2009 Legislative Session: First Session, 39th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the

Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 1, Number 5

CONTENTS

Page

Routine Business

Tributes

Gary Doer

Hon. G. Campbell

C. James

Robert Woodhead

Hon. P. Bell

Introductions by Members

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

Mars water bomber

S. Fraser

Community spirit in Pemberton

J. McIntyre

Surrey Hospice Society

S. Hammell

Canada line

R. Howard

Rainbow trout at Langford Lake

J. Horgan

Stan Hagen and Comox Valley Walk of Achievement

D. McRae

Oral Questions

Impact of harmonized sales tax on seniors care

C. James

Hon. C. Hansen

A. Dix

Impact of harmonized sales tax on seniors

B. Simpson

Hon. C. Hansen

Impact of harmonized sales tax on restaurant industry and local farms

L. Popham

Hon. C. Hansen

Impact of harmonized sales tax on restaurant and tourism industries

S. Herbert

Hon. C. Hansen

J. Kwan

N. Macdonald

Petitions

Hon. G. Abbott

Hon. M. Coell

Orders of the Day

Throne Speech Debate (continued)

Hon. G. Abbott

M. Karagianis

R. Sultan

B. Routley

D. McRae

M. Mungall

T. Lake

S. Fraser

R. Howard

N. Simons

[ Page 65 ]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2009

The House met at 1:33 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Tributes

GARY DOER

Hon. G. Campbell: Hon. Speaker, today we heard that a truly great Canadian public servant had decided to step down as leader of his province, Manitoba. Premier Gary Doer of Manitoba has not just been a great Premier for his province. He's been a great Canadian, and he's been a great friend to British Columbia.

When we launched our new relationship initiative, he was one of the Premiers at the lead of that with us as we tried to build a national consensus across the 14 jurisdictions in Canada. He joined British Columbia in the western climate initiative as we launched our initiative to deal with the global challenges of climate change. He's been a leader who has embraced fully the idea of open trade amongst Canadians, free flow of goods and Canadians across this great country of ours.

I think that today it's appropriate for us in the province of British Columbia to recognize his leadership, his service to the country, and to wish Premier Doer and his family all the best in their future endeavours. I'm sure that he will remain committed to public life, as he has all of his life, since 1986, as a representative in the province of Manitoba.

I thought that on behalf of all of us, it would be great for you to send him a note saying that we appreciate the service to his province, to his country and the partnership he's had with British Columbia.

C. James: Mr. Speaker, I'd like to add to the words of the Premier to express appreciation to Premier Doer for his service, as has been said, not only to the province but to all of Canada.

I think that one of the distinctions that Premier Doer has in this country is his ability to bring people together in his province. He really has been known as a leader who has been able to cross over divides to bring people together to work together on behalf of the province. That's extraordinary leadership.

[1335]

I certainly am grateful for the personal advice that I have taken from Premier Doer over the years. I thank him, and I certainly wish him and his family well.

I think the Premier is quite right. There is no question that Premier Doer is going to have a place in Canadian history as well as in Manitoba over the years.

ROBERT WOODHEAD

Hon. P. Bell: It is with great sadness that I rise in the House today on the passing of Robert Woodhead. Robert was the helicopter pilot who lost his life protecting the community of Lillooet from the devastating wildfire on August 14.

He was one of more than 4,000 brave men and women who protect our communities on the front lines of our fires across this province. His job required both skill and courage, which he ably demonstrated.

On behalf of the province of British Columbia and the Ministry of Forests and Range, I would like to express our sadness on the passing of Robert Woodhead. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, who I hope can take some comfort in the deep and sincere appreciation of all British Columbians.

Introductions by Members

L. Krog: I want to recognize in the gallery with us today Rev. Tim Schendel. Accompanying him is my Member of Parliament and his spouse. That's Dr. James Lunney. Regrettably, he is not of the right party, but I welcome him to this House.

He is seeing today how the Members of the Legislative Assembly continue to work through the summer, as opposed to the Members of Parliament.

J. McIntyre: I'd like the members of the House to give a warm welcome to the mayor of Pemberton, Jordan Sturdy. I'm not sure where he is. He's up in the gallery today. I've had the pleasure of working with him over the past four years. He says that he's here to see what really goes on down here in the Legislature.

Mayor Sturdy was re-elected for a second term last November. In his spare time he owns and operates, with his family, the very successful North Arm Farm, which is making a significant mark in the agritourism business here in British Columbia.

Please join me in making him feel very welcome.

S. Fraser: Today in the gallery a good friend of mine is visiting, Dave Thompson. He's here from Parksville. Please join me in making him feel very, very welcome.

Hon. N. Yamamoto: I'd like to introduce a guest, a visitor to B.C., John Sproule. John is the senior policy director for the Institute of Health Economics and a colleague of mine at PNWER, which is the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region, where he serves as chair of the health care working group. In his spare time he's really into theatre.

D. Black: I'm pleased to acknowledge the presence in the House today of visitors from New Westminster. Baj and Nancy Puri are well-known community volunteers

[ Page 66 ]

who support many worthwhile organizations and contribute greatly to the quality of life in our city.

A few years ago Baj was named as the citizen of the year for New Westminster, for recognition of his work on community boards, and he volunteers for city committees as well.

Nancy also serves on city committees, and she puts in endless hours to ensure that New Westminster's May Day celebrations are successfully accomplished each and every year.

Accompanying Baj and Nancy is Iqbal Randhawa, a visitor from India. I ask the House today to join me in welcoming them to our Legislature.

K. Conroy: It gives me a great deal of pleasure to introduce a constituent today. Francisco Canjura is actually a reporter with the Castlegar News. He's a very balanced and excellent reporter. He's here to watch what's happening in the House, and I'd like to ask you to all join me in welcoming him.

P. Pimm: I'd like the House to join me in welcoming my mother and my wife, who are here joining us and seeing what question period brings us.

[1340]

G. Coons: I have a couple of friends of mine in the gallery today. Jamie Scott is a friend and colleague from Prince Rupert. He's a teacher with the technology department. With him is Lois Elliot, my spouse and, up to this point in time, my lifelong partner. Please make them welcome.

D. Horne: I'd like you to join with me in welcoming my wife, Larissa, and my daughter Victoria, who are joining us here in the gallery today.

J. Horgan: It's a delight to stand and recognize someone who just ambled in the door unannounced, a former member of this place who struck fear into the hearts of many when he was issuing fines as the Whip of the government caucus in the 1990s. I know the member from Abbotsford recognizes him — Gerard Janssen. Would everyone please make him very, very welcome.

