2016 Legislative Session: Fifth Session, 40th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Monday, February 22, 2016

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 33, Number

ISSN 0709-1281 (Print)

ISSN 1499-2175 (Online)

CONTENTS

Page

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Tributes

Dave M ac Kinnon

J. Shin

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

Bill 18 — Miscellaneous Statutes (Minor Corrections) Amendment Act, 2016

Hon. S. Anton

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

Scout-Guide Week

E. Foster

Steel and Oak craft brewery

J. Darcy

Equal Voice and women in politics

L. Larson

Martin Mars waterbomber

S. Fraser

Animal abuse prevention and regulation of animal breeders

J. Thornthwaite

Fields Forward initiative in Creston Valley

M. Mungall

Oral Questions

Budget priorities and funding for LNG advocate and website

J. Horgan

Hon. R. Coleman

B. Ralston

S. Simpson

Hon. S. Bond

Drinking water quality and testing in schools

J. Rice

Hon. T. Lake

J. Wickens

Disability benefits and bus pass program changes

M. Mungall

Hon. Michelle Stilwell

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate (continued)

H. Bains

Hon. M. Morris

M. Elmore

D. Plecas

R. Austin

Hon. T. Stone

G. Holman

M. Dalton

M. Mungall

On the amendment

M. Mungall

Hon. A. Wilkinson

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016

The House met at 1:34 p.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

V. Huntington: I’d like to welcome David and Susan Jones to the House today. They’re longtime friends and constituents of mine. If the House would make them welcome, I’d appreciate it.

Hon. T. Lake: We have a Plant in the gallery today. The executive director of the Turning Point Recovery Society, Brenda Plant, is here with us. Brenda is a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee medal and does tremendous work with Turning Point, providing addiction recovery services in the Lower Mainland for over 30 years. With over 3,000 men and women participating in their programs, they currently operate three facilities in the Lower Mainland.

[1335]

My daughter and I had the privilege of attending the Turning Point Gala last year. Jim Belushi was the keynote speaker. We were able to provide $1 million in support to the society to assist in their efforts supporting some of our province’s most vulnerable people. Would the House please join me in welcoming Brenda to the gallery today.

J. Horgan: It was my great privilege today to give a tour of this building and have a lovely lunch with two individuals. The first is David Williams, who’s the president of the Friends of the Nemiah Valley. David is joined today by another Williams, without the “s.” That’s Chief Roger William of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation in Tsilhqot’in territory, who, all members of the House will know, was the groundbreaking first person to take title to the Supreme Court and win with respect to First Nations rights and title.

It’s just wonderful to have Chief Roger William in the House with us today, and I know all members of the House will want to wish David Williams and Chief Roger William a very warm, warm welcome.

Hon. S. Bond: There’s a young woman in the gallery today who has done just a tremendous job. She used to work in our office. Kim Haslett is here today. She and her family relocated, and she is now working elsewhere. But she did an incredible job, was someone incredibly wonderful to work with, always saying, “How can I help, Minister? What can I do?” — all of those kinds of things. So, very appreciative. She’s a very busy mommy of twin girls now. I just wanted to make sure she knew how much we appreciated the effort she made and to welcome her here to the precinct today.

S. Robinson: I have a number of visitors today from Coquitlam-Maillardville. We have students from Our Lady of Fatima School joining us. It’s rather quiet up there, so I’m assuming that they have yet to make it into the gallery. But we have Miss Melissa Mobilio’s grade 5 class and Mrs. Stephanie Hoyer-Wright’s grade 5 class. We have a total of 45 students and 20 adults joining us. They’re certainly here in the precinct. I would ask all members to give them a warm welcome.

J. Thornthwaite: Today we have members from Scouts Canada joining us. It is a great pleasure to introduce Alamin Pirani, executive director for Scouts Canada. Alamin is from the Yukon and has been with Scouts Canada for 27 years professionally and 24 years as a youth member in Kenya and as a volunteer in Canada.

Bruce Hallsor is the legal counsel for Scouts Canada. Bruce is also from the Yukon and has been scouting for 31 years. Denyse Koo, deputy area commissioner for greater Victoria has been scouting for nine years. Eric Chow, the deputy area commissioner for greater Victoria, has been scouting for 14 years. Would the House please make them feel welcome.

Tributes

DAVE M ac KINNON

J. Shin: A week ago, on Valentine’s Day, New Democrats bid our farewell to a dear friend and my constituent, Dave MacKinnon, who left us all too early at age 69. A hard-working man, Dave spent most of his earlier days in various jobs, including a nickel mine and a logging camp, before going on to serve as a trade unionist and an industrial relations officer with the Ministry of Labour. Dave was also the president of the federal NDP from 1996 to 2001 and our candidate in the 2004 federal election.

His family recalls Dave’s passion for a number of things, most of all his family and his home, but also his other loves that are all tying for a close second, they say: playing cards, a good feed of lobsters and the NDP.

He is lovingly survived by his wife, Susan, and his children, Nicole, Craig and Gail; his stepchildren, Jessie, Devin and Sarah; his grandchildren, Mike, Alex, Emily, Nicholas, Ben, Isla and Maya; as well as siblings Estelle, Dan, Maureen, Justin, Betty and Ken and their families. Dave was apparently the favourite uncle of dozens of nieces and nephews.

So to Dave, thank you for your love for life and for people. You will be sorely missed.

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Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

BILL 18 — MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES

(MINOR CORRECTIONS)

AMENDMENT ACT, 2016

Hon. S. Anton presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Miscellaneous Statutes (Minor Corrections) Amendment Act, 2016.

Hon. S. Anton: I move that Bill 18 be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

[1340]

Hon. S. Anton: I’m pleased to introduce Bill 18, the Miscellaneous Statutes (Minor Corrections) Amendment Act, 2016. This bill is a collection of minor corrections and technical housekeeping amendments to various statutes.

As part of the statute revision process, the office of legislative counsel routinely identifies and brings forward these types of corrections. The minor corrections in this bill are part of the routine process to ensure that B.C. statutes are orderly and correct.

I’d like to take a moment at this time to recognize the tremendous work done by the office of legislative counsel for this House. I extend my sincere thanks to all the drafters, editors, coordinators, support staff and the others in that office for their dedication and public service. This is meticulous work. It’s careful work. We rely on it in this House. More importantly, the province relies on it to be done well and done properly, and they do that every day.

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

Bill 18, Miscellaneous Statutes (Minor Corrections) Amendment Act, 2016, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

SCOUT-GUIDE WEEK

E. Foster: It is with great pleasure that I rise today to recognize Scout-Guide Week, which is taking place across Canada from February 15 to 22.

Scout-Guide Week is a celebration for Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada, a time when both organizations can get together in the spirit of friendship and fellowship to honour their shared heritage. It’s also a great opportunity for all Canadians to recognize the limitless potential of our youth and acknowledge the work scouting does to instill values such as teamwork, leadership and public service.

For more than a century, these values and life skills have been taught through exciting outdoor programs which are developed and maintained by energetic and dedicated volunteers. These people give their time selflessly to help youth learn to cooperate, strive for excellence and give back to the community.

For millions of Canadians, adventure, teamwork and good citizenship started with lessons learned and memories made through Scouts and Guides. In fact, more than half of our country’s leaders participated in scouting and guiding in their youth, proving that not only do these organizations help to build stronger communities; they also shape future leaders.

I want to thank Scouts Canada, Girl Guides of Canada and their enthusiastic volunteers for working tirelessly to prepare young people for future success.

I ask the House to join me in wishing them all the best and a strong and a strong and vibrant future.

STEEL AND OAK CRAFT BREWERY

J. Darcy: In 1862, the first brewery in mainland British Columbia opened its doors in New Westminster. For 143 years, beer flowed within the Royal City, until the last of a long line of breweries, Labatt’s, shut its doors in 2005.

In 2014, those doors opened again as Steel and Oak brewing company brought the noble tradition of brewing back to New Westminster. Steel and Oak symbolizes the modernness of today while paying homage to the craftsmanship of years long past. “Materials of strength and durability — steel and oak — house, protect and nurture what we stand for most: exceptional-tasting craft beer.” Those are the words of Jorden Foss, co-owner with James Garbutt of Steel and Oak, both proud New Westminster residents.

Their beer is on tap at 18 New West restaurants and pubs, dozens of locations throughout the Lower Mainland and in Kimberley, Qualicum Beach, Courtenay, Kamloops and Kelowna too. They now employ 19 people, and they’re growing. They have a food truck out back, as well, on Thursdays, Fridays and most Saturdays.

They are strong supporters of our community and of a sustainable economy. Each week they deliver 1,600 kilos of spent wheat and barley to a small, family-run farm to feed their heritage pigs.

In November 2015, they won the first prize in the amber/dark lager category at the B.C. Beer Awards.

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As co-owner Jordan Foss says: “Our beers are kind of like children. You love each one for a different reason, and the dark lager has always held a special place in my heart.

Congratulations to Steel and Oak. You make New Westminster proud.

[1345]

EQUAL VOICE AND WOMEN IN POLITICS

L. Larson: Equal Voice is a national, bilingual multipartisan organization dedicated to electing more women to all levels of political office in Canada. Founded in 2001, Equal Voice brings women from across the political spectrum into its nine chapters across the country.

The UBC Alma Mater Society branch of Equal Voice worked with the Speaker’s office this year to produce a women in the Legislature program for a day to give young women a chance to shadow a woman MLA. This year, on February 17, nine young women from political science studies and law programs at UBC paired up with MLAs from both sides of the House to take a look at the internal workings of the Legislature through a different lens.

They were privileged to be able to witness the swearing-in ceremonies of two women MLAs — historically, the youngest female and the first Nations woman — a rare privilege. Equal Voice is an organization that stresses the importance of equality and multipartisanship and strongly encourages young women from all facets of the political spectrum to take

part in this project.

They are confident that their women in the Legislature program will also serve the interests of aspiring female politicians, of which there are many. Their goals are to increase the number of women nominated as candidates, promote changes that would increase the number of women in politics, conduct outreach to inspire and engage women, encourage and equip women to run for office through an on-line campaign school and celebrate women who are in politics.

With a female Premier, a female Attorney General and Madame Speaker, our Legislature represents a strong female face to politics in British Columbia and leads in representation across Canada.

Thank you to Ava Ashrafian and Natasha Mahail, presidents of Equal Voice at UBC, and to all the members who participated. We look forward to hosting more young women from Equal Voice.

MARTIN MARS WATERBOMBER

S. Fraser: Well, sadly, it looks official. The last of the Martin Mars waterbombers will be put into a forced retirement. Only last year, the Mars was brought into the service when the worst fire season in the history of this province was well underway, and it performed flawlessly.

The Martin Mars waterbombers stationed at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni have been instrumental in fighting wildfires in B.C. for decades and have saved incalculable values of property and forest resources and, arguably, lives. Nothing else can come close to hitting a wildfire with the punch of the Mars and its massive payload.

The Mars waterbomber has been accurately described as B.C.’s Smokey the Bear. In the Shasta Lake fires in 2008, the Mars deployed 436,000 litres in a seven-hour flight period for several days in a row. When the Mars hits a fire, this massive payload smothers it with a swath measured in acres. It can extinguish a fire at its inception.

