Third Session, 42nd Parliament

(2022) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Morning Sitting

Issue No. 156

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Routine Business

Tributes

Roseanne Moran

Hon. A. Dix

Introductions by Members

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

Modernization project at Daybreak Farms

E. Ross

Heritage preservation and historic neighbourhood of

Sullivan

J. Sims

Visual and film arts education at Kwantlen

University in Richmond

T. Wat

Specialized mental health services in

Victoria

G. Lore

Responsible government

A. Olsen

Ann Davis Transition Society

D. Coulter

Ministerial Statements

Invasion of Ukraine

Hon. B. Ralston

T. Stone

S. Furstenau

Oral Questions

Affordability issues and tax on sale of used

cars

P. Milobar

Hon. S. Robinson

Budget accountability and salaries for ministers and

senior staff

M. de Jong

Hon. S. Robinson

Service model change for children with support

needs and funding for autism services

A. Olsen

Hon. M. Dean

Groundwater use licensing process and

timeline

L. Doerkson

Hon. K. Conroy

Mental health services for youth and new Foundry

centres

T. Stone

Hon. S. Malcolmson

New Foundry centres and integrated child and youth

teams

T. Halford

Hon. S. Malcolmson

Government Motions on Notice

Motion 3 — Adoption of report of Special Committee

of Selection

Hon. L. Beare

S. Furstenau

S. Bond

A. Olsen

Hon. L. Beare

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate

(continued)

A. Walker

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022

The House met at 10:04 a.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers and reflections: R. Russell.

[10:05 a.m.]

Tributes

ROSEANNE MORAN

Hon. A. Dix: Today on behalf of the Premier, I wanted to briefly rise and pay

tribute to Roseanne Moran, who is retiring tomorrow as the executive

director of the government caucus. Roseanne is — as all the people on

this side of the House know, and as some people on the opposite side of

the House know well — an extraordinary individual, generous, thoughtful

and direct at all times. Roseanne has made a contribution to each and

every member on the government side.

She, I think, lives her politics in the way she treats

peo­ple, whether they are MLAs, her immediate bosses or the people

that work with and report to her in the government caucus, or

constituency assistants. She is seriously someone who practises the art,

I think, of the personal being the political in everything she

does.

It has been a great honour for me to work with Rose­anne, on

and off — mostly on — for about 25 years. I know the Premier feels this

exceptionally strongly. So on behalf of him and all of the members on

the government side….

But with Roseanne, it’s not just the personal, not just her work

as executive director; she is a serious political activist for the

student movement, for the environmental movement, for the labour

movement — of course, through her work with the Canadian Union of Public

Employees — and many other things.

She comes by it, of course, as the Leader of the Opposition will

know, from her mom, Bridget, who is a legend — not just because she has

got a statue in bronze, which I suggest all members visit when they go

to Prince George. I know the Leader of the Opposition, like me, and like

dozens of other members of the Legislature, has had pictures with her

mom there, on a bench in Prince George. She is a serious political

activist, a brilliant woman who has led our team, at the staff level,

with grace, courage, generosity and intelligence.

We’re going to miss you, Roseanne, but we know the next stage is

going to be great. We look forward to working with you and just enjoying

life with you, as friends, for many years to come.

Thank you very much, Roseanne.

Introductions by Members

M. Dykeman: I’m absolutely thrilled to rise in the House today to welcome two

very, very special guests to the gallery. The two most important people in

my life, who I absolutely adore, are my two children — my son, A.J., and my

daughter, MacKenzie. It’s such a privilege to welcome them for the first

time to the Legislature and to be able to introduce them today. I was

wondering if the House could please join me in making them feel very welcome

today.

Hon. B. Ma: In all the hullabaloo of the earlier week, with everyone wishing their

family members and their pets happy birthday, I realized that I, too,

actually missed a very important birthday earlier this week. I do have a

good excuse, though. You see, my grandmother tracks her birthday according

to the Chinese lunar calendar, not the Gregorian calendar, and I never

learned to convert those calendars, so it just kind of snuck up on

me.

[10:10 a.m.]

My grandmother Kuei Hsing Ma immigrated here to Canada in 1969 with

her four sons, who dutifully produced eight grandchildren for her, two of

whom have produced five great-grandchildren for her, while the rest of us

slack on that end.

媽媽生日快樂，我愛你，想念你。

[Mandarin text provided by B.

Ma.]

Would the House please join me in wishing my grandmother a very happy

92nd birthday — I think.

S. Furstenau: I’m delighted to introduce Allison Siddon. She’s in the gallery today.

She’s an 18-year-old first-year university student at UBC Okanagan and is

interested in forestry and wildlife conservation. She likes hiking,

backpacking, reading, kayaking and knitting. She’s the cousin of our

incredibly hard-working and amazing policy analyst, Stephanie Siddon. Would

the House please make her feel most welcome.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

MODERNIZATION PROJECT AT

DAYBREAK

FARMS

E. Ross: Sometimes you take for granted where our food comes from. Kieran

Christison doesn’t. That’s why the 31-year-old entrepreneur wants to

take her family legacy farm into the 21st century. Daybreak Farms is the

sole producer of eggs in northwest British Columbia. Kieran, like her

father before her, understands food security and the need to supply

nutritious food to remote and northern B.C. communities.

Daybreak Farms supplies eggs to major supermarkets, independent

grocers and restaurants throughout the region. All the feed is natural

with no added antibiotics and produces white, brown, omega-3 and

free-run eggs and is certified by the Safe Quality Food Institute, but

Kieran knows the farm needs upgrades to reduce the environmental

footprint and meet current industry standards.

That is why Kieran is planning a substantial $10 million

modernization project to consolidate operations and replace the pit

manure system. This move is also proactive, as the British Columbia Farm

Industry Review Board ruled that producers can no longer renovate and

install conventional systems like the one at Daybreak Farms. Those

systems need to be replaced by cage-free or enriched systems by July 1,

2036. Daybreak Farms has applied to the city of Terrace for a zoning

amendment and is now anticipating a public hearing. Hopefully, Daybreak

Farms gets the go-ahead.

A couple of egg-cellent facts to know. That’s clever —

egg-cellent. World Egg Day is celebrated every October. This year it

will be Friday, October 14. It is also alleged that Kieran married Darcy

Mckeown a few days ago, on top of a mountain. I say “alleged” because I

saw it on Facebook, but I will confirm it for the House.

If it’s true, congratulations to Kieran and Darcy, and hopefully,

the celebrations include the approval of the much-needed improvements at

Daybreak Farms.

HERITAGE PRESERVATION AND

HISTORIC NEIGHBOURHOOD OF

SULLIVAN

J. Sims: According to UNESCO, heritage is our legacy from the past, what we

live with today and what we pass on to our future generations. Our

culture and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and

inspiration, our touchstone, our reference point and our identity. This

week is Heritage Week. Heritage celebrates the conservation and

preservation of historic places in the form of building structures and

landscapes. It also celebrates our values, beliefs, customs and

traditions extending into the past.

In my riding of Surrey-Panorama, we have a gem called Sullivan.

Sullivan is seen by many as a new, developing neighbourhood. However,

the Sullivan Community Association has been active since 1928, when a

group of volunteers built Sullivan Community Hall, a heritage building

still in use today.

The area known as Sullivan was first settled in 1866 by an Irish

immigrant names James Johnston. Henry Sullivan was attracted to the area

and bought a corner

section of land where he and Mr. Hiland opened a

logging company. Henry was joined by his brother Tom, who helped with

the logging and later served as mayor of Surrey.

The logging company was commissioned by B.C. Electric Railway to

build a right-of-way from Newton to Cloverdale. Thanks to the Fraser

Valley Heritage Railway Society, you can ride the original car 1225,

from Cloverdale to Sullivan Station, all summer long.

[10:15 a.m.]

Sullivan is one of the many historic neighbourhoods in our

province. It is thanks to community associations, heritage societies and

individual British Columbians — who have fought to preserve our history,

to have buildings designated heritage status, and who continue to share

the stories of the past — that we can both appreciate the beauty of

yesteryear and build upon the rich and diverse cultures of

today.

As we head into nicer days, let us all explore our

heritage.

VISUAL AND FILM ARTS EDUCATION AT

KWANTLEN UNIVERSITY

IN RICHMOND

T. Wat: Anyone who is a fan of films has undoubtedly seen the impact of

Vancouver, or Hollywood North, on the big screen in one way or another.

Sometimes Vancouver’s influence on the world’s blockbuster movies is

obvious. It’s the curse of being blessed with so much beautiful

scenery.

Sometimes the influence in films and TV is less obvious but still

great nonetheless. The art and visual effects of a film are what

separate a timeless classic from a flop. They are what help us get lost

in the story, characters and world before us.

Metro Vancouver has built an arts and entertainment industry that

has become a staple of both our economic and cultural identity, but we

did not earn this reputation overnight. It’s thanks to our incredible

post-secondary institutions that we are able to produce some of the most

talented and inspired visual artists. I was so pleased to learn that

many next-generation practitioners are going to come from my own riding

of Richmond North Centre.

