with high wages to support families. At the same time, these projects have made life easier for Surrey families. They allow moms and dads to get to work faster and home quicker to be with their families.

[1535]

[ Page 8118 ]

We built the 192nd Street overpass to Port Kells area. We also built the 156 Street underpass to give easy access to Fraser Heights from the Guildford area and to the rest of Surrey. These all created jobs and improved the quality of life for Surrey residents and families, especially my constituents and the people of Surrey.

We are building the South Fraser perimeter road, which is worth more than $1.2 billion, which will greatly improve commercial truck traffic from Deltaport to the rest of Canada. Its construction is creating more jobs, and the improvements to transportation will create many more. At the same time, the new route will take heavy container trucks out of the residential streets, where safety of children and families is an issue, and reduce congestion along the other major routes.

These incredible, far-thinking investments made by our government over the past ten years are creating a legacy for the future and the future of all British Columbians. Surrey is an important part of British Columbia, and I'm happy that our government recognizes this fact. Surrey residents will benefit today and a long way into the future from the vision of our government.

Surrey, Madam Speaker — as everyone knows and you know — will soon be the largest city in the province and one of the largest in the country.

As I've said before, we will also be expanding the SkyTrain and the light rail to Guildford mall, Guildford area, to Fraser Highway and 168th Street in Fleetwood, to Newton, to Langley and, probably later on, to Abbotsford. That's good for everybody.

Our government, through its investments, recognizes that growth in Surrey and understands the need to ensure that Surrey residents receive the best services and value possible from the expenditure of their tax dollars.

Our government's commitment to Surrey does not end at transportation infrastructure improvements. Recently the $237 million Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre hospital opened, on time and on budget. It was opened on Fraser Highway and 140th Street in Surrey. It is liked by every constituent in Surrey and people living in and around the area.

It is the first of its kind facility in B.C. It offers day surgery, diagnostic procedures such as lab, X-ray, CT and MRI scans and biopsies, and specialized health programs all within one building, and many more services that our constituents need for their health care.

Surrey is also the beneficiary of the largest investment in health care in British Columbia's history — close to $600 million — with the addition of a new eight-storey tower to the Surrey Memorial Hospital. This project will add more than 150 new acute care beds to Surrey Memorial Hospital.

The new tower at Surrey Memorial Hospital will expand many services, including 48 children's neonatal intensive care beds, specialized mental health and geriatric units. The new tower is projected to cost more than $600 million and will contain a new emergency department that will be five times larger than the existing facility at Surrey Memorial Hospital. That is welcome news for everyone.

Many people thought that this facility should have opened 20 years ago, but finally, we are working on it, and it will be opening. At least our government is doing that.

This emergency will include a separate children's emergency and enhanced minor treatment unit, a maternity department that will have 13 new birthing beds, private rooms for moms and their families. This emergency and this tower are welcome in Surrey.

It will also include additional academic space for new doctors and other health care professionals in partnership with the UBC Medical School and Fraser Health. The new tower will also have a new rooftop helipad to deal with emergencies.

This is just one of the many investments we are making in health care throughout Surrey, creating thousands of jobs. All this is coming on the heels of 73 new acute care beds we opened at Surrey Memorial Hospital not too long ago.

As well, there was a $10 million expansion of Surrey Memorial Hospital's kidney dialysis unit which increased the availability of stations from 18 to 30. It was also part of a $30 million upgrade initiative at Surrey Memorial Hospital that we began back in 2005.

[1540]

The project aims to build capacity, expand services and ease congestion at Surrey Memorial Hospital. These additional beds represent a 26 percent increase in acute care beds in Surrey — 491 of them since Fraser Health was created by our government.

For the cancer patients, this government has spent $12.5 million for renovations to the B.C. cancer centre in Surrey. The renovations have vastly improved services for cancer patients in Surrey and surrounding communities, improving quality of life for them and for their families.

The expansion of the Surrey Memorial Hospital is part of the $1.9 billion health sector capital plan to modernize health facilities and purchase new medical equipment across British Columbia. These large health projects not only create jobs during their construction; they are part of the legacy of health that will serve Surrey residents and many other people throughout the Fraser region with leading state-of-the-art technology and the best health care available in the province and in our country.

We have not forgotten our seniors in Surrey either. This government recently opened the residence at Morgan Heights, a new campus of care providing seniors with 40 assisted-living units and 116 residential care beds. An annual subsidy of over $670,000 for 36

[ Page 8119 ]

assisted-living units is provided by Independent Living B.C. Fraser Health will provide over $533,000 annually towards personal care and hospitality services for the 36 assisted-living units and the $5 million annually to operate 90 residential care beds.