By my calculations, if the Mars had have been under contract to fly at the beginning of last year’s devastating season, a minimum of four fires on the coast that I’m aware of could have been knocked out at their inception. That’s what the Mars has always done best.

We in B.C. owe so much to the Mars aircraft and those involved in the Mars program. These aircraft have flown over 4,000 missions and dropped in excess of 8,000 loads, and there has never been and will never be a fire-fighting aircraft that can come close to the impacts these giants have had in protecting British Columbia.

I would like to offer thanks to all those involved in the Mars program for all you have done in protecting this province, and to all of my constituents and British Columbians for your support of these iconic and still incredibly valuable fire-fighting aircraft. To the Mars: I salute you.

ANIMAL ABUSE PREVENTION AND

REGULATION OF ANIMAL BREEDERS

J. Thornthwaite: In recent weeks, animal lovers across British Columbia, including myself, were shocked to learn that a large number of cats and dogs were being born and raised in deplorable conditions. I would like to thank the B.C. SPCA for taking immediate action to rescue a total of 84 dogs and cats from one facility in Surrey and 66 dogs from another in Langley.

British Columbians deserve to know that when they take a companion animal into their home, that animal has been born and raised a in secure and caring environment. Though British Columbia already has some of the toughest laws against animal cruelty in the country, we can and must do more. That’s why today our government announced it has begun taking action to target irresponsible commercial breeders of dogs and cats in this province.

[1350]

The first step we are taking is to recognize the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association’s code of practice as generally accepted practices for registered cat and dog breeders in the province. We are also consulting with stakeholders, like the BCSPCA, to determine how new laws can help them proactively monitor and take action against irresponsible breeders. We’re also working with responsible breeders, including the Canadian Kennel

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Club, to ensure that any new measures will only punish those who fail to raise animals in safe, humane environments.

We cannot accomplish this without the public’s help. Buyers of companion animals must be diligent and informed about the conditions their pets are born and raised in. We are committed to raising public awareness and promoting responsible breeders in our province. We are confident these measures will ensure that companion animals will be protected and treated with the love, care and respect they deserve.

FIELDS FORWARD INITIATIVE

IN CRESTON VALLEY

M. Mungall: This isn’t the first time I’ve spoken in this House about the amazing agricultural sector in the Creston Valley, and it certainly won’t be the last, because Creston fields are going forward.

Funded by the Creston and district community-directed funds from the Columbia Basin Trust, Fields Forward is a new initiative that launched in January, with 80 stakeholders, at a two-day forum in Creston. Bringing together a broad group of community partners that includes First Nations, local government and non-profits, this partnership will boost economic development in the agrifood sector and improve local food security.

Using the Vermont state farm-to-plate program as a model, Fields Forward plans to see the same positive results — job creation, new food and farm businesses, locally grown food served at schools, care homes and hospitals, new and upgraded processing facilities and additional and improved training programs. Using the concept of strategic doing, where partners focus on small, achievable goals rather than big talk and big ideas that often stop before they start, the Creston Valley is poised to make this all happen. And it will happen.

As I have said many times before, the Creston Valley grows the best food in B.C., with Kootenay waters and some of B.C.’s richest and best lands in the agricultural land reserve. Our community of hard-working farmers, business people and creative thinkers is equally rich, and they are ready for the tasks ahead of them. As Jesse Willicome says in his report on the launch forum, Creston’s agricultural sectors know that many hands make the load light. To be sure, with the many hands of Fields Forward, Creston’s agricultural sector and the local economy are heading forward.

Oral Questions

BUDGET PRIORITIES AND FUNDING

FOR LNG ADVOCATE AND WEBSITE

J. Horgan: Before the last election, it was all LNG all the time. We were going to have a $100 billion prosperity fund, 100,000 jobs. There was going to be an LNG plant running last year, according to the time frame of the B.C. Liberals.

Well, that’s all gone terribly, terribly sideways, even to the point where the Minister of Finance went back on his initial commitment to not put any money in the so-called prosperity fund until there were revenues coming from LNG. He disregarded that in this budget and somehow found $100 million in MSP premium increases to put into the Premier’s photo op fund. It’s not just the photo opportunity fund that got a bit of a boost by this government. We also see that the Premier’s own LNG advocate, Gordon Wilson, was just re-upped again, by order-in-council, to another $150,000 a year to advocate for LNG.

My question to the Minister of Jobs. Although we don’t have 100,000 jobs for British Columbians, we seem to have $300,000 for a former MLA. Can the minister justify $300,000 to advance LNG when there’s no LNG to advance?

Hon. R. Coleman: Now, I know that the leader opposite, the NDP opposition, whatever you want to call him, is no to natural gas development, no to LNG, has been all along, will continue to be that way.

[1355]

Your question, frankly, isn’t surprising to me, hon. Member, because you don’t want to recognize that there are 20 proposals in British Columbia today for liquefied natural gas. You don’t want to admit that there are 17 approved export permits for LNG in B.C. You don’t want to admit the fact that there has been close to $20 billion already invested in LNG in British Columbia. You don’t want to admit the fact that 11,000 to 13,000 jobs in northeastern British Columbia are still there today because of the drilling and activity of people being prepared to actually drill out the resource and get it ready for LNG as they come through the final investment decisions.

I know the member opposite relishes the fact that we may not have one today, because he wants to say something negative about the future of British Columbia, but I believe in the people of the northwest. I believe in the people in the northeast. I believe in the First Nations communities I’ve sat down with and across from in this file. This is a generational opportunity. It can change the future for them. We are going to continue to work for its success until such time as we’re successful, because it’s their future, hon. Member, that’s important to me.

Madame Speaker: Leader of the Official Opposition on a supplemental.

J. Horgan: It’s always nice to have a contribution to this place from the minister of gas, but I think the only people who have a future so far, with respect to LNG, is Gordon Wilson. Now, when the Premier appointed Mr. Wilson, he had the task to “work with major proponent

[ Page 10561 ]

companies to encourage them to place procurement opportunities on the LNG–Buy B.C. on-line tool”— an appropriately named device, on the Internet. In fact, Mr. Wilson was supposed to have had that done by September 2014, reporting to the Minister of Jobs.

Well, I went onto the LNG–Buy B.C. on-line tool today, and I’ve been going on it for the past two years. I click on “opportunity” as most British Columbians would. What do I find? Do I find a welding job? Nope. Do I find anything for engineering firms? Nope. How about environmental consultancies? Nope. Nothing, zero, zilch, nada — not a single opportunity on the LNG tool that was supposed to be populated by the former member of this place Mr. Gordon Wilson.

Again, the only opportunity that I can determine from the order-in-council passed by the Minister of Jobs this week is to Gordon Wilson. Why is it that we don’t have money for bus passes, but we’ve got $300,000 to promote a website that’s got zero on it?

Hon. R. Coleman: I know the member opposite doesn’t like the idea that a portion of the work that’s being done in LNG is to connect B.C. businesses into the opportunities and companies for them to be able to do business in LNG. Mr. Wilson has been around the chambers of commerce around the province of British Columbia, getting them to have the opportunity.

I’m actually surprised at just how uninformed the Leader of the Opposition is. If he wants to look for a trade, he should go look at Find Your Fit. That’s where we’re connected to people with jobs and trades and opportunities in B.C.

At the LNG conference last year, over 3,000 young people went through Find Your Fit. I actually saw some First Nations youth take it, just in January, go through Find Your Fit to connect them to jobs and training and education so that they will have a future in northern B.C. — which you don’t support. You’d rather have those communities not be successful…

Madame Speaker: Through the Chair.

Hon. R. Coleman: …than have a generational opportunity for jobs and training and a future for their small communities.

J. Horgan: Again, let’s bring the minister back from his fantasy land. The photo ops will come. You’ve got your 100 million bucks out of taxpayers’ pockets so you can continue to fabricate things over the next 12 to 24 months. But let’s go back to the issue at hand: Mr. Wilson.

I mean, he had one job to do. He was supposed to connect businesses to opportunities. They created a website for just that undertaking — so a complete absence of success on this front. I’m thinking to myself: “Why is it that there’s such a commitment to Mr. Wilson?” Why is there such a commitment to Gordon Wilson? If there’s anyone we should be saying no to, it’s him.

He said, before the last election, that everyone should vote for the Premier. Maybe that’s why you’re so connected to him. Or maybe it’s because his wife is writing a biography about the Premier. Maybe that’s why we’re so committed to him.

[1400]

Or maybe it’s because of his foresight. Before he became the LNG advocate, this is what Mr. Wilson, in 2013, had to say. “The most compelling reason to be concerned about relying on this golden goose is the fact that the LNG markets…may not materialize as we think. Even if they do, the prices they are prepared to pay for our product may be well below what is anticipated.” Well, it sounds like he’s saying no to something. But yet he’s going to get another $300,000 from B.C. taxpayers.

My question is to the Minister of Jobs. Is the only job out of the 100,000 jobs promised the one that Gordon Wilson got?

Hon. R. Coleman: You know, maybe the Leader of the Opposition could go talk to the Haisla First Nations, whose unemployment rate has dropped almost to zero because of the involvement in this industry. Now, I know the members’ “rule of no” really means: “We don’t want to help First Nations change their opportunities or abilities and have them participate in a generational opportunity.”

I know that there are actual trades trainers up in the north right now connecting young people with their education, to upgrade them to grade 10 so they can actually be in trades today. That’s going on as we stand here and speak today.

There are 600 businesses that have already signed on to the tool that Mr. Wilson’s doing — 600 businesses that he has done. I also know that as we come through this year, you’re going to see more and more advancement on LNG. That will be no problem for them, because they don’t want the economic opportunities. They don’t want the success. They don’t want the jobs.

They’re opposed to anything that will actually give somebody a future and take them out of distress in some very poor communities to actually improve their job opportunities in the northwest part of this province, which I think is something to fight for and pursue. We’re pursuing it in LNG. We’re going to continue to pursue it in LNG.

Interjections.

Hon. R. Coleman: I know you don’t like it. I know it drives you crazy. What also drives you crazy is that it’s a former NDP cabinet minister that’s actually found a life and come over to the side of free enterprise.

Interjections.

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Madame Speaker: Members. All members will direct their comments through the Chair.

B. Ralston: I want to be fair. I have to correct my colleague. There are, in fact, others benefiting from the B.C. LNG web tool. In fact, it appears that the second-greatest beneficiary of this program is a company called FCV Technologies, which the B.C. Liberals paid $850,000 to build the on-line tool.

Can the minister tell the House why she paid a tech firm just short of $1 million to build a web tool that doesn’t actually connect B.C. businesses to LNG opportunities?

Hon. R. Coleman: There are….

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

Hon. R. Coleman: There are 13,000 people in British Columbia today — particularly in the northeast part of the province, but across the rest of the province as well — working in factories, for camps and those sorts of things, whose jobs are important to this government. To pursue LNG will actually stabilize that opportunity for them to continue to work in the industry long term, because without a place to send our gas, who’s going to explore and who’s going to pursue?