Opportunities to learn the skills needed to pursue a career in

game development, visual effects and animation will be expanded and

enhanced by a new collaboration between Kwantlen Polytechnic University

and the Centre for Entertainment Arts. Nearly 300 students will transfer

from Vancouver to Kwantlen in May, and the university aims to steadily

increase the number of seats.

It is a landmark achievement to see such an amazing program come

to KPU so that we can continue to train and produce artists and industry

leaders of the highest calibre here in our own backyard.

I would like to congratulate and thank the staff and faculty at

KPU and the Centre for Entertainment Arts and welcome the many students

to Richmond who are about to pursue their dreams of a long and exciting

career in our film and video game industries.

Together, KPU and Richmond will help ensure that B.C. remains a

leader in the world’s arts and entertainment industry.

SPECIALIZED MENTAL HEALTH

SERVICES IN

VICTORIA

G. Lore: I’m so pleased to rise today to talk about two incredible

organizations that provide specialized and essential mental health care

and support here in Victoria. We know the pandemic has had devastating

impacts on mental health and wellness across the province. We also know

that these impacts are even more significant for those who have faced

violence, who are navigating poverty and marginalization, or who are

without their traditional community connections.

VICCIR, the Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and

Refugees, provides counselling with the support of specially trained

interpreters, removing linguistic and economic barriers to care.

Counselling is available in Mandarin, Korean, Farsi, Arabic, Punjabi,

Vietnamese and more. Cultural

interpretation helps families situate

their experience in their own cultural context and helps counsellors

understand the needs of their clients.

Essential and specialized mental health care is also available at

Peers, where current and former sex workers can access counselling

supports that are safe, empowering and non-judgmental. Peers Victoria

also provides violence prevention and response, increasing services and

access to justice for sex workers who have been harmed by

violence.

Client-centred care is foundational to the services available at

both organizations. At VICCIR, kids can access art therapy, a more

gentle way for children to process trauma and emotion. At Peers, by

ensuring that people with lived experience in sex work are on their

board and are part of their staff, they provide services that best

reflect the needs of those they serve. Mental health care must meet

people where they are at. They must be at the centre of the services

that they are accessing. This is what these organizations are

doing.

[10:20 a.m.]

I’m incredibly proud that our government continues to fund and

support the work at these organizations to ensure culturally

appropriate, low-barrier and specialized counselling.

All my gratitude to these organizations, their staff, their

volunteers and all who provide the services and care in my community and

across the region.

RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT

A. Olsen: One hundred and fifty-one years ago a delegation from British

Columbia went to Ottawa to negotiate the terms of our province joining

Canada. A few years earlier Amor De Cosmos created the Confederation

League. A key goal was to join Canada and to establish, in our province,

responsible government, meaning where the cabinet or the executive is

responsible to the people through an elected assembly.

While the form of representative government existed in the

colonies, the greatest opponents to the efforts of the Confederation

League came from powerful, unelected members of the colonial government.

They debated the idea of Confederation and, ignoring opposition, decided

to attempt to join Canada without responsible government. The federal

government disagreed. Instead, they insisted that we have responsible

government here in this province and enticed the B.C. delegation with

pensions for those unelected members who would lose their

jobs.

One hundred and fifty-one years later we must be mindful that our

responsibility is to British Columbians.

When question period becomes little more than theatre, second

reading debates are a performance, questions go unanswered at committee

stage, bills are designed to give regulatory powers to ministries and

ministers to fill in the blanks behind closed doors, time allocation

limits the democratic duty for deep inquiry, private members’ motions

are never voted on, private members’ bills languish on the order papers

with no debate, standing committees have no members and recommendations

on committee reports collect dust, we in this House must demand

better.

The power plays in this chamber do little to serve the

constituents who elect us to this democratic institution. They are

indeed as self-serving and self-indulgent as our colonial predecessors

were.

A responsible government respects the processes and protocols of

this institution. When this assembly abuses power, undermining and

eroding the dignity and integrity of this democratic institution, we

find ourselves in a very dangerous spot.

ANN DAVIS TRANSITION SOCIETY

D. Coulter: Today I’d like to talk about a very important organization in

Chilliwack, the Ann Davis Transition Society. Their mission statement

is, “Ann Davis Transition Society provides education, prevention and

support services to those affected by abuse or violence,” and their

vision is: “Communities free from violence and abuse.”

The genesis of this society was in 1979, when concerned community

members formed the emergency shelter committee. They met in private

homes and began to look at practical ways they could help. Members took

responsibility to help women obtain medical treatment, deal with the

police, contact the Ministry of Human Resources and locate

housing.

In 1981, the emergency shelter committee became

in­corporated as the Upper Fraser Valley Transition Society. It

was now time to find a name for the house that would provide shelter for

so many women and children. Jean Scott, a member of the UFVTS, did some

research and discovered that a local woman named Ann Davis had helped

provide shelter for women who were victims of domestic abuse and their

children since her arrival in Chilliwack in the 1920s. In 1981, the Ann

Davis Transition Society was named in her honour.

Today this society is headed up by its executive director, Patti

MacAhonic, who some people in the chamber know. Not only does the

society give emergency shelter to women and children who are victims of

domestic abuse, but it also offers a plethora of counselling and

programs for the community. Currently the society is hosting Coldest

Night of the Year, a family-friendly walk to raise money for local

charities, serving people experiencing hurt, hunger and

homelessness.

My friend the member for Chilliwack-Kent and my­self have a

team this year. We’re looking forward to the walk this Saturday, and you

can go online and donate to our team.

I hope the House would join me in celebrating the Ann Davis

Transition Society.

[10:25 a.m.]

Ministerial Statements

INVASION OF UKRAINE

Hon. B. Ralston: This is a dark day. Ukraine, an independent nation, has been

invaded, its territory violated, its people suffering. I join the Prime

Minister, the Premier and allied nations in deploring this illegal and

unnecessary war. Make no mistake: this is one man’s war.

The invasion has caused great distress among many British

Columbians, especially for the many who have family and friends in

Ukraine. Why should we, in this House, concern ourselves over war in a

distant land? We do so because it is important for people in Ukraine and

Russia and around the world to know that we stand with those who want to

live in peace. We stand with those who understand that Europe’s peace,

following two world wars, depends on respect for international

law.

I have no doubt the people of Ukraine and the people of Russia

want to be peaceful neighbours. They have been peaceful neighbours. This

war is not the result of two societies in conflict. It is an unwanted

war of aggression, and it must be condemned in the strongest possible

terms.

This is an historic moment, a moment fraught with danger. Just

across from the Premier’s office is a monument called the Spirit of the

Republic. It honours the Canadians who volunteered to defend the Spanish

republic against dictators. Those from British Columbia who served are

also remembered by a plaque in the upper rotunda. They are remembered

because they understood what was under threat.

This is a moment when all peoples who believe in peace and

democracy need to assert their support and solidarity. We stand with the

people of Ukraine. We must.

T. Stone: I appreciate the words of the minister. I rise to speak to the

fears many of us have right now watching the tragic situation unfolding

in Europe today — fears for friends, for loved ones, for secure

democracy and for the Ukrainian people: a proud, peace-loving, resilient

people who have faced more than their fair share of strife, conflict and

heartache throughout their history but a people committed to democracy

and freedom and international law.

Like many in British Columbia, I have strong ties, personally, to

Ukraine. So last night hearing the reports of villages and towns and

cities facing Russian artillery fire across Ukraine, I was devastated,

like so many other British Columbians and Canadians were as well.

Villages like the one my great-grandmother called home and communities

throughout Ukraine now face an old reality, echoes of the tragedies and

struggles they faced 80 years ago.

As I followed the news last night and this morning, I knew I was

joining people all across the world in watching the horror unfold, a war

unfolding in Europe, a democracy of over 40 million people under siege.

I was struck by images of women and their children huddled, clutching

each other, underground in subways with not much more than likely

whatever money they were able to grab and the clothes on their backs,

with absolute fear in their eyes as to what lay ahead.

To the people of Ukraine: we stand with you, and we condemn in no

uncertain terms this unprovoked Russian assault.

[10:30 a.m.]

To those of Ukrainian descent who now call Canada and British

Columbia home, the largest Ukrainian diaspora, we stand with you, and we

share in your pain.

To those with friends and loved ones who right now may have their

lives in serious jeopardy in what was, just 24 hours ago, a safe and

free democratic nation, we stand with you in calling for this to

end.

As British Columbians, as elected officials and as a province, we

all must be ready to help. It is not enough to simply condemn from the

sidelines. When our federal government responds to this blatant act of

aggression in Ukraine, we are calling on the government of British

Columbia to support Ottawa’s efforts. If part of our national response

is severe economic sanctions, we are calling on this government to

ensure that their provincial jurisdiction over many aspects of our

financial system does not impede, in any way, the efforts to impose

concrete and thorough sanctions by our federal government.