D. Hayer: It gives me great pleasure to introduce three special guests: my good friend Rey Concepcion, who is a very hard-working volunteer in our community, and two of his guests, Cynthia Ramos and Anna Rose Mati-Ong. Would the House please make them very welcome.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

MARS WATER BOMBER

S. Fraser: The Mars water bombers are a provincial icon and the pride of the Alberni Valley. While the province chose not to renew the contract this year with the Port Alberni–based Coulson Group for the Mars, they are arguably, sir, the best firefighting tool in the world.

The track record speaks for itself. The Mars have fought over 2,000 wildfires in their 49-year history in British Columbia, making in excess of 4,000 drops. And 65 percent of these fires were controlled in the first day of their deployment, and an additional 20 percent in the next day, the second day, alone.

These amazing aircraft are each capable of scooping up 27,000 litres of water in a single load, and they provide an awesome payload for firefighting power. The modernized Mars, which have been done recently, have the latest state-of-the-art technology, and they are seen as a godsend to communities ravaged by wildfires. No other aircraft can drop a payload that can cover an area of four acres in one drop. The Mars have saved whole subdivisions in their history.

Choosing to focus on the age of the Mars rather than their track record, the province decided against utilizing these — their choice — this year, but the fire service in California had a different idea. Last year the Mars played a key role in attacking and suppressing the massive grass wildfires in California. Those fires forced 500,000 people from their homes. Seeing the amazing results of the Mars in action, the state of California has once again retained the Mars on standby to ensure that California communities have access to the best firefighting protection possible.

The Mars water bombers — a proud piece of B.C. history and a valued life- and community-saving asset for the people of California.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT IN PEMBERTON

J. McIntyre: I rise today to pay tribute to the village of Pemberton, whose residents epitomize the great pioneering spirit of this province. It's a rural town with a population of approximately 2,500 at the northern end of the Sea to Sky corridor, with a lengthy history of farming and logging in one of the most — if not the most — scenic valleys in supernatural B.C.

Village residents live alongside their first nations neighbours of the Lil'wat Nation. They made history with their Winds of Change document that rallied both communities, in light of a tragedy, to work together — to not turn a blind eye but to resolve some of the social ills and problems that impact their joint societies.

They've made progress on a number of fronts, from the success at Signal Hill Elementary School, where principal Pat MacKenzie mastered creating a safe and welcoming environment for a cross-section of aboriginal and non-aboriginal youngsters to grow and thrive; from the great trades program I witnessed at the secondary school, providing both skills training and academic options for the next generation; to the much-needed

[ Page 67 ]

community centre and library and the child care centre, and now the prospect of the construction of seniors housing — all valuable infrastructure to meet the needs of a fast-growing community. A year ago over 80 babies were born.

[1345]

All this progress has taken perseverance and sacrifice to bring community dreams to fruition, especially on a small tax base, when the need for public safety essentials, such as diking and wells and wastewater treatment, all have to come first.

So I see active volunteer organizations, such as the Rotary, the Lions society, the chamber of commerce, all contributing significantly to the betterment of the village's quality of life. Community spirit is alive and well — successful annual festivals such as Winterfest, Slow Food Cycle and the unforgettable music festival of summer '08 along with the upcoming torch race events. This is the little town that can. Congratulations to all, and I'm so proud to represent you in Victoria.

Surrey Hospice Society

S. Hammell: In 1986 a psychologist and a group of doctors and nurses recognized there was need for end-of-life care in Surrey. They met around a dining room table, started a charity and then began working out of their homes to provide hospice care. Since then Surrey Hospice has grown to six staff and over 200 volunteers, serving over 2,000 palliative and bereavement clients every year. They provide emotional and spiritual support for individuals and their loved ones as they face life-limiting illness.

The society operates on the belief that no one needs to face a life-threatening illness alone and that no one needs to be alone with their grief.

Marion Brandner, the executive director of Surrey Hospice, told me about a young woman who reached out for help for her daughter. Her dad had been diagnosed with cancer and did not have long to live. This little girl was very close to her daddy, and the mom didn't know how she could ever break the news to her daughter. Mom and daughter received counselling. Then, inevitably, her dad's condition deteriorated. This young daughter came to visit him right after her birthday party. She got into bed with her dad.

His eyes were closed, and she went on and on about her party and how she wished he had been there, and while listening to his little girl talk about her wonderful day, her dad slipped away.

When she was told her dad was gone, she didn't fear. Yes, there were tears and sadness but not the terror that can come to a child, as she was prepared.

You can see end-of-life care is such an important part of the spectrum of health care needs. Hospice palliative care is about living fully to the very end of life with dignity and comfort. Surrey Hospice contributes to our community in a meaningful way every single day. I'd like to congratulate the workers.

Canada Line

R. Howard: The new Canada line opened officially on August 17, on budget and 3 1/2 months ahead of schedule. It is a testament to partnerships, government and private sector. Travel between Richmond and Vancouver is now faster and more convenient, and as a direct result, it's easier than ever for people to visit the dynamic and multicultural city of Richmond, which I am proud to call home.

In my riding alone Aberdeen Centre has already seen a significant increase in the number of shoppers. Joey Kwan, Aberdeen's public relations manager, says the number of visitors has increased between 20 and 30 percent since the Canada line opened. She adds that it is now easier for employees to get to work, and that will greatly help them attract and retain staff. Joey sums up the Canada line by saying: "We see a very positive impact, and we are very happy that the Canada line is open."

Another person who is very happy about the Canada line is Uni Cross, who lives in my riding of Richmond Centre and works in Vancouver. Before, it took her about 40 minutes to get to work in the morning, and it took her about an hour and a half to get back from work in the evening. It now takes her 25 minutes from door to door. The Canada line has considerably strengthened Richmond's connections with neighbouring cities, particularly Vancouver, and I know that the benefits of this will be considerable.

RAINBOW TROUT AT LANGFORD LAKE

J. Horgan: Many members will know that I'm a proud resident of southern Vancouver Island. I'm always anxious to stand on my feet in this place and speak about the wonders of my constituency and the people who live there.

[1350]

When people think of Juan de Fuca, they think of fishing, and they usually think of big chinooks off of Port Renfrew or the coho and the chum and the pinks as they go back and forth along the coast by Sooke. But today's fish story is a different one. It's a unique story. It started on June 28 with the first annual Langford Loghouse Pub fishing derby held at Langford Lake, in my constituency.

On that day the fish were abundant, but one particular fish, captured by my friend Peter Willing, weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce. That's a big rainbow trout. Now, I understand that the rules prohibit me from showing a picture of that fish in this place, but people will know that an eight-pound trout is about that long and about that fat. It's a very, very, very big fish.