The reality is these guys are just opposed to that. They’d rather see those 13,000 people out of work rather than admit to the fact that it’s worth pursuing a generational opportunity on behalf of British Columbians. When you do that, you actually build the fundamentals to deal with it. You sit down with the companies and look at what the competitive nature is worldwide. And while you do that, you actually do it on the basis that you want to do what’s good for British Columbia, with a vision for the future.

Something else they also don’t have is any vision for the future. They just want to whine about somebody who’s doing a good job on behalf of British Columbia, connecting businesses to the opportunity. I’ve been in the room and watched in a small First Nations community when Mr. Wilson has presented and have seen the input. I’ve seen the activity. I’ve seen the engagement by these people.

You should accept the fact that that’s a good idea.

[1405]

B. Ralston: Hardly a spirited defence of Gordon Wilson, I’d say. B.C. Liberals always make sure their friends are taken care of. Clearly, Gordon Wilson has been taken care of, and so has Johann Starke.

And who is Johann Starke? He’s the CEO of FCV Technologies. He’s the man who ran digital advertising for the B.C. Liberals in the 2013 campaign. He’s one of the select group invited by the Premier to attend her cabinet swearing in. Why are taxpayers funding friends of the B.C. Liberal Party to fund an on-line web tool that doesn’t actually do anything?

Hon. R. Coleman: I wouldn’t sweat it, hon. Member. In May 2017, we’ll be government again anyway, because you’re not going to get there being no, no, no to British Columbians — to economic activity, jobs and opportunities for the youth of the next generation.

You will not be successful, simply because British Columbians see through that “no” as you only being interested in your friends and insiders and not interested in the economy of British Columbia, not interested in pursuing a generational opportunity on behalf of communities and not about changing the lives of people. You actually pursue that opportunity with success as we go forward to create the jobs, the economic activity and the activity in British Columbia.

I know you don’t support any of that. You’d just rather keep those people, particularly those 13,000 people today who work in the oil and gas industry, out of work because you’d rather us not pursue the opportunity to send gas to Asia to keep their jobs stable.

S. Simpson: So far, the success of this website is 300,000 more dollars for Mr. Wilson and $850,000 for Mr. Starke’s company. Other than that, we can find no success in this website at all.

We submitted an information request on this site. We asked for any and all opportunities that have been posted on the government’s LNG–Buy B.C. website. And what did we get back? The response from government staff was: “No records were located in response to your request.” No records were located.

How bad can it be when government staff can’t find a single opportunity on the LNG–Buy B.C. website, where nobody is prospering from this, other than Mr. Wilson and Mr. Starke? Where are those opportunities?

Hon. S. Bond: We’ve been very clear about the importance of making sure that British Columbia businesses get the opportunity to take advantage not just of liquefied natural gas in British Columbia but of other major projects that take place in this province.

I can tell the member opposite that if we looked at the jobs plan that the members had, we’d have one number that we’d have to look at, and that would be the number zero, because in fact…

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

Hon. S. Bond: …it’s no to LNG, it’s no to mining, it’s no to forestry, and it’s no to major transportation projects. It’s no to Site C.

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We should be clear. On the website, there are 600 businesses that have registered — at the last time we looked at them. Mr. Wilson has worked around the province of British Columbia to talk to businesses, to talk to non-aboriginal and aboriginal alike, to say, “What can we do to remove barriers?” to ensure that they have the opportunity to participate in the economy.

Mr. Wilson has done good work. We intend to continue to see him do additional work.

DRINKING WATER QUALITY

AND TESTING IN SCHOOLS

J. Rice: Last week the Minister of Health told this House that his staff discovered highly elevated lead levels in school drinking water in Prince Rupert through “routine testing.” We now know that simply was not true. The sad fact is that the minister’s staff discovered this serious issue as a result of a school classroom experiment in Kitimat.

[1410]

Can the minister tell the House why he waited four years after discovering elevated lead levels in school drinking water in Kitimat before he decided to test the water in Prince Rupert?

Hon. T. Lake: We canvassed this quite extensively last week. I’m happy to repeat that as soon as the officials in Northern Health knew there was an elevated level of lead in the schools in Prince Rupert, mitigation strategies were implemented. The parents were made aware. Dr. Kendall has said that the studies, through the Centre for Disease Control, have indicated there is no widespread concern in terms of lead ingestion.

Where we are notified of concerns, mitigation measures are taken to ensure that children are kept safe. That is what’s happening in this situation.

Madame Speaker: The member for North Coast on a supplemental.

J. Rice: That answer is not good enough. Prince Rupert has the oldest housing stock in British Columbia. The minister’s own staff said that when equivalent concentrations in residential water were considered, water more than doubled typical daily intakes.

I don’t know what’s more troubling: the fact that the minister waited four years to test the water in Prince Rupert, the fact that the minister pretended that they discovered the problem through “routine testing” or the fact that the minister says this is a common problem in older schools in the northwest, and he still won’t commit to testing other communities in my riding.

Can the minister tell the House why he just doesn’t seem to care about the health of other northwest communities and test the water for school children in Masset, in Skidegate or in Bella Coola?

Hon. T. Lake: We know that with older infrastructure, issues of leaching of metals into water is a concern. That is why we have a $12 billion infrastructure investment program on this side of the House. If that member wanted new infrastructure in her city, she would actually support a growing economy in her city to enable that to happen.

Infrastructure investments have to be made to address older infrastructure problems in British Columbia…

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

Hon. T. Lake: …which is why I know the members opposite will vote positively for a budget that invests $12 billion in infrastructure around the province of British Columbia.

J. Wickens: Here are the facts. They discovered elevated lead levels four years ago. The minister’s staff wrote a paper about it two years ago and recommended that the minister implement a program of provincewide testing. The minister didn’t do a thing until one of his staff tested the water in Prince Rupert two months ago.

Why did the minister ignore his own staff for two years?

Hon. T. Lake: As soon as issues become apparent, medical health officers take action. That’s what they did in this particular case. It’s what we do in the Ministry of Health. When concerns are raised, action is taken — in this case, mitigation measures, flushing system filters on the fountains, to protect the children.

As I said, it’s important…. Although the members opposite like to spread fear among parents around the province, Dr. Perry Kendall, who I actually have great respect for, and I think the members opposite do too….

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

Please continue.

Hon. T. Lake: I think the members opposite have great respect for Dr. Perry Kendall and medical health officers around the province of British Columbia. Dr. Kendall has said testing from the Centre for Disease Control shows that there is no concern in terms of widespread elevated lead exposure causing harm to children in British Columbia.

Madame Speaker: Coquitlam–Burke Mountain on a supplemental.

[1415]

[ Page 10564 ]

J. Wickens: The province’s chief medical health officer was surprised that this government had not tested for lead in schools in the northwest. The medical health officer for the northwest said: “It is not our mandate to be testing all schools across the north.”

Let’s recap. The minister claims that he does “routine testing” of school drinking water. His staff at the Drug and Poison Information Centre urged him to do routine testing of school drinking water, and his medical health officer says she does not have the mandate to test school drinking water. Why is the minister so indifferent to the safety of school drinking water in the northwest?

Hon. T. Lake: It’s important for people to understand what’s happening in terms of the water source that is being provided by the municipality. That is not the issue. It’s where you have older infrastructure. We know that in the past, before we had modern testing, modern availability, lead pipes, under some circumstances, will leach into water. This has been dealt with in infrastructure around the province for many years.

The medical health officer was not aware of the situation in this particular school district at the time. As soon as they were made aware of it, mitigation measures were taken. Again, the medical health officer for the province of British Columbia has assured parents that because of the low amount of water being consumed from those fountains around the province of British Columbia, it is not a concern in terms of exposure to lead. Having said that, where we know there’s a problem, action is taken. That is what’s happening.

DISABILITY BENEFITS AND

BUS PASS PROGRAM CHANGES

M. Mungall: After all the chaos and all the confusion that the Liberals created with bus passes for people with disabilities, we now know for certain that they are charging an annual $45 administration fee plus an additional $52 a month for the actual bus pass. So that’s a $624-a-year jump in costs for people with disabilities who are also living in poverty.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

M. Mungall: Those are the facts of the matter. The Liberals can try to say it’s something that it’s not, but that’s what it is. That’s the reality for people with disabilities.

The minister says that it’s all about freedom of choice. Just what kind of choice does the minister imagine people receiving disability have? Is it a choice between bus passes and limousines, walking or hitchhiking? Or is it a choice between going out or being homebound? What choice do they actually have?

Hon. Michelle Stilwell: The member opposite is simply wrong. She’s the one spreading misinformation.

Let me try again, as I did last Thursday. Let me clarify and make things perfectly clear. The bus pass is still available to people with disabilities on assistance who choose to have it. Those who choose it will receive a $25 increase to their rates. The $45 administration fee was the same administration fee that was there prior. It’s the same administration fee that they will pay now if they choose a bus pass.

For 45,000 individuals with a disability receiving assistance in this province, they will receive a $77 increase to their rates. The change that we have made in this budget not only creates equity and fairness across the system to allow everybody in the system to receive the same amount of money no matter where they live. It also creates an opportunity for them to make their own choices. We believe people deserve to make their own choices.

Madame Speaker: The member for Nelson-Creston on a supplemental.

[1420]

M. Mungall: I just listened to what the minister had to say, and it sounds a lot like I was right. She just said exactly what I did. There’s a $45 annual administration fee. It has always been there, and it’s still there. And they had the audacity with this budget to add an extra $624 a year to the cost of a bus pass for people with disabilities. I don’t know why they refuse to admit to that.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members. All members will come to order.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: All members will come to order.

Please continue.

M. Mungall: Those are the facts of the matter. I mean there’s really no dispute. I don’t know why the Liberals try to draw up that line. Maybe it’s because they’re still on the game of trying to make it look like they’re doing the right thing but refusing to do the right thing. That kind of shell game with people’s well-being is not okay. It is wrong.

It’s cruel. It is cruel to increase the cost of bus passes for people with disabilities on assistance by $624 a year. They

[ Page 10565 ]

have enough barriers in life. Why is this minister adding more barriers to people with disabilities who rely on this government for supports?

Hon. Michelle Stilwell: The member opposite is simply wrong with her facts. This policy change is an investment of $170 million of new money to disability assistance rates. The investment that we are making builds on the policy reforms and changes we’ve already made that are helping to break down barriers and increase independence for people with disabilities. This is providing choice to people with disabilities, providing them with an increase to their rates, as well as providing fairness across the system.

We are a government who continues to grow the economy so that we can make these investments: $1.2 billion in the next three years in social programs. That’s something to be proud of. That’s something I’m proud of.

[End of question period.]

Orders of the Day

Hon. T. Stone: I call continuing budget debate.

[R. Lee in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

H. Bains: It’s always good to stand and entertain the minister from Vancouver — somewhere out there.

[1425]

This is my second opportunity, after I started on Thursday, to finish off my budget speech. What I said on Thursday was that the one thing that’s very clear in the budget: the top 2 percent in British Columbia will continue to get tax breaks from this government. So $230 million last year, $230 million this year, two more years — a total of $1 billion tax break for the top 2 percent.

Then you look, on the other side, at the ordinary working people, the middle class — those who don’t have means and a fixed income. B.C. Hydro continues to go up for them. MSP premiums continue to go up. B.C. Ferries continues to go up. Park fees continue to go up. ICBC premiums continue to go up. That’s the tough choice that this government has made.

