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British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Third Session, 39th Parliament official rePort of Debates of the Legis Lative a ssemb Ly (hansarD) the honourable bill bari Soff, SPeaker iSSn 0709-1281 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Afternoon Sitting Volume 22, Number 5

Pro Vince of britiS h colu Mbia (entered c onfederation July 20, 1871) lieutenant -Go Vernor h is h onour the h onourable Steven l.

Point, obc Third Session, 39th Parliament SPeaker of the leGiS latiVe a SSeMbl Y h onourable bill barisoff eXecutiVe council Premier and President of the executive c ouncil .............................................................................................................. h on. c hristy c lark Deputy Premier and Minister of finance ............................................................................................................................h on. k evin f alcon Minister of a boriginal r elations and r econciliation ...........................................................................................................h on.

Mary Polak Minister of a dvanced e ducation .................................................................................................................................h on. n aomi Y amamoto Minister of a griculture ........................................................................................................................................................... h on.

Don Mcr ae a ttorney General ........................................................................................................................................................... h on. barry Penner, Qc Minister of c hildren and f amily Development ................................................................................................................ h on.

Mary Mcn eil Minister of c ommunity, Sport and cultural Development .................................................................................................. h on. ida c hong Minister of e ducation .........................................................................................................................................................h on.

George a bbott Minister of energy and Mines and Minister r esponsible for h ousing.........................................................................h on. r ich c oleman Minister of environment ....................................................................................................................................................h on. Dr. t erry l ake Minister of f orests, l ands and n atural r esource o perations......................................................................................h on.

Steve Thomson Minister of h ealth .................................................................................................................................................... h on. Michael de Jong, Qc Minister of Jobs, t ourism and innovation ................................................................................................................................... h on. Pat bell Minister of l abour, citizens' Services and o pen Government .............................................................................. h on.

Stephanie c adieux Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General .................................................................................................................h on.

Shirley bond Minister of Social Development and Minister r esponsible for Multiculturalism ............................................................ h on. h arry bloy Minister of t ransportation and infrastructure ................................................................................................................h on. blair l ekstrom leGiS latiVe a SSeMbl Y l eader of the official o pposition ......................................................................................................................................................a drian Dix Deputy Speaker .................................................................................................................................................................................... l inda r eid a ssistant Deputy Speaker ..................................................................................................................................................................Dawn black Deputy c hair, c ommittee of the Whole ...................................................................................................................................Douglas h orne c lerk of the l egislative a ssembly...................................................................................................................e.

George MacMinn, obc, Q c c lerk a ssistant ..................................................................................................................................................................................r obert Vaive c lerk a ssistant and l aw c lerk................................................................................................................................................. ian D. izard, Qc c lerk a ssistant and c lerk of c ommittees ............................................................................................................... craig h.

James (on leave) c lerk a ssistant and a cting c lerk of c ommittees ................................................................................................................. k ate r yan-l loyd Sergeant-at-a rms ................................................................................................................................................................................. Gary l enz

alP habetical liS t of MeMberS a bbott, h on. George (l) ........................................................................ Shuswap a ustin, r obin (nDP) ................................................................................ Skeena bains, h arry (nDP) ....................................................................Surrey-n ewton barisoff, h on. bill (l) ............................................................................Penticton barnett, Donna (l) ................................................................ c ariboo-c hilcotin bell, h on.

Pat (l) ..................................................... Prince George–Mackenzie bennett, bill (l) .............................................................................k ootenay e ast black, Dawn (nDP) ................................................................n ew Westminster black, iain (l) .............................................................. Port Moody–c oquitlam bloy, h on. h arry (l) ............................................................burnaby-l ougheed bond, h on.

Shirley (l) ...........................................Prince George–Valemount brar, Jagrup (nDP) ................................................................ Surrey-fleetwood c adieux, h on. Stephanie (l) ................................................Surrey-Panorama c antelon, r on (l) ..............................................................

Parksville-Qualicum c handra h erbert, Spencer (nDP) ................................Vancouver–West end c hong, h on. ida (l) ..................................................... o ak bay–Gordon h ead c houhan, r aj (nDP) ........................................................... burnaby-e dmonds c oell, Murray (l) ..............................................Saanich n orth and the islands c oleman, h on. r ich (l) ........................................... f ort l angley–a ldergrove c onroy, katrine (nDP) .............................................................. k ootenay West c oons, Gary (nDP) .........................................................................n orth c oast c orrigan, k athy (nDP) ..................................................... burnaby–Deer l ake Dalton, Marc (l) ..............................................................

Maple r idge–Mission de Jong, h on. Michael, Qc (l) .............................................. a bbotsford West Dix, a drian (nDP) ............................................................Vancouver-kingsway Donaldson, Doug (nDP) ......................................................................... Stikine e lmore, Mable (nDP) ................................................... Vancouver-kensington f alcon, h on. k evin (l) ..........................................................Surrey-c loverdale f arnworth, Mike (nDP) ............................................................

Port c oquitlam fleming, r ob (nDP) .......................................................... Victoria–Swan l ake f oster, eric (l) .......................................................................Vernon-Monashee f raser, Scott (nDP) ............................................................a lberni–Pacific r im Gentner, Guy (nDP) .........................................................................Delta n orth h ammell, Sue (nDP) .................................................... Surrey–Green t imbers h ansen, c olin (l) ............................................................

Vancouver-Quilchena h awes, r andy (l) ............................................................... a bbotsford-Mission h ayer, Dave S. (l) .................................................................... Surrey-t ynehead h eed, k ash (l) ................................................................ Vancouver-fraserview h ogg, Gordon (l) ............................................................... Surrey–White r ock h organ, John (nDP) .......................................................................

Juan de f uca h orne, Douglas (l) ..............................................c oquitlam–b urke Mountain h oward, r ob (l) .....................................................................r ichmond c entre h untington, Vicki (ind.) ..................................................................Delta South James, c arole (nDP) .........................................................Victoria–b eacon h ill k aragianis, Maurine (nDP) ........................................e squimalt–r oyal r oads k rog, l eonard (nDP) ........................................................................... n anaimo k rueger, kevin (l) ............................................... k amloops–South Thompson kwan, Jenny Wai ching (nDP) ...........................

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant l ake, h on. Dr. t erry (l) .....................................k amloops–n orth Thompson l ali, h arry (nDP) ..........................................................................f raser-n icola l ee, r ichard t . (l) .......................................................................burnaby n orth l ekstrom, h on. blair (l) .......................................................

Peace r iver South l es, John (l) .........................................................................................c hilliwack l etnick, n orm (l) ........................................................k elowna–l ake c ountry MacDiarmid, Dr. Margaret (l) ......................................... Vancouver-fairview Macdonald, n orm (nDP) ....................................c olumbia r iver–r evelstoke Mcintyre, Joan (l) ..................................................West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Mcn eil, h on. Mary (l) .................................................Vancouver–f alse creek Mcr ae, h on.

Don (l) ................................................................... c omox Valley Mungall, Michelle (nDP) ..........................................................n elson-creston Penner, hon. barry, Qc (l) ....................................................c hilliwack-h ope Pimm, Pat (l) ..........................................................................Peace r iver n orth Polak, h on.

Mary (l) ...............................................................................l angley Popham, l ana (nDP) ...................................................................Saanich South r alston, bruce (nDP) ................................................................

Surrey-Whalley r eid, l inda (l) .............................................................................r ichmond e ast r outley, bill (nDP) .................................................................. c owichan Valley r outley, Doug (nDP) ............................................n anaimo–n orth c owichan r ustad, John (l) ........................................................................... n echako l akes Sather, Michael (nDP) ......................................... Maple r idge–Pitt Meadows Simons, n icholas (nDP) ...................................

Powell r iver–Sunshine c oast Simpson, bob (ind.) .....................................................................c ariboo n orth Simpson, Shane (nDP) .....................................................Vancouver-hastings Slater, John (l) ..............................................................boundary-Similkameen Stewart, ben (l) ..................................................................... Westside-kelowna Stilwell, Dr. Moira (l) ......................................................... Vancouver-l angara Sultan, r alph (l) .....................................................

West Vancouver–capilano Thomson, hon.

Steve (l) ........................................................k elowna-Mission Thorne, Diane (nDP) .................................................c oquitlam-Maillardville Thornthwaite, Jane (l) .......................................... n orth Vancouver–Seymour t revena, c laire (nDP) .................................................................... n orth island van Dongen, John (l) .............................................................a bbotsford South Y amamoto, hon. n aomi (l) ................................. n orth Vancouver–l onsdale Y ap, John (l) .......................................................................r ichmond-Steveston Vacant ...............................................................................Vancouver–Point Grey liS t of MeMberS bY riD in G a bbotsford-Mission .......................................................................r andy h awes a bbotsford South .....................................................................John van Dongen a bbotsford West ......................................................h on.

Michael de Jong, Qc a lberni–Pacific r im ..........................................................................

Scott f raser boundary-Similkameen .....................................................................John Slater burnaby–Deer l ake ................................................................... k athy c orrigan burnaby-e dmonds ......................................................................... r aj c houhan burnaby-l ougheed ...................................................................h on. h arry bloy burnaby n orth .............................................................................. r ichard t . l ee c ariboo-c hilcotin ........................................................................Donna barnett c ariboo n orth ................................................................................ bob Simpson c hilliwack ...............................................................................................

John l es c hilliwack-h ope .......................................................... h on. barry Penner, Qc c olumbia r iver–r evelstoke .................................................. n orm Macdonald c omox Valley...........................................................................h on. Don Mcr ae c oquitlam–b urke Mountain .....................................................Douglas h orne c oquitlam-Maillardville...............................................................

Diane Thorne c owichan Valley ................................................................................ bill r outley Delta n orth ......................................................................................Guy Gentner Delta South ...............................................................................Vicki h untington e squimalt–r oyal r oads .....................................................Maurine k aragianis f ort l angley–a ldergrove ...................................................h on. r ich c oleman f raser-n icola........................................................................................ h arry l ali Juan de f uca .....................................................................................John h organ k amloops–n orth Thompson ............................................ h on.

Dr. t erry l ake k amloops–South Thompson ...................................................... k evin k rueger k elowna–l ake c ountry ...............................................................n orm l etnick k elowna-Mission .............................................................. h on.

Steve Thomson k ootenay e ast ....................................................................................bill bennett k ootenay West ............................................................................ k atrine c onroy l angley.......................................................................................h on. Mary Polak Maple r idge–Mission .....................................................................

Marc Dalton Maple r idge–Pitt Meadows ........................................................Michael Sather n anaimo ......................................................................................... l eonard k rog n anaimo–n orth c owichan ......................................................... Doug r outley n echako l akes ..................................................................................

John r ustad n elson-creston ........................................................................Michelle Mungall n ew Westminster ..............................................................................Dawn black n orth c oast....................................................................................... Gary c oons n orth island .................................................................................. c laire t revena n orth Vancouver–l onsdale ........................................h on. n aomi Y amamoto n orth Vancouver–Seymour .................................................