An Hon. Member: How long?

[ Page 68 ]

J. Horgan: It's about that long and about that fat.

The interesting thing about this fish story is that it will be immortalized on the walls of the Loghouse Pub. It's at the taxidermist's. It will be there as a reminder to those who are fearful of swimming in Langford Lake because of the Ogopogo-sized rainbows. They'll know that one of the large ones is now gone.

On the day of the derby my friend Peter Willing was in a boat with Kurt Wagner, who had already caught a two-pound rainbow. When he had the net in his hand, ready to pull in the eight-pounder, he paused just for a moment and thought: "Do I pull this in for Pete, or do I let it go away for the next one, who might be me?" He pulled it into the boat. Pete now holds the record at the Loghouse Pub.

Would all of you in this House please join me in congratulating Pete Willing for an eight-pound rainbow trout, which we know is about this big and about that wide.

STAN HAGEN AND

COMOX VALLEY WALK OF ACHIEVEMENT

D. McRae: In the Comox Valley a group of community-minded individuals had the idea of creating the Comox Valley Walk of Achievement. The idea is to recognize members of the community who have achieved a level of excellence in their chosen field. The walk is meant to be an inspiration to the youth of the Comox Valley and to encourage them to reach their full potential.

The committee is made up of four great community leaders: Dave Durant, Jacqueline Green, Neil Havers and Erik Eriksson. They received numerous nominations from members of the community and then had the challenge of selecting the deserving candidate. It was my pleasure to attend the induction of the late Stan Hagen into the Comox Valley Walk of Achievement on Saturday, August 22.

The Comox Valley was fortunate to have an MLA like Stan Hagen. He was first elected in 1986 and then returned to public service in 2001. He made the Comox Valley a more vibrant place to live, and the projects he supported will benefit the residents for generations to come. Whether it was support for the airport expansion, helping to build the new gymnasium or getting grants for infrastructure, he worked hard to make the Comox Valley a better place for all.

During his time in office Stan served in cabinet for ten different ministries. The central coast land resource management plan was seen by many as Stan's greatest achievement. He guided an innovative, consensus-based, resource land use plan that balanced the interests of industry, the first nations and conservationists. This laid the foundation for the creation of 24 new conservancies protecting over 500,000 hectares of land, including the home of the spirit bear.

As a cabinet minister, Stan conducted himself with professionalism, honour and integrity. He served the province well through both exciting and challenging times.

Lastly, I'd like to express thanks to Stan's family for sharing him with the people of British Columbia. He will be missed.

Oral Questions

IMPACT OF HARMONIZED SALES TAX

ON SENIORS CARE

C. James: This government's story on the HST changes every single day, but what doesn't change is the impact of the HST betrayal on hard-working British Columbians, on the most vulnerable in our province. A new report by the B.C. Care Providers shows that the HST will cost care homes hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs. Those costs will mean cuts in care to seniors. Villa Carital, a seniors care home in Vancouver, said that they'll have to pay a staggering $200,000 in additional costs because of the HST.

My question is to the Premier. Does he find it acceptable that seniors will have to pay the price for his HST betrayal?

Hon. C. Hansen: As I indicated yesterday, we recognize that there are impacts on certain sectors, and we're quite prepared to sit down and talk to those sectors in terms of what mitigating measures we should be considering.

[1355]

Let's actually look at the impact that HST will have on seniors. As I go around the province and I talk to seniors, I know that they're concerned about the jobs for their sons and daughters and their grandchildren in British Columbia. Unlike the 1990s, when young British Columbians and those grandchildren had to leave this province to find jobs in Ontario, this is a government that is going to stand up and make sure that those jobs are generated in British Columbia, that those grandchildren can stay and work in British Columbia and that they can pay taxes that will contribute to the health care system and the social services that those seniors depend on.

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

C. James: I sat in the kitchen of one of those seniors, who looked across that table at me with her bills in front of her and talked about the impact it's going to have on her budget, when she's not able to make ends meet now. The HST will be a burden to that senior, and that's what this government is doing to the seniors of British Columbia.

I heard this Premier say during the election that he was actually going to provide more care to seniors. And

[ Page 69 ]

what did we see after the election? We saw a tax that's going to hurt seniors, brought in without any warning, without any debate and without any discussion.

The stories keep coming. Care homes here in Victoria alone. James Bay Lodge, Broadmead, Central Care Home, Mount Edwards Court Care Home — all of these care homes are speaking out, saying they face layoffs and impacts on care because of the HST.

So again, my question is to the Premier. For B.C. seniors, for families and for small business, will he listen? Will he today agree to scrap the HST?

Hon. C. Hansen: Let's look at the tax burden on seniors over the last decade. In 2001, under the previous NDP government, we actually had low-income seniors who were relying on their basic old age security and their guaranteed income supplement. Do you know what that government did? It charged them provincial income tax.

We have eliminated….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Minister, take your seat.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. C. Hansen: We have eliminated provincial income tax for low- and middle-income seniors. We have made a fair Pharmacare program in place that benefits low- and middle-income seniors. We have actually reduced MSP premium costs for low- and middle-income seniors.

I can assure the Leader of the Opposition that with the measures we're taking to mitigate the impact of the introduction of the HST on low- and middle-income seniors, they will in fact be paying less in terms of their total taxes than they do even today.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.

C. James: It's $200,000 for one care home alone. James Bay Lodge, Broadmead. Those care homes are speaking out because this government isn't listening to them. The government is not listening to the concerns that they have. These care homes have valid concerns about huge additional costs with the HST that will mean cuts in supports to seniors. That's what the HST will do.

There's a very clear reason the Premier didn't bring this forward for debate during the election — because he knew he wouldn't win the debate, and certainly, he wouldn't win it with seniors in British Columbia.

So again, my question is to the Premier. Will he stand up today, will he apologize to seniors, and will he back off the HST?

Hon. C. Hansen: Under the new HST system, seniors, along with all other British Columbians, are going to be the net beneficiaries. Seniors are going to benefit from the fact that we have a stronger economy in this province, that there are more people working and that we actually have the tax base and the revenues that will support the services that they depend on in the future.

[1400]

As I've said before, we are quite prepared to sit down and talk to those organizations that are affected by this, but I'll tell you what I will not do. I'll sit down and listen to them. What I won't do is fearmonger with them, which is exactly what the Leader of the Opposition….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: I'll remind members to listen to the question and listen to the answer, please.