As they have said — minister after minister, speaker after speaker — they had to make some tough choices. Those are the choices — choices very clearly…. The top 2 percent in the country get tax breaks. And those hard-working middle class and people on fixed incomes? This government continues to go deeper and deeper into their pockets. That is exactly what is happening.

Now, let’s take a look at what they are doing to some of the real issues that we all face out there. There is nothing about affordability.

Interjection.

H. Bains: I’m talking about affordability. The Minister of Advanced Education hasn’t got a clue what we are talking about when we talk about affordability. That’s very clear as he’s chirping away. There is nothing — no answers to the public transportation….

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members, order. Order.

H. Bains: I think they will have their opportunity to speak. They have nothing to say. They keep on chirping away at other people. That has been the history of these two ministers at least. They chirp away out there. When their opportunity comes, they have nothing to say — nothing to say.

Let’s continue on. They have nothing — no answer here for a public transportation extension in Vancouver or south of the Fraser. There’s nothing to combat crime in British Columbia, especially south of the Fraser in Surrey, where we had 60 shootings last year. There’s nothing to deal with the forest industry that is on its knees under the watch of this government. Thirty-one thousand fewer people are working in the forest industry today than when they took over in 2001. There’s nothing to deal with the wait times at Surrey Memorial Hospital or other places anywhere in the province.

Here is one for the minister of post-secondary education — nothing to deal with all those students who need to go to post-secondary education and get their skills and training upgraded in order to get jobs in the future, because 80 percent of future jobs will require some sort of post-secondary education degree or diploma. There’s nothing. It’s becoming more and more difficult for students to get post-secondary education. Tuition fees continue to rise. That is the record of this government.

Let’s talk about some of the real issues, outside of these, that are faced by hard-working small businesses employed in the taxi industry and in the trucking industry.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members. Members, order.

H. Bains: Let’s take a look at the taxi industry first. Let’s take a look at that. I know they don’t want to hear this, and I know they don’t want to hear about the truckers issue either. I know that. You’ll see that when the truth comes, this government, especially those ministers who were involved in it, will just shy away and walk away from this issue.

Let’s talk about the taxi industry. There are over 2,000 families who depend on the taxi industry in the Lower Mainland; 2,000 licences are out there. You multiply by

[ Page 10566 ]

two, and you’re talking about 5,000-6,000 families that depend on the taxi industry. They mortgage their homes to buy those jobs. There are many drivers working in the taxi industry.

[1430]

What does this government do? About a year and a half ago, they were just playing political games with the taxi industry. That’s not the way to operate and come up with policies to deal with hard-working small businesses and hard-working people of this province. In 2014, the Minister of Transportation said “no way” to Uber. If Uber wants to come in, they must come through just like every taxi company and every taxi owner went through, to get their taxi licence. That was said in 2014.

Guess what. Uber is very, very rich — a $62 billion company. What do they do? Like they have done everywhere else, they went to the top. They went into the Premier’s office and hired two of her high officials: principal secretary Dimitri Pantazopoulos and Carling Dick. Guess what. Now they have a direct line to the Premier’s office. And they are working for a company called Maple Leaf Strategies which is lobbying, on behalf of Uber, this government.

Now the ministers are meeting with them, and I want to say this. One meeting took place July 21, 2015, with the Minister of Technology, who was chirping away here because he didn’t want to hear the truth. What happened after that? Minister of Transportation Stone changed. From “no way” to Uber, he went on to say, “It’s a matter of when,” not if. “Uber is inevitable.” That’s what the Minister of Transportation said after that meeting that took place with the Minister of Technology.

Something happened there, and the Minister of Technology has a lot of explaining to do to the taxi industry. Many of those people live in his riding. He has to come out and explain what it was that he said to Uber. What was it that he did in his capacity? Did he support his taxi industry? Or did he support Uber and start lobbying his government on behalf of Uber? He has to come up and have some answers on that. He has not said anything about that.

But the facts here are clear. After that meeting, things changed. The minister is saying that now it’s inevitable. It’s a matter of when, not if. When there was a lot of pressure from the taxi industry and the local communities, then the government said: “Well, not anytime soon.”

The minister was taking two or three different positions. When he went to the South Asian media, he had a different position. When he went to the mainstream media, he had a different position. But at the end of the day, the Premier took that file away from the Minister of Transportation and gave it to the Minister for TransLink.

Lo and behold, now we find out that his chief of staff’s daughter is Carling Dick, who is employed by Maple Leaf Strategies, which is lobbying this government on behalf of Uber. Clear conflict. I might say, it’s not a fault of Carling Dick or her mother, who was the chief of staff with the Minister for TransLink.

It’s the minister. It’s his responsibility. He must know what those conflict-of-interest rules are. He must ensure not only that he must not be in conflict of interest but that there should be no perception. He left no doubt in anybody’s mind that clearly there’s a conflict of interest.

Now the minister is saying: “Well, you know, we will not do anything until the election.” What a comfort to the taxi industry. He didn’t say that we will ensure that there’s a level playing field. Whether it’s Uber or somebody else or the taxi industry, they must come in through the same level playing field as far as the transportation rules and regulations are concerned.

He didn’t say that. He said: not until the election. What does that say? That clearly says: “You dare elect us again, and we will bring Uber in.” And the taxi industry knows that. They know that the jobs are in danger and they will be bankrupted by a stroke of a pen by one of these ministers. They know that. That’s one thing — how they’ve played games with the hard-working small businesses in favour of a multinational. That’s the record of this government.

[1435]

Now let’s talk about truckers. If you remember, there was a long strike at the port — the container truck operators. They were out for weeks.

They would not do anything when it was brought to their attention by Unifor, the union that represents many of those truckers, the UTA, the United Truckers Association. They would not listen to them, because they were warned time and again since 2005 that the shutdown was imminent. This government would do nothing.

This government will say: “Well, it’s the federal government.” The federal government will say: “No, the provincial government has to deal with this.” And when they get together, they say: “Well, the port has to deal with this.” So they are throwing this thing all over the place except for taking on responsibility themselves.

Yes, there was a port shutdown. I believe it was six weeks. Many businesses lost big-time as a result of that. Those truckers lost big-time. Even during the strike, this government continued to say: “Well, it’s their fault. We will talk to them if they go back to work first.”

Lo and behold, what happened? When we fought on the side of the truckers and this government brought in back-to-work legislation without even settling the issue, we were fighting here on behalf of the truckers. Then there was a settlement.

The same government, the ministers who were saying that it was the truckers’ fault — that it wasn’t this government’s fault — were tripping over each other to get it in front of the camera that they settled this dispute. Well, everyone was happy that the dispute was settled, and they promised that the truckers would get retroactive pay. They are guaranteed rates now. But guess what. They’re still waiting for the retroactive pay — still.

[ Page 10567 ]

Not only that, now the commissioner is in court over an agreement that this government signed, the Premier signed, the federal government signed, and the truckers are refusing to pay retro. Many did, but there are a few still out there, and the government is in hiding — not doing anything now, because they got their photo op.

Then the commissioner was appointed through legislation here. The port went ahead and hired new trucks. They brought in a new process to bring in the truckers who would qualify to come and work at the port. You know what? Again, a grade 5 student can do a better job. What did they do? They put in a process, and they put in a deadline that by that date, all those who wished to work at the port make an application, and these would be the prerequisites. They all signed on the prerequisites. This is what they did during their process.

Before the deadline was over, many applied, and they said: “You must have four points to qualify, out of ten.” They have a number of criteria. They give you points. If you get four, you’re in. But before the process was over, before the deadline was over, they raised the threshold to six points. Many people with five points were left out when people with four points were in. They had to go to the court to have that thing thrown out.

This is how badly they treat the truckers, and this government comes for photo ops, comes across as if they support the truckers, but once the photo op is over, they’re nowhere to be seen, and those truckers are left to fight their own fight. They were left with the understanding that this government somehow had solved their problems. Then what?

It didn’t even end there. Now there’s the issue of truck age — that those trucks cannot be more than ten years old. Here’s what the truckers have to say. I’ll read you the letter…. Mr. Ranjit Barn wrote this.

[1440]

He said:

“Here are some of the issues concerning the container truck owners and operators about the age limit on their trucks and the environment concerns imposed by the port and the TLS. One, Fraser Surrey Docks, Surrey, Fraser River. Many heavy hybrid trucks are using these facilities for many purposes from container yards, lumberyards, steel, metal. The users of the container yards are being forced to operate their trucks in accordance with the TLS requirement to meet the environmental concerns they have imposed. The users of the lumberyard and the steel and metal yard are not being forced to upgrade to make any changes to their trucks.”

Anyway, they can simply continue to use the existing trucks that do not meet any of the requirements imposed by the port.

The TLS has not said anything to the users of the lumberyard or the steel and metal yard users. Also, the container yard equipment…. They call them the yard hustlers. Those are the machines that they use within the yard to move those containers around. The machinery is quite old, and we are pretty sure that this equipment and machinery does not meet any of the TLS requirements for their environmental concerns. Clearly, this shows how this is not fair to the outside users of the container yard.

Two, Lynnterm — North Vancouver, North Shore, Burrard Inlet. These properties are also used by many trucks. As well, there’s no TLS truck age environmental requirement in place similar to what is used above with the Fraser Surrey Docks.

Three, Vanterm and Canterm Terminals on Commissioner Street. On Commissioner Street, there is Rogers Sugar, West Coast Reduction, Columbia Containers, VersaCold, Ocean Fisheries and many more businesses. Again, any truck is able to access these businesses, which are located on the same street as the Vanterm and Canterm terminals, but to access the Vanterm and Canterm Terminals, you need a truck that meets the TLS truck age and environmental requirements.

So you can see this clearly isn’t fair to the trucks using the Vancouver ports, as these regulations put in place are not fair and don’t really resolve any issue with environmental concerns that they are imposing. Clearly, on many areas of the Vancouver ports, only the container truckers are required to go with these restrictions: the age of the truck and the environmental equipment that they have to have. It’s not fair. Those are some of the things that are clearly, again, before the courts.

Now, let’s talk about some of the other issues. We have serious issues about WCB. PTSD. There are so many first responders who go through trauma, and there’s hardly anything for them when they are suffering from that trauma. They are left on their own. That’s not how you treat our workers — the way this government is treating them.

I’m told that my time is running out. That’s not very good. I’ve got so much to say. Then we have our education system. I have a lot more to say. I probably will speak again. My time ran out.

Hon. M. Morris: I’ve been listening, off and on, to the members opposite over the last couple of weeks, and some of the comments concern me, some of the comments that they make.

I think there’s an inherent responsibility with all elected officials, whether they be municipal local government, provincial or federal, to support our public institutions, like police and like many of the other institutions that we have. I’ve heard some information coming from across the House that’s not factual. In fact, I think it’s embellished purposely to promote fear into constituents. I can’t think of any other reason why some of the information would be presented in the fashion that it has other than to do that — and probably, you know, politically motivated rather than to consider the public good.

I’m going to concentrate on policing. The member for Vancouver–Point Grey made some comments, as other members have, with respect to Surrey crime. There have been broad statements about the shootings and the issues that are going on over there.