This is indeed a time when we must stand in solidarity against

unchecked militarism and violations of the peaceful international order

that so many have fought and died to secure, a time to assure people

experiencing fears and anxieties here in B.C., in Ukraine and all around

the world that good people are ready to respond and prevail.

After over two years in a global pandemic and an armed conflict

now breaking out in Europe, there has to be hope. We have to strive

towards a more hopeful future. Our collective actions during this crisis

will define what that message will be to younger generations, to our

kids and to everyone who lives in Ukraine or any country facing threats

to their sovereignty.

Today we stand with peace-loving people around the world, with

freedom and democracies, with families wanting their youth to come home

from conflict zones everywhere. Today we stand with Ukraine.

S. Furstenau: I wish to add the voices of our caucus in the support for the

minister’s statement and for the statement from the House Leader from

the official opposition. I think we can agree that on this, we are

wholly in solidarity with each other and with the people of Ukraine and

wholly against the acts of violence and war that are unfolding right

now. “Condemnation” is the right word for what is happening.

As a child of somebody who grew up in and who was born in October

1939 in Europe, I try to explain to my own child this moment that we’re

in and how serious it is. The stability and certainty that has been

eroded by this pandemic is now being further eroded by these illegal

acts of war and violence. In a time like this, we, in particular, as

elected representatives in a democracy, have a burden that is enormous

and serious, and we must stand together for peace and

democracy.

Oral Questions

AFFORDABILITY ISSUES

AND TAX ON SALE OF USED

CARS

P. Milobar: The average price of most things, as we all know, is growing at an

alarming rate. The used-car sector has not been immune to that as well.

It wasn’t that long ago that a used car — a good, decent used car — was

around $6,000 in British Columbia. Today it’s almost $10,000.

[10:35 a.m.]

Now the NDP has decided to change their tax legislation and

increase the taxes on those same vehicles. This change, according to the

budget book, will primarily impact low- and middle-income families —

families that are already struggling to find a way not to just get a

good deal on a car but struggling to find ways to pay their grocery bill

as well.

Yesterday when we asked about this, did the Minister of Finance

take any responsibility for the change that she has chosen to make to

her tax legislation? No. Instead, she chose to try to characterize these

hard-working families trying to get by as tax cheats.

Why is this minister purposely changing her tax laws with an end

result that harms these low- and middle-income families who are

struggling every day just to pro­vide the basics for their

family?

Hon. S. Robinson: We’ve updated reporting requirements around this to be in line

with other provinces. All the other provinces have this, and we’ve done

this in order to be in line with other provinces.

I also want to say…. We’re also seeing, in terms of the used-car

business, significant shifts in buying, in purchasing of used vehicles.

In fact, we’re seeing a real shift in people being interested in

electric vehicles, and that’s why we eliminated the PST on used EVs. In

fact, two-thirds of Canadians want their next vehicle to be an EV. This

is, again, helping people to make the right choice.

In fact, I want to point out that the Automotive Retailers

Association applauds our announcement to remove the PST on used

zero-emission vehicles. They say that this will help make the shift to

electric more affordable for all British Columbians.

That’s work that we’re going to continue to do.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Kamloops–North Thompson, supplemental.

P. Milobar: That was a complete evasion of the question. We weren’t asking

about tax rebates for electric vehicles. We were asking about punitive

taxation to low- and middle-income families.

With one hand, the minister is increasing the taxes to those same

families on used goods and, with the other hand, quite happily making

sure she changes her tax legislation — not a loophole, legislation — to

make sure her and her cabinet colleagues can secure a $20,000 pay bonus.

Same budget. That’s a pretty life-changing amount of money for most

people in British Columbia, that $20,000.

Let’s look at a real example of what real families trying to buy a

good, reliable used vehicle to get around with their families in British

Columbia are now facing under this minister’s tax changes. There’s a

2014 Dodge Caravan listed in Surrey. It has about 150,000 kilometres. We

just looked it up. It’s now worth around $10,000. It probably was worth

around $6,000 not too long ago, but as we know, prices have increased.

The tax increase on that vehicle, with this tax policy change, with this

tax legislation change…. It will increase the tax on that vehicle by

$200.

Now maybe for ministers who just got a $20,000 raise, that doesn’t

seem like too much money. But to the vast majority of British Columbians

that are $200 away from not being able to pay their bills on any given

month, that’s a significant change to their affordability.

Again, why is the minister so intent with this budget on attacking

low- and middle-income families with changes to her tax

policies?

Hon. S. Robinson: This is about bringing us in line with the rest of Canada. We were

lagging behind.

I also want to point out that clearly the member doesn’t

understand the difference between a tax rebate and removing the PST on

an EV. He thinks it’s a tax rebate. This is much more different than

that. This is about removing the PST on used ZEVs. That’s a significant

difference for people who want to make a difference to protect the

environment and to switch over to electric vehicles.

[10:40 a.m.]

BUDGET ACCOUNTABILITY AND SALARIES

FOR MINISTERS AND

SENIOR STAFF

M. de Jong: The ministerial accountability measures the minister and the

Premier are now eliminating were actually born out of the fiscal

mismanagement and budgetary manipulation…

Interjections.

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

M. de Jong: …of a previous NDP government. For the members opposite who don’t

seem to want to believe that, there are actually a few remaining

colleagues of the ministers who they could consult and who will tell

them that that is true and who will remember the day that, as a result,

their party was reduced to two seats in this House.

The legislation that the minister is gutting is actually rooted in

the belief that, except in extraordinary circumstances like 2008, like

2020, governments should endeavour to live within their means. When they

don’t, there should be accountability visited upon the ministers who are

presiding over the government at that time.

Why is she eliminating that accountability, and why is she

providing the Premier and her colleagues with tens of thousands of

dollars in raises in the same budget that increases taxes and makes life

less affordable for so many struggling B.C. families?

Hon. S. Robinson: Well, we have ministerial responsibility. That will remain. We

have a holdback measure to ensure that ministers stick to their budgets.

There is an expectation that all of my colleagues will stick to their

budgets. We are hanging on to that component part of the

holdback.

I want to say the deficit holdback measures really do send the

wrong message. The member talked about using this measure as a way to do

accountability. Well, I have to say that when they were…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. S. Robinson: …robbing ICBC blind in order to balance their budget so that they

could collect their holdback, that was wrong. That was absolutely wrong.

They collected their holdbacks. That was important to them, and the way

they did that was by increasing MSP. That’s how they collected their

holdback.

Those were choices that they made. We’re making different choices

to invest in people in British Columbia.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Abbotsford West, supplemental.

M. de Jong: The minister, I think, is probably frustrated by the fact that we

don’t believe her. We don’t believe her explanations.

I have the budget. It’s not actually the budget that she delivered

this week. It’s the budget she delivered a year ago. On page 33, it says

this: “The path to balanced budgets. The province will be working over

the coming months to finalize a specific timeline to return to balance….

The specific timeline, approach and plan will be presented in Budget

2022.”

Well, we now have the plan. We have the answer, and the answer is

never — never. Contrary to the assurances of the NDP, this minister and

this government are committing this province to permanent and ongoing

deficits and to all of the pain that that will ultimately impose on

future generations.

Why are they doing it? I’ll tell you why they’re doing it: because

it’s easy. It’s easy, and they know they won’t be around to clean up the

mess, because they never are. But it’s….

Interjections.

[10:45 a.m.]

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Member will continue.

Members, let’s hear the question, please.

M. de Jong: It’s not just the Premier and the ministers who are being rewarded

for this great leap backwards into budgeting

unaccountability.

In July 2017, the Premier’s chief of staff, Geoff Meggs, signed on

for $195,000. By order-in-council dated December 17, 2021, just a few

months ago, Mr. Meggs’s maximum salary was increased from $195,000 to

$299,000 — at a time when British Columbians are paying more for

groceries, they’re paying more for gas, they’re paying more for

vehicles, and they’re paying more for homes.

In a budget where the government is adding to that burden with new

taxes and charges, how on earth is the minister prepared to defend a 34

percent increase in the wages of the Premier’s chief of

staff?

Interjections.

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

Hon. S. Robinson: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Well, it’s interesting. The members on the other side increased

MSP. They balanced budgets on the backs of British Columbians. British

Columbians paid more so that they could give their friends a tax break.

And you know what?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Just a second. Hold it, Minister. Hold it.

Continue.

Hon. S. Robinson: Let’s hear what Laura Gu, the economist with Scotiabank, had to

say about this budget. “The budget confirmed the province’s fiscal

resilience facing the past year’s health crisis and natural disasters….

New spending measures have been announced targeting affordability and

health care priorities, but the outlook has also incorporated

substantial contingencies and prudent forecasting

assumptions.”

We are investing in British Columbians. We are investing in

the….

Interjections.

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

Hon. S. Robinson: We are investing in protecting peo­ple and communities. We

are making sure that we have a robust economy going forward, because we

invest in people.