A. Dix: So $42 million in additional costs for care homes, more than 200 layoffs for care homes, and the Minister of Finance thinks they're net beneficiaries of the HST? That's his position? I wish he would have run for election on that position, because we know what would have happened then.

B.C. care home providers repeatedly went to Ottawa. They repeatedly went to Ottawa under the term of this government to seek an exemption for health services under the GST. And guess what. These guys supported them. They supported them. The former Minister of Health supported them. B.C. Liberal MLAs supported them. The cabinet supported them. They supported the exemption then.

Before the election they said they supported a tax cut for B.C. care providers, and after the election — big surprise — a tax increase that will cost jobs and mean layoffs and decline in care. How can the minister defend and say that's good news for B.C. seniors?

Hon. C. Hansen: What we ran on in the election was that we would continue to create a strong economy, that we'd continue to create jobs in British Columbia. That's exactly what was….

I am also very proud that this is a government that has taken a health care budget from $8 billion a year, which it was under the previous NDP government, to over $15 billion a year.

I am proud that this is a government that has actually reduced the tax costs that seniors bear in British Columbia today across the whole array of taxes to the point now that we have the second-lowest personal income tax in Canada for incomes up to $116,000 a year. Because of the measures that we've taken over the last years, seniors get more support today than they ever have in the history of British Columbia.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.

[ Page 70 ]

A. Dix: Well, hon. Speaker, tell that to seniors in Chilliwack, because their MLA supports cutting off funding to the time-out program, cancelled on 30 days' notice after 17 years. Tell that to seniors in Langley. Their MLA supports cutting $86,000 in funding for the program there. They support cutting that funding on 30 days' notice after 18 years. What incompetence.

The Mountainview care home, run by the Good Samaritan Society in Kelowna — what they want to know is where the minister will be when they're going to have to lay off staff and reduce care standards in their facilities. The minister, before the election, said he was against this application. After the election he's imposing the application. Doesn't the minister think he owes an apology to the Good Samaritan care home and the Mountainview people in Kelowna?

Hon. C. Hansen: What the member will know is that in the budget that was tabled in February, we had an almost 20 percent increase in the amount of funding that was going in to help support seniors. I know that wasn't quite enough for the member.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Minister, just take your seat for a second.

Continue.

Hon. C. Hansen: I know that wasn't quite enough for the member, because he advocated an additional $2 billion a year of increase in the health care budget. And lo and behold, a week before the election even starts, their leader and the Finance critic from his party come out with a budget plan that doesn't include any of the additional dollars that he had been advocating for, for the health budget.

[1405]

IMPACT OF HARMONIZED SALES TAX

ON SENIORS

B. Simpson: The Minister of Finance once again uses that word "fearmongering" to suggest that that's all we're doing on this side. I think they used that word when we talked about a deeper and longer deficit and about the state of British Columbia's finances before the election. Who do you think seniors are going to believe now when we stand in this House for them?

The Finance Minister says that seniors are worried about jobs. They're worried about the economy and their community. What they're worried about is the state of their own cupboards and their ability to afford to put food on their table, pay their heating bills and have some basic amenities in their lives.

My question to the minister is this. This is not about hamburgers and beer, as he so dismissively suggested today. It's about basic affordability for seniors. How much will the HST impact a senior couple on a fixed income? How much exactly?

Hon. C. Hansen: I will have those tables and charts on Tuesday as part of the budget documents, but I can assure the member….

Interjections.

Hon. C. Hansen: I can assure the member that, for the majority of seniors on fixed incomes, they will actually see their total tax burden come down as a result of the introduction of HST.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.

B. Simpson: The Minister of Finance said yesterday he was on the doorsteps during the election. I'm sure the seniors in his riding who were trying to decide whether to vote for him or not would have liked those tables presented to them so they could find out the truth for themselves before the election, so they could make an informed choice about which side to support.

Some of my seniors have done the math already. Barry Mortell, a senior on a fixed pension, is worried that he has to absorb a 7 percent increase in his basic costs when he only gets a $3 cost-of-living increase per year in his pension — 25 cents a month to cover inflation and a 7 percent HST. Bill Montgomery, another pensioner, has calculated that he will need another pension cheque each year just to cover the additional burden of HST.

To the Premier: these seniors were not given an informed choice during the May 12 election. Will the Premier cancel the HST and at least allow seniors the opportunity to be consulted before the tax is rammed down their throats?

Hon. C. Hansen: Actually, I have a question for the opposition. It's not a multiple choice.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. C. Hansen: What do the member for Surrey-Whalley, the member for Skeena, the member for Juan de Fuca and the member for Coquitlam-Maillardville all have in common? Well, the answer is that they were all members…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. C. Hansen: …of the Finance Committee 2009 budget consultation process around the province, and they

[ Page 71 ]

unanimously agreed to this recommendation that came forward: "The Finance Committee thinks a cost-benefit analysis needs to be conducted to determine whether a harmonized sales tax may be worth considering."

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Sit down. Sit down.

Members.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. The question is: do we want to continue?

Minister, continue.

Hon. C. Hansen: In fact, I took the advice of the Finance Committee — all of the members, both the government members and the opposition members — and that question about the pros and cons, the cost benefits of the HST, was duly considered in advance of the February budget. On balance, we came to the conclusion that it was not a net benefit at that time.

I again took the advice of the recommendation of the Finance Committee in May when it was obvious that that question had changed fundamentally. Again, we looked at the costs and benefits and the pros and cons, and it became readily obvious to us that we needed to shift our position.

[1410]

On Tuesday of next week I will set out some numbers for the hon. member that he can share with his senior friend, which will actually demonstrate that the impact on typical seniors in British Columbia will in fact be a net benefit and nowhere near the magnitude that he's talking about.

IMPACT OF HARMONIZED SALES TAX

ON RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

AND LOCAL FARMS

L. Popham: By implementing a tax that threatens B.C.'s restaurant industry, this government is slamming the door on a critical market for B.C. farms.

Recently the president of the Island Chefs Collaborative, Cory Pelan, stated that the connection between small local farms and the restaurants they supply is a direct and mutually sustainable one. However, Mr. Pelan said that because the HST threatens the restaurant industry, it also threatens B.C.'s small and medium-sized farms, which depend on local restaurants buying their fresh produce.

My question is to the Minister of Agriculture. Did you consider the negative impacts on small farms when you supported the HST?

Hon. C. Hansen: Let me tell you what was actually the biggest threat to the restaurant industry that's occurred in the last number of years. It was actually a commitment….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Just sit down, Minister.

