British Columbia Hansard — 12 February 2020, p.m., Issue 304 (41st Parliament, 5th Session)

20200212PM-Hansard-n304

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Fifth Session, 41st Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Afternoon Sitting Issue No. 304 THE HONOURABLE DARRYL PLECAS, SPEAKER ISSN 1499-2175

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

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

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

Anne Kang Minister of Education ............................................................................................................................................................ Hon. Rob Fleming Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources ..................................................................................................... Hon. Bruce Ralston Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy............................................................................................. Hon.

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

Scott Fraser Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness.............................................................................Hon. Michelle Mungall Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon. George Chow Minister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon.

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

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

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

Raj Chouhan Assistant Deputy Speaker............................................................................................................................................................. Simon Gibson Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole ................................................................................................................ Spencer Chandra Herbert Acting Clerk of the Legislative Assembly...............................................................................................................................

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

Suzie Seo Acting Sergeant-at-Arms..................................................................................................................................................................Greg Nelson

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal) ......................................................................... Penticton Bains, Hon. Harry (NDP)................................................................ Surrey-Newton Barnett, Donna (BC Liberal) .....................................................Cariboo-Chilcotin Beare, Hon. Lisa (NDP)..............................................

Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Begg, Garry (NDP) .......................................................................Surrey-Guildford Bernier, Mike (BC Liberal) .........................................................Peace River South Bond, Shirley (BC Liberal)...........................................Prince George–Valemount Brar, Jagrup (NDP).......................................................................Surrey-Fleetwood Cadieux, Stephanie (BC Liberal)........................................................

Surrey South Chandra Herbert, Spencer (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–West End Chen, Hon. Katrina (NDP)...................................................... Burnaby-Lougheed Chouhan, Raj (NDP) .................................................................Burnaby-Edmonds Chow, Hon. George (NDP).................................................Vancouver-Fraserview Clovechok, Doug (BC Liberal) ..................................Columbia River–Revelstoke Coleman, Rich (BC Liberal) ................................................................ Langley East Conroy, Hon.

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

Adrian (NDP)....................................................... Vancouver-Kingsway Donaldson, Hon. Doug (NDP)...................................................................... Stikine Eby, Hon. David, QC (NDP).............................................. Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (NDP).........................................................Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Hon. Mike (NDP) ........................................................Port Coquitlam Fleming, Hon. Rob (NDP) ......................................................

Victoria–Swan Lake Foster, Eric (BC Liberal).............................................................Vernon-Monashee Fraser, Hon. Scott (NDP) ..................................................Mid Island–Pacific Rim Furstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) .............................................Cowichan Valley Gibson, Simon (BC Liberal) ...................................................Abbotsford-Mission Glumac, Rick (NDP).........................................................Port Moody–Coquitlam Heyman, Hon. George (NDP) ................................................Vancouver-Fairview Horgan, Hon.

John (NDP) ................................................ Langford–Juan de Fuca Hunt, Marvin (BC Liberal) ........................................................ Surrey-Cloverdale Isaacs, Joan (BC Liberal) .......................................... Coquitlam–Burke Mountain James, Hon. Carole (NDP).................................................... Victoria–Beacon Hill Johal, Jas (BC Liberal).................................................Richmond-Queensborough Kahlon, Ravi (NDP)............................................................................... Delta North Kang, Hon.

Anne (NDP)......................................................... Burnaby–Deer Lake Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal)..............................................................................Shuswap Larson, Linda (BC Liberal) .............................................. Boundary-Similkameen Lee, Michael (BC Liberal) ........................................................Vancouver-Langara Leonard, Ronna-Rae (NDP) ..................................................... Courtenay-Comox Letnick, Norm (BC Liberal).............................................

Kelowna–Lake Country Ma, Bowinn (NDP) .....................................................North Vancouver–Lonsdale Malcolmson, Sheila (NDP) ........................................................................Nanaimo Mark, Hon. Melanie (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Martin, John (BC Liberal)....................................................................... Chilliwack Milobar, Peter (BC Liberal)..................................... Kamloops–North Thompson Morris, Mike (BC Liberal) ........................................... Prince George–Mackenzie Mungall, Hon.

Michelle (NDP)......................................................Nelson-Creston Oakes, Coralee (BC Liberal) ............................................................ Cariboo North Olsen, Adam (BC Green Party)............................ Saanich North and the Islands Paton, Ian (BC Liberal).......................................................................... Delta South Plecas, Hon. Darryl (Ind.) ........................................................... Abbotsford South Polak, Mary (BC Liberal) ............................................................................. Langley Popham, Hon.

Lana (NDP)............................................................... Saanich South Ralston, Hon. Bruce (NDP) ............................................................Surrey-Whalley Redies, Tracy (BC Liberal) .......................................................Surrey–White Rock Reid, Linda (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond South Centre Rice, Jennifer (NDP) ............................................................................. North Coast Robinson, Hon.

Selina (NDP) .........................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Ross, Ellis (BC Liberal)................................................................................... Skeena Routledge, Janet (NDP) ....................................................................Burnaby North Routley, Doug (NDP) ................................................. Nanaimo–North Cowichan Rustad, John (BC Liberal) ................................................................Nechako Lakes Shypitka, Tom (BC Liberal) ..............................................................

Kootenay East Simons, Nicholas (NDP) ......................................... Powell River–Sunshine Coast Simpson, Hon. Shane (NDP)..................................................Vancouver-Hastings Sims, Jinny (NDP) ........................................................................ Surrey-Panorama Singh, Rachna (NDP) .........................................................Surrey–Green Timbers Stewart, Ben (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Kelowna West Stilwell, Michelle (BC Liberal)...............................................

Parksville-Qualicum Stone, Todd (BC Liberal)..........................................Kamloops–South Thompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal)........................................ West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Sullivan, Sam (BC Liberal)................................................ Vancouver–False Creek Sultan, Ralph (BC Liberal) ...........................................West Vancouver–Capilano Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Fraser-Nicola Thomson, Steve (BC Liberal)......................................................

Kelowna-Mission Thornthwaite, Jane (BC Liberal) ...............................North Vancouver–Seymour Throness, Laurie (BC Liberal) .......................................................Chilliwack-Kent Trevena, Hon. Claire (NDP) ................................................................North Island Wat, Teresa (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond North Centre Weaver, Dr.

Andrew (Ind.)................................................Oak Bay–Gordon Head Wilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal) ................................Vancouver-Quilchena Y ap, John (BC Liberal)............................................................Richmond-Steveston LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission............................................................................Simon Gibson Abbotsford South....................................................................... Hon. Darryl Plecas Abbotsford West......................................................................

Michael de Jong, QC Boundary-Similkameen...................................................................... Linda Larson Burnaby–Deer Lake....................................................................... Hon. Anne Kang Burnaby-Edmonds................................................................................Raj Chouhan Burnaby-Lougheed .................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Burnaby North .................................................................................

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sheila Malcolmson Nanaimo–North Cowichan............................................................... Doug Routley Nechako Lakes........................................................................................ John Rustad Nelson-Creston ................................................................... Hon. Michelle Mungall New Westminster........................................................................... Hon. Judy Darcy North Coast ...........................................................................................

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky................................................................Jordan Sturdy Party Standings: BC Liberal 42; NDP 41; Independent 2; BC Green Party 2

CONTENTS Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Afternoon Sitting Page Routine Business Introductions by Members................................................................................................................................................... 10883 Statements (Standing Order 25B) ....................................................................................................................................... 10884 Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 B. Ma Coronavirus outbreak T. Wat Braille Day and accessibility J. Routledge Sea to Sky Gondola J.

Sturdy Real Acts of Caring Week and importance of kindness R. Glumac Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives activities and events J. Y ap Oral Questions....................................................................................................................................................................... 10886 Response to protests supporting Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs A. Wilkinson Hon. J. Horgan Comments by Forests Minister re Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs J. Johal Hon. J. Horgan LNG Canada project and government relationship with Wet’suwet’ en Nation A. Olsen Hon. S.

Fraser Government action on reconciliation A. Olsen Hon. S. Fraser Government relationship with Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs and role of Nathan Cullen E. Ross Hon. S. Fraser Hon. J. Horgan Response to protests supporting Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs M. Polak Hon. J. Horgan Protest supporting Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs at Legislature and police investigation M. de Jong Hon. D.

Eby Motions Without Notice....................................................................................................................................................... 10891 Appointment of Special Committee to Appoint an Auditor General Appointment of Special Committee to Appoint a Clerk of the Legislative Assembly Hon. M.

Farnworth Tabling Documents............................................................................................................................................................... 10892 Public Service Benefit Plan Act, annual report for year ending March 31, 2019 Orders of the Day Throne Speech Debate .......................................................................................................................................................... 10892 M. Dean R. Kahlon P . Milobar A. Olsen Hon. M. Mungall B. Stewart A. Weaver S. Malcolmson J. Rustad

WEDNESDAY , FEBRUARY 12, 2020 The House met at 1:35 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Prayers and reflections: J. Brar. Introductions by Members Hon. A. Kang:It’s a great pleasure for me today to wel- come my guests and my friends from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office delegation. It’s especially rare that we have a guest, of course, from Ottawa — the representative of TECO in Canada. I would like to recognize in the gallery today the hon. Winston Wen-yi Chen and his lovely wife, Ms. Sylvia Pan. As well, in the gallery, we have Mr. Andy Chen, director general of TECO in Vancouver, and Mr.

Vidot Chen, deputy director of TECO in Vancouver. As well, one more special guest from TECO in Canada is Mr. Shay Wei Amir Chao. I’m thrilled to have the delegation join us today. Would the audience please make them feel very welcome. A. Wilkinson:Y esterday at 3:30, I had the unfortunate experience of looking out my window and seeing some of the sessional staff, as they left the building, being hectored, abused, sworn at and spat upon. I think we’re all joined in the necessary cause of saying that this is supposed to be the home of democracy.