Jane Thornthwaite o ak bay–Gordon h ead ............................................................ h on. ida c hong Parksville-Qualicum ..................................................................... r on c antelon Peace r iver n orth ................................................................................Pat Pimm Peace r iver South ...............................................................h on. blair l ekstrom Penticton................................................................................... h on. bill barisoff Port c oquitlam ..........................................................................Mike f arnworth Port Moody–c oquitlam ...................................................................... iain black Powell r iver–Sunshine c oast ................................................. n icholas Simons Prince George–Mackenzie .............................................................h on.

Pat bell Prince George–Valemount ...................................................h on. Shirley bond r ichmond c entre ............................................................................ r ob h oward r ichmond e ast ................................................................................... l inda r eid r ichmond-Steveston ..............................................................................John Y ap Saanich n orth and the islands .....................................................

Murray c oell Saanich South ................................................................................ l ana Popham Shuswap ...............................................................................h on.

George a bbott Skeena .............................................................................................. r obin a ustin Stikine ........................................................................................Doug Donaldson Surrey-c loverdale .................................................................h on. k evin f alcon Surrey-fleetwood ...............................................................................Jagrup brar Surrey–Green t imbers ..................................................................Sue h ammell Surrey-n ewton ................................................................................. h arry b ains Surrey-Panorama ........................................................ h on.

Stephanie c adieux Surrey-t ynehead ........................................................................... Dave S. h ayer Surrey-Whalley.............................................................................. bruce r alston Surrey–White r ock ....................................................................... Gordon h ogg Vancouver-fairview ................................................ Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid Vancouver–f alse creek ........................................................ h on.

Mary Mcn eil Vancouver-fraserview ........................................................................k ash h eed Vancouver-hastings ....................................................................Shane Simpson Vancouver-kensington .................................................................Mable e lmore Vancouver-kingsway..........................................................................a drian Dix Vancouver-l angara .................................................................Dr.

Moira Stilwell Vancouver–Mount Pleasant ..........................................Jenny Wai ching kwan Vancouver–Point Grey ...............................................................................Vacant Vancouver-Quilchena ................................................................... c olin h ansen Vancouver–West end ...............................................Spencer c handra h erbert Vernon-Monashee ...............................................................................eric f oster Victoria–b eacon h ill .......................................................................c arole James Victoria–Swan l ake.........................................................................r ob fleming West Vancouver–capilano ............................................................. r alph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky ........................................................

Joan Mcintyre Westside-kelowna .............................................................................ben Stewart Party Standings: l iberal 48; n ew Democratic 34; independent 2; Vacant 1

CONTENTS Wednesday, May 18, 2011 a fternoon Sitting Page Routine Business introductions by Members ..................................................................................................................................................... 7151 Point of order (Speaker's r uling) ......................................................................................................................................... 7152 introduction and first r eading of bills ................................................................................................................................ 7153 bill 11 — Y ale first n ation final a greement a ct h on.

M. Polak bill M206 — e lection t ransparency a mendment a ct, 2011 b. Simpson Statements (Standing order 25b) ......................................................................................................................................... 7154 c ommunity c onnections and services for e ast k ootenay families b. bennett Doukhobor youth festival k. c onroy c ystic fibrosis l. r eid c amosun c ollege child care services r . flemin g Golf in b.c . J. Slater environmental school in Maple r idge M.

Sather oral Questions ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7156 c onditions at r oyal c olumbian h ospital a. Di x h on. M. de Jong M. f arnworth beds and facilities at Vernon Jubilee h ospital S. h ammell h on. M. de Jong c ommunity l iving b.c. and services for developmentally disabled persons n. Simon s h on. h. b loy c are plans for persons with disabilities c. t revena h on. h. b loy Services for developmentally disabled persons M. k aragianis h on. h. b loy c. Jame s

Orders of the Day c ommittee of Supply .............................................................................................................................................................. 7161 e stimates: Ministry of e ducation (continued) D. r outley h on. G. a bbott D. Thorne h. b ains J. brar M. Sather J. kwan G. c oons b. Simpson M. f arnworth r . a ustin Proceedings in the Douglas Fir Room c ommittee of Supply .............................................................................................................................................................. 7188 e stimates: Ministry of environment h on. t . l ake r . flemin g D. Donaldson V . huntington

7151 WeD neSD a Y , MaY 18, 2011 The h ouse met at 1:35 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Prayers. Introductions by Members Hon. M. Polak: t oday i rise to introduce some very special guests who have travelled here to join us in the gallery.

They are members of the Y ale first n ation, which is located in the lower f raser Valley. i would like to first acknowledge c hief r obert h ope of the Y ale first n ation, who is here with us on the floor of the assembly. [a pplause.] e arlier i was honoured to act as emcee at an event to mark today's introduction of the Y ale first n ation final a greement a ct. i'd like to single out three very re - markable young members of the Y ale first n ation: t alon c oghill, age 12; Dyllan James, age 14; and Megan h ope, age 17.

These young people represent the future of Y ale first n ation and of british c olumbia. e arlier today they spoke about what treaty means to them and placed some personal objects, along with cop- ies of their speeches, in a time capsule to be returned to Y ale first n ation. There, all the children in the commun- ity will also have the opportunity to contribute personal items to the time capsule. a lso with us in the visitors' gallery today is Sophie Pierre, chief commissioner, along with fellow commis - sioners Dave h aggard and c eleste h aldane of the b.c. t reaty c ommission.

Joining them is Mark Smith with the bctc. f rom the first n ations Summit we are joined by Dan Smith, first n ations Summit t ask Group; l eah George- Wilson, first n ations Summit co-chair; and r ay h arris, first n ations Summit co-chair. i want to congratulate c hief h ope and the members of Y ale first n ation, and i am extremely pleased that they are able to join us today. Would the h ouse please make them very welcome. J. Horgan: Joining us in the gallery today is no one that you would not recognize in your office, hon.

Speaker, going through drawers and such, and a good friend of the member for Victoria–b eacon h ill as well. My constituent k ody bell is with us. Would the h ouse please make him very, very, very welcome. Hon. H. Bloy: i would like to welcome to the h ouse today family members, advocates and others who sup - port british c olumbians living with developmental disabilities. f rank and open discussion is a hallmark of democratic institutions like this h ouse here and is an essential part of finding solutions. Would the h ouse please make them very welcome. S.

Fraser: f riends of mine are visiting in the gal - lery today. Dennis a damson and Sequel a damson, his daughter, are visiting to witness the introduction of the Y ale treaty. Dennis is the electoral director area b for the f raser Valley regional district. h is daughter Sequel is a grade 5 student at c.e. barry Middle School in h ope, and she's on the honour roll. Would you please join me in making them feel very welcome. K. Heed: i ask that you join me in welcoming three constituents from Vancouver-f raserview: c athy Grant, e d h arkness and John Watt. M.

Karagianis: a constituent of mine has joined us in the gallery today. h e actually is the cohort of the afore - mentioned k ody bell, an avid fan of question period and debates. i'd like you to welcome Mark bridges. Hon. M. McNeil: Joining us in the h ouse today are two of my constituents from Vancouver–f alse creek, a ndy h edley and Michael Mather. They are here along with other representatives from the b.c. a llied Golf a ssociation. Would the h ouse please join me in making them feel welcome. D. Black: t wo of my friends have been visiting the l egislature today. i would like to introduce them.

They're c atherine bell and r oger k ishi. c atherine bell served with me in the h ouse of c ommons. [1340] She was the Member of Parliament for Vancouver island n orth. She has now changed careers and has opened a restaurant in c ourtenay called Zocalo c afé. i understand it's a terrific restaurant. i would ask the members to please make them welcome today. D. Horne: it's with pleasure that i introduce a close friend of mine who is here in the gallery today. Pam h iller is here for the b.c. teachers institute, and i hope the h ouse will make her truly welcome. C.

Trevena: in the precincts today there was a very special school visit from my constituency, from kyuquot e lementary Secondary School. i think everybody has heard me talk about kyuquot. it's, i think, the second most remote part of my constituency. They've come a long, long way to see how our l egislature works. Joining the 23 grade 1s to 6s were Virginia Vincent, l arissa h anson, Devon h ansen, l isa Morrison, Jen Manuel, n ick c aumanns, r on c hidley, Wayne Vincent Sr. and Priscilla Jack. i hope the h ouse will make them very welcome.

british c olumbia Debates7152 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Hon. B. Penner: it is truly a terrific day. i have the honour to represent and introduce today a number of constituents.

With the introduction of the legislation to enable the completion of the Y ale first n ation treaty, a number of constituents have travelled from the f raser c anyon and the upper f raser Valley. a lready the member for a lberni–Pacific r im has introduced Dennis a damson and his very bright daughter Sequel. in addition, a previous electoral area representative from the f raser Valley regional district, t erry r aymond, is here today as well. i'd like the h ouse to make him welcome, as well as all the members of the Y ale first n ation, including c hief r obert h ope. N.

Simons: i'd like to echo the words of the Minister of Social Development in welcoming people repre - senting families with members who have developmental disabilities or disabilities. in particular, i'd like to wel - come c athy Grant, e d h arkness, John Watt and Maria Squance from b.c. f amilyn et; Dawn Steele from Moms on the Move; Pat Danforth from the b.c. c oalition of People with Disabilities; bob Wilson from the b.c. Government and Service employees u nion; along with family advocates a llan Mcn eely, Wendy l illey and Sandra Philips. Would the h ouse please join me in making them welcome. Hon. P .

Bell: Joining us in the gallery today is a good friend from Prince George, a constituent of the Solicitor General but someone who constantly watches question period every day. i'd like opposition members as well as government members to make sure that Mr. Dennis Jackson has a great show today. D. Routley: i have two introductions today. Joining us in the precinct are 42 grade 4 students from Georgia a venue community school in n anaimo with their teacher Melody botten and, i believe, ten parents. They have had a wonderful time with a tour, and i was able to speak to the kids.

So i'd like the members to help me make them all welcome to the precinct.

Secondly, i'd like the h ouse to help me welcome my friend k urt k nock. h e's visiting us from Duncan. h e's actually a constituent of the member for c owichan V alley but a good friend of my partner l eanne and mine. k urt is a longtime cyclist and markets his own bicycles, everti bicycles, but he's also a very accomplished photographer. k urt k nock Photography is the business that he runs. h e's looking to expand his talents, and he's ready to take pictures of all the members, particularly the mem - bers opposite. i would like the h ouse to help me make k urt very welcome. R.

Lee: Visiting the h ouse today are 31 grade 5 stu - dents from h oly c ross e lementary School in burnaby, with nine adults. Would the h ouse help me to welcome them. D. Donaldson: i don't often have a chance to welcome school groups from a thousand kilometres north of here, but today the k ispiox community school class is visit - ing. k ispiox village is part of the Gitxsan n ation. They welcome students from all backgrounds. Their teacher brian Muldon is here as well. Would the h ouse make them welcome. [1345] L. Reid: h on.