Members.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. C. Hansen: The biggest threat to the restaurant industry in recent years was the commitment that was made by that party that would jack up their wage cost by 25 percent, and the industry itself said it would lay off thousands of restaurant workers and close literally hundreds of restaurants around British Columbia.

To the benefit of the hon. member, the B.C. Agriculture Council, which represents 12,000 farmers in British Columbia, is in support of HST because it takes costs out of their costs in producing the food that we depend on.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.

L. Popham: The Minister of Agriculture didn't answer my question. My question is about small farmers and local food production for local restaurants.

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, has stated today that the connection between the restaurant industry and local food and beverage producers provides a material boost to the local economy. B.C. Restaurants and Foodservices Association does not support the HST.

Given the devastating effect HST will have on the restaurant industry and local farms in B.C., will the Minister of Agriculture stand up for these industries and demand the Premier cancel the proposed HST in British Columbia?

Hon. C. Hansen: As I pointed out to representatives of the restaurant industry in one of our discussions, even a head of lettuce has embedded PST built into the cost. The cost of putting tires on the trucks that move produce from the farms to the distribution warehouses and from those warehouses to the restaurants has embedded PST in it that gets passed on in terms of the cost of those goods.

I can tell you what is the biggest threat to the restaurant industry in British Columbia. It's people who are unemployed, and that threat is because people who don't have jobs don't typically go out to restaurants to dine.

This is a measure that's going to create jobs. This is a measure that's going to stabilize the economy and provide for economic growth, and it is exactly that economic growth that will help benefit a restaurant industry in the years to come.

[ Page 72 ]

IMPACT OF HARMONIZED SALES TAX

ON RESTAURANT

AND TOURISM INDUSTRies

S. Herbert: I have questions for the Minister of Tourism. I'll try again. The Minister of Tourism said the HST would be good for all, but there would be exceptions.

[1415]

What does the minister have to say about hallmark tourist attractions like Butchart Gardens, who've said they may have to close because of the HST, or the fact that the Canadian Restaurant Association says the HST will cost B.C. restaurants $750 million in lost revenue and force businesses to lay off thousands of employees? Tell me how mass layoffs are good for British Columbia.

Hon. C. Hansen: Those are the service industries across British Columbia and the tourism sector and the restaurant sector. They all benefit from a strong economy. You've seen their successes over the last decade, Mr. Speaker. They do well when the economy does well, and they do well when we have the kind of record unemployment rates that we had in this province not too long ago.

That is exactly what we accomplish with HST — stronger economy, more jobs and more benefit from that which flows to the service sector.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.

S. Herbert: Well, certainly nobody on this side seems to believe your make-believe, and nobody in the province is believing this make-believe.

My question, again, is for the Minister of Tourism. The Minister of Tourism refused to rise today, and he refused to rise yesterday to answer questions about the thousands of tourism businesses in B.C. that will be slammed by the HST. He doesn't rise because he knows that it's the employees, businesses and communities that rely on tourism who are the big losers under this tax hike.

Minister, is the Council of Tourism Associations wrong…?

Mr. Speaker: Member, through the Chair, please.

S. Herbert: Through the Chair, my question to the minister is: is the Council of Tourism Associations wrong when they say the HST will be devastating, catastrophic and ruinous to tourism and tourism jobs in B.C.?

Hon. C. Hansen: Let's actually talk about some of the organizations in British Columbia that are 100 percent in support….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. C. Hansen: Let's talk about the organizations in British Columbia that are 100 percent in support of our move to HST. We've got the Business Council of British Columbia. We've got the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, and as the opposition Finance critic will know, the B.C. Chamber of Commerce representing 52,000 businesses in British Columbia has made submissions to the prebudget consultation Finance Committee hearings around the province each of the years that he has been a member of that particular committee of this Legislature.

The Coast Forest Products Association is in favour. Why? Because it's actually going to bring jobs back to the forest sector and make our products more competitive.

Let's look at the Retail Council of Canada, which represents retailers in every single corner of this province. They support it because it is a simpler and more efficient tax system.

The Chartered Accountants of British Columbia, the accountants that serve all of those companies around this province. And it's interesting. I've talked to small business owners who initially may have had some apprehension and who, once they had the chance to sit down with their accountants, recognize that this is a significant net benefit for those small businesses in British Columbia.

Mr. Speaker: Thank you, Minister.

Hon. C. Hansen: The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Mr. Speaker, of course, I could go on and on, because the list is extensive.

J. Kwan: I have a simple question for the Minister of Finance. Can he tell this House whether or not the Council of Tourism Associations and the Restaurant and Foodservices Association are wrong on their prediction that the HST is going to hurt their industries?

Hon. C. Hansen: As I have said, virtually every business enterprise in British Columbia benefits from a stronger economy, benefits from the fact that there are more jobs, benefits from the fact that there will be more investment coming into British Columbia. This is a measure that actually stimulates the economy, creates jobs which will benefit ultimately all of those sectors.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.

[1420]

J. Kwan: A simple question for the minister. Who's telling the truth? Ian Tostenson, who says that the HST

[ Page 73 ]

is going to hurt their business, their industry, or is this minister telling the truth?

Hon. C. Hansen: I have had the pleasure of meeting with Ian Tostenson on several occasions, and we've had a very good discussion. I have indicated to Mr. Tostenson that we are prepared to look at measures that might help mitigate some of the microeconomic impacts on certain companies. But at the end of the day, people in British Columbia who are unemployed do not have the luxury of being able to go out and enjoy the fine restaurants that he represents.

With this measure we wind up with lower unemployment, more people working. That is the circumstance that allows British Columbians to enjoy some of those extra benefits and luxuries of being able to dine out at some of those fine restaurants.

N. Macdonald: The question that all British Columbians have is that if there was a case to be made for this tax, why was it not made during the election? Why was the exact opposite case made during the election? Because there is not a credible case.

Despite a written promise during the election to not introduce this new tax, it's now clear that the government fully intended to introduce a tax that the tourist says is devastating.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

N. Macdonald: Rod Kessler from Revelstoke Mountain Resort condemns the HST. He says it's going to add $750,000 to his business — that big of a hit. Panorama, other ski hills — all the same. I thought we had a Minister of Tourism that was opposed to it.

How can the Minister of Tourism justify a tax that is going to be devastating?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. C. Hansen: I think if we look at that member's own riding, where unemployed forest workers would love to have their jobs back, this is a measure….

Interjections.

Hon. C. Hansen: I bet those forest workers would love to have an income that would allow them to actually go and enjoy a day of skiing on their day off. This is a measure, the HST, that will take $140 million of costs out of the forest sector in a way that does not violate the softwood lumber agreement.