Orderly protest on the front lawn is entirely appropriate, but assault, hectoring, abuse, spitting on people is simply out of order. This introduction is to express our thanks to the ses- sional staff for carrying the role they do with style and aplomb and with the dignity that comes with the role. Thank you to the sessional staff. B. D’Eith: I’m very pleased today to welcome to the House the mayor of Mission, Pam Alexis, and Mike Y ounie, Stacey Crawford and Ange Valentini, who work with the to-be city of Mission. I wanted to thank them very much. I enjoy working with them.

A special shout- out to the council, who I really enjoy working with. It’s been great. I’m really enjoying it. We have a lot more to accomplish. I also wanted to take the opportunity to thank my won- derful RCO, Tamara Connor, who is going to be leaving this week to go work for the city of North Vancouver. So it’s bittersweet. We’ll have her on that side of the water. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you so much for all the work that you’ve done for me and the oth- er MLAs that you work for in communications.

Y ou make our job so much easier, and we really appreciate everything you’ve done and everything you’ve done here. Thank you so much. J. Tegart:On behalf of my colleague from Parksville- Qualicum…. She’s asked me to introduce two groups of students that are visiting from Nanaimo. [1:40 p.m.] They are enrolled in political studies 12. They’re here to watch question period, so I hope everyone will keep in mind that they’re going to go home and write a report. Thank you, and please welcome them to the chamber. B.

Ma: I’ d like to join my colleague from Maple Ridge– Mission and thank Tamara Connor for all the incredible work that she’s done over the past several years. She started as a legislative assistant for me and then joined our com- munications team. As you heard, this is her last week. She will leave to pursue a new life and a new job on the North Shore, actually. I have to say that Tamara was an absolute rock for me when she was working as my legislative assistant, making sure I was getting where I needed to go.

As a communic- ations and research officer for me, as well, she has always been calm and collected, even in the face of my prolific Twitter use, which I am told is known to raise the blood pressures of a lot of communications staff. She’ll be sorely missed here. Would the House please join me again in thanking her for her services. D. Ashton:It gives me great pleasure today to welcome four students and a chaperone who came down from KVR School in Penticton. We have Alijah Ozaraci, Sofia Pereira, Amy Lee and Finn Schroeder.

They’re accompanied by Nichole Handford, an incredible lawyer from Penticton, and also an uncle. I apologize, sir. I’ve forgotten your name. Would the House please make them welcome here. I would also like to thank the Minister of Education for taking a few minutes and greeting the kids. Thank you very much. Hon. C. Trevena:We all depend on certain people to make sure that our lives work, whether it is administrat- ively or technologically or whatever.

For me, there is one person who really makes sure my life has worked for many, many years now: the love of my life, my partner for life and my husband, who is in the gallery today — Michael McIvor. Hon. K. Chen: I know two of my colleagues have already recognized Tamara Connor. I have known her since she was still a student, as a volunteer, and I really enjoyed working with her. I know she’s from New West- minster, as the member for New Westminster has said. Just seeing how much she has achieved over the past years since I first met her years ago really made me feel thankful 10883

for the opportunity that many of us get to work with out- standing young individuals like Tamara. I just want to really give her all the best wishes from my Burnaby caucus and colleagues for her great work and also, of course, from the member for New Westminster. T. Stone:It gives me a great deal of pleasure to ac- knowledge the incredible hard work and dedication of an individual who has served all of us in the B.C. Liberal caucus for a number of years now. Leah Caldow is actually in the gallery.

She started out as a constituency assistant of mine up in Kamloops, did her best to keep me out of trouble on most days up there, and then for the last year and a half, she has been supporting our caucus with digital communications. Now, she would be the first one to admit that’s easier for some of us than for others. I won’t name any names. We sure appreciate her dedication, her hard work and her smile every morning. We wish her all the best as she leaves us this week to pursue an outstanding career in the private sector, one that she’s perfectly suited to and that she’s worked very, very hard to achieve.

Could the House please thank Leah Caldow for her con- tributions. S. Chandra Herbert:Of course, we all have constituents who are incredibly persuasive, who are loud, who can get us to do things at all hours of the day and night. I want to welcome — well, celebrate — the birth of a new con- stituent of my colleague from the north coast, Lua Alan Rice. Of course, my colleague and her partner, Andrea Wilmot, were able to bring Lua into the world on Decem- ber 7 — seven pounds.

Lua is a name which I understand means “sky” and was gifted from the Heiltsuk Nation, Ayla Brown, to my colleague. [1:45 p.m.] I can’t wait to meet Lua. I know everybody else in the House can’t wait to meet Lua as well. I’m just so excited. More babies around this place. The public might not be so sure that’s a good thing, because there are enough of us here already. I think we certainly celebrate a new birth in this House and to this family here in the Legislature. Welcome. Statements (Standing Order 25B) UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES FLIGHT 752 B.

Ma: On January 8 of this year, on the evening of January 7 in our local time, Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was shot down by the Iranian regime’s milit- ary forces as it was taking off from the airport to Tehran. One hundred and seventy-six souls were lost. On board were people of many different nationalities: 63 Canadians, 82 Iranians, 11 from Ukraine, ten from Sweden, seven from Afghanistan, three from the United Kingdom. Among them, nine crew members just trying to do their jobs the best they could.

While the loss of life in such a violent way is tragic no matter a person’s nationality, this tragedy hit particularly close to home. Of the 167 passengers on board, 138 were on their way to Canada. When I heard this, I knew I would awaken to a community in mourning. Y ou didn’t have to go very far in North Vancouver to know someone who knew someone on that plane when it crashed. There was Naser Pourshaban and Firouzeh Madani, two doctors who lived in central Lonsdale. Ayeshe Pourghaderi and Fatemah Pasavand, the wife and daughter of Amir Bakery, a family business on Lonsdale between 19th and 20th streets.

Daniel Saket, who was an engineer, and his wife, who was a hygienist, Faye Kazer- ani, were also on the plane, and Delaram Dadashnejad, a student at Langara. Those were just the people who lived in my community on the North Shore. There were so many more lives lost who had ties throughout the Lower Mainland and the rest of Canada — so much potential gone, so many loved ones never to return. Canada has demanded accountability and a thorough investigation. TheNorth Shore News called it the day that we all learned to say تسلیت میگم the Farsi term for condolences. [Persian text provided by B.

Ma.] Out of the ashes of this painful wreckage rose a com- munity more resilient than ever before — Iranian Cana- dians, along with their non-Iranian neighbours throughout the country, brought together by tragedy to lift each other up, to remember those lost and to find a way forward as one people. CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK T. Wat:I rise today to speak about COVID-19, or the coronavirus, and its impact on local businesses. My own riding of Richmond North Centre is home to a vibrant community of restaurants and local businesses.

I’ve risen many times in this House to talk about some of the amaz- ing local establishments I get to enjoy right in my own rid- ing, and I’m deeply saddened to see how the global events surrounding the coronavirus have impacted them. People are afraid to go into crowds. Restaurants are clos- ing their doors due to the drop in sales, and many of the local businesses that rely on close ties with China are suf- fering greatly, as imports and exports have virtually come to a stop, in terms of exports of our seafood and wine to China and our imports of Chinese products here.

I rise today to remind everyone that the coronavirus is a common enemy, one we must fight and overcome togeth- 10884 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

er. We must also fight hard against the spread of fearmon- gering and stigmatization. Negative stereotypes towards any group have no place in British Columbia or in Canada. It is in times like this, more than ever, that we as Canadians have a responsibility to protect our multicultural com- munities and support our local businesses. Practise basic health habits. Avoid the spreading of false information. As with other seasonal viruses and cases of flu, common sense and good health habits are the best defences. Make sure to wash your hands frequently to prevent the spread of germs.

Cover your mouth with your elbow when you cough, and don’t cough into your hands or toward other people. We have some of the best health care workers in the world all across the province, and we cannot thank them enough for what they do for us every day, especially when we are faced with health concerns like this. [1:50 p.m.] BRAILLE DAY AND ACCESSIBILITY J. Routledge:January 4 was Braille Day, celebrated around the world on Louis Braille’s birthday. Braille is a tactile reading and writing system of raised dots that are read by touch.

Each dot or combination of dots represents a letter of the alphabet, a number or a punctuation mark. They can be used to express words, sentences, equations, musical notes and more. About 1.5 million Canadians identify as having some form of vision loss, including more than 250,000 British Columbians. Braille is a vital communication tool for many blind and visually impaired people. Our government believes that everyone deserves to have the same oppor- tunities and access to literacy. Braille breaks down barriers to communication and information and is a powerful tool for education and accessibility.

Louis Braille adapted the system in the early 19th cen- tury from a military code soldiers used to read messages in the dark. Today Braille is one of the important technolo- gical solutions that enable people with visual impairments to read, write and communicate. Our government is taking steps to improve accessibility and inclusion for all people of all abilities, including those with vision loss. We recently released the results of public consultations on accessibility and inclusion.

These results clearly show that there is strong support for developing legislation to identify, remove and prevent barriers that impede the full participation of people with disabilities. I encourage everyone to learn more about Braille and celebrate it as a major accomplishment in the way that people with vision loss can communicate. I also encourage members to consider how we can all work together to cre- ate accessible, inclusive communities where we all have an opportunity to thrive. SEA TO SKY GONDOLA J.

Sturdy: Last August a criminal act of vandalism caused the Sea to Sky Gondola, an asset which has fun- damentally changed the tourism economy in Squamish, to come crashing to the ground. Some of you may have enjoyed the views of Howe Sound and Garibaldi or the suspension bridge or the net- work of accessible trails in this now iconic installation. However, on August 10 last year, in the middle of a record- breaking operating season, the main haul rope for the gon- dola was deliberately and completely severed. Most of the 30 gondola cabins attached to the cable crashed down the mountain.