[ Page 10568 ]

The police are dealing with that in a very professional manner. If the members opposite wanted to get some of the factual information, all they have to do is ask. I haven’t had one request from the members opposite coming into my office to give them an update on what’s going on with the Surrey crime, with organized crime, with street-level crime throughout the province. I would welcome them, if they wanted to get an update on that, to come in and talk to me, and we can give them the actual facts.

I think it’s incumbent upon the members opposite, as it is for any other elected official, to assure the public that the institutions that we have in this great country of ours are doing the job necessary to keep everybody safe.

[1445]

I am going to talk about policing a little bit, because it does consume a fairly significant part of our provincial budget and municipal budgets. The municipalities are spending in excess of $1 billion a year on policing. The province is spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on policing as well for the provincial jurisdictions.

Police officers spend their entire life dealing with other people’s problems. They’re protecting the public from liars, cheats, thieves, scoundrels of all types that prey upon the vulnerable citizens in our communities. The police are intervenors in domestic violence and all other types of societal violence that affects every individual that resides in our communities.

We deal with the fallout and the worst-possible circumstances associated with substance abuse or mental illness that’s aggravated by substance abuse or aggravated by individuals who don’t take their medication or don’t take it frequently enough. The police are called in to deal with that.

The police investigate the nefarious deeds done by those intent on taking advantage of people right across our society, right from the lowest folks that are struggling in the sociodemographics that we have to the richest ones. Crime knows of no boundaries.

When the police aren’t dealing with issues like that on a day-to-day basis, they’re protecting the public from one another. Oftentimes, I’ve heard it described as babysitting. What I’m talking about…. A couple of examples. The police are admonishing those who disobey speed laws and ignore road and weather conditions. That leads to hundreds of unnecessary deaths and debilitating injuries. We’re admonishing those who persist in texting and reading while they’re driving, whose actions also contribute to hundreds of preventable deaths and injuries across the province.

Police provide impromptu counselling for those that are airing their problems in public or don’t know how to get along with one another, and subsequently, the police are called in. Oftentimes, it’s dealing with personal relationship issues. It’s dealing with marriage. It’s dealing with parenting. It’s dealing with behavioural modifications, perhaps, for siblings or for children at home — a multitude of issues that the police are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.

Police in British Columbia respond to tens of thousands of calls from the public and have tens of thousands of interactions with the public on a daily basis. They’re the default. They’re the ones that people call when they know of no other organization that can come to them with help. The police are front and centre in our communities, and I think they need the support of everybody in this House. They need the support of all the elected officials to ensure that they’ve got all the tools necessary to do their job.

When they do that job, they do it in this fantastic country of ours to the rule of law. The rule of law has been developed over centuries, and here in British Columbia — we’re no different than many of the other provinces — we covet that right in Canada. The rule of law has been developed to the point where it prescribes exactly how a police officer conducts their investigation, the steps that they need to take.

Those steps are…. You can’t rule any of them out. You have to take the steps as prescribed by the various courts and tribunals in this country. If you don’t, you stand the chance of losing a case when it does get to court.

Now, I remember a number of years ago that I used to do a lot of reading on various court decisions and court cases and tribunals that exist. I was reading about a convention. I believe it’s the Law Society of Upper Canada, but I could be wrong. It was a Supreme Court justice that was at this event, and he was making a keynote speech, and in that speech he said: “The main event is no longer the guilt or innocence of the accused. The main event is now the integrity of the investigation.”

That puts a lot of weight on the police officers — the men and women that are out there conducting those investigations — to make sure that they follow the rule of law in order to get successful prosecutions at the end of the day.

[1450]

During that process, the defence counsel oftentimes has the opportunity to test the integrity of the witnesses that attend — not only police witnesses but the victims of crime, the witnesses that happen to be around when a situation like that would take place. I think that leads to a lot of victims that we have out there, with not only sexual assault but domestic violence, to become silent. They don’t want to be forced into the rigour that we have within our court system to ensure that we are adhering to the letter of the law.

That adds more burden to police resources. We’ve got the victims of crime. We have all kinds of support units that go out and help these people through some of the traumatic situations they’re in. Those police budgets certainly get used up in situations like that.

Police in B.C. are funded in various ways. For communities of 5,000 people and under, the province accepts responsibility for that, and the province pays for 70 per-

[ Page 10569 ]

cent of the policing costs with the RCMP, as the provincial force in British Columbia. The federal government pays for 30 percent. If we get into communities that have 5,000 people or more, then that ratio goes, and it’s turned over to the local government, where they spend 70 percent of their local budget on policing and the federal government will kick in 30 percent.

Then we get into the communities with 15,000 people and more, like Surrey, where they pay 90 percent of the policing costs and the federal government kicks in 10 percent. Of course, we have our independent police offices throughout the Lower Mainland and British Columbia, where they cover 100 percent of the policing costs.

I just looked at Surrey. I’ll use that as an example, because it’s been raised in the House here over time, and it’s been in the news — you know, the Surrey crime rate and whatnot. The Surrey crime rate has actually gone down. Violent crime in British Columbia, violent crime across Canada, has gone down significantly over the last decade.

We did have a spike in Surrey last year, which is very concerning for us as government, but it’s just as concerning for the municipality of Surrey. It’s as concerning, or more, for the police in those communities. There’s nothing that will garner the attention of the police quicker than gunshots in a public place. And there’s nothing that will guarantee an up-close, personal relationship with the police than being the one that pulls the trigger in a situation like that.

Throughout the Lower Mainland, a number of years ago, we had the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. looking at organized crime — which is, you know, quite prolific in British Columbia. It has morphed into the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which is a group of police officers from all the departments in the Lower Mainland, all the RCMP detachments.

The province is funding that to the tune of $60 million a year, which is largely spent in an urban environment. Most of the policing costs are covered by the municipalities, but the province saw this as a priority for us, and we’re putting a lot of effort into it to try and bring the street-level crime to a halt, to do everything that we can there. We’re doing that.

Of course, what we’ve done since we formed this group…. They’ve established a lot of different strategies and whatnot, and they’ve learned that these organized crime groups are connected right across the province. They’re quite prolific here in the Lower Mainland, but they are as prolific throughout the province here.

Coupled with the investigative capability of this particular unit, they’ve also established some anti-gang activities that try and dissuade young men, mostly — but there are young women involved in that — from joining these gangs and carrying on with those gangs. The combined forces special unit has done a great job in attending our prisons, connecting with these individuals on a regular, routine basis and offering them a way out of that kind of a lifestyle. There have been some successes to that.

To criticize the police throughout the province here, throughout the country, for not doing anything, I think, is wrong. The more support we put in their direction, I think, the more successful we’ll be, and the more understanding everybody will be, with what’s going on here.

[1455]

Now, the member for Vancouver–Point Grey was also talking about Osoyoos. He had some comment…. I don’t have the paper in front of me with the exact quote. Basically, he was saying that Osoyoos is very depressed because of the Okanagan correctional centre that is being built in that particular area.

We do need a place to put these street-level crooks that the police are doing such a great job in apprehending. They’re going to be serving their time in jail to answer for the crimes that they’ve committed.

The Osoyoos correctional centre — the province has put $200 million into that facility in capital to build that state-of-the-art correctional centre. We’re going to be employing 250 new corrections employees at that facility — 250 new people coming into the community, living in the south part of the Okanagan and contributing to the local economy. Those are the direct jobs. There are many more indirect jobs that are related to the corrections centre that’s put there.

As a result of that…. I was meeting in that community not too long ago. House prices have gone up or maintained their value, but have been going up in many areas there. Employment opportunities. They’ve seen an increase in the population there. That’s been significant. So to say that Osoyoos is depressed, I think, is not factual. It’s something that this government is very proud of, to go and build a facility like that in partnership with the First Nations groups that are there.

I recently met with the mayor of Surrey. There have been comments about this government not responding to the request to put more police officers into Surrey. Number one, the number of police officers in a municipal area with more than 15,000 people — actually, with more than 5,000 people — is the responsibility of local government.

Last May the mayor of Surrey requested 100 more officers for the city of Surrey. I can tell you that, as of today, I believe there are about 83 or 84 officers that are on site. There are another five that have been identified, and the rest should be identified prior to the end of this fiscal year.

I think that’s remarkable, coming from that organization myself and knowing how the HR system works within the RCMP. To throw 100 more resources into that community when they were only requested in May of last year, of 2015, I think is a remarkable feat. The mayor is ecstatic. She’s very happy with the response that she got from this government and from the RCMP in ensuring that those resources are there.

Our Premier announced an additional $5 million for guns and gangs in the province here at UBCM. It’s been

[ Page 10570 ]

included in this budget for 2016-2017. That money is being geared towards activities like we have in Williams Lake, for an example. We’ve had a spike in street-level gang activity up there. We’ve put our Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit into Williams Lake to try and get a handle on those activities there. They’ve had some successes so far.

We’re going to make sure that that money is utilized to address the street-level gang activity right across the province and enhance what our combined special forces unit is already doing.

In addition to that, B.C. has done a remarkable job in developing integrated units. Our integrated homicide unit is one fine example there, where we do have resources from all the police departments and detachments in the Lower Mainland working collectively, along with significant provincial resources, to address the homicides that we have in the province here and throughout the Lower Mainland, with some significant successes there.

They are also supported by what we call the Real Time Intelligence Centre that we have in Surrey. This is a centre that gathers real-time intelligence from throughout the Lower Mainland that aids investigators to make on-the-spot decisions. In fact, the police officers have been able to predict, in several instances, where a crime might take place, and they’ve gone and been able to thwart the activities before anything really serious happened.

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The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit…. They’re tailing these gang members around. They’ve identified who the main prolific offenders are. Oftentimes — in fact, it’s occurred several hundred times over the last five years — this group has received information where the life of another gang member has been threatened. There’s imminent danger for that particular individual, and they have a duty to inform. They’ve done that hundreds of times. They’ve gone and let a rival gang member know that this was a possibility up there so that they could take the appropriate action to stop that.

This shows the level of engagement that our police officers have in the Lower Mainland with gang activity and trying to subdue the street-level gang, the drug trafficking and the things that place the vulnerable people in jeopardy throughout the province here.

I thought I would bring those points up because it’s important that MLAs and government officials on all sides of the House, at all levels of government, support the institutions that we have. Whether it be police — in this case, because that’s part of my responsibility — or corrections or health or any other field that we have, we have dedicated bureaucrats throughout the province that are working tirelessly to keep everybody in this province safe and healthy and out of harm’s way.

Further to the budget, in January of this year, I hosted the 13th annual Natural Resource Forum for British Columbia. That was an outstanding success. We had 800 preregistrations for it. We ended up with 1,000 people attending. There was a trade fair. There were people from all across North America that were attending this event. There was optimism in the air, despite the commodity prices that are down. Despite all the pressures that we have worldwide, on economies right around the world, there’s still optimism there.

A lot of that optimism had to do with the level of interest that our government has taken into diversifying our economy to make sure that we’re not reliant on any one particular part of the resource sector. We have forestry, which has been a mainstay in British Columbia now for decades. It has helped build our schools, our roads, our hospitals and other social infrastructure that we have.