We also recently opened The Harrison at Elim Village, a 118-unit, $30 million residential care facility for seniors. Fraser Health will fund 80 of the 118 residential care beds and, in partnership with B.C. Housing, will also fund 53 assisted-living units at this campus of care.

In addition to this, our government also provided $365,000 for Fraser Health's three new stroke prevention clinics — located at Surrey Memorial Hospital, Royal Columbian and Abbotsford Regional Hospital — as part of the B.C. stroke strategy.

In South Surrey the Fraser Health Authority contributed $2.4 million for the new state-of-the-art MRI machine at Peace Arch Hospital, bringing the total to 22 MRI scanners in B.C.'s hospitals, and 13 new MRIs have been introduced to B.C. since 2001, resulting in more than 91,000 MRI exams completed just in 2007-08. It's a 165 percent increase since 2002, and we have increased that number to much more now.

Families are truly at the heart of this government agenda, from children to seniors, because we need families to feel supported and safe in our communities and throughout the province. In regard to children, our government introduced full-day kindergarten to foster a strong education foundation for a generation of learners across British Columbia.

To support this transition, we provided a $144.5 million capital investment fund to ensure 709 new classrooms were available to meet the needs of all-day kindergarten learners. In Surrey alone 58 new classrooms have been added at six elementary schools through new additions or energy-efficient modular buildings.

In addition, we committed $280 million to all school districts to support provincewide full-day kindergarten. We also contributed $500,000 for the ten new StrongStart B.C. centres — these centres provide free, drop-in early learning activities for preschoolers accompanied by their caregiver or their grandparents — and allocated $1.3 million for the Halls Prairie Elementary seismic upgrades.

We completed renovations or seismic upgrades at Guildford Park Secondary, Johnston Heights Secondary, Ellendale Elementary and Green Timbers Elementary and also worked on upgrades at Surrey Traditional School, Clayton Elementary, AHP Matthew Elementary and McLeod Road Elementary. We also built the new $17 million Adams Road School.

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Currently I'm working with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Education, our Premier, our MLAs for Surrey-Panorama and Surrey–White Rock, Surrey board of education, Surrey Chamber of Commerce, the parents, students, community organizations and teachers to get more funding for the Surrey district capital projects for schools, for new schools and to eliminate portables in Fraser Heights Secondary School and to help solve the problems of portables in other schools. We will soon have an announcement on that.

We have worked hard on this, and I appreciate our Finance Minister, our Minister of Education and our Premier for looking at it, because we do need a lot of money in Surrey for schools.

Our government also initiated $1.7 million immigrant youth in schools pilot program in Surrey, in addition to ten other school districts. The program addresses the needs of immigrant youth in grades 8 to 12, providing services to enable immigrant student success.

We did not forget post-secondary students. In Surrey we built a $70 million Simon Fraser University campus, the Surrey campus, and invested a further $10 million in its expansion at the Podium program. We also built a $39 million world-class trades and technology campus of Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Cloverdale. These superb additions to post-secondary education make higher learning more accessible, less expensive and closer to home for our students and for their families.

We also opened the Aboriginal Gathering Place at Kwantlen University. This $600,000 project is part of the province's $13.6 million investment in creating gathering places at the public post-secondary institutions. Aboriginal enrolment has more than doubled in the past five years at Kwantlen University and increased by 26 percent in B.C. public post-secondary institutions since 2003.

On top of all of this, we contributed $10 million for the fantastic new $36 million, environment-friendly Surrey centre public library. There were thousands of people who were at the opening recently, and they were all saying thank you to the city, the province and the federal government, working in partnership to build this new facility, which is worth more than $36 million. That is because our government has created a strong economy over the last decade. We have created a lot of jobs, and that has paid off and allowed us to invest this money into the project in Surrey and in the rest in the province.

This beautiful new library will provide everyone — from children to students, to parents, to seniors, to non-profit societies and to the SFU students — with tremendous access to educational material, research information and general entertainment. Literacy and learning make us all better people and contribute to the personal satisfaction, better health and improved preparation for our jobs and for the future. The new library will be a significant factor in improving access to those opportunities for all Surrey residents.

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Our government has also focused on affordable housing needs in Surrey, ensuring that vulnerable, low-income and less fortunate individuals have a home and a place where they feel welcome and comfortable. Ground was broken last year on the new seniors care facility at Kinsmen Place Lodge, a $33.7 million building project providing 157 residential care beds. We also opened a second phase of the $17.9 million Maxxine Wright Centre in Surrey, providing pregnant women and their children safe and supportive housing that includes prenatal and postnatal care.