Only through good fortune and the fact that this malicious act took place in the dark of night is it that no person was hurt, although hundreds of people suffered unexpected job loss. Within a few short weeks of the sabotage, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Squamish came together to host a job fair. The lift manufacturers from Switzerland and Austria committed to getting this import- ant economic driver and tourism amenity back up and running with all speed.

Ahead of schedule, a new cable and 30 new cabins have been installed and tested by Tech- nical Safety British Columbia, and as one would expect, a brand-new, state-of-the-art, high-tech security system has also, unfortunately, had to be installed. The Sea to Sky Gondola reopens this Friday, and it’s important to recognize the team at the Sea to Sky Gondola, its industry suppliers and partners and the community of Squamish for bringing back on line this important asset, one that has reshaped outdoor recreation and experience- based tourism in Squamish.

While I look forward to the opportunity to ride this gondola again on Friday, I also look forward to the out- come of the criminal investigation and witnessing the individuals or organization responsible being held accountable and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. [1:55 p.m.] REAL ACTS OF CARING WEEK AND IMPORTANCE OF KINDNESS R. Glumac:An act of kindness is a gift that each of us can give. It can not only make a difference to someone who needs it, but it can ripple much further than we can see.

That’s why, back in 2005, a group of eight- and nine- year-old students in Coquitlam started a week-long kind- ness campaign to encourage people to do something nice for others without expecting anything in return. It’s now known as Real Acts of Caring Week, and it’s currently underway this week. I’m proud to have the opportunity to stand up here in the House and to talk about the importance of kindness. Our children face complex issues, from cyberbullying to mental health concerns to questions about gender and Wednesday, February 12, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10885

sexual identity. It’s so important that kindness be at the forefront of our minds, because everyone deserves to be treated with kindness. So this week and every week think about what you can do to share some kindness. In fact, today we have our first question period of the session. To my colleagues on the other side of the floor: we receive so many complaints about how we treat each other in the House. Maybe today for the first question of ques- tion period we can start off saying something nice. There are many ways we can spread kindness. That’s just one. There are many others.

This week is a great opportunity to talk about that with your kids and for the kids to talk about that with their par- ents — to talk about the impact that a simple act of kind- ness can have on someone who needs it. RICHMOND CARES, RICHMOND GIVES ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS J. Y ap:I rise to speak about the incredible work done by Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives, an organization that works tirelessly to ensure that Richmond’s charitable sec- tor has the resources it needs to make a meaningful impact in the community, including a wide range of seniors com- munity support services, among other programs.

One of their most impactful events is the annual Rich- mond Christmas fund, a program first started in the 1930s that is still going strong, supported by nearly 200 volun- teers who contribute well over 3,000 hours annually to give back to the community. Local business and community groups held fundraisers and events throughout the holiday season and collectively raised $125,000 for community members in need.

These events included A Not So Silent Night gala, Rich- mond Auto Mall’s Windows of Hope fundraiser, Rich- mond fire-rescue’s Christmas fund drive-through event, the Steveston Beer Fest and Richmond RCMP’s annual toy drive and pancake breakfast. Thanks to this generosity, Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives was able to provide holiday help to the roughly 2,700 parents, children, seniors and teenagers who needed help. This included toys, books and sports equipment, all collected through donation drives and fundraising events.

There are countless per- sonal stories of charity, its impacts and the joy that com- munity-building events such as these can have. I was honoured to attend some of this past year’s events, and I look forward to being a part of, hopefully, another record-breaking season when the holidays hit later this year. I’ d like to thank tireless executive director Ed Gavsie and volunteer leaders Wayne Duzita and Rob Howard and their great team for making Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives the successful community organization that it is. Oral Questions RESPONSE TO PROTESTS SUPPORTING WET’SUWET’EN HEREDITARY CHIEFS A.

Wilkinson:Y esterday we saw this facility, the legis- lative precinct, effectively blockaded and obstructed for about six hours. This is not the first time we’ve had public infrastructure blockaded. In recent memory, we have the Swartz Bay terminal, which was shut down on January 20 of this year; the CN Rail link near New Hazelton from February 8 to 12 — and we all know the risk of fatalities on rail lines; Deltaport and Port of Vancouver, February 8 and 9; the Johnson Street Bridge and Bay Street Bridge February 10; and Vancouver’s Cambie and Broadway intersection on February 11 for, I gather, 14 hours.

Then, of course, today we have the Gran- ville Street bridge blocked in both directions on the main route between VGH and St. Pauls. [2:00 p.m.] The question obviously comes up: how much longer will the Premier tolerate this obstruction of essential infra- structure that not only inconveniences people but puts peoples’ lives at risk and makes life miserable for ordinary British Columbians? Hon. J. Horgan:I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Clearly, with respect to events here yesterday, I don’t think there’s a member of this House that was not disori- ented and disrupted in our activities here.

I give full credit to the staff, as the Leader of the Opposition did, in keeping our legislative precinct operating. We delivered a throne speech that had a whole host of issues that give hope to British Columbians in every corner of this province with respect to their car insurance, with respect to continuing education for their youth, and a whole host of other issues that we will be able to talk about in the throne speech debate and beyond. With respect to the disruptions that the civil disobedi- ence is leading to, I agree with the former minister.

I want to acknowledge to all members of the House and to all British Columbians that civil unrest is an appropriate part of our discourse in British Columbia and in Canada, but interfering in the livelihoods and the well-being of other people, putting other people at risk, is not acceptable. Every member of this House agrees with that state- ment, and we need to ensure that law enforcement has the tools they need. That’s through the courts; it is not through edicts from politicians.

We need to respect those issues that have kept this country vibrant and dynamic for 150-plus years, and I’m confident that all members agree with that. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Official Opposition on a supplemental. 10886 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

A. Wilkinson:Well, there’s no dispute in this House and in our society that peaceful, orderly dissent is part of our democracy. That’s what the front lawn of the Legislature was designed and built for, and that’s why it remains an open space, through thick and thin. British Columbians have limits on the right of protest. Closing the container terminal at Prince Rupert cost $100,000 a day in lost wages alone, let alone lost commerce and lost credibility.

Closing the Cambie and Broadway intersection for 14 hours on the busiest ambulance route in western Canada means that people with chest pain on their way to get life-saving procedures go on a detour with a motorcycle escort because somebody decided to light a fire in the middle of the intersection. The leader of the federal NDP has tweeted: “The RCMP need to stand down. ” Will the Premier stand here today and condemn the remarks from the federal leader of the NDP? Hon. J. Horgan:I appreciate that those on the other side of the House have multiple leaders in Ottawa. Certainly, Mr.

Singh is entitled to his opinions, as are all British Col- umbians and, indeed, all Canadians. I will agree with the member…. I know this will be dis- orienting for him. I agree with the member that we need to address the challenges, the disruptions in activities in British Columbia that have resulted from the dispute on the land of the Wet’suwet’ en people in northern British Columbia. But we all know that the people that were assembled here yesterday were talking about a whole bunch of issues completely disassociated with the Wet’suwet’ en people and a host of other issues.

This is a challenge for all of us — government, opposi- tion, regular citizens. But we do not want to live in a soci- ety where politicians direct law enforcement to do issues that are outside the bounds of their abilities within the confines of our judicial system. Seek an injunction. That’s what companies do. That’s what we have been doing, not just for the past month but for 150 years. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Official Opposition on a second supplemental. A.

Wilkinson:Well, since the leader of the government of British Columbia is not prepared to dismiss the remarks from his federal counterpart, who seems to think the police should stay out of the way, let’s try another one. It’s no secret that the NDP have encouraged and sup- ported protestors in illegal blockades in the past.

The now Minister of Forests, who sits behind the Premier, has said: “In the Wet’suwet’ en governance system, the rightful Aboriginal title holders are the Hereditary Chiefs. ” A year ago that minister visited the illegal camp to show his gov- ernment’s continued support for the Hereditary Chiefs, who were at the time obstructing permits and have recently been blocking a court-ordered injunction. [2:05 p.m.] The Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Prepared- ness said: “The elected band council system is a colonial construct. ” Premier, it’s time to rise and make clear that the rule of law as created by this institution is the law of British Col- umbia and that the role of the government of the day is to enforce the law.

Will the Premier stand here today and dis- avow the remarks from his Minister of Forests and his par- liamentary secretary and stand by the rule of law? Hon. J. Horgan:Again, I appreciate that out-of-context comments are the stock and trade of opposition parties. This is an extremely serious issue, and all of us understand that. I think it’s important that we hold it in that place and talk about these things in an open way. All of us, unanimously, supported the declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples just last fall, and those words need to mean something beyond just being on a piece of paper.

That means honest, genuine dialogue with the dif- ferent views in our province. Leadership is not about directing people to get out of the way if we disagree with them. Leadership is about bringing people together to find a way forward. That’s what we’re all about on this side of the House. COMMENTS BY FORESTS MINISTER RE WET’SUWET’EN HEREDITARY CHIEFS J. Johal:In 2015, the now Minister of Forests said: “In the Wet’suwet’ en governance system, the rightful Abori- ginal titleholders are the Hereditary Chiefs. No Hereditary Chiefs have said yes to pipelines in their territories.

In fact, they’ve said no to LNG-related gas pipelines across their traditional territories. ” Will the minister stand in this House and admit he was wrong and reject his past comments? Will the minister admit his actions inflamed the situation and ultimately encouraged unlawful behaviour? Hon. J. Horgan:All of us here have dual roles. Those on this side of the House, a portion of us in government, are part of executive council. Every member of this House is accountable and responsible to their constituents. The member for Stikine was visiting his constituents, and they were conducting a lawful activity.