Members, in the h ouse today i am pleased to welcome 15 teachers from across british c olumbia who have been selected to participate in the 12th b.c . t eachers institute on Parliamentary Democracy. They will be with us for the remainder of this week, expanding their knowledge of our parlia - mentary system. They are joined by three of their peers who are returning alumni acting in the role of facilita - tor — Ms. Gaye burton-c oe, Mr. bud l inquist and Mr. r obert b oates. i trust you'll take this opportunity to meet with them at tomorrow's luncheon hosted by the hon. Minister of e ducation.

Would you please make them feel very welcome. Point of Order (Speaker's Ruling) Mr. Speaker: h on. Members, on Monday morning, May 16, the member for c ariboo n orth rose on a point of order pertaining to the conduct of private members' time and particularly directed his attention to Standing order 25a. on raising his point of order, the hon. member asked for guidance from the c hair as to three questions.

(1) What is the spirit and the intent of the private members' time?

(2) What process is to be used to determine which Mla s get time? (3) a re speakers lists necessary for respondents, or do these lists undermine the spirit of the intent of private members' time? firstly, there have been several Speaker's decisions on the nature and intent of private members' state - ments, and i refer hon. members to the fourth edition of Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia, pages 60 and 61. basically, the intent was to provide a definite and certain time on Orders of the Day when members other than cabinet ministers could bring to the attention of the h ouse matters of concern which did not fall into other proceedings of the h ouse.

The second question the hon. member has put to the c hair is the relation to the process used to deter - mine which Mla s get time during private members' statements. Standing order 25a(2) suggests that such

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7153 a determination is made by the Speaker after drawing lots.

When this standing order was first used, it was dis- covered that random drawing of lots often produced an undesirable result, in that four random choices could produce the effect that all private members' statements on a particular day would go to one party or another. a ccordingly, the practice developed that the desig - nated members on private members' day were chosen by agreement between the h ouse l eaders, and this pro- cess has worked admirably over the years that Standing order 25 has been in place. it was hoped that with the advent of independent members, their turn to be chosen for private members would be negotiated in the same spirit of fairness that has prevailed over the years. a s Speaker, i would hope that the existing processes would be continued and that independent members would be part of the process and would be prepared to accept the decision by the h ouse l eaders of the major - ity parties.

The c hair would suggest that the overriding principle is that of fairness. i have every reason to be - lieve that the principle will be observed in allocating the time for private members' statements.

The final question put to the c hair was whether or not speakers lists are necessary or do they undermine the spirit and the intent of private members' time. in relation to this last question, it seems to the c hair that respondents lists add some certainty to the h ouse pro- ceedings and also provide time for preparation of replies when appropriate. once the subject matter of the state - ment is known, research can be commenced on the reply, thereby adding, hopefully, to the quality of debate on the particular subject. f ailing this consensual approach to the allocation of time in private members' statements, an arbitrary math- ematical decision could be devised, bearing in mind the number of members and the number of independent members.

Introduction and First Reading of Bills bill 11 — Yale f ir St n ation final aGreeMent a ct h on. M. Polak presented a message from h is h onour the a dministrator: a bill intituled Y ale first n ation final a greement a ct. Hon. M. Polak: i move that the bill be introduced and read a first time now. Motion approved. Hon. M.

Polak: i am honoured today to introduce bill 11, the Y ale first nation final a greement a ct. [1350] This landmark legislation will enable the Y ale final agreement, british c olumbia's third modern treaty, to reach the l egislature under the framework of b.c.'s treaty process, which was established in 1992. c hief h ope, whom i introduced a few minutes ago, has been at the treaty table since the beginning and has worked tirelessly to bring this treaty to his people. in fact, c hief h ope is here carrying out the work of his father, the late elder and c hief, l awrence h ope, who was also a great champion of this treaty and who i think we can all agree would be very proud of his son and his people today.

The Premier and i were very privileged to attend an event with c hief h ope and members of the Y ale first n ation earlier today recognizing this historic day. i was particularly moved by the children and young people of Y ale who joined us today. Their spirit and enthusiasm is infectious, and i was struck by their optimism for their future under this treaty.

The treaty removes the Y ale first n ation from the fed- eral indian a ct. it provides the Y ale first n ation with self-government powers that will allow them to design and deliver programming in a way that best supports the Y ale community and their families.

This treaty converts the uncertainty regarding Y ale first n ation's aboriginal rights and title into defined treaty rights. it establishes ownership and management of lands and resources within Y ale's traditional territory, and it provides land and financial resources so Y ale can create economic op- portunities and jobs for their families. c hief h ope has described treaties as having the po - tential to be the single largest catalyst for economic development, partnership and improved governance in british c olumbia. it is an extraordinary moment for the Y ale people and all british c olumbians, because we all benefit when local economies flourish, when neigh - bours support one another and when there is stability on the land base. i am honoured to bring this settlement legislation to the chamber, and i move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the h ouse after today. bill 11, Y ale first n ation final a greement a ct, intro- duced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the h ouse after today. bill M206 — election tranSP arencY aMenDMent a ct, 2011 b.

Simpson presented a bill intituled e lection t rans- parency a mendment a ct, 2011. B. Simpson: i move that this bill be introduced and read now for a first time.

british c olumbia Debates7154 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Motion approved. B. Simpson: The e lection t ransparency a mendment a ct legislates the reporting of political donations during a general election. it will enable voters to make a more informed choice when they mark a ballot, as it requires candidates, constituency associations and political par - ties to submit ongoing reports to e lections b.c. during the election period.

The first comprehensive donation report will be re - quired on the tenth day of a general election, and all donations received from the last public report by e lections b.c. would be disclosed. Thereafter candidates, constituency associations and political parties would be required to update their donors list on a daily basis. This act will ensure that the public will be able to see which organizations and individuals are donating to political candidates and political parties prior to mak - ing their choice on election day.

During the recent leadership contests of both polit - ical parties, leadership candidates publicly reported who donated to their campaigns prior to party members se - lecting a leader. This level of transparency is laudable.

The e lection t ransparency a mendment a ct would sim- ply extend this right to know to all voters during general elections. i move that the bill be placed on the order paper for second reading at the next sitting of the h ouse after today. bill M206, e lection t ransparency a mendment a ct, 2011, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the h ouse after today. Statements (Standing Order 25B) co MMunit Y connectionS anD Ser Vice S for ea St kootena Y fa Milie S B.

Bennett: one of the most important things that we can do as Mla s here in the h ouse is to give voice to our constituents who can't be here to speak for themselves, particularly where you have a group of constituents who are working towards a noble goal. i'm speaking today on behalf of a small non-profit so- ciety from cranbrook in the e ast k ootenay known as c ommunity c onnections. These individuals are mostly volunteers.

They're led by a woman by the name of Gwen n oble, and they work with children in our region. [1355] They're involved with things like assessment, child care resource and referral, early intervention, preschool, supported child development, infant development, pediatricians, c hildren first, developmental disabil - ity services, mental health services — just some of the things that they work with and services that are deliv - ered across the region.

Most of the regions of the province have a coordin - ated network of child health and development services, and parents can go in and find the services they need in one place, as opposed to having to scramble and try and figure out the maze of services that we have. We'd like, in the e ast k ootenay, to emulate commun- ities like f ort n elson, f ort St. John, Smithers, Quesnel, Williams l ake, Vernon, k elowna, Penticton and their child health centres. That's where Gwen n oble and her hard-working vol - unteers come in.

Gwen and a small group of dedicated volunteers have been working away tirelessly, acquiring a good building, improving that building, raising money. c ommunity c onnections has so far raised $350,000 from our community. f amilies will stay in rural communities when they know there's access to services for their children. The promise of a new child health and development cen - tre in cranbrook has already helped us attract two new pediatricians to our area. We need to retain them.

We also need to attract more specialists for our children. in conclusion, i look forward to working with gov - ernment and with c ommunity c onnections to ensure that rural families get the support they need in the e ast k ootenay. Doukhobor Youth fe Sti Val K. Conroy: This coming weekend the 64th annual u nion of Spiritual c ommunities of c hrist u nion of Y outh f estival will be celebrated. e very year this fes - tival attracts upwards of 1,500 people to the brilliant c ultural c entre just outside of c astlegar for a week - end full of culture, song, prayer, food and fun.

The first festival was held in 1948 in Grand f orks on the e aster weekend. Since then the festival has grown significantly, moving to the brilliant c ultural c entre and held on the May long weekend. This year's theme is "Strengthening Doukhobor con - nections: forging unity, celebrating culture and sharing hope." The three-day festival kicks off Saturday morning, followed by the ever-popular Saturday evening variety program. o n Sunday the festival begins with a traditional Doukhobor prayer meeting, followed by performances leading into the late afternoon.

The festival wraps up on Monday with a fun-filled family sports day, including children's games, softball and family picnics. Y outh from across the region, the province and in fact the country of Doukhobor descent gather to per - form in a number of ways. These include choirs sharing their a cappella songs in both english and r ussian, in- dividual performers and skits, to name just a few. a s well, they participate in discussions related to their

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7155 theme. Dignitaries from all walks of life bring greetings throughout the weekend. it is a great opportunity to share the mouth-watering meals the Doukhobors have become famous for — borscht, pyrahi, lapsha, pickles, atvar, homemade bread and always-delicious pies. it's a moving experience to be in the cultural centre with its incredible acoustic properties and listen to the choirs join their voices together. it's a sound that makes one feel awed and fortunate to be in the company of such amazing talent.

The uScc u nion of Y outh c ouncil organizes the weekend with some help from the Doukhobor elders, but the council themselves work to prepare this exciting weekend. Their ages range from 15 to 30, and it is great to watch these young people in leadership roles ensur - ing their Doukhobor heritage is here to stay for many more years to come in our country and this province. c YStic fibro SiS L.

Reid: i rise today to pay tribute to the individuals in this building who work for this cause. i thank each and every one of them. f or thousands of people living in communities throughout c anada, cystic fibrosis is very much a reality. c ystic fibrosis is the most common fatal disease affect - ing young c anadians today. While the vast majority of us take simple acts of breathing for granted, most of those living with cystic fibrosis must undergo hours each day of physical and inhalation therapy.

This is just one of the many physical hardships facing those living with the disease. it is why May has been declared c ystic fibrosis a wareness Month to help bring a greater understanding of those who live with it each and every day. There is currently no cure for cystic fibrosis. in the 1960s most children with cystic fibrosis did not live long enough to attend kindergarten. t oday half of all c anadians are expected to live into their 40s and beyond.