SERVICE MODEL CHANGE

FOR CHILDREN WITH SUPPORT NEEDS

AND FUNDING FOR AUTISM SERVICES

A. Olsen: In January, the Times Colonist published an editorial

from Cathy Nash regarding the Ministry of Children and Family

Development’s decision to take back individual funding for children with

autism and instead create so-called hubs. We’ve heard the strong

opposition to this plan, and we know that Indigenous leaders are taking

control of child welfare, making much of what MCFD does

redundant.

Nash advanced this theory: “Faced with a loss of power in coming

years, they want to centralize all services for children with special

needs in their own buildings, with greater roles for their own staff.”

Nash continues: “Instead of more buildings and wait-lists and more

policies about how to manage those wait-lists, MCFD could increase the

reach of individual funding for more children. Instead of trying to tear

down some families, they could build up more families.”

Why hasn’t the Minister of Children and Family Development

listened to these parents and, rather than entren­ching

bureaucracy, increased the funding to directly support families of

neurodiverse children?

Hon. M. Dean: Thank you to the member for the question. I would like to take

this opportunity to make sure that everybody is aware that the new

services in the new system that’s going to be delivered provincially to

support all children and youth with support needs is going to be

delivered by community agencies — agencies that know their community and

that know how to deliver services to families in their

communities.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, please.

Minister, continue.

Hon. M. Dean: Budget 2022 signalled the first step in moving towards this new

system, with an investment of $172 million over the next three years, so

that we can lay the groundwork for building this really important system

to serve British Columbia’s vulnerable children and youth.

[10:50 a.m.]

Mr. Speaker: Member for Saanich North and the Islands, supplemental.

A. Olsen: A classic response to child welfare in this province is to find a

broken plan from somewhere else and try it here to see if we can make it

work. The new plan to grow the Ministry of Children and Families won’t

be in place until 2025. There are a lot of concerns about a lack of

clarity on the plan. It seems like this ministry hasn’t mapped out how

the system works and is instead leaving families in the dark.

In other jurisdictions that have moved to a family hubs model,

they’ve done it as a way to keep costs down. Julia Boyle, the executive

director of Autism B.C., said: “One only needs to look at Ontario, where

Social Services Minister Todd Smith recently announced their hub-based

model failed, and they need to go back and redesign their approach. In

the absence of a substantial increase in funding and service providers,

the MCFD is likely to rely on gatekeeping procedures.”

While children are suffering, this Minister of Children and

Families is engaged in bureaucratic shuffling. The minister says

children need more services but must fund and deliver it, not spend

millions of dollars reorganizing and disrupting services to our

children. Families are experiencing crisis right now.

Instead of giving and investing $25 million into a make-work

project for a ministry seeking relevance, wouldn’t it be better to

invest that money now in actual supports for children with

disabilities?

Hon. M. Dean: Every year since we formed government in 2017, our government has

made choices and invested more funding into the Ministry of Children and

Family Development. In fact, Budget 2022 included a historic, first-time

investment in a cross-government system of supports for young people

leaving the system of government care.

I’d like to reassure families that we are listening to them. We’re

continuing our engagement sessions.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Let the minister continue.

Hon. M. Dean: Nothing is changing immediately. We’re investing in early

implementation areas and will continue working with service providers

and community agencies as we make that transformation.

We are a different government here in British Columbia. We listen

to British Columbian families. Our values are to make the choices of

investing in children and youth. Our government makes the choices of

investing in families, unlike other governments and unlike the other

side when they were in government.

GROUNDWATER USE LICENSING

PROCESS AND

TIMELINE

L. Doerkson: There’s an important deadline coming March 1. That’s the deadline

for British Columbians to register or risk losing access to groundwater.

The government has bungled along, failing to communicate to farmers,

ranchers and small business owners who are at risk of losing precious

water rights in this province. The NDP has simply failed to properly

reach out to those who are being impacted.

The latest numbers show that only one in five historical

groundwater users has actually applied for continued use. That means

thousands of people could lose access to water in this province. I and

colleagues have written to the ministry. This is one last plea, on

behalf of thousands of ranchers, farmers and small businesses throughout

British Columbia.

Will the minister do the right thing and extend the deadline, or

will these users be cut off?

Hon. K. Conroy: I thank the member for the question, because it is a good

question, and it’s one that the ministry has been dealing with. I will

remind the member that this process started in 2016 under the previous

government.

The reality is, it is challenging work, and the ministry has

reached out to many organizations to help with this process. There have

been some extensions of the deadline. And we found that people said,

people that are working….

We’ve worked with the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, the B.C.

Ground Water Association, the B.C. Agricultural Council, to encourage

their members to sign up. One thing that the people from these industry

organizations told us is that people expect us to just keep delaying the

obvious, just keep delaying that we are going to implement this. So we

have reached out to people.

[10:55 a.m.]

We have sent out packages to MLAs’ offices. We have sent out

support to people. We have hired additional peo­ple to help people

with the application process. In fact, we had to change the application

process because it was so complicated when it was first implemented, in

2016. We have heard from people like the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association

that it is a lot easier….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. K. Conroy: They don’t want to hear the answer.

We have heard from people like the B.C. Cattleman’s Association

that it is far simplified now, the process. We are still working on

that. We have people helping them to do that. We are finding that the

majority of people, the big users, are saying they are going to sign up.

We’re hoping that they will do that. We understand the issues, and we

are working on it.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR YOUTH

AND NEW FOUNDRY

CENTRES

T. Stone: All of us agree on the need for increased access to integrated

mental health and wellness services for young people. In fact, in 2015,

the previous government created the Foundry program to provide mental

health care, substance-use services and family peer supports for youth

aged 12 to 24 in physical locations all across British

Columbia.

Now, even the NDP agreed with the positive impact that these

physical Foundry centres have had on our youth and expanded the program

post-2017. Last year the NDP promised to further expand this program

this year and add four more Foundry centres in physical locations next

year.

However, despite the mental health and wellness needs of our youth

being greater today than ever before, imagine our shock to find, in this

budget, that the centres that were supposed to open this year have been

delayed to 2025. And the four new centres that were supposed to open

next year — well, they’re just not in the budget at all.

My question to the minister responsible is very clear: why is

that?

Hon. S. Malcolmson: The safety and the mental health of young people is of vital

importance to the province, to our government. It’s at the centre of our

Pathway to Hope plan. If we invest in young people early in their

lives…. Whether that’s early psychosis intervention, whether it’s

early-years investment in community for mental health, with wraparound

services, in a multitude of ways, we’re investing as a province in young

people and their mental health in ways that have never been done

before.

The pandemic has hit such a blow to families, to young people and

also to the health care system and social service organizations that are

implementing. We do not underestimate the need to do more and how hard

everybody is working on the front line.

Eleven Foundry locations have opened already in British Columbia.

Campbell River, Victoria, Kelowna, North Van, Prince George, Vancouver,

Terrace, Penticton, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and Abbotsford. These are

centres, physical centres, where young people can be connected with

primary care, with sexual care, with substance-use support, with mental

health counselling.

Also during the pandemic, moved in an unprecedented way to offer

virtual Foundry supports. There is a Foundry B.C. app. Young people can

get same-day crisis help or even next-day counselling.

Locations in the works are Burns Lake, Comox Valley, Cranbrook,

Langley, Squamish, Surrey, Port Hardy, Williams Lake. All announced, all

underway for implementation. Last year’s budget funded four more

Foundries. We are working with the people with lived and living

experience on the ground to identify those next locations.

Nothing has changed from last year’s budget about the timing of

those openings. We’ve got more centres coming up where young people will

be able to walk in and then four more locations that will be announced

in the future.

Mr. Speaker: Opposition House Leader, supplemental.

T. Stone: To the minister: no one believes anything that you just said. What

you’ve said does not line up with what’s actually in your ministry’s

service plan, what’s actually in the budget.

Look, I’m happy to walk the minister through her own service plan.

The service plan from last year, on page 10, laid out the targets. It

laid out the targets for new physical Foundry centres that would be

opening this year and four new ones that would be opening beginning next

year.

[11:00 a.m.]

On page 11 of the service plan for this year, the Foundries that

were supposed to open this year — every single one of them has been

pushed to 2025. That’s in her service plan.

As I said in my initial question, the four additional Foundries

that have been promised to communities like Kamloops and Nanaimo and

others — they don’t appear in the service plan at all. They’ve been

pushed right out. In fact, last year I specifically asked the minister

during her budget estimates about the status of these additional Foundry

centres. This is what the minister said to me: “…Budget 2021, provides

additional funding for four more centres starting in 2023.” That’s next

year: “…communities like Kamloops and Nanaimo should dust off their

applications….”

I mean, there was great reason for optimism, despite the fact that

communities like Kamloops and Nanaimo have been passed over in six

consecutive budgets now. Kamloops, the community I represent, is the

largest city outside of the Lower Mainland that doesn’t have a Foundry.

Regrettably, there doesn’t appear to be a path for the city of Kamloops

to have one anytime soon.

Again to the minister, with the mental health needs of youth being

more acute, more prevalent in communities across the province, more so

than ever before, why is she not following through on her commitment,

government’s commitment, to opening up these additional Foundries as

originally planned in last year’s budget for this year, and the four new

centres in communities like Kamloops and Nanaimo next year?