When that stopped, he stopped meeting with them. I think it’s beyond the pale, hon. Members, to bring up acting on behalf of your constituents as part and parcel of what has been not a recent phenomenon but a 150-year- old challenge about addressing the injustice to Indigenous peoples right across the province. That’s what we all col- lectively agreed to do last fall. Let’s redouble our efforts to come together, to find a way forward, each of us at the Wednesday, February 12, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10887

same time, all members of this House, making a better British Columbia. Mr. Speaker:The member for Queensborough on a supplemental. J. Johal:It’s important to note, of course, that the Min- ister of Forests was minister at that time, when he visited that site — number one. It’s also important to note, on the record, that 20 First Nations, elected bands, have sup- ported this pipeline. It’s also important to note that there’s going to be $1 billion worth of construction work available to First Nations and non–First Nations communities. The problem with the NDP is they want to have it both ways.

In opposition, they routinely participated in protests against the Coastal GasLink Pipeline and vowed to stop the project. This week the friend and predecessor of the Minister of Advanced Education chimed in. She is pres- ently the NDP MP for Vancouver East. She had this to say: “ As arrests continue, there are uprisings all across the country. People from all four directions are rallying in sup- port of the Wet’suwet’ en…shutting down roads, rail lines, ports and trains. ” Will the minister admit today these statements are wrong and that they encourage unlawful protests? Hon. J.

Horgan:Again, I’m grateful for the question from the member from the opposition. I’ll remind him that we put in place a framework so that the LNG Canada project would proceed in British Columbia — the largest private sector investment in Canadian history. We did that conscious that not every British Columbian agreed with us. We did that knowing that there was a divide in com- munities… Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Hon. J. Horgan:…not just in the north but in the south as well. This is a teachable moment. This is a teachable moment for people on that side of the House. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members.

Hon. J. Horgan:Life is not black and white. Life is com- plex, and you have to work with people to get positive out- comes. That’s why they’re over there, and that’s why we’re over here. [2:10 p.m.] LNG CANADA PROJECT AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONSHIP WITH WET’SUWET’EN NATION A. Olsen: We, indeed, have seen escalating protests across the province and across the country. People are ral- lying in response to the Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs who have, as has been pointed out, opposed the Coastal GasLink Pipeline. At its core, though….

What has not been said in the pre- vious questions is that these protests represent the long- standing failure of Canadian governments to properly adhere to a Supreme Court decision that established the need to address and reconcile Aboriginal rights and title with the Crown sovereignty. The issues that the Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs have raised are not new. Government has been well aware of the existing, long-standing and unresolved matters relating to rights and title in the area.

Y et in spite of this, the NDP prioritized the financial regime put in place to get LNG Canada, knowing full well that there was work to be done in the Wet’suwet’ en territory. My question is to the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Why did the government proceed with approving a fiscal package for LNG Canada when they knew these outstanding matters — legacy issues, over 30 years, with the Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs — had not yet been resolved? Hon. S. Fraser:I want to thank the Leader of the Third Party for his question.

This project represents a significant opportunity for all people in British Columbia. Three thousand people so far have been hired on the project. Local and Indigen- ous businesses are benefiting from this project. The pro- ject will generate, it’s estimated, $23 billion in revenue to the people of British Columbia for the services that we all use and care about. B.C. did conduct extensive consultations with Indigen- ous nations and has signed agreements with the vast majority of nations along the pipeline route. Substantial efforts also have been made to consult and accommodate concerns that have been raised.

I should also note that we’ve been engaging in meaning- ful discussions — government-to-government, nation-to- nation discussions, reconciliation discussions — with the Office of the Wet’suwet’ en. That is the Hereditary Chiefs. Our discussions are proceeding in a respectful way, with a recognition that this work together is both complex and will take time. This work is continuing. We will continue to work closely with the Office of the Wet’suwet’ en, the Hereditary Chiefs. Mr. Speaker:The Leader of the Third Party on a supple- mental. 10888 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

GOVERNMENT ACTION ON RECONCILIATION A. Olsen:One of my proudest moments as an MLA was the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act — DRIPA, as it’s known. One of my hardest days was being escorted into this place by police to get past protesters screaming that reconciliation is dead. I’ve worked with the minister for over two years to bring us to the introduction and the passage of DRIPA this past fall.

When this House passed DRIPA unanimously, we all took responsibility for recognizing Indigenous laws within the Canadian legal system, while also expressly recogniz- ing that leadership other than established by the federal Indian Act exists. I will never accept that reconciliation is dead. In fact, now is when we must lean in. However, it is more import- ant than ever that this government, through their words and, more importantly, their actions, shows a pathway for- ward. My question, again, is to the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.

What are the immediate steps he is taking to initiate a more positive dialogue and set in motion the action plans required to truly engage in the work that this government committed to in advancing reconciliation? Hon. S. Fraser: Thanks to the Leader of the Third Party for the question. Also, I want to thank him for his advice and his insight for the last two and a half years on the work we’ve been doing in the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation around a whole range of initiatives regarding reconciliation. I want to thank him for that.

While the events of the past week underscore, I think, the challenges that we all face in reconciliation, they in no way shake our resolve as government — or, I would hope, for all of us in this place — to advance reconciliation. [2:15 p.m.] B.C. is the leader in advancing reconciliation. We made history by recognizing the human rights of Indigenous people in law in this place just a few months ago. The pro- cess of aligning B.C. laws to the UN declaration will take time, but that work is already underway.

The next step is developing an action plan, in collab- oration with Indigenous peoples, which will set out the priorities and the timeline and the accountabilities. We have begun discussions with Indigenous partners on how best to involve Indigenous peoples in the development of the action plan. In addition, all ministers are continuing their ongoing work to look at their legislation within their ministries and to bring them into alignment with the UN declaration. There’s a lot more to do. Reconciliation is a top priority for this government, regardless of the events of this last week.

I would just remind everyone in this House of the $50 million towards Indigenous language revitalization, the sharing of revenue, the largest revenue-sharing agreement in the history of this province — $3 billion over 25 years, long-term, stable funding that never existed before for every First Nations community in the province. Delivering affordable housing on reserve — never done before. And, of course, ensuring that children are cared for in Indigen- ous communities, where that care belongs.

All of that work forms the basis for us as a government and changes the Crown-Indigenous relationship in a way that will make it better for all people in British Columbia. GOVERNMENT RELATIONSHIP WITH WET’SUWET’EN HEREDITARY CHIEFS AND ROLE OF NATHAN CULLEN E. Ross: Good grief. The politics in this place haven’t done First Nations any favours. It’s politics that got us to this place. Y ou talk about going to talk to Hereditary Chiefs, going to talk about the issues. On that same day, when you went to talk to Hereditary Chiefs, did you go vis- it the band councils too?

Did you think about all the issues First Nations are facing — the suicide, the unemployment? Did anybody talk about that? I hear these words — accountability, honest and genuine dialogue. Nobody has any business going into these First Nations communities and furthering the divide in any of the communities. Y ou should be ashamed of yourselves. Y ou’re talking about one of the most vulnerable people in Canada. Interjection. E. Ross: I’m already hearing heckling. Who’s heckling me? Where’s that member from? Powell River….

These are real issues, and for the first time in our history, we have the opportunity to fix these issues. But no. What do we see? We see 1 percent of a minority being addressed in this House. Nobody is talking about the 99 percent of the people that are being put into jobs, education, training and fixing their own lives. We’ve heard a lot of talk about Aboriginal rights and title here. Which case law principle are you talking about — Haida, Delgamuukw, Mikisew Cree? Which one? There’s a whole rafter of case law principles that define the relationship between the Crown and First Nations.

That’s the rule book we should have been following, not the polit- ical road that we’re taking now. My question is to the Minister of Indigenous Rela- tions. On January 27, you hired Nathan Cullen to talk to the Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs. Is he still working for you guys? Hon. S. Fraser:I thank the member for the question. I don’t agree with all his premises, but I respect his position. We’ve actually been working with the Office of the Wednesday, February 12, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10889

Wet’suwet’ en for over a year. I was honoured to attend an event, a smoke feast, which the Premier, the member for Stikine and myself attended. It was an inclusive process where elected were present along with the Hereditary Chiefs. Since that time, we have initiated a reconciliation process. We have provided resources to help with that, to hopefully bring unity together within the Wet’suwet’ en people. [2:20 p.m.] There are disagreements, obviously, between elected and hereditary on the roles of governance within the Wet’suwet’ en. Our work with them is, in part, to help bring the communities together in ways….

At that time, we brought on — and he is still working with us — Murray Rankin, a respected constitutional law- yer, a former MP . In the more recent process of trying to de-escalate the standoff and the police action that ended up following, we did bring in Nathan Cullen — again, a former MP , a respected person — to help coordinate. He co-chaired the meetings that we attended with the Office of the Wet’suwet’ en in our relationship-building and learn- ing the role of the hereditary and how that plays with the rest of the community. That work will continue.

It began with an invite from the Office of the Wet’suwet’ en to attend a very important ceremony, and we were all very honoured to take

part in that. I don’t make any apologies for the work we’re doing on reconciliation with all Wet’suwet’ en people. Mr. Speaker:The member for Skeena on a supplemen- tal. E. Ross:The question is: is Nathan Cullen still working for you guys? That was the question. I didn’t ask if the work was ongoing on reconciliation and whatnot. This was a specific exercise undertaken by this government. Let’s just look at what Nathan Cullen has said over the years.

On January 8: “For the Wet’suwet’ en, responsibility falls to the traditional Elders, the Hereditary Chiefs of each of the house clans. ” On February 10: “If CGL proceeds before issues of rights and title of the Wet’suwet’ en have been sorted, we’ll be throwing their rights away. ” Y ou hired a guy that already has a bias against LNG and already has an opinion on what rights and title should look like. The only people that should determine that are the courts of B.C. and Canada, not some ex-politician who already has made some statements. The question remains: is Nathan Cullen still working for you guys? Hon. J.

Horgan:I appreciate the view of the member for Skeena. Again, I want to reiterate that the objective of govern- ment, any government, all governments, is to try to find a positive way forward for all people in the jurisdiction you’re responsible for. I make no apologies for taking someone of the calibre of Nathan Cullen, well respected by Coastal GasLink, by LNG Canada, by the Office of the Wet’suwet’ en and by this government, and asking him to help us find a way forward, because that’s what governing is about — finding a way forward. The member’s absolutes are the whole point.