This is a member who has constantly rattled on over the last six months about the need to benefit the forest sector in British Columbia, but every solution that he comes up with would make the problem worse, because it would violate the softwood lumber agreement.

This is a measure that supports the forest sector in British Columbia, helps put those forest workers back to work in his own constituency.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. C. Hansen: And it is through those increased jobs, the stronger economy, a more competitive environment for our forest sector that we're going to have a stronger British Columbia.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Member. Members.

I would remind the member to wait till the minister is finished answering the question before he stands.

Minister, the member has a supplemental.

N. Macdonald: B.C. Liberals have zero credibility when talking about forestry jobs. Twenty-five thousand jobs lost under this government's watch — that's a pretty sorry record. And they intend to do exactly the same thing to the tourism industry — exactly the same thing.

"The HST…."

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

N. Macdonald: This is a quote from Bob Shafto, president of Heli Canada Adventures.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Member, just take your seat for a second.

Continue.

[1425]

N. Macdonald: Bob Shafto, president of Heli Canada Adventures. This is an exact quote. The minister…. Or if there was a Minister of Tourism, he would have received this letter. It says: "The HST will more than likely put my company out of business, and this is unacceptable."

A similar sentiment from Robert Davidson in Kimberley, who runs the Village Bistro there. The minister is getting the same letters. He knows this. Mr. Davidson said that his support for this government was not predicated on the introduction of the HST.

[ Page 74 ]

Mr. Speaker: Member, could you pose the question, please.

N. Macdonald: When business after business is being devastated, how can the Minister of Tourism sit and say nothing in this House? Stand and speak for tourism.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Hon. C. Hansen: It's interesting to see the NDP defending an old and increasingly obsolete form of taxation that we now know as our provincial sales tax, especially when you actually look at the fact that it is a type of tax, a type of consumer tax, that has been rejected by 130 countries from around the world.

It's interesting that even in social democratic Sweden…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Minister. Minister.

Hon. C. Hansen: …they have had a value….

Mr. Speaker: Minister, just take your seat.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

Continue, Minister.

Hon. C. Hansen: There are huge benefits in the shift to HST that are going to benefit individual families in British Columbia, that are going to benefit in terms of job creation in British Columbia and that will create a stronger economy for our province.

We see $150 million of compliance costs that small businesses in British Columbia will no longer have to face. We will see increased investment, we will see increased jobs in this province, and we will see an increase in our ability as a government to pay for the health care and education and social services that our citizens depend on in the future.

[End of question period.]

Hon. G. Abbott: I rise to present a petition.

Mr. Speaker: Proceed.

Petitions

Hon. G. Abbott: I'm presenting a petition from 1,130 residents of the Shuswap, North Okanagan and British Columbia in relation to concerns around a proposed animal waste facility in Grindrod, British Columbia.

Hon. M. Coell: I wish to present a petition from the Saanich Peninsula Piranhas Swim Club — 450 signatures in support of provincial gaming grants to assist community and non-profit organizations.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: I call continued debate in response to the throne speech.

[1430]

Mr. Speaker: Would the members clear the chamber so we can get on with the throne speech debate — members who have other business.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Hon. G. Abbott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to resume my place and continue my response to the Speech from the Throne. I would like to begin by thanking the member for Fraser-Nicola who, in one of the bipartisan gestures that increasingly characterize our chamber, reminded me that I've actually served here for 13 years rather than 12 years. So I do appreciate that gesture on the part of the member for Fraser-Nicola.

An Hon. Member: It's a beautiful thing Harry has done.

Hon. G. Abbott: It's a beautiful thing is exactly right.

[L. Reid in the chair.]

I did want to reflect on a couple of areas of public policy in my comments today. First, I want to address the issue of health and health care in the province of British Columbia. It was certainly an exceptional honour to be able to be the Minister of Health and Health Services in the province of British Columbia for four years. It was, without question, the most interesting job I'm ever apt to have and probably the toughest job I was ever apt to have as well.

The challenges are very considerable, and we have many, many people in the province of British Columbia who do terrific, relentless work in terms of trying to meet the demands for health care that exist in the province.

I did want to take the opportunity to say thank you, first of all, to staff at my former ministry, the Ministry of Health Services. They provided exceptional advice to me and, I'm certain, to the new minister as well. They work very hard and, I think, provide exceptional service to British Columbia.

I also wanted to say thank you to the six health authorities in British Columbia — the Provincial Health Services

[ Page 75 ]

Authority and the five regional authorities. Again, the tens of thousands of people who work in the health authorities across British Columbia are often, on a day-to-day basis, the unheralded heroes that provide those front-line services to British Columbians.

The chairs of the boards, the boards themselves, the CEO and administration. I think we are blessed in British Columbia by the exceptional leadership which is provided by the boards and the senior administration, which implements the policy of the boards and the ministry and the government of British Columbia.

I also want to take a moment to say thank you to the doctors and the nurses, the front-line care workers across the province who, again, get up each and every morning and provide their very much committed service to the British Columbians that they serve. On any day of the week we would see something like 140,000 British Columbians who are engaged in delivering health care to British Columbians. On any given day there are literally hundreds of thousands of interactions in the health care system. Virtually all of those interactions go very well, and one never hears of them.

I know that as a Health Minister, I did hear of some of those interactions from people who wrote just to say thank you for the great service that they received at their local hospital. Again, those interactions often go unnoted, but the front-line health care workers are hugely important to the province and do a great job each and every day.

[1435]

We do have a very good health care system in British Columbia. That is a fact which we should never overlook.

Whether it's the Conference Board of Canada that, in its exhaustive analyses of provincial health care systems, found British Columbia, by a very considerable margin, to have the very best health care delivery in the nation, or the Cancer Advocacy Coalition, which has in their reports now for several years been saluting British Columbia for the exceptional cancer care that we enjoy through not only the British Columbia Cancer Agency but the many hospitals that are linked into the work that's done by the Cancer Agency.

Even the wait-time coalition, which is, I think, part of the Canadian Medical Association. They look at wait times across the nation, and invariably, British Columbia comes out very well in terms of wait times.

We have some of the best — the best — in terms of cancer, but also whether it's heart, cardiac or cataracts or any number of other areas, almost invariably British Columbia has some of the shortest wait times in the nation, and we should be very proud of that. We should be very proud that we have a very good health care system that we continue to build day after day and year after year.

Is the system perfect? No, it absolutely is not. There is much room for improvement in our health care system, but that's true of all systems, and we need to work relentlessly. Notwithstanding the very good reports we've had from the Conference Board and others, we need to work relentlessly each and every day to build on what is a very good health care system and continue to drive towards excellence in all aspects of the health care system.