Mining has been another terrific part of it. They’re experiencing a downturn in commodities, as has happened in the past. We’ve seen that the tech sector has really grown in this province. Agriculture has really expanded in this province. Aquaculture has expanded in this province. There are a number of things now where we have….

Everybody’s out there working, contributing to the great economy that we have, which has led to a triple-A credit rating. The triple-A credit rating is something that people probably don’t really grasp. We’re the only jurisdiction in Canada right now that enjoys that triple-A credit rating. That gives us…. You know, if we were to have the same credit rating as some of the other jurisdictions in the country here, we would be spending, probably, an extra $2 billion a year on interest.

We can take that $2 billion and we can put it into policing. We can address the guns and gangs issues, like we have. We can put it into increased access for persons with disabilities. We can put it into social housing. We can do a number of things with that money, which is exactly what we’ve done. That comes from a strong economy.

There’s been criticism about the amount of debt that jurisdictions across the country have. The debt that we have…. I guess the way I’ve explained it to people back in my constituency — and family members, quite frankly, when they ask me about it — is that I try to turn it into something personal that everybody experiences.

We go to work every day, and we get a paycheque every two weeks. We take that money that we get every two weeks, and we decide how much we can afford after we’ve paid for our groceries. Can we buy a house? If we can buy a house, then that’s a mortgage. Can we buy a car? Those types of things.

When we look at our debt-to-GDP ratio…. The banks look at our income versus our debt when we go to the bank for a mortgage. That’s similar. We’ve got significant revenues coming into this province. We are investing in construction. We’re putting, I believe, $12 billion into infrastructure spending over the next number of years here now. That is going to benefit the children and our grandchildren of the future.

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We are paying down the operational deficit that we’ve had in this province now for decades. In this fiscal forecast that we have here, we’ll get it down to a very workable $2-point-some billion here within the next couple of years. But we have the opportunity to pay that off, probably, within the next five, six or seven years or so, which will be the first time since the late 1960s, I believe, which is significant.

If we take the interest that we’ve been paying on that operational deficit over the past number of years, it could have gone a long way towards paying for some of the social programs that we have.

That’s the track that we’re on. We’re making some great headway. I think this budget is an excellent budget. It shows that we are serious about addressing some of the socioeconomic needs that we have within the province here with those that need it the most.

At the same time, we’re going to make sure that we provide a strong environment for industry to come and work and for our resource sector to flourish so that they, in turn, can provide jobs for British Columbians and that we have a future for our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren down the road here.

We’re going to leave this province in a state where they’re not going to be paying for things that we’re getting today. They’re not going to be paying for the groceries — as our Finance Minister puts it — that we use today in ten, 15, 20 years down the road, like we have been the past number of years.

I wholeheartedly support this budget. I think that we’re making great strides. We’re an economic force to contend with, in the province here, and we will continue to be that economic force. We’re going to continue to grow our economy and continue to pay attention to the people within our society that need the help the most.

M. Elmore: I’m very pleased to rise, speak and give my response to the budget on behalf of constituents in Vancouver-Kensington. I’m going to be speaking against the budget. I feel that it does not meet the concerns of British Columbians, families in Vancouver-Kensington and small businesses throughout Metro Vancouver or the province.

I’d like to start with a few comments about the community in Vancouver-Kensington and what are, I think, some of the real strengths of the community and also how the 2016 budget misses the mark in terms of addressing the priority concerns and issues that have come forward to me.

Throughout the last year…. We have a very vibrant and resilient community in Vancouver-Kensington, and I think some of the organizations that really contribute to building such a strong community…. It is one of the most diverse in Metro Vancouver.

We have a high proportion of constituents who have immigrated to Canada from all over the world, and we have nearly three-quarters who call themselves immigrants and speak a second language — so, very diverse. We’re really seeing that reflected in many community organizations and thriving businesses in the area.

I enjoy, in Vancouver-Kensington, a high proportion of small businesses in some of the real developing areas in Vancouver — very dynamic in terms of businesses along Fraser Street, represented by the South Hill Business Association or along Victoria Drive, in the Victoria Drive Business Improvement Association.

I just wanted to mention that through the many celebrations marking lunar new year in Vancouver and, really, across the province…. It was during the occasion that I visited and talked to many small businesses along the area. I heard from them many concerns about how it’s difficult to run a small business and to be successful. It takes long hours. It takes a lot of work, and it’s really a full-time commitment. One of the comments that made a mark on me was from a business along Victoria Drive.

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I was speaking to the owner, who has been in business for over 15 years but was commenting that now they find it’s becoming increasingly difficult — difficult not only in terms of the day-to-day challenges of running a successful small business but also having to cope with the increased costs, with making rent and the increasing B.C. Hydro fees and other fees that were just becoming an increasing burden. This is also a recurring theme that I’ve heard from business owners throughout the area in Vancouver-Kensington, and I’ll be addressing some of those, as well, in my remarks.

Also of mention, particularly in Vancouver-Kensington, is that the South Vancouver community policing centre has a new permanent home there, thanks to Vancouver city, and a lease for a building. They’ve been looking for a permanent building since their last lease ran out, and it was through cooperation with the city of Vancouver that they were able to secure a new building, have it renovated and move in. This has been a very popular and successful program, supported by the community. We’re also looking to open up a satellite office on Fraser Street.

Continuing along remarks of when I talk to families and when folks come into my community office, I hear a number of stories with respect to the challenges that individuals and families are facing in Vancouver-Kensington around making ends meet. One of them…. I think it’s really laid out, the contrast, around what was presented in Budget 2016. It doesn’t meet the needs and the priorities and concerns of families.

I think that to really characterize a very stark contrast that reflects the values of the government being out of sync with British Columbians…. It is reflected in what we’re seeing — a continuation now of the tax cut for the top 2 percent. A tax cut, unsolicited and unrequested but, nevertheless, continued by this B.C. Liberal government for the wealthiest 2 percent, will see, over four

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years, $1 billion given to the wealthiest 2 percent in British Columbia.

That’s in the face of what we’re seeing — and to really contrast it to what is a very cold-hearted move: the removal of support for bus passes for people with disabilities. So on the one hand, we see, over four years, a tax cut to the wealthiest 2 percent — $1 billion. They’re continuing with that, on the one hand, and where are they taking it from? From people with disabilities and their ability for transportation, clawing back the support for a bus pass for people with disabilities.

As well, we see announced recently the creation…. We heard it as a campaign promise by the Premier in the 2013 election: the establishment of a prosperity fund. This was a prosperity fund — one of the promises, if you recall — that would be funded by revenue from our liquefied natural gas industry. We are still waiting for the first facility to be up and running. Nonetheless, that doesn’t stop this government, the B.C. Liberals, from proclaiming and assigning $100 million to this prosperity fund, which has been characterized as a fantasy fund. So $100 million, and not one dollar is actually coming from revenue of liquefied natural gas.

You may ask yourself: “Now, where does the $100 million come from?” This $100 million for the Premier’s fantasy fund is coming out of the pockets of British Columbians through a continued increase in medical services premiums. We are seeing a fantasy fund created not out of revenue — which was the initial promise — from the LNG industry but coming out of the pockets of British Columbians, coming out of the increases this year to the MSP premiums.

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This is really some of the contrast around the priorities and values of this government, reflected in the budget speech. We see the continuing tax cut to the wealthiest British Columbians, which will equal $1 billion over four years. We see the announcement that $100 million for the Premier’s fantasy fund will come not out of the industry but from the pockets of British Columbians. We’re seeing, as well, increasing fees that British Columbians are being subjected to — and families.

We see that there are increasing fees, not only in terms of medical services premiums…. We have an announcement that there will be some relief for families with MSP premiums — positive steps — that children will be exempt and that the threshold is being raised in terms of MSP premiums. However, the families and individuals will have to wait until 2017 before they see that relief.

We are seeing, overall, that those increases are continuing. The 4 percent MSP premiums are continuing to increase this year and next year. That is a steady reality for families.

In addition, we’re seeing not only increases in MSP premiums to families; we’re seeing increases in ferry rates, increases to ICBC, increases to hydro and to park fees. These are impacting the ability of individuals and families to basically meet their daily budgets, their monthly budgets, and it’s creating a hardship on my constituents in Vancouver-Kensington and individuals and families right across British Columbia.

I was disappointed that there was a lack of support for education. We did not see the needed support for education in this budget. There are a couple of different areas that I want to address with respect to a shortfall in education funding.

We see that the Vancouver school board is facing cuts up to $24 million. This is due to downloading of costs and, really, accumulating cuts that have come onto the school boards over a number of years due to underfunding and off-loading of the provincial government onto school boards, unfunded costs that are downloaded to school boards. These are going to result in cuts to services and putting increasing pressure on Vancouver school board.

We see that in the budget, under the Ministry of Education, funding for public schools is not even covering the cost of inflation, let alone covering the increase in student enrolment that is expected over the next year. In addition to that, with only a 1 percent increase in funding, it falls short of matching the cost of inflation.

We see also a decrease in the budget, a $21 million cut to capital spending on schools. This adds to the shortfall. We see that funding for public schools is falling behind and is not enough to make up even for the cost of inflation, as well as to account for the cuts that have taken place over the last number of years and, as well, reduction in capital spending.

We see an increasing pressure and an inability to reverse the increases in class size and composition that are becoming more and more complicated and are becoming more compounded. And this is in the face…. Just over a year ago, we heard from the Premier that class composition was the number one priority. We’re not seeing that reflected in this budget, and I’m very concerned about the impact in Vancouver and in Vancouver-Kensington. This is an issue that needs attention. We’re talking about a public education. That’s kindergarten to grade 12.

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I want to address, as well, the shortfall in post-secondary education. When we talk about the ability of British Columbians to access opportunities, we know that jobs, now and in the future, require people to have not only grade 12 education but to upgrade their skills in vocational schools or post-secondary education or other institutes to gain more skills and to have an opportunity for good-paying jobs in our economy.

We see that with this Budget 2016 and post-secondary education, the increase does not even keep pace with the cost of inflation — with the increase scheduled this year, only 1.2 percent. It doesn’t keep pace this year, and it also doesn’t make up for the cuts that have been imposed on

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post-secondary education over the last three years. That’s just with the ability of post-secondary institutions to offer courses to students.

On top of that, we have the issue of high student debt. We don’t see resolve or anything in the budget to address that or the high cost of tuition. This budget falls short in providing adequate levels of funding to post-secondary education. It does not address the issue and the difficulties of students who have high student debt. It also fails to address the rising tuition fees.

These are disappointing. In our economy and the need for post-secondary education, it really creates more barriers for students to have the opportunities in our job market. It burdens students with a high level of student debt.

In addition to the shortfall in the Ministry of Education and the shortfall in the ministry of post-secondary education, I also have concerns with the continuing lack of funding for adult basic education. Adult basic education is education for adults. It ranges from basic literacy and numeracy levels up to high school completion.

Adult basic education had been tuition-free in B.C. since 2007. At that time, the Minister of Advanced Education, Murray Coell, and the Minister of Education at the time, Minister Bond, stated: “This expansion of adult basic education will help more learners improve their literacy skills and prepare for better futures.” However, we saw a cut in December 2014. The provincial government announced a $6.9 million cut to adult basic education programming in B.C. and removed the tuition-free adult basic education mandate.