That’s the whole reason we’re trying to unravel this — to bring the jobs that we all want in the community that he represents, to bring prosperity to all British Columbians, not just those who are lucky enough to buy in at the start. We want to make sure that First Peoples and everyone are in a posi- tion to benefit from the splendour of this province. Y ou can shake your head all you want, Member. Y ou can shake your head all you want. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Hon. J. Horgan:Y ou don’t care about harmony. Y ou just want disruption. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Members, order, please.

RESPONSE TO PROTESTS SUPPORTING WET’SUWET’EN HEREDITARY CHIEFS M. Polak:We’ve talked about what happened yesterday here at this building. We’ve also heard recitation of the shutdown of ports, major roadways, what’s happening in downtown right now. I was also privy to an online message from someone who was literally trapped in their office building downtown, trying to go out through the stairwell, gets to the bottom and guess what. Barricaded, can’t go out. Very serious. We’ve got something else coming up, and that is that the same group are now planning something on the 14th.

I’ll read from one of their organizing emails. “This coming Friday, the 14th, beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing till noon, a whole bunch of us” — by their planning docu- ment, it looks like it’s close to 500 — “have committed to coordinating the shutdown of as many B.C. government ministries as we can. ” Will they be allowed to shut down these ministry offices? [2:25 p.m.] Hon. J.

Horgan:As I said in questions from the Leader of the Opposition, all of us and all British Columbians want those who have a different point of view to have the opportunity to express that point of view but not at the expense of the liberty of other people. It’s pretty straight- forward. That’s a role for law enforcement and the courts. Again, I ask the member. Would she like to live in a soci- 10890 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

ety where the Leader of the Opposition could direct police to do whatever he felt was best for him? Of course not. We don’t think that either. Mr. Speaker:The House Leader for the official opposi- tion on a supplemental. M. Polak: What the Premier is ignoring, though, is there’s also another obligation, and it’s not about politi- cians interfering in what police do or things like that. There’s also proactive planning as an employer, right? As an employer, you have people you need to keep safe. Y ou have operations that need to continue. The protesters themselves have an extensive planning document.

They identify, and I believe…. Since it’s on line, I’m sure government folks must have possession of this as well. They’ve targeted 20 sites. They’ve identified them. They’ve asked participants to identify where they will be involved. They’ve also said…. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Interjections. Mr. Speaker:Members. Members, order, please. The House Leader for the official opposition has the floor. M. Polak:Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The organizing email goes on to say: “Feel free to let me know if you have a particular grudge against any ministry in particular. ” So they’re organizing on that basis.

The reason I’m asking the question is not to ask that government somehow get in there and play director with the individual police operations. It’s this. Y ou actually have an obligation to plan proactively for how these workers will be kept safe, how ministry operations will go forward, and that’s where my question lands. Notwithstanding the fact that we have government min- isters who have lent their support to these protests in the past, people who work there and people who rely on the services want assurance that these folks will not be allowed to get close enough to shut down government services.

What kinds of plans are in place? And can these workers be assured that this isn’t going to happen? Hon. J. Horgan:I thank the member for the question, which is an appropriate one appropriately delivered. Y es, government is working on a plan to address these issues. I’m confident that the security personnel here have access to that material, but I’m confident that if you’re prepared to give us a copy, we’ll ensure that the appropriate author- ities have them. The issue, however, is an appropriate one. I want all members of this place and all public employees working for the province of British Columbia….

There is a plan in place to protect them in the event that this type of activity continues. I think we all know and recognize the member of…. The Leader of the Official Opposition made reference to it in his opening question. No one wants to shut down legitim- ate debate and dialogue and dissent. It’s unlawful activity that all of us abhor. I support the member on that. I sup- port the House Leader on that.

I think that if we start talk- ing in a civilized way about the challenges that the member for Skeena touched upon, about making sure we can lift people out of poverty by working together to try and make sure that everyone’s on board when we move forward — not unanimity but a better understanding of what makes everybody tick — that’s a good thing for government to do. We’re absolutely prepared. I thank the member for her thoughtful question, and we’ll proceed from there.

PROTEST SUPPORTING WET’SUWET’EN HEREDITARY CHIEFS AT LEGISLATURE AND POLICE INVESTIGATION M. de Jong: The events of yesterday were certainly extraordinary here in B.C. Members of the public, public servants, media, MLAs, even ministers of the Crown were spit upon. They were assaulted. They were, in some cases, physically denied entry into this Legislative Assembly. And we now know that there are specific plans to expand just that kind of behaviour elsewhere across the province by the same people that organized yesterday’s behaviour. [2:30 p.m.] We know that the police are investigating.

Protecting the rule of law means enforcing the rule of law. The Crown Counsel Act authorizes the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor. In circumstances where members of the government in the past have professed sympathy and support for the people advocating this very position and advocating these tactics, will the Attorney General stand up and confirm that a special prosecutor has been appoin- ted? And if not, why not? Hon. D. Eby:The Premier has been very clear.

The gov- ernment has no time for people breaking the law, and we have absolute confidence in our Crown counsel to do the job that’s necessary. [End of question period.] Motions Without Notice APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO APPOINT AN AUDITOR GENERAL Hon. M. Farnworth:By leave, I move: [That a Special Committee be appointed to select and unanimously recommend to the Legislative Assembly the appointment of an in- Wednesday, February 12, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10891

dividual as Auditor General, pursuant to

section 2 of theAuditor General Act (S.B.C. 2003, c. 2). That the Special Committee have the powers of a Select Standing Committee and in addition be empowered to: (

a) Appoint of its number, one or more subcommittees and to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the Special Committee and to delegate to the subcommittees all or any of its powers except the power to report directly to the House; (

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and during any sitting of the House; (

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient; and (

d) Retain such personnel as required to assist the Special Committee. That any information or evidence previously under consideration by the Special Committee appointed by order of the House on Oc- tober 10, 2019 be referred to the Special Committee.

That the Special Committee report to the House as soon as pos- sible, or following any adjournment, or at the next following Ses- sion, as the case may be; to deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjourn- ment and upon resumption of the sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative Assembly.] Leave granted. Motion approved. APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO APPOINT A CLERK OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Hon. M.

Farnworth:By leave, I move: [That a Special Committee be appointed to select and unanimously recommend to the Legislative Assembly the appointment of an in- dividual to exercise the powers and duties assigned to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia pursuant to stat- utory provisions, the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly, and the position description approved by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee on October 23, 2019. That the Special Committee have the powers of a Select Standing Committee and in addition be empowered to: (

a) Appoint of its number, one or more subcommittees and to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the Special Committee and to delegate to the subcommittees all or any of its powers except the power to report directly to the House; (

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and during any sitting of the House; (

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient; and (

d) Retain such personnel as required to assist the Special Committee. That any information or evidence previously under consideration by the Special Committee appointed by order of the House on May 30, 2019 be referred to the Special Committee.

That the Special Committee report to the House as soon as pos- sible, or following any adjournment, or at the next following Ses- sion, as the case may be; to deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjourn- ment and upon resumption of the sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative Assembly.] Leave granted. Motion approved. Tabling Documents Hon. C. James:I have the honour to present the Public Service Benefit Plan Act 2018-2019 annual report. Orders of the Day Hon. M.

Farnworth:I call Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. [2:35 p.m.] [R. Chouhan in the chair.] Deputy Speaker:Members who do not have business in the House, you may leave so that we can continue with the business of the House. Throne Speech Debate M. Dean: I move, seconded by the member for Delta North: [That we, Her Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legisla- tive Assembly of British Columbia in session assembled, beg leave to thank Y our Honour for the gracious Speech which Y our Honour has addressed to us at the opening of the present session.] Hon.

Speaker, it’s a real honour to rise today as the MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin. I’ d like to start with recogni- tion that we do our work here on the traditional territory of the Lək̓ ʷəŋin̓ əŋ-speaking people, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. That’s really important to me because within my constituency are the First Nations of the Songhees and Esquimalt communities and reserves and Scia’new, as well, at Beecher Bay. My constituency contains four municipalities: Esqui- malt, View Royal, Colwood and Metchosin. Within that, we have CFB Esquimalt as well.

I have a lot of military families living in my community. It’s very coastal. It goes from urban in downtown Esquimalt all the way to rural out in Metchosin. I’ d like to just take this opportunity to actually say thank you to my staff. I have some amazing staff across lots of different offices out of which we work. I have three members of staff in my constituency office: Andrew Barrett, Lawrence Herzog and Nubwa Wath- anafa. They do amazing work, represent me well in the community and really listen to people who come into my office. The door is open four days a week, and we take appointments on Friday.

They manage my time really well. They’re so respectful and so resourceful and helpful to people in my constituency office. In my legislative office, I have Noah Mitchell. Again, he’s a great support. For example, when Elder Shirley comes 10892 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

in, he’s always very helpful, making sure that she’s properly greeted and finds her way about safely and securely and with every comfort that she needs. He’s quick on his feet and thinks ahead for me as well. I have Ange Liu, who’s my ministerial assistant, who has been working with me now for several months. She really knows me and understands me, is really helpful in our gender equity work and helpful as part of our whole team. I have a team in the gender equity office as well. My ADM, Dr. Melanie Stewart, carries a lot of weight and certainly punches well above our weight.

It’s a small gender equity office as well. I was really excited by the throne speech. It’s going to be a great benefit to many people in my community, as well as closing gaps in our gender equity file. I’ll be able to highlight some of those. The throne speech opened the fifth session of the 41st parliament. It took time to recog- nize the achievements that we’ d already accomplished get- ting to this time and to highlight what’s going to be com- ing ahead — what our government is going to be doing in the session ahead. We recognize that we have accomplished a lot and that there is a lot left to do.