Hon. S. Malcolmson: Nothing has changed in our funding commitment. Nothing has changed

in our budget.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, hold it.

Thank you, members of the opposition. A question was

asked.

Member for Abbotsford West, please.

The minister will continue.

Hon. S. Malcolmson: I cannot underestimate the im­pact on front-line social

service organizations, on our health authorities, on our health care

system, to implement the unprecedented budget that we are putting into

mental health and addictions. There’s never been so much

spending.

The timeline for the Foundries, the eight locations that are in

the works, funded during our previous term of government under my

predecessor, the first Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Judy

Darcy, those haven’t been able to open during the pandemic at the pace

that we wanted. Nothing has changed in our funding

commitment.

The service plan represents what we think is the outside time that

we would be able to open them, but the funding is there. If we can

accelerate beyond the service plan, we absolutely will. We know how much

the supports are needed. We know how much young people rely on them.

That we were able to open the Foundry virtual, the Foundry app — this

has been years in the making. Young people are being connected with

these services, and there’s much more for us to do.

NEW FOUNDRY CENTRES AND

INTEGRATED CHILD AND YOUTH

TEAMS

T. Halford: The minister gets up in this House and says that nothing has

changed. She gets up in this House and says that nothing has changed.

Clearly the minister is either not reading her service plans or can’t

follow the service plans, because there is constant change with the

ministry.

I’ll give an example. It’s not just Foundry. It’s the same thing

with the integrated child and youth mental health teams. Maybe this will

be new to the minister, but the target was for 15 teams across the

province this year and 20 teams by 2023. The minister just said that

nothing has changed. But the new target — only ten this year. There’s no

mention of 20 teams.

Page 10 of the budget of 2021: “Expand the number of Foundry

centres to 23 by ’23-24” and “Expand the number of integrated child and

youth teams from five to 20 teams across B.C. by ’23-24.”

[11:05 a.m.]

A year later there is change. There is change affecting British

Columbians every day when we are losing six a day to this crisis, and

this minister gets up in this House and says nothing has changed. The

priorities of this government have changed.

Can this minister get up in the House today and defend these

cuts?

Hon. S. Malcolmson: The crisis of mental health and substance use facing families and

young people in British Columbia has never been worse. There has never

been so much invested in this system, and nothing has changed in our

budget commitment. In our budget commitment, nothing has changed: $97

million invested in last year’s budget for new supports.

The integrated child and youth teams, which were previously

announced for…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. S. Malcolmson: …five communities across the province, are bringing

together….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Minister will continue.

Hon. S. Malcolmson: For a government, on the other side, that gutted services for a

decade for the most vulnerable children to not even have the respect to

listen to the answer is surprising to me.

Integrated child and youth teams bring together people from the

education system, from the Ministry of Children and Family and youth,

from the health authorities…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Please continue.

Hon. S. Malcolmson: …and from community service organizations, and we will implement

them as quickly as we can.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Order, Members.

All Members, order.

Minister.

Hon. S. Malcolmson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The systems change to implement integrated child and youth teams

has never been done before, and we will not lead families astray about

the complication of putting those teams together, and we will get them

up and running as soon as we can. That is the commitment of our budget

and of my service plan.

[End of question period.]

Government Motions on Notice

MOTION 3 — ADOPTION OF REPORT

OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF

SELECTION

Hon. L. Beare: On behalf of the Government House Leader, I move Motion 3 on the

order paper:

[That the Report of the Special Committee of Selection be

adopted.]

S. Furstenau: I rise to speak to the motion on the order paper and the

recommendations of that motion to put names to the select standing

committees. I recognize it is not typical for a member to speak to this

report. However, it is a debatable motion. But unlike so many other

motions and reports, we tend to have a very pro forma, scripted response

to moving these through the House.

I’d like to point out to Mr. Speaker and to the House that under

Standing Order 68(1), which provides for the selection standing or

permanent committees of the Legislative Assembly, all select standing

committees are appointed on a sessional basis at the start of each

session of a parliament. This is not up to the Premier’s office. This is

a standing order that we use to guide our work in this House.

Given where we are at, I do think it is important that comments

are made about the approach to committees in this House, to the

membership of those committees, to our expectation of the work that

those committees do and to how that work is valued by governments. We

are a parliamentary democracy. The first bill passed at the beginning of

each session is the Act to Ensure the Supremacy of Parliament,

essentially a piece of legislation that gives the “right of the

Legislative Assembly to give precedence to matters other than those

expressed by the Sovereign.”

As is pointed out in the legislation, this dates back to the reign

of Elizabeth I as an assertion of independence from the Crown for the

purposes of legislation. I will note that this very clearly states

“parliament,” not government. Government consists of the cabinet

members. Parliament is all of the members elected as representatives for

our communities.

[11:10 a.m.]

We are not here to just witness or to just vote or to just oppose.

We are each of us here as representatives with duties and

responsibilities as legislators, and I would suggest that we should

always be asking ourselves: “How do we serve better?”

I’m going to point to some comments made by George MacMinn in a

1982 report on committees. He said that one must consider the benefits

of a well-designed committee system as follows.

“Parliament is brought closer to the people by allowing

submissions and representations by individuals and groups” to be made

directly to the members of the Legislative Assembly. Committees provide

“a forum which tends to minimize the adversary system or ‘confrontation

syndrome’ typical of all large Chambers, thereby leading to more earnest

examination of matters with correspondingly less

‘politicking.’”

Committees are to facilitate “detailed consideration of

legislation and estimates.” They permit “examination of witnesses when

necessary,” enable “two or more arms of the legislative body to proceed

with House business simultaneously,” and provide “an effective method of

bringing members of the Legislature and the bureaucracy together, and

would, therefore, tend to induce a new concept” to government

decision-making — “bureaucratic responsibility.”

On a day when we are absolutely united in our respect and concern

for democracy, I think that we should be continually asking ourselves:

how do we make sure that we are upholding the most important values of

democracy? What we do here should not just be theatre or performance.

Members say over and over again…. Indeed, my colleague walked in today

after his committee meeting and said: “This is the work I am most proud

of.” When we work in committees, we work together as elected

representatives. We work in service.

We have had an all-party approach to review health regulations in

this province. We have had an all-party committee to make

recommendations for regulating ride-hailing. We have had the B.C. Wild

Salmon Advisory Council. We can surely recognize that while we are

dealing with so many overlapping crises, there hardly seems to be an

argument against bringing the members of this House together to work

collaboratively in a non-partisan way to urgently recommend solutions —

solutions that will be supported by all three caucuses.

Considering the drug poisoning crisis and the call that the Leader

of the Official Opposition and I have made for over a year to bring this

House together in a committee to look at the urgent solutions that can

be implemented, to try to prevent the deaths of seven people a day, I

say that it is not enough to simply put names on these select standing

committees, which our predecessors have indicated are meant to be a part

of the legislative work of this House, not as something that just gets

named and then left and nothing happens.

We have not had a Health Committee since 2017, but I will point

out that the work of the previous Health Committee was formidable, was

commendable, actually should have been a road map that should have been

used for the last five years in this province. Had it been, we might not

be seeing the level of death and loss that we are seeing as a result of

the poisoned drug crisis today.

I’m going to point out that of the 59 recommendations of the

previous Health Committee, an all-party committee — a two-party

committee at the time — that worked for three years, its final

recommendation, No. 59, “support and expand evidence-based initiatives

or programs for safe and controlled access to currently illicit

substances….” In 2017, a committee of this House recommended to

government that we move forward with safe supply as a means to end the

deaths.

It is not enough to simply put names on these committees. It is

not enough to simply have these committees gather. These committees are

the work of democracy and this body of the Legislature. I would ask that

this government and this assembly recognize the absolutely integral part

of democracy that exists in these committees and to empower them to do

the good work that they must do and then use them as guidance, as is

meant to be. We are 87 representatives in here, not 24.

[11:15 a.m.]

I will close my comments, hon. Speaker, gratefully to you for

allowing me this time to speak to this and to say: let us show our

commitment to democracy by using the democratic tools that have been

fought for by our predecessors for hundreds of years — not to shrug them

off, not to think of them as performance, but to recognize that all of

us come here in service, and all of us improve that service when we work

together.

S. Bond: First of all, I want to thank my colleague and friend, the leader

of the Green Party, for her passionate words today. I know how much this

matters to her and to all of us in this Legislature. I very much

appreciate the collaborative approach that she has worked with us on, on

some of these important issues.

There couldn’t be a more fitting day, I think, for us to have this

conversation. People may be sitting back and thinking: “Well, this is

just a boring discussion about a motion that comes regularly to this

chamber.”

I want to start by saying we understand…. This isn’t about

delaying the work of important committees. We understand that. We know

that there is work that has to be done by committees. We don’t want to

stand in the way of bringing those committees to activation today and to

allow them to begin their work. But this is about how we do our work in

this place.