Since January 1, 2015, public post-secondary institutions were allowed to charge up to $1,600 per term in tuition fees for full-time adult basic education courses. Provincial governments will no longer fund school districts for tuition-free upgrading courses for graduated adults.

We know that adult basic education, when it was brought in…. The principle was that it should provide and increase the literacy and numeracy skills of individuals to be able to access the job market. That was a sound principle then, and it remains today. It has even more importance because we have such a demand for skilled labour.

We know, from the government’s own projections, that less than 5 percent of new jobs created over the next ten years will only require high school completion. So, certainly, there’s an importance for individuals to have the opportunity to upgrade their skills. Adult basic education programs are an investment in the future, and it’s an investment that we can make now, on the front end, that will show benefits not only for individuals but strengthen our economy into the future.

It’s a very shortsighted cut. Research shows that adult basic education course completion lays the needed groundwork for success in post-secondary education and labour market attachment. We know the value of adult basic education.

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I have, just down the street from my community office, the South Hill adult education centre, which offers excellent courses and provides that upgrading opportunity. I’ve met with many students and instructors about the value and benefit of being able to upgrade their skills, complete their diplomas and really transition into college courses.

We know that the graduation rate now is about 80 percent for high school completion. That’s the graduation rate, so we have 20 percent of students now that don’t graduate grade 12. This is a gap that is a priority and is important in terms of ensuring that these students who come out of the school system every year have an opportunity, through different life experiences and different realities, to access courses that will allow them to upgrade their skills and be able to find a job that is meaningful and that is important for our economy.

We know, as well, that adult basic education affects disproportionately the working poor. These are the individuals that are impacted. Now, with the cuts to adult basic education, the government has put in place a cap for tuition per term, which is $1,600 per term, which is equivalent to tuition for some master’s courses. We see that that’s a barrier, as well, for students who are seeking to upgrade their skills.

The charging of tuition fees for adult basic education learners creates another barrier for those struggling to improve their already life-challenging circumstances. We know that B.C. has one of the highest rates of poverty in Canada and is the last province in Canada to have an anti-poverty plan. That is also missing from the budget. This policy — the cancelling and continuing to not fund adult basic education — will exacerbate the already high levels of poverty and income inequality in British Columbia. In addition, people on welfare are not allowed to access adult basic education.

This is an example of an investment that the B.C. Liberal government can make. It’s $6.9 million that would clearly benefit not only the 20 percent of students who do not graduate every year but, as well, individuals who want to re-enter the workforce — new immigrants, as well — to gain the skills that they need to enter post-secondary or trades training or certificate training courses, to be able to upgrade their skills and have better opportunities in our workforce. They feel that this is a very unfair and very shortsighted cut. It creates a big gap of opportunity for individuals to access opportunities.

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Now, $6.9 million — let’s look at that and compare that. This government cannot find $6.9 million to reinstate adult basic education courses, but the Premier could find $100 million for her fantasy fund out of the pockets of British Columbians. So $100 million in the fantasy slush fund for the Premier and a lack of willingness or political will or commitment to ensure that marginalized British Columbians have the opportunity to fulfil their educational goals and to be successful in our workforce.

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It’s a very shortsighted view. It just shows…. It really illustrates the lack of commitment and really exposes the priority of this government. On the one hand, the Premier sees fit to create a $100 million slush fund, a fantasy fund, but on the other hand, refuses to invest in what is characterized by economists, instructors and businesses across the board as a good, solid investment in our education system.

It provides the foundation to allow individuals to learn the skills that they need to be successful. So a shortfall of this government taking responsibility to lay the foundation to allow British Columbians to be successful.

I also want to address the crisis of affordable housing that we see in Metro Vancouver and right across this province. The lack of action that this government has taken over the last number of years really continues with the lack of commitment that we’ve seen in this budget.

We know that the government record…. We look at: why is there a crisis in housing? Why is there such a crisis in affordable housing in Metro Vancouver? It didn’t just appear overnight. We didn’t see it come up over the last month or few years. It’s actually been building and developing over the last number of years, and a big contributing factor has been the very poor record of this government in addressing affordable housing.

We see that building new affordable housing units has not been a priority for the Liberal government and has contributed to the very low stock of new units. While we have seen…. That characterizes the limited support. The government has tended to focus their efforts on rental assistance supplements, which is important; new emergency shelter beds; and the purchase of existing single-room-occupancy hotels.

Those are all important. These are all important programs, but we have seen a real lack of commitment and interest and action in this government. They have not been interested in creating new units.

These other issues around the rental assistance supplements and the emergency shelter beds address one piece of the affordability crisis. Between 2005 and 2010, we only saw 280 units of social housing units built. The number projected that is needed by the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association is that the province needs to build 3,000 new affordable housing units per year. We see that the province’s plan only adds 400 per year — over five years, 2,000 units.

It doesn’t come close to meeting the level of need for affordable housing in B.C. Again, a real failure of the budget to address the crisis of affordable housing, not only in terms of investing in the construction of affordable units. It is compounded, as well, by the reluctance of the government to close the tax loopholes and not collecting on property transfer tax due to shadow flipping, which has come to light not through the diligence of the government but through the media.

While it’s a clear ability of this government to take action and close that loophole to ensure that shadow flipping is disincentivized and to collect property transfer tax on those sales, this government, I guess through reasons known only to them, sees fit to leave millions of dollars on the table and not close that loophole. That is also contributing to the crisis that we are seeing around housing affordability.

As well, there is a lack of commitment to enforce accountability around investigating shadow flipping itself. Really, the record of the government around contributing to this housing affordability crisis in Metro Vancouver is clear. Budget 2016 does not take steps to address that.

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We see, also, that in addition to the shortfall in education, in addition to not meeting the basic needs around adequate funding for schools, adequate funding for post-secondary education and ensuring that students and individuals have access to adult basic education…. On the opportunity for British Columbians to access jobs, as well, we do not see any interest from the government in ensuring that companies that utilize temporary foreign workers coming into our province to access jobs…. There is no oversight.

There is no mention in the budget. There is no accountability that companies have to face when they are bringing in temporary foreign workers, and there is also no oversight of recruitment agencies as well.

We see that it rings hollow around the claims by the government that they are supporting jobs for British Columbians, and yet they have refused to take action to ensure that companies bringing in tens of thousands of temporary foreign workers are held to account and have any measure of accountability in British Columbia.

In addition, we see that what compounds that difficulty, that problem, is the reality that employment standards are not enforced. We hear that, well, companies using temporary foreign workers…. There is no oversight, and all these workers who come in have the same rights as any other workers. That’s on paper.

We know that because of their precarious stature and their vulnerable nature due to the structural limitations of the program, they are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. There is a need to ensure that employment standards are upheld and that they do not face exploitation. There is a severe shortfall of that, a lack of oversight.

I see that Budget 2016 does not meet the reality of

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the affordability crisis for families or for businesses in British Columbia, and there are many areas that are not adequately addressed.

D. Plecas: It’s a pleasure to speak in favour of Budget 2016.

What does the budget mean to British Columbians? British Columbians should understand what government is investing in, and they should understand what programs and services will benefit British Columbians. They should know what a balanced budget truly means to us and what our triple-A credit rating means: the highest rating we can achieve, a triple-A with a stable outlook.

We are the only province in Canada to achieve that rating. This means that the credit agencies have confidence in British Columbia, and we have a credible plan with little risk. We have a low interest rate on borrowing, and borrowing is important for infrastructure projects. It also means that we have more money to spend on programs and services that British Columbians can use and programs that are needed for those most in need.

I should emphasize…. Because we are so often criticized by members opposite for having a balanced budget, we should understand what that actually means. To put that in perspective, we can take, for example, the province of Ontario. Imagine if we had, in British Columbia, the same credit rating that they do. That would mean that we would have to dish out another $2 billion in interest payments. We don’t. That’s money we can spend on services for British Columbians, and we’ve done just that.

In terms of infrastructure spending, for example — the Port Mann Bridge, which has cut down on travel time for our constituents, my constituents in the valley in particular. That means that they can spend less time on the highway and more time at home with their families. Highways, as we know, are an integral

part in moving people and products around the province. Widening the highway improves safety and decreases travel time as well.

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We’ve been working at reducing our operating budget since 2013. Our current plan is to have a situation where we are debt-free by the year 2020.

The benefits of reducing our operating budget and debt are evident in Budget 2016. We have been able to invest nearly $500 million which is funded by lower interest costs due to the retirement of our operating debt. By paying off our operating debt, we are freeing up more money to invest in programs and services. We can invest that $500 million into programs and services. This includes additional money to support children, families and individuals in need.

We are providing $673 million in additional support for those in need. It includes $217 million for the Ministry of Children and Family Development to support vulnerable youth and their families. We are providing $465 million for the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation to support those in need.

This new investment will fund more than 130 new staff, including 100 additional front-line social workers. More specifically, this investment includes $152 million to strengthen programs and services that provide for the welfare of children and youth. This includes child protection, children and youth in care and family supports.

There will be $11 million to support child care centres. There’s also $51 million for children and youth in care with special needs as well as for autism programs, and $3 million over three years to support adoption services and facilitate the adoption of children in care.

As many of my colleagues have mentioned, we are making changes to MSP premiums. Starting on January 1, 2017, children will be free under MSP. This change will greatly benefit families, especially single-parent families. In fact, this change will benefit some 70,000 single-parent families. This means an additional 335,000 people will see their premiums reduced, and an additional 45,000 people will no longer pay MSP premiums at all. Seniors will also benefit from enhanced premium assistance. To help everyone figure out if they are eligible for premium assistance, an MSP on-line calculator is now available.

Another aspect of Budget 2016 that will help families is the expanded eligibility for the B.C. training and education savings grant. We are moving the eligibility a year back to 2006, so children born in 2006 or later can receive $1,200 in grant for their RESP to begin saving for their future education. It’s simple enough to apply for the grant, and you can currently do so at credit unions and BMO branches across B.C. With an investment of just $50 a month, the initial $1,200 at age six would become $12,000 by age 18, when your children go off to college or university.

We’ve been able to make these types of investments because we have been prudent fiscal managers. We’ve been able to make investments in housing as well — like in my own riding, where we’ve been able to provide a temporary shelter and help clean up the homeless camp that has formed on what’s known as Gladys Avenue in Abbotsford. I’m happy to say that those tents that occupied the Gladys Avenue stretch, as of last week, were gone, and those people who were there in those tents are now placed in proper housing. We are able to provide further assistance and move those people into homes across the city.

This budget provides the opportunity for communities all across B.C. to partner with the province and provide affordable housing. I don’t think we can say enough about what the province has done overall over the last decade in terms of housing. The fact of the matter is that we have a Housing Minister who’s made it possible for us to provide more supportive housing units per capita than any other place in North America.

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We have to make tough decisions at times to make sure we remain fiscally prudent, and that takes leadership. We

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don’t get long-term economic opportunities without balancing the budget and paying down the operating debt. We are working for the future of British Columbians so that the next generation is better off than we are.