We have a lot of catching up to do after so many years of neglect and inequality. I say this to other people. I say: “Pick a ministry, or pick an area. ” We’ve now understood just how much damage has been done by the depth and the breadth of neglect. Hard-working families living across my community were suffering. They were living paycheque to paycheque. They couldn’t get by. If they had an unexpected crisis — they suddenly had to have extra servicing done on their vehicle, or they had extra medical bills or something — they couldn’t cope with that. People were just $200 away from not being able to recover.

At the same time, tax breaks were given to the people at the top. [2:40 p.m.] Houses in my community were treated as commodities. The housing market in my community was spinning out of control. It was skyrocketing. It was difficult for hard-work- ing people in my community to find homes, to find homes that were appropriate for them or good quality for them, or they would be unnecessarily indebted to somebody else and potentially exploited just to be able to get a roof over their head. Services were being cut.

I was feeling like we were oper- ating in a valley of no services, of dust balls rolling, while at the same time, my community is one of the fastest grow- ing in British Columbia. So the gaps between services available and level of need in the community was getting wider and wider all the time. That was actually one of the reasons why I ended up in politics. It was because I had done as much advocacy and as much work and as much resourcing and grant writing as I could, and we just felt like we weren’t actually making progress. So it’s the system that needs to change.

When we formed government, we took these challenges on. We wanted to make sure that people could have hope and that people could get ahead. We put people first. One of the first things that we did was take big money out of politics in British Columbia, and we’ve tightened lobby- ing rules. We want our elected officials working for British Columbians, not working for corporations. I go home and tell people in my community that I’m working for them. Every time I’m in a committee or in a meeting, I’m thinking of the people in my community and thinking: how does this story that I’m being told…?

This pressure that’s being put on me to help make things go one way or another — how will it be translated back home? How will it impact people and families in their daily lives now and for the long term as well? In our early days, we took immediate steps to tackle affordability and inequality. I can tell you that really benefited many people in my community. For example, we increased disability rates. This year, we’re going to increase earnings exemptions for people on disability and income assistance. I know that that creates a lot of self-determina- tion, a lot of dignity.

I hear from people in my community that that’s what they want. They want to be able to cre- ate their own future and to be able to try and get ahead without just being dependent on handouts. We’ve reduced interest on student loans. We’ve raised the minimum wage. We created a plan, a strategy, for rais- ing the minimum wage in British Columbia. That is really significant in closing gaps, as well, and reducing inequality. It won’t come as a surprise that the majority of workers on minimum wage are women.

Within that group of women on minimum wage, many of them are immigrant women, Indigenous women, women with disabilities. Other women who are marginalized are overrepresented in that group. So lifting them with rises to the minimum wage is really significant, and for the families who depend on them as well. Something else that was really important, but it’s been hard to kind of get the message out there about how important this is as well, is that we actually tackled the issue of the liquor server wage. About 90 percent of people receiving the liquor server wage are women. What does that do?

It creates a system of dependency and exploita- tion, because it’s based on the premise that liquor servers — women — are going to be reliant upon tips. What does tipping do? Tipping creates expectations. Tipping creates an imbalance of power between the server and the customer. That gets exploited for so many women. By actually taking that category out and having just the minimum wage, we’re actually protecting more women in British Columbia as well. Another really significant public policy that we’ve given priority to is good-quality, affordable, universal child care. I am so proud.

It makes such a difference in so many ways. It has so many by-products that are really positive for com- munities, for the province, for closing inequality. The one single public policy that has the biggest impact on closing Wednesday, February 12, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10893

the pay gap between men and women anywhere is univer- sal child care. [2:45 p.m.] This is a really significant investment in actually enabling families to tackle their affordability, to make choices about going back into the economy, about how they want their family to be earning money, contributing to the economy, building businesses and planning for their future as well. I’ve had so many parents come to me with tears — you know, this is life-altering — saying: “Thank you for bring- ing child care that’s affordable into my community. ” Let me tell you.

In my community, families quite often couldn’t find child care. It’s so scarce. Again, it’s one of the fastest- growing communities and one of the youngest communit- ies. Y oung families are living, particularly, in the western half of my community because it’s more affordable. That’s where the development is as well. There wasn’t investment in child care. The child care spaces weren’t actually keep- ing up. So people didn’t even have a choice.

Not only that, but if they were really looking for child care and they desperately needed it, they would then have to commute out of their community to get child care, and then they would have to commute into their work. Or maybe they had another kid they had to drop somewhere else as well, like a breakfast club or at school or whatever. That doesn’t help families to create a good balance of life and be able to create the kind of family lifestyle that they want and that they deserve. It puts more cars on the road for more amount of time as well.

It creates stress, it’s not good for the environment, and it’s not good for the local community either. By investing in child care in my community…. People tell me it’s a game-changer. I know it has a significant impact on increasing capacity for employers so that they can actually find people to work. One of the things that we hear in my community from employers is: “We have a skilled labour shortage. ” We have a shortage of any kind of…. They’re finding it hard to fill vacancies.

Creating those choices for people to re-enter the labour force is benefiting businesses as well, and then benefiting the environment too. Our program supports good-quality child care. It’s early childhood education, and we’re creating a really profes- sional system of early childhood education that’s accessible and affordable. In Esquimalt-Metchosin, the total amount of child care investments is actually over $10 million.

Those are investments in the child care operating fund, the affordable child care benefit, the early childhood educator wage enhancement, the child care fee reduction, the main- tenance fund for providers, the start-up grants, Aboriginal Head Start and UBCM space creation. There are a lot of different initiatives that we’re tack- ling. There’s not going to be one cookie-cutter approach to this — like just one answer is going to solve this issue. We’ve got to build up the workforce, and we’ve got to create incentives for people to be training. So we’re increasing training spaces. Plus, we’re raising the wages.

We need to physically build early childhood education centres as well. There’s a lot to be done, and we are tak- ing action already on that. The total amount that has gone back to parents — these are parents in my community, Esquimalt-Metchosin, who are going to reinvest those dollars locally — through reduced fees and benefits is $5,767,773. Lots of money going into the pockets of parents in my community. Again, we know the added effect of people being able to afford things in their local community as well. The total number of spaces approved in Esquimalt-Metchosin is 65. So a lot more work to do.

There are lots of partnerships and networks in my community that I know are working really hard on that, and I really want to thank them for all of their work. There have been a lot of people working in this sector for a long time who didn’t get recognition, who stuck there and who are now on to a second generation of families in their community. We’re here now. We’re here as allies and as supporters and to recognize the profession of early childhood edu- cators and all the work that they’ve done.

So now people in my community are able to make these choices that are good for their kids, good for the economy and good for their families. [2:50 p.m.] Now, another significant affordability issue in my com- munity — and, I know, across the province, as well, but especially in our region — is housing. The vacancy rate for rentals is below 1 percent in my community, and prices of houses skyrocketed. The previous government did nothing to prevent the commodification of people’s homes in our communities.

That benefited the wealthy already and left families strug- gling to live together in the same community, not know- ing, having uncertainty about where they might be able to live if they lost their rental apartment or if they weren’t able to purchase a home. I know of many families in my community who were couch-surfing. I know people would say to me: “Oh, West Shore. Y ou don’t have a homelessness problem. ” Oh, we do. We do. It might not be as visible as downtown, for example, because people are couch-surfing. People are overcrowded. People are moving about.

Our people are living in places that are too small or too deplorable than they should be living in and bringing up their families. But, oh yeah, we have a housing issue as well. I knew of a single mom. She had three kids. She was given an eviction notice by the owners of the house that she was in. She went out house hunting in the region, in the community. At one house that she went to, there were 17 other people viewing it, so she just left. I mean, she just knew that they would be placing bids, and the amount 10894 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

would skyrocket, and she couldn’t even get involved in any of that. I have a frequent visitor to my constituency office, an elderly man with a lovely dog. My constituency assistant loves him coming by and loves seeing the dog and having the dog come for a pat, as well. He’s a senior, and he lives in an RV . He lives in an RV in my community, and quite often, he can’t find anywhere to park his RV , or he gets moved on and turned away. So he’s struggling. Last year, in May, we had a children’s party at our house. We went for a walk in the forest at the back of my house in rural Metchosin.

One of the curious kids strayed off the path and found a tent in the forest behind my house, with two people sleeping. Well, they weren’t there, but there was bedding for two people. When we lifted the tent up, obvi- ously it had been there for a long time, uninvited, a sur- prise, and a sign of the times, I suppose. What a sad sign of the times that is. Our government made a choice. We created a housing plan that is comprehensive and tackles all the root causes of inequality and poor housing. So, for example, we’re increasing supply. We’ve created improved protections.

We’re cracking down on speculation and fraud. I can tell you that I see the results of this plan all around my com- munity. In Colwood, as I travel down Wale Road, to my left, behind some construction fencing, there used to be a big, big hole. It had been there for years. It was the laugh of the town that there were all these holes around and about. It would just fill up with water, and it was an eyesore and a danger. Anyway, we now have a collaborative partnership that has B.C. Housing funding for an Indigenous housing pro- ject that will go in there. It’s going to be phenomenal.

It’s right opposite the West Shore Child, Y outh and Family Centre. It’s walkable distance to a grocery store and lots of other amenities, and then, just down at the next junction, there’s the rec centre and the library. It’s perfect. So that’s on my left. Then, as I look up the hill, there’s a 100-unit affordable housing development. It’s actually on Goldstream Avenue, on a different road, but I can see it, and it’s rising. I see these buildings going up.

I’m so excited that I’m actually going to be doing some ribbon cutting and meeting some families who are going to be moving into these in the fore- seeable future. Then, just around the corner, there’s a housing hub pro- ject. That’s in a little neighbourhood that actually has quite a lot of military families in it. So that’s a really innovative partnership with the new model of the housing hub and, again, collaboration — people coming together to help to solve these issues. Then we have two projects in devel- opment in Esquimalt, and View Royal also has plans for affordable housing as well.