I know that at times, because health care is a highly emotional area, it can be an area that comes into harsh treatment from a partisan perspective. Often that's unfortunate, because the 140,000 people who provide health care are not partisan. They provide health care to all regardless of anyone's orientation, and we need to work with those 140,000 people to continue to improve and to excel.

In a number of areas I'm very proud of what our government was able to do in terms of improving health care. When I look back on the last four years, I'm particularly proud of what we have been able to do in terms of investment in facilities. Sometimes people say: "What did you do with all those surpluses?" Well, as a matter of fact, a lot of the surpluses that we enjoyed in recent years have been invested in new health care and improved health care facilities across the province.

Our government has invested literally billions of dollars in improved health care facilities across the province, and I won't try to go through all of those facilities. Shuswap Lake General Hospital — about $23 million investment in improving the facilities at Shuswap Lake General. Very proud of that.

Vernon Jubilee Hospital — $180 million invested in a new care tower at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. Again, enormously important to residents of the Shuswap, the North Okanagan and the Okanagan.

Over half a billion dollars invested at Kelowna General Hospital, including fulfilling a promise which had been made some 20 years ago but which we have fulfilled, which is to bring cardiac services to Kelowna General Hospital to serve the interior region of British Columbia. Those cardiac services, I think, had been promised since about 1986, and they are now being provided or very soon will be provided. Early 2010, I believe, or late 2009 we'll be seeing those expanded cardiac services at Kelowna General Hospital.

Folks in Salmon Arm and elsewhere in the Interior will no longer have to wait in hospital in the Interior before typically being flown down to Vancouver or Victoria for cardiac services. We'll be able to get those in Kelowna. So that's awesome.

[1440]

Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops has also benefited from very considerable investments. But right across the province, some of the huge investments…. Surrey Memorial Hospital, over half a billion dollars invested there. Royal Jubilee Hospital, not far away in Victoria

[ Page 76 ]

— again, well over $300 million invested in a new tower at Royal Jubilee. The new Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre — again, huge improvements. Huge improvements at Prince George, with the new pediatric centre that's now in place.

Also, we're looking forward in just three years, I believe, to a cancer centre of the north — the first time that residents of Prince George and the north will be able to access cancer care without having to come to other parts. These are huge investments in cancer care alone. In Prince George, over $100 million invested there — obviously, enormously important to the residents of the north and to Prince George.

A new hospital. Over $200 million in a new hospital at Fort St. John — one of the fastest-growing areas of our province and a facility that needs remediation.

Those investments are huge. They will, for decades, provide benefits to the British Columbians who will enjoy the care there.

Another area where our government has worked very hard to improve is in the area of programs. One area for which I have a particular passion is the area of primary care — trying to ensure that British Columbians understand the things that can help their health or hurt their health, working very closely with not only physicians but nurse practitioners, nurse educators and many others — pharmacists, physiotherapists, dietitians and others — in a group care setting, to try to ensure that all British Columbians make the very best that they can of their health opportunities.

I want to salute particularly the B.C. Medical Association, which has been an integral partner with the Ministry of Health and with the government of British Columbia in developing a very robust primary care program for British Columbians. As a minister, I benefited for four years from the exceptional partnerships provided by BCMA, and I do want to thank them for that.

On the program area as well, one of the things that we attempted to do, in addition to primary care, was look at, analyze and think about how we could improve every area of health care on the acute care side — right from admissions to hospital through to discharge from hospital — to look at all of the processes that occur in an acute care facility and try to look at how we can better provide those.

One of the areas where, again, I am particularly proud that this exceptional work was done, begun at Richmond Hospital with the hip and knee…. Madam Chair, you'd be especially proud of this, being from Richmond as you are. Richmond Hospital took the lead in terms of looking at how we can improve the efficiency of surgical processes and focus particularly on hip and knee replacements.

The pioneering work — and it was very exceptional work that was done at Richmond Hospital — has now been utilized at the Centre for Surgical Innovation at the University of British Columbia. The improvements that have been continued there now have been imported into most health facilities across the province.

Whether it's at St. Paul's, with some of the work that they're doing now around hand and wrist and foot and ankle, areas where we've had chronic issues with wait times…. Now we are seeing dramatic improvements in all of those areas, because they're utilizing surgical innovations like swing rooms and preparation that have just made a huge difference in terms of the outcome for patients.

Those are not innovations that make news every day, but they are innovations that have had a profound impact on literally thousands of people's lives in the province of British Columbia.

[1445]

I'm very proud of what the health care professionals have done to build those programs, to improve efficiencies and to improve outcomes, because all of that has made a difference in people's lives. That's why, I think, all of us in this chamber came here as well — to see improvements in people's lives.

A third area where, again, we have relentlessly been pressing improvement is in the area of health human resources. One of the things that is often talked about but often too little done about is ensuring that we have a sufficient number of health professionals across the province to meet the ever-growing needs of British Columbians.

I am very proud that — now, I guess, two years ago — we were able to achieve the commitment which our government set out in 2001-2002 to double the number of physicians that we were educating annually in the province. I and the then Minister of Advanced Education went out to UBC and participated in a ceremony celebrating the fact that what had been 128 in the intake class previously was now 256, a doubling of the number of physicians that we're educating in British Columbia.

Now, it takes years to educate and train a physician. The doubling of the classes for physicians was a huge undertaking on the part of the medical school at UBC and elsewhere. Again, I want to salute the dean of medicine and others who worked so very hard to undertake the doubling of the numbers at UBC.

But that's only part of the story. The success of the doubling of the number of medical students was also a product of the expansion of medical programs beyond UBC to the University of Victoria, to the University of Northern British Columbia and, effective in 2010, to UBC Okanagan as well.

In British Columbia we benefit enormously from the amazing work that has been done around distributed learning. It's remarkable to go into a class at the University of Northern British Columbia and watch students participate with the medical class, their peers, at UBC, at UVic and elsewhere. This distributed learning model has been a remarkable success. Again, students

[ Page 77 ]

or physicians who are educated in the north, nurses who are educated in the north, tend to stay in the north, This is having a profoundly beneficial impact on the availability of physicians in the north and is a great step ahead.

Another area where, again, there was lots of talk for years but there's been more action in recent years is in the utilization of international medical graduates. One of the stories that one used to hear was jumping in a cab and talking to the cab driver and hearing that he was a surgeon from India who had been unable to get accreditation in British Columbia. Happily, we are hearing fewer and fewer of those stories.