Surrey was also one of the five communities selected for the distribution of 320 modular homes used by Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in the Whistler athletes village. The modular homes will be configured into 156 permanent, affordable rental homes for low-income persons in Surrey. These will truly be a lasting legacy of the 2010 Olympics for Surrey residents.

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A total of 11 contracts throughout the province were awarded and signed, and that included CBI Consultants Ltd. in Surrey.

We opened Freedom Place at $7.3 million in development, providing 20 assisted-living units for young adults with disabilities in Surrey-Tynehead and invested $32.9 million for two new supportive housing developments, creating 211 jobs.

We provided $2.7 million to help open the Phoenix Centre, a $10.9 million integrated addiction service centre offering continual support for individuals that are recovering from addiction and mental illness.

We helped individuals at risk for homelessness and mental health and addiction issues. We provided a $15 million grant to build Quibble Creek health and Phoenix Transition housing centre in Surrey. The facility will contain 52 supportive housing units and 15 short-term traditional recovery beds. The building will also include the Fraser Health recovery and assessment centre with 25 beds for men and women requiring 24-hour recovery and assessment services and a primary care, substance abuse and mental health clinic.

When we went for the groundbreaking ceremony for this, people in Surrey were really happy. We had people from all backgrounds, all walks of life, there for the groundbreaking ceremony. They were really looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to the completion of this project.

We also provided $10.9 million to develop Alder Gardens and $21.9 million to develop the Creekside health and housing centre. These accomplishments, these investments for the future of Surrey residents and for all of British Columbia are but some of the many that have occurred and will continue to occur to benefit all of us.

The throne speech continues that legacy of growth and promise for the future. With the throne speech, we are dedicating to growth and security of families through job creation. This is our focus, and it is our way of ensuring prosperity and security for decades to come. Jobs, good-paying jobs, are critical to the strength of families. With this, we are making sure we have a lot of good-paying jobs in the future.

It delights me that the throne speech of our new Premier supports the creation by 2015, in concert with the private sector, of eight new mines and nine upgrades and extensions to currently operating mines, and at least one LNG, liquefied natural gas, pipeline and terminal in operation in Kitimat and three in operation by 2020.

When the Finance Committee was visiting more than 12 towns and also listening to at least six other towns, many of the people were happy to say that our government is listening, and they were happy to see both sides of the committee were there listening to people to provide input to the Minister of Finance for the next budget.

So many people up north, and especially in the northeast, were really happy about the opening of the mines and also opening the LNG, liquified natural gas, pipeline and the terminal in Kitimat.

Our government is also committed to cutting the red tape in the mining sector by reducing the mining permit backlog by 80 percent by August 31, 2012, and the Water Act and the Land Act permit backlog by 50 percent by December 31, 2012. The lessons that our government learned from selling B.C. lumber to China, which created more jobs in our sawmills and forest industries, will be used for other industries, other commodities and in other countries for such as international education, mining, gas, tourism, clean energy and agriculture food.

By marketing B.C. products, we will create the jobs of the future. Lumber companies in my riding, like the Teal-Jones Group and S&R Sawmills and Mill and Timber Products and many other mills, are great assets to B.C. and to our city of Surrey because they provide great jobs. They pay good money to the workers and that helps us to provide our health care, education and social programs.

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These positive actions will mean more jobs, more good-paying jobs throughout the province. The positive actions that our government is taking mean economic prosperity and a secure future for all the families in British Columbia.

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The speech also details plans for new legislation to modernize our educational system to ensure that our teachers have the skills and the support necessary to provide children with the skill set for a prosperous future. New legislation is also coming to modernize the B.C. College of Teachers.

Our government will also bring forward legislation this session to create a streamlined process for traffic fine violations that will resolve disputes and free up Provincial Court time. To further assist families in times of dispute, our government will introduce the new families act during the session to promote early resolution of family law problems.

The throne speech contains the commitment to work with non-profit groups to find new and innovative ways to provide services for the most vulnerable in our society. Non-profit societies are very important to our province, and their volunteers are worth more than gold to us.

These volunteers contribute millions of dollars' worth of volunteer time to the many non-profit societies. I have always appreciated all the volunteers for the great work that they do and also the volunteer work they provide for our communities. I have personally belonged to many community organizations and non-profit organizations before getting involved in politics, and I always encourage everybody in the community, including the future generation of students, to volunteer, because it's good for everybody. We have to always thank our volunteers and non-profit organizations.

Anti-bullying policies in our schools will be expanded to include a comprehensive training regime, on-line reporting tools and advanced threat assessment tools and protocols. This is all part of making our schools more important, safer, providing the latest education technology available to the students so they can have the best education right here in British Columbia.

Another strong,