Agriculture has also been an important industry for those of us in the valley, and it is an important industry to B.C. overall. Agriculture is one of our key economic drivers in the province. In 2014, we had the highest-ever sales of B.C. food products at $2.3 billion. We have high quality and a diverse range of food products produced here in B.C., and we are focusing on both encouraging British Columbians to buy local while also promoting B.C. products worldwide.

Our international trade office in B.C. and trade missions have played an important role in growing B.C.’s exports. In fact, our exports also set records in 2014, at $3 billion. Last week the B.C. Agriculture Council commended our investments in agriculture. They applauded our increased investments in agriculture that support the growth and sustainability of agriculture in the province.

I want to quote what the chair, Stan Vander Waal, said. He said: “Investment in the resilience of B.C. agriculture is an investment in the health of British Columbians and the long-term success of our provincial economy.” He calls our fourth consecutive balanced budget “a positive step in the right direction.”

Some of our investments in agriculture include investing an additional $3 million over the next three years in the Agricultural Land Commission. This will help them monitor and enforce compliance on land located within the agricultural land reserve to keep farmland for farming.

The farming community works hard, and they are very generous. I’m pleased to see that, in this budget, Budget 2016, we have introduced a new tax credit for farmers. The farmers food donation tax credit is worth 25 percent of the fair market value of qualifying agricultural products donated to a registered charity that provides food for people in need and to help the school meal program.

We have some of the best agricultural products in the world, and I’m happy that we are able to provide help for farmers with this tax credit, while they are providing food for those in need. We are also continuing the agriculture in the classroom funding for fruits, vegetables and dairy. In that regard, we are providing an additional $2 million to the Buy Local program.

We all visit our local farmers markets for fresh, local produce, and I am pleased to see that we are investing more to encourage British Columbians to buy and enjoy our locally made and produced products. Like many communities across our province, Abbotsford has a booming craft beer industry. We are seeing an increase in craft beer sales and the number of craft breweries opening up in communities across the province. You can tour around many of our craft breweries and wineries.

In fact, in the Fraser Valley, the hop industry is seeing a rebound. Hop farming dates back to the 1860s in the valley and was once a booming agricultural product in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The industry died out for a number of reasons: disease, pests and a growing international supply.

However, thanks to B.C.’s booming craft brew industry, local beer producers are eager to buy local and get the hop industry rolling again. The Fraser Valley is one of the best hop-growing environments in the Pacific Northwest in fact — if not the world. Last fall Abbotsford hosted B.C.’s Hop Fest, Canada’s first wet-hopped beer festival.

Hops are one of the key ingredients that make beer, and wet-hopped beer is a unique beer that can only be made immediately after hops are picked and before they are dry. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting our craft breweries and hop farms in my community.

I’m also pleased to see, on another note, that we are investing $55 million in emergency preparedness and prevention initiatives. This includes upgrades to dikes and flood protection. Both of these are important issues to my constituents. The Fraser River is slowly chewing away into its banks, and we will need to improve dikes and take other measures to forestall a catastrophic flood.

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On the matter of housing affordability, which has been mentioned here in the House, we are also making it more affordable to buy a home. With the real estate value for property transfer tax purposes being moved up to $750,000 on the purchase of a new home, it means that people in the province can save as much as $13,000 on their new home purchase. This change is something that will benefit my constituents and people all across this province.

Those who have concerns about foreign ownership will be pleased to see that, once again, we will be collecting information so that we have the correct data. Starting this summer, individuals who purchase property will need to disclose if they are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and, if neither, their home country.

We have made significant investments in housing, as I’ve already mentioned, over the last 15 years. When we talk about what the province has invested in housing, we need to remember that it doesn’t just include what municipalities or the federal government have invested.

We have provided $355 million in this budget for affordable housing over the next five years. This will support more than 2,000 new units of affordable housing for people with low to moderate incomes. That’s just what the province is committing. When we partner municipalities and we see what the federal government will invest, we can see that this investment will triple to $1 billion.

Economic development also helps our First Nations communities, especially in the north, where the opportunity of LNG and other resource developments provide jobs and other opportunities for First Nations. As we’ve already heard, that investment has already topped $20 billion on LNG. They understand our land and the importance of economic stewardship. First Nations show

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their leadership in their communities, working hard to have the best opportunities for their members.

In sum, we’ve been working hard to balance our budget year after year. This being the fourth consecutive year of reducing our cost and saving money through reducing our operating debt, we have lower interest costs and can invest more in families. We are leading the country in economic growth and job creation, and we have a strong, diverse and growing economy. All in all, we are in great shape, and we made it that way.

R. Austin: It’s my pleasure and privilege to rise and stand to respond to Budget 2016 on behalf of the residents of Skeena.

I’d like to just take a quick moment to give a shout-out to my staff. It’s another year on. I want to thank Denis Gagné, who’s been with me for nine years in Terrace, for all the work that he does each and every day representing me in the community, as well as Roberta Walker, who has been with me in Kitimat for coming on to almost 11 years. I’m very fortunate to have staff who’ve stayed with me a long time. They do a great job, and I just want to recognize that.

When I was sitting listening to the budget last Tuesday, it kind of reminded me a little bit of waking up in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep. You turn on the TV, and you end up on one of those infomercial channels where the product that’s being sold is the best that’s ever been created. It’s all good news. You never hear any downside to that product. It’s only $99.99, and it comes with a set of Ginsu knives if you pay for it now.

The interesting thing about the difference between an infomercial and a real budget from a government is that after the spin and the good stuff, you expect also to hear the nitty-gritty, the real details of what’s happening in the budget. To be honest, this budget ran for over an hour, and most of it was kind of infomercial-type material and very little actual details of changes. Really, there wasn’t a huge amount of changes in this budget.

I’ve been here now for coming on 11 years, and I’ve listened to budgets where there have been huge changes, numerous changes, but this one only has a few. I’ll get to them in a minute — things such as the prosperity fund and the change in MSP premiums.

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But here’s the thing. If you listened to the budget speech last week, you would think that all of our citizens in British Columbia are, in their daily life, being very successful and having no worries and no concerns, blessed to live in the only province that apparently is doing so well that all of us should feel safe and secure financially and socially in our homes.

Now, where I live — and from the people I speak to — there’s a huge disconnect between the average life that people are struggling with and the kind of speech that came from the Minister of Finance last week. I think those are the things that I want to speak about today.

There really are two kinds of British Columbians in this province in the sense that, yes, some are doing very well and others, to a large extent, are struggling. It’s not just those who are marginalized or who would be socially and economically classed as poor, but the middle class in this province is also struggling.

The last six months has been a huge change in my neck of the woods. We had the end of the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter build. During that time, all the planes going back and forth to Terrace and the northwest were full because workers were coming in. We had a massive camp of 17,000 people. We had a ship in the harbour with 450 people. It was all full of people who were coming to work.

Now, if you were to speak to those people at that time, they would probably have agreed with the Minister of Finance that — you know what? — things are good. They were all earning fantastic amounts of money — great jobs.

However, that has ended now, and many of those folks who were coming back and forth, who worked in the trades, have not been able to find jobs since then. In fact, I know amongst just my colleagues here in the opposition, I have colleagues here whose relatives were working in Kitimat, a town that I represent. Those very same colleagues’ families are no longer working because they couldn’t find work.

That’s what we have in this province. We have those people who are doing very well, and we have those who are struggling, wanting support and recognizing that the government needs to be there to try and create an economy that works for everybody not just some of the time, but all of the time.

Let’s get to a part of this budget that, of course, wasn’t talked about. That was a continuation of last year’s tax break of $230 million for the wealthiest 2 percent. I happen to live in a riding that doesn’t have a lot of the 2 percent living in my riding. Perhaps, largely, that’s the reason why I’m here.

But honestly, if we can find money to continue — this is the second year now — that tax break of $230 million to the wealthiest 2 percent, then surely we can find money to do all kinds of things for regular people who perhaps aren’t in such financial advantages as the 2 percent.

In fact, during the course of this parliamentary session, the four years in between elections, this government will have found close to $1 billion for those people who are the wealthiest people in our province. I don’t think that can honestly be said to be a government that’s working in the best interests of all British Columbians.

In fact, the government at the time said, “Oh well, you know, the only reason why we charged these people more taxes was because we were going through a crisis” — the financial crisis of 2008. Well, this morning I was listening to the federal Finance Minister talk about the state of

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the Canadian economy. You know what? Things are very difficult today and getting worse.

In fact, I believe that the federal deficit, which was apparently supposed to be balanced — although I think nobody actually believed it was — is now sitting at $18 billion. There are provinces right across Canada…. The overall economy is in very dire straits — not a time to be continuing to give the wealthiest in the province a tax break.

One of the major platforms of this Budget 2016 was the government’s decision to create an LNG prosperity fund. Of course, I think they’ve left the LNG out of it now — they’re just calling it a prosperity fund — and I’ll tell you why. It’s because, of course, during the election of 2013, this was one of their major platforms. It was that we were going to have an LNG industry. It would have not one, not two, but multiple LNG plants, which would be going by now. One of them would actually be going by now.

As a result of that — this huge LNG industry — we’d have 100,000 jobs. We would have billions coming into the coffers of the province of British Columbia, and a portion of those billions would go into a prosperity fund for the future of British Columbians, a bit like the heritage fund in Alberta.

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But that was a fantasy created by this Premier, an exaggeration created by this Premier, in order to get elected. We don’t have the LNG industry here. Not one company has made a final investment decision. We don’t have the 100,000 jobs.

I’ve got to say this, though: at least this Premier is consistent. She created that fantasy, and it hasn’t appeared, but don’t worry. She’s created the fantasy fund, which at least maintains the illusion that we actually have the kind of income coming in to create a prosperity fund.

So where has this prosperity fund been funded from? Well, guess where. It’s being funded from the taxpayers of British Columbia. With there not being the 100,000 jobs yet, and without the billions of dollars coming in, what do we have? We have to take $100 million out of taxpayers’ pockets in order to create this fund. That’s $100 million that could be going to other forms of assistance to British Columbians, which they need.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

It’s kind of odd. We on this side of the House say that it’s really the MSP premium. It doesn’t really matter where it came from. It just so happens that the MSP premium increase happens to be $100 million this year. So it’s kind of odd that that’s the same amount of money that has gone into this fantasy prosperity fund.

You know, the government likes to talk about the MSP premium changes as being all good for everybody. I certainly would agree that those who are single parents are going to benefit by having children no longer covered by MSP premiums. That certainly is a good thing.

But let’s have a real debate about MSP premiums. The reality is that only British Columbia and Ontario even have a premium on health insurance. The rest of Canada pays for its health care out of general taxation. Why do they do that? They do that because the bulk of taxation comes in from taxes that are not regressive. We have an MSP premium system where those who don’t get premium assistance pay the same amount, whether you make $35,000, whether you make $100,000 or whether you make $200,000.

It is fundamentally unfair to pay for a portion of our most important service, health care, in such a way that those who are making far more pay the same as those who are making far less. It’s fundamentally unfair. It’s wrong. It should be scrapped.

We should go to a form of taxation where it is coming out of general revenues so that we see it as a progressive form of taxation. The more that you earn, the more you put in and the more you help those who are in need of health care. That is the best way to have it, not to be fiddling around at the edges and saying: “Oh, well, we’re taking c