So I’m seeing the results of our commitments, and I know that there will be more of these projects coming forward as well. [2:55 p.m.] British Columbia now has a homeless action plan, and we have a strategy to lift people out of poverty. Starting in October, families who need more support will receive the child opportunity benefit. Again, women are often more at risk of living in poverty, and a large proportion of people living in poverty in Brit- ish Columbia are single moms.

Our investments in tack- ling poverty, supporting the education system and elim- inating MSP are helping struggling families to have more opportunities to get ahead. We’ve been hearing recently, of course, from families about how their car insurance rates are becoming too high for them to afford. Families in my community are strug- gling with so many different pressures on them, and we’re working really hard to try and tackle all of them. It’s anoth- er example of mismanagement and abandonment under the previous government.

We’ve started with some reforms that have been success- ful, and we’re going to continue this transformation this year so that by next year, at renewal, drivers can expect a 20 percent reduction in their insurance rates. That’s going to be really significant for people in my community who are living so close to the line on a regular basis. The trans- formation will not only make it more affordable. It takes costly legal fees out of the system and gives enhanced cov- erage for medical care.

My constituency, as I described to begin with, is really diverse, and many families do still need their cars and depend on them to get around and to get their kids to where their kids need to be. They have vehicles for work or for their own business and for the local economy as well. Now they’re going to actually experience an insurance sys- tem that’s based more on fairness and accountability. So I’m really proud of that. Now let’s talk about a different kind of injury: domestic violence and sexual assault. It is far too prevalent and per- vasive in our province.

Intimate partner violence is the most common kind of violence experienced by women. Of the 945 partner homicides between 2008 and 2018, 79 percent were women. Let’s call it what it is. This is femi- cide. Most femicides are actually by the woman’s husband — 73 percent. Indigenous women experience high rates of domestic violence and sexual assault: 2.7 times more domestic violence and three times more sexual assault. In my role as Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, I meet with a lot of people and a lot of stakeholders. I meet with a lot of Indigenous women with real lived experience as well.

So many of them — doesn’t matter their age, doesn’t matter their profession and doesn’t mat- ter their history — tell me that hardly a day goes by that they aren’t propositioned by someone. That is appalling, and we have to change it. We had the most police-reported sexual assaults in Canada in 2017 than in any year since 1998. So we need to continue tackling that. In 2016 and 2017, over half of sexu- Wednesday, February 12, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10895

al assault victims were women under 25 years, and then they live with that for the rest of their lives. I’m very proud that our government passed legislation last year to give workers up to ten days of job-protected leave if they’re facing domestic or sexual violence. At the time, we promised that we would look at this further. So we actually did some more consultations. We did some focus groups with representatives from labour, from the women-serving sector and also from employers and employers’ groups as well. We did an online survey, too. We had thousands of responses.

Let’s face it: it’s mostly women and people of diverse gender who are impacted by sexual assault and physical violence in their intimate rela- tionships. [3:00 p.m.] I want to say to the Leader of the Opposition that this is not a tough marriage. This is abuse, injury and harm. It is traumatizing, and it can be deathly. So we’re not going to minimize our understanding of domestic violence and sexual assault. We take it seriously. It can have an impact on survivors for the rest of their lives. People recover in different ways, but people will need support and help. It’s traumatizing.

Not only that; you might need to actually be organized and change some aspects of your life at the same time, as well — at the time of, potentially, a critical injury and definitely a trauma. We’re committed to supporting people who’ve experienced domestic violence and sexual assault because that will actually help them to rebuild their lives and rebuild the lives of their children if they have children with them as well. That will help them be stronger, more resilient and more healthy as they move forward.

If you imagine it, people who have experienced domest- ic violence and sexual assault might need to go to court, might need to get medical help, might need a forensic exam. If you have kids and you’re actually leaving an abus- ive home, then you need to find that home, and you might also need to change their schools. All of this takes up time and energy at a time when you’re feeling the most hurt and the most powerless. I spent 30 years working in the sector, and I see the impacts of domestic violence and sexual assault.

There are many complexities to it where people are being bullied and being groomed and being systematically disempowered and where they need to be able to make those decisions and take those actions in ways that can’t be detected. Y ou don’t want to impact someone’s payroll in an abus- ive relationship when it probably is being scrutinized, for example. Y ou have to think about the power dynamics that are going on here to be able to provide a tool that can actu- ally be used by people at the time that they need it.

So the leave can be taken in pieces; it doesn’t have to be taken consecutively or a whole day at a time. It could be for going for counselling. It could be for going to court. It could be for going to see a solicitor. Whatever is needed in that par- ticular situation. I’m really proud that this year we’re actually going to be bringing in legislation that will provide for five days of paid leave. For me, with my community and my experi- ence, I know that is going to help people in my community.

I can say now, as well, that there are people in this build- ing and in these chambers who have had these experiences and who know what it’s like to go through them. So let’s not minimize the impact of any kind of domestic violence and sexual assault. We’re also investing in schools and the education sys- tem. People in my community see it directly, especially as you drive along Metchosin Road. Y ou have the ocean on one side and the Royal Bay development on the other side, which is a really big residential development. A new high school was built there maybe four years ago now, Royal Bay High School.

Under the old system of the previous government, the new school was built on enrolment of the day, not on projections. Y ou can see the land. Y ou can see where the development is going to go. It’s one of the fastest-grow- ing communities in British Columbia. So within the first year or two, we ended up with portables on the site of a brand-new high school. Our government is taking a different approach. We’re actually working on the basis of projected enrolment, because we want to eliminate portables for our students. So we’re investing in this school for an extension.

We’re already putting an extension on a school that isn’t five years old. We are because we know the area and the school needs it. So again I’m going to be really excited to go there and be part of an opening ceremony and create more beau- tiful space for our students at Royal Bay. The space they have there is stunning. The library liter- ally overlooks the ocean. There’s natural wood and natural materials throughout the school. It really creates that sense of dignity, belief and worth in our students in the school. [3:05 p.m.] In fact, our government has invested in over 80 school capital projects.

In the schools, the students also have more learning supports: 4,200 new teachers, 700 new special education teachers and nearly 200 teachers, psychologists and counsellors. All of these professionals are critical to the success of our students. Let’s look at some of the outcomes of our investments. We have now improved Indigenous graduation rates to the highest ever seen in British Columbia. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone in B.C. who ensures that our education system is successful and meets the needs of our students.

Now, another project we worked on in education that I was really proud of was with the United Way to ensure that menstrual products are free and available to students who need them across our education system. I’m also really proud to be a member of the B.C. NDP caucus that has signed the Period Promise pledge. Our government will 10896 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

continue to progress to ensure that services are available for all people. We’re promoting an inclusive province, tackling hate crime and race-based intolerance. We now have sexual orientation and gender identity initiatives in every single school district. We lifted the trans flag at the Legislature on Trans Remembrance Day for the first time last year. And we have created a provincial anti-racism network to address hate and victimization. I see my colleague the member for Delta North is here with us in chambers. This is a great opportunity for me to say how proud I was of the work that he did.

I was very proud to be able to participate in a workshop that he led that explored racism experienced in British Columbia. It was humbling. It was very humbling. It was also an hon- our to hear of the truth and the real lived experiences and, also, their ideas for how we move forward safely and pos- itively. We’re going to continue to ensure that we advance equality, diversity and human rights. Building a better B.C. is one where everyone can be included and can thrive and can fulfil their potential.

We know that for people to be able to thrive, they need to have mental wellness, men- tal health, so we’re investing in mental health care with our Pathway to Hope road map. This includes early inter- vention and putting services in places where they’ll be accessed — in schools, for example, for students or in the community, for example, in Foundry centres and other centres with wraparound care. Indigenous communities are planning, designing, delivering services that will meet their mental health priorities. Now, I come from the community social service sector, and I lived through cutbacks in our community.

We saw wait-lists increase, and the complexity of issues increased substantially. So I am really proud to be part of a govern- ment that recognizes the importance of investing in men- tal health. We have the first and only Minister of Mental Health, and her team is doing a great job. We have, for example, a therapeutic recovery com- munity in View Royal. It’s helping to divert individuals from jail to recovery. There’s a recognition there of the trauma that people have gone through that leads into addiction and associated activities that get people into trouble. It’s a wonderful environment.

It’s gone through lots of different iterations of the function and purpose of it, and it was renovated to create this therapeutic community. The collaboration there is really neat, because the renovation was actually done by HeroWork. HeroWork is another community organization that supports non-profits by coming in and doing a renovation project with them. We had a wonderful opening ceremony there, and they’ve really created some beautiful features. They’re going to have a community garden, and it’s really going to help people and give them the best opportunity for recovery.

In fact, I was just at another HeroWork project recently which is Peers, an organization that supports people in the sex trade. They, as well, have had a wonderful renovation in their building in Esquimalt. [3:10 p.m.] Of course, we have the opioid crisis as well. With the work that the ministry has done with our expanded harm reduction and treatment options, we’ve actually averted 4,700 deaths. We know we have more to do, and we are making some progress there. Our government is also investing in public health ser- vices and in building the public health system.

We have moved forward on 13 hospital projects and opened 12 urgent and primary care centres. There’s a new urgent primary care centre that serves my community. Indeed, this centre receives the most visits of any of these centres from across the whole province. In actual fact, I had to use it. On the last snow day that we had, my husband slipped on ice and cut his head. He landed on his head in the car park, so I took him straight there. We were received by very professional staff. We waited in a very comfortable waiting area. We were treated by a nurse practitioner and then a doctor.

Seven stitches later we were out and on our way home. We got home in time for dinner, and this had happened at lunchtime. Without that centre being there and having the dedic- ated professional staff and the nursing and then the doc- tor services, we would have ended up at the ER at Victoria General Hospital, further away from home, and taking up their resources, which is already a stressed system, and probably would have been away from home for a much longer time. I thank everybody at the centre for their dedication, for their professionalism and for their care as well.