There were profound speeches this morning about how important it

is that we honour democracy and that we actually utilize the system that

has been in place in this place for generations. I do want to begin by

recognizing the Government House Leader for moving these committees

forward. It seems like such a simple thing. Let’s just bring the

committees’ names, and let’s populate them. We are saying today, and we

are urging the government: it is one thing to populate the committees.

It is absolutely another thing to activate the committees.

As I build on the remarks of my colleague, there is in the mandate

letter of every single minister in this Legislature, a request, a

requirement that they work across party lines. Let me quote what the

mandate letters say: “That means seeking out, fostering and championing

good ideas, regardless of their origin.” Seems to me that there are a

lot of skilled, passionate, thoughtful people elected to this

Legislature, and it’s beyond me as to why it is so difficult for the

government to take advantage of that skill set, that passion, those

interests. Parliamentary standing committees have a role to play in the

work that we do together.

I would agree with my colleague. I have heard when I have been

involved in committee work…. I can remember people leaving that

committee room saying: “I wish British Columbians could see what goes on

in committee instead of just what goes on in question period.” Why?

Because it is productive. It’s thoughtful. It’s progressive. That’s why

parliamentary committees matter. It allows for expanded

discussions.

We don’t get to have that kind of conversation in this place, and

the conversation this morning is a prime example of that. We’ve never

had this discussion before. It allows us to utilize expertise, bring

ideas and input into those committee rooms, and then it allows — if it

works properly — those discussions to help to inform policy direction

or, in fact, law-making.

We on this side of the House, along with the Leader of the Third

Party, have repeatedly asked for the Select Standing Committees on

Health and Aboriginal Affairs to be activated. Today we are pleased to

see we have taken the step. The Government House Leader has populated

the committees. Now we need to see them activated.

[11:20 a.m.]

As we continue on our path toward reconciliation, we know that the

critical work of advancing reconciliation can’t be left to a minister,

to a Premier or even a government. It needs to involve everyone in

British Columbia, and it needs to include all of us in that work,

especially those of us who are elected to represent constituents across

this province. That work obviously needs to be led by First

Nations.

But I’d like to remind the Minister of Indigenous Relations and

Reconciliation this morning of his own words: “I think the idea of a

standing committee of the Legislature on Aboriginal affairs being

reinvigorated is definitely an idea worthy of consideration, and I will

ask my government to consider that as we go forward.” That from the

minister responsible, asking his own government to actually activate the

committee. Today we’ve received the names of members who are willing and

eager to serve on that standing committee.

I will also remind the Premier of his commitment to the member for

Skeena when he said: “Whatever steps we can take, whatever resources

need to be brought to bear, with his help and with the help of other

members of this House, I am confident that we can bring together a plan

that all of us can be proud of.”

The words of the Premier. The words of the minister.

Reconciliation will take more than words. We need to move beyond those

words and into action. One way that we can demonstrate that is to expand

our commitment to work across party lines. We could begin that process

by activating the Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal

Affairs.

When we look at our health system, all of us can see — and I know

the minister is grappling with this — that we have a system under

pressure. It has been stretched, in many cases, despite the outstanding

work of people on the front lines day after day after day. It is a

system under pressure.

We’re witnessing a 911 system in crisis. When you live in British

Columbia, you should be able to dial 911 and expect someone to respond.

The minister and others in this House would know that it proved

catastrophic during the heat dome last summer.

We have a growing doctor shortage. Families young and old are

wondering how they’re ever going to find a family doctor. We know that’s

the case even in the Premier’s own backyard.

I can barely say the words. We have witnessed the single worst

year for overdose deaths in British Columbia’s history, where 2,224

British Columbians lost their lives.

I’ll remind the Health Minister as well, who said this, and I

appreciated it: “I think there’s no question that we can use

parliamentary committees more.” We may agree to disagree on many things,

but that is something that I wholeheartedly agree with the minister on.

If ever there was a time to activate the Select Standing Committee on

Health, it is now. British Columbians want assurance that these issues

are a priority for their government, for their elected officials, no

matter what side of the House they sit on.

The Premier said he would take good ideas no matter where they

came from. The permanent committee structure of this parliament is one

small way that we can begin to do our work differently. It is time to

show British Columbians that we can actually do business differently,

that we can be better together. Frankly, we must be better

together.

During the final question period of the previous session, I raised

this issue, and the Government House Leader responded. I will take this

opportunity to remind him of his answer. He said: “Absolutely, there are

opportunities for cross-party cooperation.” In a subsequent response, he

said: “I don’t see any reason why we cannot do more.”

It is so important that the government make the next step. Today

we are heartened by the fact that the committees now have names on a

piece of paper. We need to do better than that.

[11:25 a.m.]

Together with my colleague the leader of the Green Party, we call

on the government to honour its commitment to accepting good ideas no

matter where they come from and take the next step to activate the

committee to deal with the critical issues — critical issues like

reconciliation and a health care system under pressure.

All of us want to ensure that we have a top-quality health care

system, today and in the future. All of us, everyone in this House, want

to find a way to end the record-breaking number of overdose deaths that

we hear about in this chamber and in our province month after month

after month, and all of us want to find a meaningful path to

reconciliation.

I will admit this: undoubtedly, there will be uncomfortable

conversations at the committee level. I know this as well: we will not

agree on everything. But that is what the system has been designed to do

— to allow for expanded conversation, to bring ideas to the table, to

find areas of consensus. So, Mr. Speaker, I want to express my gratitude

to you for allowing us to have this important conversation

today.

There is work to be done. Not one person in this House leaves it

not thinking about the fact that more than six people a day are dying in

British Columbia. We know that. We hear that. It’s time we did something

about that and demonstrated to British Columbians that we are big

enough, that we are responsible enough to do that work

together.

So I join with the Leader of the Third Party, and together we

respectfully ask the government to now activate the Standing Committees

on Health and Aboriginal Affairs to demonstrate to British Columbians

that these issues are a priority for every single member of this

Legislature.

A. Olsen: I appreciate the opportunity to rise and speak to this

motion.

I think that it’s important to acknowledge that what we’re doing

here today is actually standing and asking for the government to use the

tools of this House that it should be required to use, frankly. These

are tools that are used by healthy democracies right across the

country.

In fact, British Columbia remains an outlier in our use of these

tools. I think that it’s important, the committees…. As my colleagues

the Leader of the Official Opposition and the Leader of the Third Party

have mentioned, this is a place where we can grow consensus. This is a

place that we can invite the public into their House to inform the

debates that happen here, to inform public policy. In a House that’s

functioning properly, those are functions that we, as democratically

elected representatives, would invite.

It’s not that we would have to disrupt the regular, normal flow of

this, where you could see the frustration and even, in some cases, the

anger on the faces of people when you stand up to debate a motion that’s

a debatable motion. This is a function of this House. There should be no

offence taken to that. You shouldn’t be red in the face by it. When that

occurs, what it shows and what it demonstrates is that there is a basic

lack of respect for the actual tools that we have as legislators,

granted to us by the people who elected us here to engage in

it.

This morning I showed up here at 8 a.m. because we had the

committee for the reform of the Police Act. My friend from Nanaimo–North

Cowichan has been the Chair of that committee over a number of sessions

now, and we have had an extremely productive discussion. Now I look to

the membership of the committees that are being put in front of us

today, and I hope for them, for the members of those committees, the

same experience that we have felt, I think, collectively sitting around

the table, growing consensus on a very important topic that British

Columbians have brought before us.

[11:30 a.m.]

When we look at the select standing committees, the memberships

that are being put on paper today for the committees we are now

discussing…. I think what we can see is the value of the members that

have been put on those lists to be able to provide very important

matters of debate. This province requires consensus in this House in

order for us to ensure that what we don’t have is policy lurch but where

we have consistency from one government to another — that policy has

been informed by the public and that we can undertake the

business.

I look at the Rental Housing Task Force, which I’ve been a part

of. The government stands up regularly in question period and touts the

multiple-point plan that was drafted by myself and my colleagues, the

Deputy Speaker and the member for Courtenay-Comox. We did that work

together. We drove across Surrey together and had conversations about

the good work that that committee did. Informed by the public and

informed by the people, it’s regularly celebrated in here.

I look forward to that for the Aboriginal Affairs Committee. I’ve

also heard the Minister of Indigenous Relations and many members here

state very clearly that the decision that was made by this House,

unanimously, to pass the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Act was a unanimous decision. We celebrate that; we elevate that point.

I think what’s important is that we recognize that the work in

reconciliation necessarily needs to be done through a consensus-based

approach, through that committee work.

I support my colleagues, both the Leader of the Official

Opposition and the Leader of the Third Party, in celebrating the fact

that there are names on the list that we’re debating today. Now let’s

activate those committees so they can go and do the good work in

building consensus on behalf of the people of British

Columbia.

HÍSW̱ḴE SIÁM . Thank

you.

Hon. L. Beare: On behalf of the Government House Leader, I want to thank the

speakers and both party leaders for their comments this

morning.

Hon. Speaker, I move Motion 3.

Motion approved.