This could not have been done without the amazing fundraising efforts sponsored by c ystic fibrosis c anada — the Great Strides walk, which takes place this month in communities across the country; and Shinerama, where post-secondary students from coast to coast collect do - nations every September for cystic fibrosis research.

We must also recognize k in c anada for their continued support in raising funds and awareness to help combat this disease. it is through fundraisers and dedicated volunteers such as these that one day help will make cf stand not for "cystic fibrosis" but for "cure found." it's time to breathe new life into this disease. [1400] caM oS un colleGe chilD care Ser ViceS R.

Fleming: i want to recognize today an extremely valuable organization in my community, the c amosun c ollege child care services organization, who are cele - brating a significant anniversary, their 20th anniversary, and holding a garden party on Sunday, May 29 to com - memorate that. May is c hild c are Month, so it's only fitting that we acknowledge this best-practice facility in my community.

The demand for quality child care in the capital re - gion remains very high, and since 1990 c amosun c ollege child care services has been providing quality child care on campus, allowing parents the opportunity to pursue their educational and career goals while rais - ing children.

The centre provides small caregiving groups and re - spect for cultural diversity in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment. it also provides educational op- portunities for students in early childhood education to complete observations, conduct research, provide workshops, interviews and obtain supervised practicum experiences. a s the opposition environment critic, i'm also very pleased to report that both the child care facilities look for opportunities to promote sustainability. r ecently they replaced disposable juice cartons with reusable containers for liquids, and i'm told that during snack and lunch times the children identify and separate any - thing recyclable or compostable into bins.

This child care service has been recognized and is nom- inated for the Prime Minister's a wards for e xcellence in e arly c hildhood e ducation. i hope and expect that we will hear a positive announcement from o ttawa to award this centre in the fall. i invite all members of this h ouse to join me in thanking the c amosun c ollege child care services oper- ations manager, l isa Stekelenburg, and past and present staff who do so much for children and their families in my community, and to recognize this extraordinary anniversary. Golf in b.c. J.

Slater: i'd like to talk today about golf. t oday is Golf a wareness Day, and i rise to pay tribute to a sport that i love and that has done so much for british c olumbia. l et's start with golf 's immense economic impact. Some 14½ million rounds of golf are played every year in b.c. That sustains over 17,000 seasonal and full-time jobs in the province. a lot of those jobs are filled by the youth of our communities and account for $477 million in direct household income. in 2007 the international a ssociation of Golf t our o perators named b.c. as the best golf destination in

british c olumbia Debates7156 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 n orth a merica. a ccording to the b.c. Golf a ssociation, those destination golfers spent $330 million on travel, accommodation and meals in b.c. a s anyone who has played our b.c. courses can tell you, they are world- class. in the boundary-Similkameen i have nine golf courses: c hristina l ake, k ettle Valley, Sonora Dunes, o sooyos Desert, o sooyos Parkmeadows, n k'Mip c anyon Desert, f airview Mountain, t win l akes and St. a ndrews by the l ake.

Y es, i have to admit that i've played them all. e conomic impact aside, golf is one of the few sports that families can play together, involving kids to parents to seniors. Many of the golf courses have junior pro - grams that are geared to having youth get involved. Golf doesn't demand you be tall, muscular, thin or heavy, but it does provide you with the opportunity for great exer - cise: walking. f rom tourism dollars to jobs to simple weekend out - ings with families, golf is a sport that can be enjoyed by every member of the family. f ore! enVironMental School in MaP le riDGe M.

Sather: a new school is opening up in the district of Maple r idge and Pitt Meadows, one without walls, textbooks or desks. [a pplause.] i've got to get extra time there, Mr.

Speaker. one without walls, textbooks or desks — at least not in the way we usually think of them. instead, the walls will sometimes be the tent of a donated yurt; the text - books, the leaves of the trees; and the desks will be the grass, rocks and fields. n ature is the classroom, and the community itself be- comes the school. a school is not a building. a school is a place of learning. imagine what happens when you get rid of the walls, and children are outside in contact with their subjects all the time. [1405] School district 42 is opening its first-ever environ - mental school, an idea that grew from imagining that learning can happen outside the box, literally. it will be based on the principles of place and community, nature, ecology and sustainability, inquiry and possibil - ity, interdependence and flourishing, imagination and integration.

Sixty children from kindergarten to grade 7 will par - ticipate in this unique opportunity. Three teachers will go through the regular curriculum in a way that is con - sistently interwoven with the outdoor setting. There will be remarkable fluidity between the grades. c hildren will be able to help others of different ages while being chal - lenged at their individual learning level. c layton Maitland is the vice-principal and coordin - ator of this project.

Since a ugust 2008 his passionate involvement has linked the cooperation of the munici - palities, parks and rec, first n ations and environmental groups. a $1 million grant over five years from S fu , in addi - tion to regular funding from the school district, has given this brainchild its legs, which will begin walk - ing this September. i am proud that Maple r idge and Pitt Meadows is the location of this school and believe that our fabulous parks and environment are the perfect classroom for these lucky, adventurous students. Thank you to Mr.

Maitland, the parents, the school board and community groups such as keePS, arMS and the ceeD c entre for believing in the power of our greatest teacher, planet earth. Oral Questions conD itionS at ro Yal colu Mbian hoSP ital A.

Dix: t oday at r oyal c olumbian h ospital there are 20 hallway beds full. a t ten o'clock there were 55 pa - tients admitted to the emergency room in overflow areas, waiting to go up to the wards. it's a pretty typical day at r oyal c olumbian after years of government neglect. it's particularly keenly felt in the neurosurgery wards of the hospital, and i want to ask the minister if he thinks a hallway is an appropriate place for a neurosurgery pa - tient recovering from serious surgery to be getting care. Hon.

M. de Jong: There's no question that there are still facilities, r oyal c olumbian h ospital being one of them, where our dedicated health care professionals are still confronted by some challenges. That translates into challenges for patients, and it's why the government, over the last ten years, has taken such extraordinary steps to improve the capital infrastructure — that is, the hospitals that are available.

Whether or not it's at Surrey Memorial, whether it's the Pattison care centre that is due to open just in a mat- ter of days, whether it's a bbotsford, whether it's VGh, these represent in total upwards of $7 billion in capital investment in improving the health care infrastructure. There are still challenges, and this government is go - ing to apply itself with every diligence and make every effort to address those challenges, just as we've done over the past ten years. Mr. Speaker: The l eader of the o pposition has a supplemental. A.

Dix: Whether or not it's the Premier's campaign chair, the Solicitor General, the Minister of e ducation, the Minister of finance or, now, the new Minister of h ealth, for the last ten years the government of british c olumbia has let down the staff at r oyal c olumbian h ospital. They've been warned again and again about this crisis, and they have done nothing except close down the 71 acute care beds at St. Mary's.

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7157 The fact of the matter is that it is unacceptable. it is unacceptable to be put in the position that a woman has been put in this past week at that hospital. it's contrary to the policy of the hospital where we have a patient re - covering from neurosurgery to be put in the hallway. it wasn't because the staff wasn't working hard. it's because they had no more option. When is the gov - ernment finally, after years of neglect to this hospital, going to take action and improve the situation at r oyal c olumbian h ospital? Hon.

M. de Jong: i'm a bit surprised. i would have thought the l eader of the o pposition, as a former h ealth critic, would have been aware that we have al - ready begun to take that action, that we have… [1410] interjections. Mr. Speaker: c ontinue, Minister. Hon. M. de Jong: …initiated the preparation of a site redevelopment plan. There's no question that this is expensive. The redevel- opment of the site, in addition to the $60 million or $70 million that has already been spent, will be very expen - sive.

Just down the road at the Surrey Memorial h ospital is the single largest investment ever made in hospital infrastructure, and the…. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Hon. M. de Jong: …member for Surrey-fleetwood today in this place seems to diminish the importance of that. if i go into my hard drive here, i think i can find a picture of him at the opening, smiling broadly. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. c ontinue, Minister, and wrap it up, please. Hon. M. de Jong: Mr. Speaker, there are challenges.

There will continue to be challenges. but the record of this government, reflected as it is in over $7 billion of investment in hospital and health care infrastructure, is the single biggest guarantor of our commitment to b.c. families. Mr. Speaker: The l eader of the o pposition has a fur- ther supplemental. A. Dix: Well, it's clear that the nurses and the doctors and the health care workers and the patients at r oyal c olumbian h ospital have been let down for years by this government.

The government talks about a site de - velopment plan. eight years after they were warned of this crisis by emergency room physicians they talk about a site de - velopment plan, seven years after they got the acute care capacity initiative results that told them they were way down in acute care beds at r oyal c olumbian h ospital. it's clear that the patients at the r oyal c olumbian h ospital rolled up the rim, but they did not win. i asked the question to the hon. minister. i asked the question to him, which is pretty clear. They have failed again and again. They haven't taken action.

They got a development plan 18 months ago. They still haven't taken action. When is the minister going to get off these de - lays and take action for the patients at r oyal c olumbian h ospital, who have suffered enough from the incompe - tence of successive Ministers of h ealth? Hon. M. de Jong: Well, i have been as forthright as, i think, one can be. i acknowledge that there are ongoing challenges, but when we make decisions, when we try to balance our passion and commitment to build with the ability of the taxpayers to finance that construction, we do make choices. We made choices.

The hon. member was in Vernon. Somehow the leader of the nDP , the l eader of the official o pposition, found a way to characterize as bad news a $180 million invest - ment at Vernon Jubilee h ospital. t oday he stands here and purports to be offended by what is taking place — $7 billion in capital investment. i wonder how offended he was when the government that he advised for a decade left a tower in Vancouver 12 floors empty for an entire decade. i wonder how of - fended he was then. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. interjection. [1415] M.

Farnworth: a ctually, Member, the outrage is by the public of british c olumbia. The outrage is the mem- bers of a family whose loved one has been recovering in a hallway in r oyal c olumbian h ospital. The outrage is from doctors and nurses and physicians and patients and the public, who have been waiting for eight years for improvements at r oyal c olumbian h ospital since St. Mary's was closed and demolished. The question is clear.

When will the minister address the concerns of the health care providers of this prov - ince at r oyal c olumbian and the public, who expect a lot better at r oyal c olumbian than they've been getting for the last eight years?

british c olumbia Debates7158 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Hon. M. de Jong: i'm always interested when members of the opposition, including former h ealth Ministers, in- clude in their questions references to doctors and nurses, because of course when they had an opportunity to make a difference, they chose not to train one additional nurse or one additional doctor. The member referred to the eight-year period. it takes eight years from the time someone enters university to when they are trained and qualified to provide just the kind of service members of the opposition say they care about for b.c. families.

We have doubled the number of doctors that are being…. interjections. Hon. M. de Jong: We have made the long-term in - vestment necessary to significantly increase the number of nurses that are trained in british c olumbia. We will apply ourselves with equal diligence to ensuring that the families that rely on Surrey Memorial h ospital or r oyal c olumbian h ospital have the service that they require in a timely way. That's our commitment, and we will see that commitment through. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. M.