I thank all health professionals, everybody involved in the health sys- tem and the health service, for all of their work, for all Brit- ish Columbians. Across our health service, we’re seeing improvements — more MRIs, reduced wait times, more care for seniors. We appreciate all the hard work that goes into taking care of British Columbians every day. Our work on reconciliation is another area I’m very proud of. I myself have been very fortunate to receive guidance and teachings from a local Elder. I have known Elder Shirley for probably over a decade now.

She’s gen- erous in her teachings and in her advice and support. I’ve been blessed and honoured with a blanketing ceremony in my community. An Indigenous woman who I was working with…. Y ou know, she had been observing my work in the community before I was elected, and she asked me one day: “Have you ever been blanketed? Y ou’re a woman leader in the com- munity. Y ou must have had a blanketing ceremony. ” I was like: “Well, I’m an immigrant, and no. ” So she arranged it for me, and it was very, very meaningful. It really meant a lot to me. Wednesday, February 12, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10897

I’ve been learning language from an Elder, and he’s giv- en me permission to use that language, as well, out in pub- lic, here in chambers. I’m very humbled by that, and I really appreciate the generosity and the teachings of the Indigenous people in my community. As a Legislature, we made history when we unanim- ously endorsed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigen- ous Peoples Act. This signals that the work is starting, that we’re committed to it, genuinely. We’ll step into our jour- ney and our pathway together. Looking ahead, we’re going to develop an action plan together.

Our pathway ahead must include action in response to the climate crisis. The throne speech presented a vision for a strong, sus- tainable economy that provides good-paying jobs and quality public services for people and provides businesses with the opportunities that they need to compete and thrive in the global marketplace. Wherever you live in B.C., you’re probably seeing signs of infrastructure invest- ment. This government is making sure that public invest- ments provide public benefits. We’re rolling out community benefits agreements on some of these projects.

I’m very proud of the community benefits agreements because they’re providing better train- ing, apprenticeships and trades opportunities for Indigen- ous people, women and youth around the province. They are underrepresented. Our Clean BC climate plan is helping us to grow sus- tainable economy with good jobs and opportunities for people. It’s already working. More people have cleaner options for getting around, for heating our homes and fuelling industry.

More communities are investing in clean energy and green building projects. [3:15 p.m.] Already people in my community are telling stories about how they’re saving ten to 15 minutes a day riding the bus into town these days because of the new bus lanes. I would just like to say that the throne speech really charters out the way forward that we’re going to be mov- ing, building on our successes and continuing along with the same values. I know that everyone in my community loves living here, has a dream of working and bringing up a family in our beautiful area.

Our government is making choices to ensure that this remains a choice for them — for them to be able to afford a good home, to be able to choose local, good-quality child care, to make their contribution to tackling the climate crisis, and to be part of the pathway forward on reconciliation. R.

Kahlon:I rise to second that motion: “That we, Her Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in session assembled, beg leave to thank Y our Honour for the gracious Speech which Y our Honour has addressed to us at the opening of the present session. ” It’s my privilege to stand and speak today in favour of this throne speech. I don’t think it’s going to surprise many that I’m speaking in favour of the throne speech. There are a few shocked faces I can see across the way, but they shouldn’t be too shocked. I want to start just recognizing….

In the beginning of the throne speech, there were many people who we’ve lost in the last year that were recognized. It’s a tradition of throne speeches of all governments to recognize these people — some civil servants, some people prominent in B.C. — who made B.C. a better place. I want to say something that hits close to home: the mention of Brandon Bassi. I know that the Minister of Labour and I have both spoken about what a great loss Brandon was to our community. This young man, a soccer superstar, had the entire world ahead of him, and we lost him way too soon. The community is still shook up.

I vis- ited the local high school just recently, and the kids still talk about him. He had graduated already, and the local basketball team still recognized him because he was such an important figure for the local high school basketball team. I know that his family are keeping his legacy alive. I think I can join the Minister of Labour…. I was so happy when I saw this video of his club team winning the national championships and them celebrating when they were lifting the trophy. They paused for a moment to let his dad come on to the field and pick up that trophy.

I think it was a very emotional moment for anyone that knew Brandon but also anyone that knows the family or is associated with soccer in this province. So it was such an honour to see his name recognized in the beginning of the throne speech, along with many others who have contrib- uted so much. I just want to take a moment to thank my family. Without them, it’s very difficult to do this job. I think my nine-year-old might campaign against me in the next elec- tion. He said if the next election comes, he doesn’t want me to….

He’s not going to vote for me, he says, because it’s so hard for them, although he’s starting to understand. He’s at an age where he understands. He was here. The Speak- er allowed him to sit on my lap when we brought in the UNDRIP legislation, when this House unanimously voted in favour, and that was the first moment he said: “I kind of know what you do now, Dad. ” That was a really proud moment for me. I want to thank my partner because she’s doing it all. She’s carrying everything in the household. She’s essen- tially raising my son by herself on top of all the work that she does outside of her direct job.

My in-laws and my parents and my brother and sister — everybody is involved in helping my family while I’m away. So I want to thank them. I want to thank the good people of North Delta. I spent the last six months…. I try to go once a month to go door- knocking and talk to people in my community just to get a sense of where they’re at, what issues are top of mind. I just have to say that I’m so fortunate to live in North 10898 British Columbia Debates Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Delta. I’m so fortunate to represent such an amazing com- munity. [3:20 p.m.] People are very proud of being from North Delta. It’s not like many other communities where it’s a large, large community. People are uniquely, distinctly proud of being from this place. We’re proud of our schools, we’re proud of our rec centres, and we’re proud of all the teachers who do such good work with our young people. So I want to thank those folks. As I said, I’m going to speak in favour. The Parliament- ary Secretary for Gender Equity raised an important thing, which was raised today.

It’s unfortunate comments that were made by the Leader of the Official Opposition when he referred to our commitment to bring in five days of paid leave as people who are just getting something to get out of a tough marriage. That comment hurts. It hurts a lot of people. When I first got involved in an issue in my community many years ago, it was to help a lot of activists come together to raise awareness around the need for the first- ever shelter to be created in Delta, the first-ever transition home for Delta.

Delta, at that point, did not have a single transition home in the entire city, so many women from the community would have to go to places outside of Delta. It was very difficult. Many activists were involved. I played a very small role in that, but I learned a lot in that process. I learned that there are many things that are involved in that process, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity has been doing a fantastic job. I’m really proud of the work she does. It’s about building more transition homes, which we’ve been doing.

It’s about a second-stage home for women who are fleeing domestic violence so there’s somewhere to go where there’s a base. It’s about a lot more services that we need to provide for women who are fleeing domestic violence. All these things we’re doing. It does make a difference, but it doesn’t solve the problem. At the core of the issue is addressing what I think is my responsibility and my part- ner thinks is our responsibility. It’s how we raise our kids, particularly how we raise our boys, and ensuring that they are constantly told about the society we live in, where their role is and how to respect women.

A funny story just popped through my brain. We were watching a cartoon with my son. One of the characters said to the other character: “Y ou have to man up. ” My son just froze. He looked back at my wife and me and said: “Mom, did you guys hear that?” I said: “What?” He said: “That’s toxic mascininity, or whatever that word is. ” We all started howling and laughing. My wife had a little tear coming down her eye because he’s starting to understand his role. He’s only nine years old.

My sister starts laugh- ing and says to him: “Where did you learn that?” He goes: “Y ou wouldn’t believe the things these people teach me. ” I only tell the story because these services we’re putting in place are critically important, but there are lots of things that individuals have a responsibility to do which are in their household. I’m grateful for the work that the parlia- mentary secretary is doing and our government is doing to advance this. There are so many things. Affordability is one of the things that we’ve been talking about and that people have been sharing with us along the way.

I think the single biggest thing that I heard on the doorstep was no more MSP for families throughout this province. It’s massive. It’s the single largest middle-income tax cut in B.C. ’s history. I often talked about, when I first became an MLA and my first throne speech, this couple, two seniors. I knocked on their door, and they wanted to talk to me about their fixed income and how the MSP was just making their lives so difficult. I told them we were going to remove it.

They said: “Good. ” But they looked at us like: “ Are you really going to be able to get rid of it?” Just about six weeks ago I was able to knock on their door again. They weren’t home. I was choked because I really wanted to go talk to them. Then two weeks ago I got a chance. I knocked on the door. She opened the door, and I said: “This was a commitment we made, and I just wanted to tell you that we came through. ” She said: “We were so delighted, so over the moon. ” She thanked me for coming. I know so many people face this.

I actually shared a story of a person who walked into my constituency office with my staff. I was in my office, and they were asking: “Where’s the MSP bill? It hasn’t arrived. What are you guys doing?” I shared with them that it’s gone. They couldn’t fully comprehend it. [3:25 p.m.] They said: “Well, what do you mean? Is it going to come at the end of the year?” And I’m like: “No, no. It’s gone. ” They were so happy. They were like: “We should go let our bank know. ” They walked across the street to the CIBC. My staff and I were chuckling about it.

But it’s having a real impact on many families across this province and, in par- ticular, for seniors who have a fixed income and already are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. I think when we talk about affordability, I have to touch on ICBC. ICBC came up a lot in my community, especially from young people. I visit the schools. It’s funny. They’re concerned about tuition, but they’re also looking for their driver’s licence and to be able to get their own car and get their own insurance.

There’s no doubt that this is a concern for many parents with young kids who have to travel long distances from North Delta to get to UBC or SFU, and the transit system just maybe doesn’t work for them. I’ve gotten so much positive feedback on the move that we’ve made to ensure that people have the enhanced care supports they need but, at the same time, will see up to a 20 percent — and, in some cases, higher — reduction in their ICBC rates. It takes a lot of work. I was speaking with some physiotherapists. I have got Wednesday, Februa

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20200212PM-Hansard-n304
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20200212PM Hansard n304
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	6668e4738963d7adf8b041161a8d8053de8f3bcf

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