Orders of the Day

Hon. L. Beare: I call continued budget debate.

Budget Debate

(continued)

A. Walker: It is an absolute honour to be able to stand up here today and debate

and respond to the budget.

To all of my colleagues on the other side: I hope you can stay for

this important discussion.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

Before I begin with the debate on the budget, I’d like to thank the

member for Coquitlam-Maillardville for all of the incredible work, both with

her and her team, in putting together a $73 billion budget with $39 billion

in capital funding over the next three years. This is important work. This

is hard work. This is work that will make life better for people all across

British Columbia.

We have had a number of sessions as of late with the minister and Jade

Ashbourne to discuss the details of the budget and how it will impact our

individual constituencies. We can get the sense not only of true competency

with the numbers and really understanding the file but also an understanding

of how important these decisions are to the people in our communities all

across this province.

It’s important to thank not just the members of the minister’s office

and the minister herself but also all of those who contributed to this

budget process. That includes delegations, it includes committees, and it

includes MLAs on all sides of this House bringing forward important issues

for their community and bringing them forward in a way that helps us all

move forward together.

There is one important part of this budget that I want to focus on,

but before that, I want to quickly tell the story of my grandfather. He was

elected in 1948 as the member for Hanley, Saskatchewan. That was a good time

for Saskatchewan. It was a good time for Canada — a peaceful time, a time

that, as we reflect now, obviously, is a serious matter.

He was elected in 1948, and he, working with Tommy Douglas, worked for

many, many years to bring forward public health care in the province of

Saskatchewan. He was there through the whole process, 19 years, right

through when Woodrow Lloyd brought the bill in through the doctors’ strike

and brought that through to the people of Saskatchewan.

[11:35 a.m.]

It’s important with a social program like public health, like this, to

always remember what it was like before and what the impact of programs like

this is on families in our communities — when a child is sick, to know that

you can go to the doctor and not worry about what that will cost you, to not

have to balance your rent, your food and access to health care, which we all

need. It’s a right that we have here in our country now. That is a social

program that is a legacy that has been left for future generations and that

we all benefit from today.

One of the important things that we see in this budget, work that’s

been continuing since 2017, right though to today, is the work that we’re

doing on child care. Child care is moving into the Ministry of Education. It

is a massive investment in a social program that will make lives better for

so many families across our province. It’s not just about the parents. Child

care is a challenge that we have.

While being elected for the first time as a councillor in the town of

Qualicum Beach in 2019, we had a committee that was struck. I want to read

into the record the names of the members of this committee. It’s important

to remember that what we do we always do as a team.

This committee had Judi Malcolm. She was a representative of the

school district. This was a committee with the goal of bringing child care

into our community. So we have a member from the school district.

Eva Hilborn, 94 years old, the most energetic person I have ever met.

She wanted to do anything she could to bring more child care into our

community.

Julie Austin, a school board trustee who knew, as an elected official

at a school trustee level, that it was important that child care come in

under the Ministry of Education and come in on school sites so that we can

have some continuation of care for children.

Stuart McLean, who’s a good friend of mine and is a RDN director for

area H.

Coun. Adam Fras, who is a city of Parksville councillor.

A woman by the name of Perry Perry, who is always there. I don’t know

how old she is. She’s, again, a wealth of energy for the people of our

community. Whether it’s tackling homelessness or other social initiatives,

she is there to lead the charge.

We had representatives from the Qualicum First Nation.

PacificCARE, which is a group…. The representative from PacificCARE at

the time was Sarah Martman, I believe. They offer support to child care

operators within our community.

Carol O’Connor, a retired child care operator.

Sarah Foster, who works with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Vancouver

Island.

Diane Girard, who operated a for-profit…. We call it a for-profit

child care centre. We know that for-profit child care centres don’t

necessarily mean that they are for profit. She is a woman who has dedicated

her life to ensuring that people in our community have access to child

care.

We had a member of the chamber of commerce there.

We had the director from area F, Leanne Salter.

I have a whole list here. I’m not going to….

Sharon Gregson, of course, and her advocacy for child care across our

province.

The reason I mention all these names is because it’s a team effort. We

know that we need child care in our community. In 2019, this committee was

struck with a goal of creating child care. Shortly thereafter, a

representative from the province came down and said: “Well, have you heard

of the new spaces fund? It’s a 100 percent grant to build the capital

portion of new child care spaces in our communities.”

We jumped on it. The town of Qualicum Beach applied and was granted

approval for the construction of 37 spaces of affordable, accessible,

quality child care in the town of Qualicum Beach. This is in a community

where, when you talk to the private operators, the infant and toddler care —

so zero to three years old…. The wait-list to get on infant and toddler care

in Qualicum Beach prior to this was three years.

Think about that. You have a child, and you need to get child care.

You put your child on that list. The infant and toddler care spaces are no

longer there for you because your child is more than three years old by the

time the space comes up to use it. To be honest, that’s shameful. It holds

families back. It holds businesses back who need workers. It holds children

back who need access to care.

Working as a team with representatives of local government, with

provincial government, with existing profit and non-profit operators, we saw

37 spaces approved in Qualicum Beach. We saw 43 spaces approved at an

on-site space with Diane Girard’s before- and after-school care.

[11:40 a.m.]

Before- and after-school care is so important so parents don’t have to

decide who it is that’s going to work today or not work, how to balance a

budget with less employment income. To have it on a site that is at a school

means that that child can then go to the school, get accustomed to that

environment, and then, when they go into their primary education, they have

that continuity.

These are two exciting projects, but that’s not the end of it. In

Snaw-naw-as territory, Snaw-naw-as First Nation was approved a child care

site. This is exciting, because this is not just child care. It’s also about

reconciliation, and it’s about bringing people together.

This child care site, Uy’sqwalawun, is 85 new spaces of child care,

and it’s more than that. It’s a community centre. It’s a place not just for

people living on reserve but the whole community to come together, to raise

our children together. In this program, there are spaces for 12 infants and

toddlers — we know how important those are in our community — 24 spaces for

children ages three to kindergarten, 25 spaces for school-aged children and

24 spaces for preschool care.

What is exciting to me about this is that it will feature

Hul’q’umi’num’ language immersion, and it also offers parenting workshops.

So this is not a babysitting service. This is a service where we can make

sure that the next generation of children, the next generation of people in

our communities have the absolute best start that they can. It brings

together our community on reserve and off reserve as one people trying to

make sure that we do the best we can for future generations.

Just right next to this centre is a new facility that’s been approved

at Seaview Elementary learning and child care centre. This is done through

school district 68, a school district that has many, many child care spaces

opening up all through the city of Nanaimo to create that continuum of

learning for young children. This is an exciting program, and it’s not to be

outdone by the city of Parksville.

The city of Parksville has a city hall where, adjacent to it, is a

community centre. We all saw, through the pandemic, the challenges of

operating community spaces with the restrictions that we saw. When the

opportunity came up for the city council in Parksville to apply to the new

spaces fund and other opportunities to rejuvenate the space, they jumped on

it. We have under construction right now 90 spaces of affordable,

accessible, quality child care moving forward in that centre.

The building it’s in is a building that has served multiple purposes

in its past. When I was growing up in our community, that was the site of a

middle school, and I was in the last year that went through the middle

school. It was old when I was there, and it had been repurposed. This was a

government-run school. It’s an asset for the community. At the end of its

life, working with the city of Parksville, this facility was rejuvenated for

other uses as a community centre and as a gathering place for people all

throughout our community.

Now we are in the position where we’re looking for renewal of this

space. The Boys and Girls Club of Central Vancouver Island have stepped up

as operators. They’ve committed to not only operating this very important

child care in our community, but they’re going to continue the legacy of

creating a gathering space for our whole community to come together for

community events in evenings, during the day, on weekends — wherever they

can make that work within the setting of the child care space.

I say that because, again, it’s this idea of a team: everybody working

together to maximize an asset and to make sure we’re doing the best we can

to support all of those in our community, regardless of their socioeconomic

background and their starts in life.

I’ve got a number of notes that I’ve highlighted here in the budget

because this is exciting work. Since launching the Childcare B.C plan in

2018, we’ve invested $2.4 billion towards building affordable, accessible

and high-quality child care services all across our province. It’s important

because, bringing this back to the story of my grandfather, the legacy that

we’re leaving through this new social program will create opportunities for

families all across our community.

It’s not just about the children and the families. When I talk to

small business owners in our community, there’s a real struggle right now to

find labour, to have access to the labour market. One of the barriers that

we see for people with young children is accessible child care.

[11:45 a.m.]

We will not only see this accessible child care by creating hundreds

of new spaces all across our community, but we will also see this be

affordable child care. By the end of 2022, people in my community and

communities all across our province will see a 50 percent reduction in the

average fees that parents pay for child care, resulting in approximately $20

a day for child care. This is game-changing for so many families across our

province, and it is a massive step towards our commitment to seeing

$10-a-day child care all across our community.