Farnworth: it's 2011, and t im h ortons health care is no longer acceptable in the province of british c olumbia. Doctors have been making it clear, and nurses have been making it clear, and health care profes- sionals have been making it clear. f or the last eight years since this government closed and demolished St.

Mary's h ospital, there has been crisis after crisis in r oyal c olumbian h ospital, and this government has failed to address that. it's not about $7 billion. it's not about Surrey Memorial. it's about r oyal c olumbian h ospital and the crisis in there and a woman recovering from serious surgery in a hallway. When is this minister going to actually finally act and fix the problems in r oyal c olumbian h ospital? Hon.

M. de Jong: a s i mentioned a few moments ago, the record of this government in addressing the health care needs of british c olumbians in terms of the profes- sionals that we rely upon, in terms of the facilities that we rely upon, will withstand any scrutiny whatsoever. We are going to continue to do the work. We are go - ing to continue to train the professionals. We are going to continue to invest in a responsible way. That includes r oyal c olumbian h ospital, but it also includes Vernon Jubilee, VGh, Women's h ospital, c hildren's h ospital, Surrey Memorial, St.

Paul's and a bbotsford h ospital, which these folks over there left languishing for an en - tire decade. The difference between this government and those folks is when we say we're going to do it, we do it. it's not just talk. it's action, and that's what distinguishes this government from that opposition. [1420] beDS anD facilitieS at Vernon Jubilee hoSP ital S.

Hammell: Minister, the l eader of the o pposition is not the only one concerned about Vernon Jubilee h ospital. on May 9 Vernon city council voted publicly to endorse a purple-ribbon community campaign that is protesting the crowded conditions at Vernon Jubilee h ospital. The solution is obvious. The patient tower being built at Vernon Jubilee has the space but not the beds. Will the Minister of h ealth listen to the people of Vernon, lis- ten to the doctors and nurses in Vernon and promise to open more acute beds at Vernon Jubilee hospital? Hon.

M. de Jong: t o the member, it was also good to see her at the sod-turning at the Surrey Memorial cam - pus just a few weeks ago.

The situation at Vernon Jubilee, to put it in some sort of context, of course, revolves around a $180 million in- vestment in health care infrastructure in a new patient tower. it includes a state-of-the-art icu , state-of-the-art maternity care, state-of-the-art surgical facilities and expanded emergency room provision as well. it is a sig - nificant investment in improving the delivery of health care services in Vernon. i have been to Vernon. in fact, it was one of my first stops upon taking responsibility for this portfolio. i have met with the clinicians. i understand the pressures that have been felt, and we are working with them and the health authority to ensure that there is a plan in place to address those pressures that capitalizes upon that $180 million investment at the Vernon Jubilee hospital.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. S.

Hammell: t o the h ealth Minister again: i thank you for welcoming me to Surrey Memorial sod-turning, but i didn't come there to celebrate. i came there to underline the years and years of neglect for the Surrey Memorial h ospital and health care in Surrey. a $180 million tower is being built without the gain of one more acute care beds at Vernon Jubilee h ospital. it's almost perverse. a new tower is built, and two floors are left as empty shelves. i mean, what are you thinking? in the future, code purples will be announced regularly and daily in a brand-new shiny tower.

Will the minister commit to opening more acute care beds at Vernon Jubilee hospital? Hon. M. de Jong: i accept as genuine the member's expression of concern. i can only imagine the outrage

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7159 she must have felt when she was a member of a govern - ment that presided for a decade over not two floors, not four floors, not six floors, not eight, not ten but 12 empty floors at VGh — 12 empty floors. The member chooses to assign no value to the benefits of an enhanced emergency room facility. She chooses to assign no value to a state-of-the-art icu .

She chooses to assign no value to the new surgical facilities that are go - ing to be available there. i can assure her of this: having met with the clinicians in Vernon, they do. [1425] They also have concerns about some ongoing pres - sures, and the Mla from Vernon, myself and this government, on behalf of the families of the Vernon area and those served by Vernon Jubilee h ospital, are going to work on that, and we are going to ensure that there is a plan in place to address those pressures. co MMunit Y liVin G b.c. anD S er ViceS for De Velo PMentall Y DiSableD P erSonS N.

Simons: it was seven years ago tomorrow, in fact, that the c ommunity l iving a uthority a ct was introduced for the first time in this l egislature, creat- ing c ommunity l iving b.c. With it were the hopes of families of people with developmental disabilities, their advocates. They'd worked hard on this. Seven years later, after being told by then Deputy Premier and current Premier c hristy c lark that this legislation gives british c olumbians with develop - mental disabilities and their families better options and more opportunities in their communities….

They'll be able to look forward to a safer, healthier and better qual- ity of life. Well, unfortunately, the reality in communities across this province does not match that description. Will the minister acknowledge the problems that exist, and will he do what's necessary to honour the promises that were made seven years ago and provide the resources neces - sary for people with developmental disabilities in this province? Hon. H. Bloy: i am listening to the concerns of these families.

Their dedication and hard work on behalf of family members and others in the community with de - velopmental disabilities is admirable. Y ou know, these parents and caregivers are the very backbone of com - munity inclusion, and we are working to serve every member of c ommunity l iving british c olumbia. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. N. Simons: Mla s are getting letters from families concerned about their family members languishing on wait-lists, unable to get services, worried about the fu - ture of their children. This is a crisis in this province. They were promised.

They were given hope. h opes were raised, and hopes were dashed. Promises were made, and promises were broken. The Premier, c hristy c lark, said back then that we have such an opportunity here in british c olumbia to do something great, to do something innovative and to do something that leads the world and that will be good for all people who depend on the services government provides. Y es, an admirable goal, if it weren't so sad with the truth of the matter, and that is that those goals have not been reached.

Seven years later these families are waiting. a dvocates are speaking out loudly and clearly. if the minister doesn't understand, i hope someone does on that side of the h ouse that these needs need to be addressed, and they need to be addressed urgently. Will the minister do what his government has said they'd be doing and provide the necessary resources so that families in this province don't have to live from one crisis to the next? Hon. H.

Bloy: i can assure the members across the street that this government is concerned and is working with other government ministries, with other govern - ment organizations to provide the individuals that they need with the support. but let me assure the mem - bers across the street that we have always supported c ommunity l iving british c olumbia. We've invested now…. Mr. Speaker, $701 million was our budget this year. in fact, in the last three years we've increased our budget by $31 million, servicing over 13,000 individuals in this community. care Plan S for PerSonS With DiSabilitieS C.

Trevena: l esley Wasylyk's daughter Margo has a developmental disability as well as a progressive genetic condition that impairs her balance and coordination. She needs one-on-one supervision at all times and needs help with all of her personal care. [1430] Y esterday in this h ouse the Minister of Social Development talked about the importance of drawing up plans.

Well, l esley submitted a three-year plan for Margo's care before she turned 19. eight months later that plan, for which the family was praised by clbc, has not been funded. l esley and her husband are ex - hausted trying to provide 24-7 care for Margo. They're being pushed to a crisis. i'd like to ask the Minister of Social Development whether he still believes that sup - port for families like the Wasylyks is adequate. Hon. H. Bloy: i can't talk about individual cases, due to confidentiality. i would invite the member to send the information to me, and i'd be pleased to sit down and talk to her.

We are committed to helping every individual

british c olumbia Debates7160 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 within c ommunity l iving b.c., and i look forward to re- ceiving the plan so that we can talk about it. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. C. Trevena: i'm very surprised by the minister.

This case has come directly to the minister. i was actually copied on a letter that was addressed to the minister, so it is on his desk. i would like to ask the minister, however — if we are not going to a specific case, which i hope he does ad - dress, having had the letter on his desk — whether he thinks that the plans he talks so articulately about should be addressed. These are plans drawn up with clbc by families with the complete trust that they will be funded, and then they turn around and are told that no matter what the level of need, there isn't the money.

What are these families supposed to do, Minister? a re you going to respect the plans? a re you going to implement the plans? What are you going to do as a minister? Hon. H. Bloy: Y ou know, dealing with individuals in c ommunity l iving british c olumbia is not without its challenges for the families and/or for government. but i support the work that c ommunity l iving british c olumbia does. i support the 3,200 care providers there and the employees. We are helping over 13,000 individ- uals a year with a budget of over $700 million. it's a $31 million increase over the last three years.

We're here to work with every family and to support every family. Ser ViceS for De Velo PMentall Y DiSableD P erSonS M. Karagianis: in 2004 the Premier, c hristy c lark, promised that the creation of clbc would change the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families for the better. but the c aulder family, who live in my community, can attest to the failure of that promise. c hristie c aulder was forced out of a group home against her family's wishes.

She had her services cut by two-thirds, and she's currently been put in a setting with inadequate staffing for her needs. a s a result, she has lost weight — and at 80 pounds, she cannot afford to lose any weight — and she's been hospitalized for illness for the first time in 15 years. h er mother is worried for her daughter's safety. So i'd like to know when this callous b.c. l iberal gov- ernment is going to stop denying the crisis at hand in community living and ensure that people like c hristie are living in a safe environment. Hon. H.

Bloy: l et me assure the member across the way and people in british c olumbia that the first con - cern of c ommunity l iving b.c. is the individuals they serve. They are now serving over 13,000 individuals a year with services and programs. in fact, last year 766 new individuals came into the system with services, and over a thousand individuals received services who were already in the system. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. M.

Karagianis: The reality is that hundreds and hun- dreds of families in this province are finding themselves with little or no services. f amilies are paying the price, and this minister and this government are in complete denial about it. f amilies are here today to tell this gov - ernment that they have been pushed to the crisis limit. it doesn't get any clearer than that, hon. Speaker. t o the minister responsible: will you commit to the families today that you will give them adequate services, because the families are depending on you to do some - thing? Do something about this. [1435] Hon. H.

Bloy: a s i said earlier, providing services is a challenge for some of the families and for government to do it. We have worked at it. We have been increasing services. i've met with the british c olumbia a ssociation for c ommunity l iving, and i look forward to meeting with many other groups. They've sent in requests, and we're setting up meetings this June to meet with them. C. James: f or seven years families have been working hard, advocates have been working hard, and care - givers have been working hard. They deserve better than they're getting from this government and this minister today.

Parents are told that they have to put together plans. They put together plans, they submit the plans, and then what happens? n othing. n o resources after all that work that they've done putting that together. My question is to the minister. h ow does this govern- ment's inaction put families first? Hon. H. Bloy: a s a government, and c ommunity l iving b.c. was initiated by this government…. it's cele- brating its seventh-year anniversary. There are lots of great achievements with c ommunity l iving b.c. it's recognized as a leader in c anada for the development work that they are doing.

Many advocates support the work that we're doing, and i look forward to meeting with these groups on how we can always improve. This government has always supported c ommunity l iving british c olumbia with more money every year, year after year, with more services year after year. This government has been a full partner in working with c ommunity l iving british c olumbia and all the indi - viduals with developmental disabilities that we serve. [end of question period.]

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7161 Point of Order B. Ralston: Mr. Speaker, i rise on a point of or - der. it concerns the

interpretation of a motion passed by the assembly constituting the Special c ommittee to a ppoint a c hief e lectoral officer. The committee was constituted by motion of the h ouse on Thursday, May 6, 2010.

The committee was charged, among other things, that it "shall report to the h ouse as soon as possible 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 c lerk of the l egislative a ssembly dur- ing a period of adjournment, and upon resumption of the sittings of the h ouse, the c hair shall present all re - ports to the l egislative a ssembly." The committee last met on f ebruary 9, 2011. The new session of this parliament, obviously the third, began in f ebruary 2011.

The h ouse sat f ebruary 14 to 17 and then regularly from a pril 28 until today's date. c ontrary to the clear motion of this assembly, which gives it its powers, the committee has not in fact reported to this h ouse. i seek your ruling on this matter. Mr. Speaker: i'll take it under advisement. Introductions by Members Hon. D. McRae: i have three constituents from the c omox Valley in the h ouse today, and i'd like to intro - duce them if i may. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. Hon. D. McRae: Three great teachers are here at - tending the b.c. teachers institute.

We have ian h argreaves from Miracle beach e lementary; c arolyn Parrish from Queneesh e lementary School; and l iska r oger who, when i was in elementary school, i used to call l iska Mark. She's gotten married since. She is from a irport e lementary School. i would like to ask the h ouse to please make these people welcome. Orders of the Day Hon. R.

Coleman: in this h ouse this afternoon, we will be continuing the estimates of the Minister of e ducation, and in c ommittee a, we will be doing the estimates of the Ministry of environment. [1440] Committee of Supply e Sti Mate S: Mini Str Y of e Ducation (continued) The h ouse in c ommittee of Supply (Section b); l. r eid in the chair. The committee met at 2:45 p.m. on Vote 22: ministry operations, $5,241,877,000 (continued). D.

Routley: i'll begin in a Shakespearean tone, and i'm sure the minister will appreciate that. i will say that lawless are those who make their wills their law. i think the recent decision by Madam Justice Griffin reminds us that the will that was driving the government in 2002 to make the changes it deemed necessary allowed it to become lawless in that it made changes to the collect - ive bargaining process and the contract process for the teachers of this province and that stu dents have paid the price for that ever since. c learly, the government had its intentions, and those intentions were spelled out in material that was before the courts. in 2002 then e ducation Minister c hristy c lark avowed that she was delighted to speak in favour of bill 28, the Public e ducation flexibility and c hoice a ct.

She said that it was about putting students first in that it would meet the needs of individual children.

Well, it became clear that that bill was never about students and that it was about the dismantling of the system. in fact, in material that was put before the court it showed that many months in advance, officials in the e ducation Ministry and the minister herself, now Premier, knew that the legislation they were passing would mean deep cuts and hundreds of millions of dol - lars per year cut from the education services for children, which would result in the massive layoffs that we saw of teachers, larger class sizes and less support.

The districts that i represent, district 79 in the c owichan Valley and district 68 in n anaimo, are still struggling with the effects of that bill. The justice gave the government one year to rectify the problems that bill has created. c an the minister tell us: are the plans of the govern - ment to restore the funding and the services to the levels that were expected at that time, or will they simply be responding by adapting the legislation to the current needs of this budget? Hon. G.

Abbott: i appreciate the member's question, but this is an area that we canvassed fully yesterday. i would refer him to the exchange that occurred between the e ducation critic and myself at some length yesterday. This precise question was asked and answered yester - day. The member should check Hansard from yesterday, because he'll see the answer to the question he's just posed. D. Routley: in fact, i'm asking in relation to the struggles of district 68 and district 79, which have for years and years struggled with deficits as a result of that legislation. This year there was a $5.8 million shortfall

british c olumbia Debates7162 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 in c owichan that was reduced to $1.4 million after the funding protection grant. Still, the $1.4 million that was required to satisfy a balanced budget had to come from somewhere, and it came from services to children. a s i said, the effects of bill 27 and 28 are still being felt in that district. c an the minister answer the question?

Will they answer the demand of the justice? in fact, will the gov - ernment act to restore these conditions by September? if they take the year to respond to the justice's deci - sion, then the children in the districts that i serve will have to wait another budget year to see any effect of that. r eally, we're talking more a two-year lag before there's any effect. Hon. G.

Abbott: i'd be delighted to respond to any question the member had with respect to school dis - trict 68, n anaimo-l adysmith, or school district 79, c owichan Valley. but we canvassed fully the issue of the discussion and the negotiation between the b.c. t eachers f ederation and the government and bcPS ea yesterday. [1450] D. Routley: it's unfortunate. i have referred to the deficit that has been created in c owichan and how that deficit was created by this decision. i'm asking, for the constituents of the c owichan Valley and n anaimo: is the minister going to respond to their need?

They had a $1.4 million deficit this year. They had to cut their literacy and numeracy coordinators to satisfy that deficit. That was just one of the services they had to cut. So i'm asking: can they expect to be able to restore those services as a result of the government responding to the demands made by Justice Griffin? Hon. G.

Abbott: l et me begin by reviewing enrol - ment and operating funding and per-pupil funding at n anaimo-l adysmith. in 2000-2001 there was a full-time enrolment of 16,252 students at n anaimo-l adysmith school district. by a decade later that number had been reduced to just over 13,800, and it may have dropped, in fact, a little bit below that.

That is a substantial decline in the enrolment that has occurred in that school district over a decade and is consistent with the demographic shift that has occurred in many school districts across the province. f or school district 68 — and this is important to note — the operating funding provided by the government to n anaimo-l adysmith school district in 2000-2001 was $99,158,939 — so over $99 million in 2000-2001. t oday their funding is $117.7 million plus. it will be just over that, and per-pupil funding has grown from $6,101 per student to $8,622 per student in nanaimo-l adysmith.

We can talk all day long about that if the member wishes. n ot to repeat old ground, but a couple of the members mentioned yesterday…. i thought it was inter- esting. They claimed underfunding, so to ground-proof the question of whether funding had been appropriate or inappropriate, i went back and looked at the nDP's education budget for 2009-2012, as set out in their edu - cation platform for the 2009 campaign. interestingly, when you put together the three-year plan of the nDP through those years, it totals $225 mil - lion. The government actual for those three years was $254 million.

That is $29 million more than the plan that had been proposed by the nDP in the 2009 election.

Y ou know, that's fascinating. i guess the easiest thing that any member can claim is: "o h, the system is under- funded." i heard that for four years in the Ministry of h ealth. i hear it here, but i've just laid it out for school district 68. [1455] f or school district 79…. i'll have a quick review of that, because i suspect the situation will be similar. f or c owichan Valley, school district 79, the full-time en - rolment back in 2000-2001 was 10,384 students. it has now dropped to just over 8,100 students for c owichan Valley. n otwithstanding that, we have seen their oper - ating funding grow from $64,690,754 in 2000-2001 to $70,569,650 today.

Per-student funding has grown from $6,230 in 2000-2001 to $8,526 today. So the member can go ahead and try to make a polit - ical case here. We've got lots of time to debate the matter. i was quite pleased by the very constructive discussion that we had around a range of issues with a range of op- position members yesterday, but if we want to have a political go, i'm happy to have that in estimates as well. D. Routley: Well, fewer students, more money, fewer services, cutbacks, deficits.

So the minister has heard about underfunding, but he hasn't listened. e ach year i get to ask an e ducation Minister to man- age my daughter's allowance. The e ducation Minister can double her allowance, and then he can download huge costs onto her. h e can download my increased ac - counting costs. h e can download the heating costs. h e can download the teacher's salary increase of her teacher. When she comes to me at the end of the week, i'll just send her to the minister, and he can tell her that her per- child allowance has gone up higher than it's ever been.

That will do her no good because he has created a deficit by imposing costs on her. That's exactly what this government has done to school districts, from MSP premiums to now the prop - erty tax download. in school district 79 this year there are only 38 fewer students, and yet they have had to make the cuts that i've mentioned. They've had to increase class size. They've cut back 3.4 full-time-equivalent teachers this year to gain $308,000 to address that deficit, and this is with only 38 fewer students.

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7163 So the minister can twist all he likes, but those are the facts. i think the students, the parents, the teachers and the trustees of the c owichan Valley would like to hear the minister address that problem — the deficits that have been created, the deficits that these districts have to deal with — and how he might address some of those particular needs. The employee benefit premium holiday, the municipal pension rate increase and MSP premiums are all unfunded increased costs that this government brought to districts — unfunded costs.

So is the minister prepared to address the deficits in c owichan Valley by providing more funding and by honouring the decision of Justice Griffin and returning conditions to what our students and our schools experi- enced before the change in the legislation? Hon. G.

Abbott: a gain, just to reinforce the point, because this is vitally important, i think, for the mem - ber to understand. in 2009-10 there was an enrolment in n anaimo-l adysmith of 13,897 students, and the board of education was funded $116,434,560, or $8,257 per student. [1500] between that and today we have seen that number drop by almost 300 students. but because of the fund - ing protection that government has put in place, their funding, their budgetary allocation has grown despite that dropping number of students. because of the fund- ing protection, their budget has grown to $117,761,409 — an increase of well over $1 million, about $1.3 million.

Per-student funding has grown to $8,510 from $8,257. The member can talk about doom and gloom, and he is welcome to do that. These are estimates where the opposition can say what they will. but the fact of the matter is we have protected the funding to n anaimo- l adysmith. f urther, i would note that the member has talked about deficit. in the case of the n anaimo-l adysmith school district, they have been running an accumulating operating fund surplus consistently; 2001 was the last time they had an operating fund deficit.

Since then, they have consistently run operating fund surpluses of about $1.2 million to a high of about $1.7 million on an annual basis and, most recently, a $746,000 operating fund sur- plus. c learly, n anaimo-l adysmith appears to be doing a very good job in terms of shepherding the resources and managing what they are provided by the province. a gain, c owichan Valley school district 79 — 8,378 students in '09-10, again a drop of just about 200 stu - dents to somewhere around 8,186, perhaps a little bit lower than that on the most recent estimates, but a drop of a couple hundred students. n evertheless, a growing budget and a growing per-student application as well. it is interesting to note that this school district, c owichan Valley, is one that has been running in recent years small operating fund deficits.

They are in the range of a low end of $364,000 to most recently $458,000 as deficits. but that is not characteristic, Member, of boards across the province. in 2001 we had 17 boards that were running on operating fund deficits. More recently, we've had four boards that have been in deficit situations — all, i think, very small deficit situations. The balance, 56, are running operating fund surpluses. a gain, the member, i'm sure, draws dramatically dif - ferent conclusions from this data than i do. but that is the prerogative, i suppose, of the opposition. D.