To date, we have funded more than 26,000 spaces of child care. Again,

coming back to this idea of teamwork, the federal government has noticed the

work that we’re doing here and work that’s being done in Quebec and the

positive impact that it has on the people in our community. They have come

with us to fund an additional 30,000 new licensed child care spaces within

the next five years.

This is incredibly important work. It’s work that we do as a team;

with others within this government and the other side of government; within

the federal partners; within local government, who have the approving

authority and often have the land; with school districts; with non-profit

societies and with for-profit child care centres.

It’s also interesting to look at different…. In Errington Elementary,

there’s a program that is called seamless child care. What that means is

that this is child care that’s operating within an existing school site, and

kids will come before school and after school. They will have access to

fully trained, fully accredited early childhood educators that will look

after kids before and after school.

Then the seamless portion of this comes in when these kids are in

kindergarten and grade one. They go to their class, and the early childhood

educators that were looking after them and nurturing them before and after

school time are there to follow through with them through the school day. We

know that this leads to better outcomes for these children in the

future.

These investments will make a massive difference to the lives of these

children as they become adults working and living in our communities. Of

course, seeing that this work is moving from the Ministry of Children and

Family Development to the Ministry of Education and Child Care is going to

mean that we will be able to continue this and to solidify this work into a

lasting social program that we see for generations to come.

The other barrier, when I talk to small business owners in our

community, is, of course, housing. Housing is a massive challenge for people

all across our community. It’s not just with the rapidly rising prices of

housing in our community, but the imbalance that it creates for those who

are renting.

We, probably every week, have someone come in to our constituency

office — generally female, generally 60 or 70 years old — who has been

living in our community for years. They come to our office, unfortunately,

often way too late. They have an eviction notice, and they say: “Well, what

do I do? I was given this six, seven weeks ago, and I have to leave.”

They’re paying $700 a month, $800 a month, and there’s nowhere for them to

live in the community, regardless of the monthly income that they have,

which will not cover the market rentals.

There are no market rentals available in our community. So it’s a

challenge that we face in our community, but it’s a challenge that, working

with local governments as a team, we are addressing in a significant

way.

In Qualicum Beach, we saw, recently, the announcement of 56 new

affordable spaces in our community, in partnership with Kiwanis Housing.

These are spaces that are designed for families. These are spaces that are

designed for people with diverse abilities. These are spaces that, for about

30 percent of the residents, will be rent-geared-to-income. So people on a

fixed income in our community that are not able to keep up with market

conditions are able to live in their homes affordably, paying 30 percent of

their income and being able to afford to live, to feed themselves, to look

after themselves and to pay for their prescriptions. It’s an incredibly

important initiative, because we know that housing affordability is a

challenge.

For many of us, we do what we can to meet that challenge, but for so

many in our community that can’t, we need to make sure that those supports

exist so that we don’t have to tell people in our community that they have

to live in their car. We have people in Qualicum Beach that are single women

in their 70s that park on the waterfront at night, and that’s what they call

home now. That’s not good enough.

[11:50 a.m.]

In the city of Parksville, we have approved and funded 86 units of

affordable housing for seniors specifically. Working with the city of

Parksville and the Ministry of Housing, creating these spaces will create a

safety net for people so that they don’t fall through the cracks, so that we

don’t have people who have contributed to our community for decades having

to leave the community or having to live in their car just to find a place

to stay out of the elements.

The community housing fund is what we are using in our community, and

I hope to see more projects like this launch all across our province. Fifty

percent of these housing units, these homes — we call them units, but they

are homes — are places for people to live their lives. They are geared to

people with household incomes up to $64,000. That housing that we create is

permanent housing available to people who are unable to enter the housing

market otherwise.

Of these households, 30 percent are for people with incomes up to

$74,000, and 20 percent of these households are for people with very low

incomes. These are people who are on income assistance, PWD, some other

forms of disability compensation. This is so important because it helps

people from falling through the cracks.

A measure of how effective we are in government is how we look after

those who are the most marginalized in our communities. It’s more than just

housing and child care, though. This budget talks about so many important

things that are going on right now.

We have had a number of discussions with constituents about how we’re

going to manage old-growth forests in our province. This is a very difficult

decision for us. We live in a province that has relied on the extraction of

resources. All throughout the province, the history — I should say the

colonial history — of our province has been quite extractive.

We know that there are people in our communities, in the communities

of northern Vancouver Island all up and down the coast, that rely on the

jobs that come from the harvest of old-growth forest. But we know that as we

balance values — and we always reflect on the values that we have in our

communities — we have to balance the value of jobs, the values of the

economy but also watershed health, the health of ecosystems, the health of a

genetic diversity of species that, once it disappears, may not ever come

back.

So in 2019, through the old growth strategic review, our government

launched the largest engagement session that the government had seen up to

that point. People are very passionate, on all sides of this, about

old-growth forests. Following through the 14 recommendations, our government

has been methodical and communicated as best as we could about why it’s

important to protect these ecosystems but also balance the need to respect

Indigenous land rights and the jobs that we see reliant on these

communities.

What I’m excited to see in this budget is a commitment and an

understanding of the impacts that this change will have. I just want to read

this into the record because it’s so important. “Budget 2022 provides more

than $185 million over the next three years to bring forth coordinated and

comprehensive supports to help…workers and contractors, industry, community,

communities, and First Nations to adapt and respond to the impacts of

deferrals.” That is incredibly important.

In 2019, we deferred a quarter-million hectares of old-growth forests

all across our province, most of which on central Vancouver Island. Through

the important work of the technical advisory panel, which was a body of

experts in the ecosystems that we have in our forests, it made

recommendations to our government to defer 2.6 million hectares of

old-growth forest, in collaboration with Indigenous people.

That’s a massive commitment. It was a massive ask, and our government

said: “Yes, we will commit to doing that, and we will do that.” But with

that comes the responsibility to look after those that are impacted. So $185

million for supports to make sure that people aren’t left behind in the wake

of this dramatic change.

[11:55 a.m.]

Now, we have seen similar important work done on fisheries in the

north Island. Those supports didn’t exist. When the federal government

cancelled leases for 19 fish farms, we knew that we have to improve the way

we manage our ecosystems. This is how things are done differently in the

province of British Columbia. The impacts that we have…. We are responsible

to make sure we look after those people who are impacted by these decisions.

It’s work that I’m proud to say I’m a member of this caucus.

Throughout this budget, it’s about people. It’s about making sure that

every decision we make puts people in the best position for the future and

looking after the long-term health of our communities.

I have notes here on clean industry. I’m noting that I’m running out

of time.

I will quickly jump to primary care. I see the member for…. I don’t

recall.

Hon. A. Dix: Vancouver-Kingsway.

A. Walker: Vancouver-Kingsway, who often goes by the title of Minister of

Health.

The work that we’re doing in primary care right now that’s being

funded through investments that we’ve seen in the past and are continuing on

is absolutely massive for the people of my community. We just opened a

permanent location for a nurse practitioner clinic. I’ve met with many

people who say: “I want a doctor.” Then we go through the process and

explain the scope of care.

Okay, so a doctor has a scope of care which is quite broad. But what

we have at our nurse practitioner clinic, which is fully funded with $4.6

million of increased annual funding in our community…. It was a $1.4 million

capital investment. What we have at that clinic now are five nurse

practitioners with a very extensive scope of care that are also working with

a nurse practitioner psychiatric specialist as well as nurse pharmacist. We

have a broader scope of care at that practice than we would at your

traditional family doctor.

We have a plan at that facility to bring on two doctors, six nurse

practitioners and to connect 7,400 patients to a facility that is resilient.

If a practitioner retires or passes away or moves on or has some family

circumstance, patients in our community are attached to the clinic, not to

an individual practitioner. This creates the resilience that we need to see

in our primary care moving forward. It’s important investments like this

that allow for our community to give trust and faith that we are there to

support them when they need it.

Of course, as we talk about health care, written in this budget is the

— again — commitment to a cancer care centre at Nanaimo Regional General

Hospital. That is a massive commitment of our government and to the people,

not just in Parksville-Qualicum, not just in the Nanaimo area, but for

people anywhere north of the Malahat who need access to high-quality cancer

treatment right in our community. This is integral to the health of people

in our community.

To see this moving forward in the planning process and moving forward

to the next stages of development is just so important for the people who

rely on us listening to them in our community.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

It’s not just patients who get that phone call from their doctor — the

worst day of their lives, for many of them — with a diagnosis. But the

advocacy that we’re getting from our hospital foundation, from our local

government and now from service groups that want to be able to be a part of

this important work and champion it is just so exciting to see.

Post-secondary housing. We talk about the importance of creating

housing in our community. The announcement of creating new post-secondary

housing at North Island College in the Comox Valley will create not just

hundreds of units of housing for students, but it will open up that housing

in the housing market in the Comox Valley.

Noting the hour, I will not require a continuation. I will move

adjournment of the debate.

A. Walker moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. A. Dix: Thank you to the speakers who spoke this morning. With that, we’ll

be back in a short while.

Hon. A. Dix moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until 1 p.m. this afternoon.

The House adjourned at 11:59 a.m.

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