Routley: a ccording to the accounting require - ments of the ministry, they're required to balance or run minuscule surpluses. in fact, they only achieve that bal - ance by making deep cuts to services. We've heard from school trustees all over the province about that. So the minister chooses to ignore that. in school district 68 in n anaimo-l adysmith there's a school called e cole Davis r oad, Davis r oad e lementary.

This ministry has rejected the facilities plan of the n anaimo school district and told them to go back to the drawing board, so they're considering moving students around the district and out of community in order to satisfy the needs of the ministry. e cole Davis r oad is a school where there are nine portables on site; 97 percent of the students are from in town in l adysmith. l adysmith has a high birth rate, a growing population. it's a separate geographic area from the rest of the district, so there should be some con - sideration of that. it's 12k to the nearest school where there's any room at all.

Thirty-six percent of the students at Davis r oad are understood to be vulnerable, and the median income is $24,000. [1505] n ow the district is being forced to consider moving students to the adjacent communities, forcing parents to drive and putting students out of their local schools. This is a case where a school is full and over capacity, yet the school district doesn't have the funds to address that need. What can the minister offer to the parents of e cole Davis r oad? Hon. G.

Abbott: The member's question was with respect to school district 68 and their capital plan for de- velopment of schools in school district 68. i'm advised by staff that in 2008-2009 school district 68 had put for- ward an $85 million capital plan. That capital plan had gone through all of the ministerial approvals and was ready for the approval of the minister. h owever, appar- ently, shortly after the school trustee election of that year, the capital plan was withdrawn by the board of educa - tion. it was not rejected by the ministry or the minister. it was withdrawn by the board of education.

We are looking forward to receipt of a new capital plan from school district 68. f rom what we know of the circumstances in school district 68, e cole Davis r oad

british c olumbia Debates7164 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 might be totally appropriate as first choice for their new capital plan, but we have to see that capital plan before we can draw definitive conclusions about it. D. Routley: This f riday the parents of e cole Davis r oad have arranged a walkathon. o ver 500 kids from l adysmith will be walking to support their Japanese school children counterparts. They also are aware that none of the schools in l adysmith have been seismically upgraded. Does the minister have any plans to address the seismic upgrading in nanaimo-l adysmith district? [1510] Hon. G.

Abbott: first of all, to correct the record with respect to c owichan Valley school district 79, the way in which it was framed up in this particular document was confusing — at least confusing to me, which is perhaps an easy thing to occur. Just so the member perhaps feels better about his world, in fact, since 2005 c owichan V alley school district 79 has been running operating surpluses: $682,416 in 2005, then consistently up to as high as $2,064,073 in 2008, and a surplus of $1.398 million in the most recent years.

So that's important to note to avoid any confusion. in terms of the member's questions about seismic, the Wellington School project has been approved and, we presume, will form part of the capital plan that will be coming forward from the school district. The capital plan involves not only renovation and replacement pro- jects but also seismic projects.

So Wellington has been approved, if and when the district wishes to proceed with that. i should also note that across the province — and that would include the two school districts that have been raised here — some $25 million has been expended on non-structural safety work inside schools. That would be things like light fixtures or shelving or any other non- structural element in a school that might shake or fall when an earthquake occurs. So that's been valuable as well. D.

Routley: The n anaimo board of education and the n anaimo District t eachers a ssociation have sought to negotiate continuity in posting so that there would be less disruption — teachers moving from school to school and subject to subject. They've been told by bcPS ea that they are not able to negotiate those conditions. it seems a non-cost item, and it seems something that might be appropriately left up to the n anaimo district board of education and the n anaimo District t eachers a ssociation to sort out for themselves. Does the minister support that? [1515] Hon. G.

Abbott: i don't believe that from a minis - terial perspective, given that bcPS ea is the employer, we have any additions or constructive advice that we would add over and above what has been provided by bcPS ea. D. Routley: both of these districts, particularly school district 79, have significant busing challenges and have struggled to maintain their services.

District 79 has made significant cuts to services in trying to meet the needs of students who are migrating from different parts of the district due to the removal of catchment area boundaries by the government's decisions in the past. r ecently uVic environmental law did a study on the effects of busing in terms of the carbon footprint.

School districts are required to become carbon-neutral by this government's decisions. in judging carbon neutrality, cuts to school busing are seen as a reduction of the car - bon footprint. in other words, if i cut a busing run for my school district, i'm credited for reducing its carbon footprint. but this uVic environmental law study found that for each bus that's taken off the road, there's a 23 times greater carbon footprint because of the number of parents who end up driving students to school and back.

So while this is an unintended consequence of a well- meaning piece of legislation that is attempting to drive our districts towards carbon neutrality, if we peel the onion another layer through the effects of this demand and the way it's being judged, we see that this particular element of that equation is actually increasing the car - bon footprint of districts. if the ministry is interested in reducing the carbon output of school districts, it will further fund school busing services, not put conditions that would reduce that funding.

Does the minister agree with that, and if he does, will he advocate for greater funding for school busing services in rural districts? [1520] Hon. G. Abbott: i thank the member for raising the issue. i guess there are a number of elements with re - spect to transportation or busing within school districts that are raised. of course, again, with 60 school districts, the story might be a little bit different in each school dis- trict. So i'll try to make a few comments about the issue of busing.

We do support districts in busing. in terms of the c owichan Valley school district, since 2001-2002 we have purchased, on average, probably three or four buses a year, by the look of it — a high of six in 2002-2003, another high of six in '06-07. o ver the nine years some 26 buses have been purchased for the c owichan Valley school district. With those buses, particularly as the buses get newer, the technology continues to improve. a nd with clean diesel technology, they are very, very clean vehicles now in terms of emissions, so that's important to note.

We also would note — and again, this is a general - ized comment, not directed at c owichan Valley — that

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7165 across the province, where it's appropriate, we see school districts attempting to integrate their busing with b.c. t ransit or local busing that may be available. it makes all the sense in the world to have one full bus rather than two half-full buses, which is sometimes the case. [1525] i think we should also note that the issue around car - bon tax is an important one.

School district emissions for 2010 total about 180,000 tonnes, require about $4.5 million in offset purchases. a lso, i should note that in March 2011 the ministry reimbursed school districts almost $3 million for car - bon taxes paid during 2010.

During the past year boards also received an additional $7.7 million from the min - istry under the energy-efficient mechanical upgrades capital program for upgrades to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. in addition, boards recently received almost $6.6 million from the government's public sector energy conservation agreement, or PSeca, to fund an upgrade to their energy infrastructure and further reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

During the past three years boards have received $11.1 million in total from the PSeca fund to upgrade their energy infrastructure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. i hope that helps to answer the member's question. i think all of us — and i suspect particularly students — appreciate the importance of trying to address climate change in a responsible way. c ertainly, schools and school districts have wanted to be a part of that, and we are always working with school districts to find ways to support their carbon neutrality. D.

Routley: The buses that the minister mentions are purchased in an effort to replace an aging fleet.

They do increase the efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint, which is all the more reason to give more support to transportation services, which generally are coming out of the per-student grant and are very difficult for, at least, the busing that is imposed on the district by the lack of catchment area boundaries. in the case of c owichan there's a considerable de - mand, with students who are migrating from different programs and different high schools, so the issue of reducing carbon footprint is not resolved by what the minister has offered.

The carbon footprint of the district is judged as more positive once they reduce their busing fleet. it just seems a backward piece. it's not an effort to make any political gain but maybe a suggestion to the minister that he could help the districts meet their goals more speedily by increasing the support for busing. School district 79 has increased its spring break by one week. in order to accommodate that, they increased the school days following that by a few minutes per day. i would like to know whether the minister feels that this is a threat to the well-being of vulnerable students.

Many parents, many teachers and many people who serve these students feel that they are put at a particu - larly greater loss because of decisions that reduce their class time — at least reduce their number of school days by increasing the length of the other days they attend school by a very small amount. but giving them this longer break, they tend to lose more, and it takes longer for teachers to bring them back up to speed with the rest of the class. Does the minister agree that this is an unfortunate step that this district has had to resort to? Hon. G.

Abbott: l et me begin by correcting a state - ment which the member made. h e suggested that the cost of busing would come out of the per-student grant. it does not. There is a separate allocation for busing, for transportation for each school district. it is not an area where the busing has to come out of that per-student grant.

That is not the case. in terms of the issues around an extended spring break and the addition of, typically, some minutes to every school day to offset that, we are seeing, i guess, different experiences around the province. [1530] Some school districts have chosen to do what the member, i think, has suggested c owichan Valley has done, but others have not. of course, we look with inter - est at the experience of that, but what we do as a ministry is to mandate the number of instructional hours. We do not order or mandate the precise distribution of those hours across a term or over time.

So that's an interesting question the member raises in that regard. a s they set out their calendar and make decisions about longer spring breaks or shorter summer breaks or longer days or shorter days, the boards consult the public.

They make what we hope are appropriate and thoughtful decisions with respect to what is right for their school district and right for the students in their school district. if the position of the member or of the opposition is that we should move away from that flexibility — and there are some arguments which the members may wish to offer up to indicate that we should take away that flexibility from boards of education — i certainly would welcome their thoughts. i'm certainly not going to chal - lenge them on the point. i'm just curious as to whether the member is suggesting that from an instructional perspective or from a student achievement perspective that a two-week spring break is a wrong decision. if that's his view or the opposition's view, i'm pleased to hear it, but at this point we have not seen evidence which would lead us to strip school districts of the flex - ibility with respect to the calendar.

D. Thorne: i'd like to ask a few questions around the high school completion rates for aboriginal students. i just wanted to read out some statistics first.

british c olumbia Debates7166 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 in 2009 the high school completion rate for aborig - inal students was 50.4 percent, which was slightly up from the year before. it was 48.8 percent. h owever, in the four-year service plan the completion rate targets were 58 percent up to 65 percent in 2011-2012. Then in the 2009 service plan the targets were downgraded by approximately 10 percent. The note under that said that forecasts and targets had been adjusted to ensure that they were achievable.

This was in the service plan on page 11. i find it a little concerning that we've lowered the rates, even though they may seem to be more achiev - able.

There are other ways to achieve both those kinds of rates and higher rates. i think the current minister would agree with me, because i have a quote here from him from a pril. h e feels the rates…. t o read the quote: "o ur rates of aboriginal achieve - ment and success are unacceptably low in this province. i am somewhat between disappointed and ashamed, as an e ducation Minister, that we have not achieved the suc - cess that we should in relation to aboriginal learning." i suspect that the minister agrees with what i'm saying, and i'm just wondering if he would answer one question around the level of success and graduation rates and his feeling that they're unacceptable. c ould he advise the h ouse what measures the ministry plans to take on improving aboriginal education and graduation rates? [1535] Hon.

G. Abbott: i thank the member for her question. i feel very passionately with respect to this issue. The achievement rate that to date we have seen for first n ations and aboriginal students in the province of british c olumbia is, from my perspective, absolutely un- acceptable. i think as british c olumbians we should all feel somewhere between embarrassed and ashamed that we have failed aboriginal students as badly as we have, and it is a huge challenge.

The challenge is, in part, what we have done in the education system. in part, it is the other range of social and economic conditions which exist in the province and which i think we all need to improve on. a lot of the challenge will go back to 1870 and the indian a ct of 1873 and a lot of the bad public policy — at least from today's perspective, what we would deem to be unconstructive or bad public policy — in relation to the exclusion of first n ations, creation of reserves, exclusion from socioeconomic opportunities in a whole range of ways which, as i've said in other forums, i think are very effectively set out in a book by a professor of history, uVic.

Dr. John l utz has written a book called Makúk, which very dramatically lays out the history and the challenge we have in terms of remediating that history. but i think that what we do in this e ducation Ministry is among the most important things we must do if we're going to turn around the economic and social circumstances of first n ations in this province. a gain, it's not the only thing we have to do. i'm a big fan of Dr. Perry k endall and the work he's done in re - lation to aboriginal people and their health outcomes, because that's important too. What we do in the area of criminal justice is important.

What we do in the area of mental health and addictions is important. What we do in children and family development is enormously important. but what we do in education, i think, is fun - damental in terms of hopefully, over the course of a generation or less, seeing the student achievement re - sults for first n ations turned around. There are some things we are doing which have been in some cases quickly and in some cases slowly em - braced by boards of education. i'm thinking here of aboriginal enhancement agreements. i think those are good.

They're an important step forward in terms of building greater achievement opportunities for aborig - inal students. We have brought about some changes to curriculum which, again, i think can be important and useful and constructive. Moving forward, first peoples english, i believe, is the course at 12. That's one example in cur - riculum which i hope will take us a little bit forward. i believe the much more knowledgable people around me would share this view.

The very most important thing we can do for aboriginal learners is also the very most important thing we can do for every learner in british c olumbia — that is, move to a model of per - sonalized learning where very early in a child's life we try to understand any barriers to learning which may exist, any shortfalls in reading, writing and numeracy that may exist, and then have a focused remediation of those challenges. in that early period, generally pre-k or k through to grade 4 when children are growing, their brains are re - markably receptive to new information and stimuli.

The opportunity to remediate shortfalls in reading, writing and numeracy is unparalleled in the course of their lives.

That, i think, is hugely important. [1540] i would be remiss if i did not talk a little bit about the f ort n elson school district and the amazing things they are doing there. f ort n elson is one of the three school districts in the province that have all of their children performing at optimal levels by grade 3 in reading, writ- ing and numeracy. of course, f ort n elson is a school district that's got a very significant percentage of aboriginal learners, a very high percentage. n otwithstanding that — and this, i think, goes to the central point — depending on how you manage the introduction of the elements of per - sonalized learning in the classroom, it is possible to see aboriginal students excelling just as other british c olumbia students are excelling when you provide them with that kind of support.

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, May 18, 2011 7167 There's a lot we've got to learn from that, and i hope there are some best practices we can learn from the f ort n elson experience not only for aboriginal learn - ers, where it may be particularly important, but for all learners. i thank the member for raising that question. She may have got more of an answer than she ever really dreamed of from me. i hope that's the case. She asked a question where i have a passion, and i had to relay that to her. D.

Thorne: i could never have too much information when i ask a question — right? i miss having a few bird calls in there, though. i just couldn't resist that. i've heard about f ort n elson before, actually, and it's quite unbelievable what they've done up there. it's def- initely a model, and i wonder if it has been some kind of a model in looking at the aboriginal choice school issue. i know that the government is looking at or is allowing publicly funded target schools designed to specifically address aboriginal education. i think the first one of these is the aboriginal choice school. i'm wondering if f ort n elson was any kind of a model for that, or in any way.

That's the first question. i'm won- dering if you could tell us, Minister, if there have been evaluations done on these types of programs. is there a lot of evidence of them actually succeeding? Hon. G. Abbott: There are no aboriginal choice schools in f ort n elson school district. f ort n elson school district integrates all the students in common schools, and it is really the educational strategy that they utilize which is, i think, working well, and the per - sonalized learning elements that they bring to that are working well.

That having been said, aboriginal choice schools may be a part of the answer as well. i think it would be fair to say that it is too early in terms of our provincial experi - ence with aboriginal choice schools to form conclusions about whether they should form part of the structure in the future. There is a relatively new…. i think it is probably only a year or two now that we've had an aboriginal choice school at the secondary level in Prince George.

We're following that experience with great interest. i've heard a couple of stories both ways about it, but we'll be fol - lowing that with interest. [1545] t o the knowledge of the folks who are with me, there are no aboriginal choice schools outside of the on-reserve schools in b.c . it certainly may be possible that in Prince George or elsewhere there may be one in the future, but we want to really have a very close look and a very clear understanding of how things work in Prince George and look at whether it can be part of the model for the future. D.

Thorne: Maybe it is the Prince George school. i thought there was one operating, because i thought that you'd talked about it on a t V program recently.

That is the Prince George one that we're talking about. n o evaluations could be done yet, i would imagine, because it's too soon. i'm also assuming, and i guess the ques - tion is, that if the evaluations are relatively positive and if there's some success there, we will continue. i guess what i want to know is: will the Ministry of e ducation work with the school district that the min - istry feels would benefit from it, or will we leave it totally up to school boards? They may not want to go in that direction, where the ministry may feel it would be really helpful to do that.

Would you then continue to open these schools and maybe help or push the school boards? i don't know which word you would use. Hon. G. Abbott: Well, our intervention is always of a remarkably benign and constructive nature, never for - cing or prodding in any way undignified in attempting to move them forward. What we would do in terms of the experience in Prince George with the aboriginal school…. it is very new, and we'll start to see results, probably quite early, in terms of student achievement.

We will see whether it is a school that keeps aboriginal learners through to suc - cessful completion, a Dogwood or otherwise. We'll start to begin to build our body of data and results and our analysis of that as that experience base builds with the aboriginal choice school in Prince George. What we will be doing is sharing those results on an ongoing basis with all of the other 59 school districts. Whether the results are encouraging or discouraging, it will be an opportunity for others, and i think Vancouver school board may be among these, that are contem - plating the possibility of creating such a school.

The results, as they grow over time, will help to inform good decision-making on the part of the school districts. i don't think we would be in a position, at least not yet, to say: "u nder these circumstances your best decision would be to create an aboriginal choice school." i don't think we have that body of data yet. That will emerge over time, and as it becomes stronger, we may be more strongly encouraging the creation of it, or not, based on the results. D.

Thorne: This is my last question on this topic. i'm wondering if the new minister is thinking at all about re- considering the target goals for achievement and raising them back the 10 percent. [1550] Hon. G. Abbott: The question is a very fair one. in no way do i want to appear to disparage it, because it is an important question, and it's one that the ministry has to consider every year — what target they should put in their service plan.

british c olumbia Debates7168 Wednesday, May 18, 2011 That having been said, our goal at this point is to see results and outcomes improve or, in short, student achievement improve and improve quickly in the years ahead. r eally, our focus is not on, you know, what num- ber we put in the service plan. o ur focus is on 60 school districts and trying to improve what i think both the critic and i have agreed are absolutely unacceptable stu- dent achievement outcomes to this point for aboriginal students in the province.

That really will be our central focus in the months and years ahead. it is getting that framework of personal - ized learning that has been so successful in f ort n elson, r evelstoke and southeast k ootenay and try to get that framework of best practices instilled in other school dis- tricts across the province. There are children who will do well in almost any cir- cumstance, but it is the vulnerable children, and i think particularly aboriginal children, who really could most benefit by the kind of personalized learning strategy that we see being successful in the three school districts i've mentioned.

So that will be our focus rather than the tar- gets. but that's not to suggest that we don't need to look at the targets at all, because we do have to do that on an annual basis. H. Bains: i would like to ask a few questions about my city and school district 36. i think the two issues that i want to talk about are…. one is the capital funding, and the other one is the c ommunitylink program. i think those two issues have been exhausted — not during this time but by the ministers prior to this minister.

The min- ister is making genuine efforts to go and meet with the school board trustees and meeting with the commun - ities and listening to those concerns, but the fact still remains. They're still waiting for an announcement to see if there is any capital funding coming to expand the classroom capacity. Just as a background on how dire that situation is, since 2005-06 there hasn't been any capital funding allocated to school district 36, excluding the seismic upgrades. i'm not talking about that. i'm talking about expansion of the classrooms in order to accommodate the increasing population of students.

During that per - iod, the school district will tell you — and i'm sure this minister has heard from the school district trustees, and previous ministers have heard as well — that over 2,700 new students have entered our school district. l ast year alone 1,100 students entered our school dis- trict. a s the trustees and the board put it, that is equivalent to having a secondary school or two to three elementary schools.

That's just one year's growth in students. a s we all know, that is the fastest-growing community in the province, and this is where the growth of the school population also corresponds with that fastest-growing community as well. i think the question now is…. i'm sure that when the minister met with the school board, they advised the minister and brought him up to date as far as the need to accommodate all those students who are in port - ables today. in 2009 they were saying that there are 235 portables, and the situation probably is worse now than when they were talking about this letter that was sent to the minister. [1555] i guess the question to the minister is…. it's not about politics, and i want to make this clear, because it is a serious situation in Surrey.

We get those calls every day from the parents that see their children going to the portables.

They come back and say: "l ook, they had to stand in a lineup to go to the washrooms because there are no washrooms attached to the portables." i appreciate that the ministry did provide them with some money to purchase towards the portables. i be - lieve it was last year. o therwise, the money would come from the operating funds. but still, the situation is still there, and they are still waiting for some answers from the minister. e very minister has been saying: "Well, we are looking into the situation, and we are going to make some announcements." but nothing has happened. i think, in all seriousness here, i would ask the min - ister: what is the plan in order to accommodate the growing population in Surrey so that we can eliminate those portables and students can go back to real class - rooms to get the quality education that they deserve?

Hon. G. Abbott: in the non-partisan spirit that the member has asked the question, i'll respond similarly. i do appreciate the question. i have heard, and heard frequently, from members on both sides of the h ouse about the challenges of Surrey school district in respect of capital, in respect of growth and so on. i respect the arguments that i've heard from both sides of the h ouse with respect to that.

Surrey certainly has some unique challenges and has had the challenge of rapid growth over the past decade, which stands in stark contrast to most other school dis - tricts in the province, which have seen their numbers decline — Surrey not so. i'll r

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	H0518pm 05
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	H0518pm 05
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	683fd425e3aa37e44cfe1ab34bc4c4c738a90d02

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