We moved in the past few years from two residencies for international medical graduates. We tripled that to six, and more recently we tripled that again to 18 international medical graduates who every year are able to access those positions. That, in addition to some other work, has ensured that IMGs have the opportunity to work, particularly in rural locations in British Columbia, through incentive programs which have been developed to do that.

Also, members will remember — those who were here, at least, in the spring of 2008 — the legislation for the health professions review board, which is now in place. This ensures that all qualified medical professionals, whether they were educated elsewhere in Canada or elsewhere in the world, if they were qualified to work or practise in the province of British Columbia…. We put in place the health professions review board to ensure that there were no unfortunate, unnecessary systemic barriers to their practising in British Columbia. I think that was a huge step ahead as well.

[1450]

In nursing. As well as doubling the number of physicians educated in this province, we have doubled the number of nurses that we are educating in this province. That's both registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. Right across the province we're seeing the benefit of that. We also worked with the B.C. Institute of Technology to put in place a three-year nurse education program, which is now underway and which I'm sure will be a great success in providing more nurses in British Columbia.

That was part of our provincial nursing strategy, which involved many components. Among the components: utilizing older or retired nurses, whether it's in HealthLink or other areas; programs that encouraged graduate nurses to undertake practice in rural or remote British Columbia with incentive programs. Those were a couple of the components. Creating and then building our nurse practitioner program — again, a hugely important new feature here in British Columbia.

One area that was part of the strategy that I think is particularly important was to encourage more aboriginal people to undertake careers in nursing. I think one of the interesting linkages between my new ministerial responsibilities as Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and my former responsibilities in the Ministry of Health is that in many ways, I believe there is an opportunity in the aboriginal relations world in terms of meeting what I think is the biggest challenge to not just government but society generally around the provision of health care in the 21st century.

There is no doubt, after spending four years in this area of public policy and public service delivery, that the provision of health care will be the dominant challenge to not just government but society in the 21st century. There is a fundamental demographic shift — and really an unprecedented demographic shift — that is occurring not just in British Columbia and Canada but across the western world, which is going to profoundly impact the provision of health care.

A decade ago about 8 percent of the population of British Columbia was aged 65-plus. Today it is about 14 percent, and in the decade to 15 years ahead it will move from 14 percent to somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of the population of British Columbia being 65-plus — including, I lament to say, myself, who will also join that august group. I know I'm profoundly boyish at all points, and it's hard to imagine that I could achieve that august age. And perhaps I won't, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do that.

One of the things we know about health care is that although there is always a world of difference between people in terms of their health outcomes, when you take all of the information from all of the people and put it together, generally speaking, the demand for health services grows as we age. Again, there are lots of exceptions to that. My mother, who is 87 this year, enjoys wonderful physical and mental health, but there are lots of people much younger than her who do not. Everybody's circumstance varies, but on an aggregated basis, there is a challenge in terms of British Columbia and Canada and the western world becoming a much older population.

One of the exceptions to that demographic shift is in first nations communities. One of the fastest-growing demographic units is young aboriginal or first nations British Columbians. I think the opportunity for government to work to ensure that aboriginal young people have those opportunities is hugely important, so we need to continue that work.

[1455]

I can't believe that my time has moved so quickly.

We are committed to ensuring that opportunity is there for young British Columbians. We have bountiful resources, wonderful opportunities and an energetic population here. We need to work very hard to ensure that those boundless opportunities are there for all British Columbians, including aboriginal people in this province.

Our history in British Columbia over the past 150 years is not by any means a proud one in relation to aboriginal relations. We have much work to do. A lot of

[ Page 78 ]

that work is trying to ensure that aboriginal communities in British Columbia enjoy the opportunities that all British Columbians should enjoy.

We need to ensure that areas, whether it's health outcomes, education outcomes — all of these areas, including economic development…. We need to close the gap. We need to make sure that not only is British Columbia a great place of opportunity for everyone. We need to work to ensure that that happens each and every day.

As part of a government that is very much concerned with these matters, I know that we will work with first nations leadership to ensure that we move ahead in British Columbia with a great and just society.

M. Karagianis: Congratulations, Madam Speaker, on your new position. Great to see you there.

I would like to first say what a great privilege and an honour it is to have been re-elected, to once again take my place here in the Legislature, and to say how very exciting it has been to see so many more women in the Legislature than in the past. I'd like to congratulate all of the communities that elected and sent strong women forward to the Legislature. [Applause.]

That may be the only applause I get from the other side of the House, and I do appreciate it.

I would like to speak today to the throne speech that was made the other day, but first I would like to take just a moment to thank the number of people who helped to send me here once again. I know that other members of the House will understand my great debt of thanks to my family for all that they do and for standing behind me here as I have run for office many times and served for many long years in one form or another. I would like to specifically thank each of them for the part that they have played in helping me get re-elected, but also for the great patience that they demonstrate.

You know, my husband, Todd, has worked on all my campaigns but equally spends many nights having dinner with me in front of the television set. When he gets home from work he likes to turn the TV on and see if he gets a glimpse of his wife while he eats by himself. I know that others in this chamber probably share that kind of experience with their mate.

My children. My oldest daughter Rebecca and her husband, Rob, who works out of the province — because, in fact, they were displaced when the mill shut in Gold River a number of years ago — lost their home, and Rob has since worked all over North America in order to provide for his family.

My daughter Rebecca graduated last year from nursing school and is now a practising nurse in Campbell River, for which I'm enormously proud. Her three children, Hunter, Payton and River. At various times a couple of them have been down here with their classes.

Her youngest child, River, was here with his class, in fact, during the election period, so I was unable to attend and speak to his class. He had a bit of a hard time explaining to his class what it was I did. He knew I worked here, but he wasn't clear on whether I was one of the cleaners, whether I worked in the Clerk's office, or exactly what I did. He knew I sat in this big room behind the cage, as he called it, but he wasn't really clear what my job was. So we've since clarified that, and hopefully, he'll get a chance to watch and understand a little bit more about what the job is here.

[1500]

My son Nigel and his wife, Robin, have been a great help to me on my campaigns. I know there was a great flurry last fall of members talking about recent births of grandchildren and things. I didn't take my place in that, but in fact, my youngest grandchild, Maxine Dacara, who was born last summer, turned one just a few days ago. So we've celebrated Maxine's birthday.

My daughter Devyn, her husband, Kurt, and my granddaughter Indiana, whom I've talked about in the House before. I know that many of you have shared the support for my daughter Devyn, who battled and won the fight with breast cancer last year and is very healthy and has had her…. She passed her first MRI with flying colours a year later, so we're pretty sure that we're all good there with Devyn and her family.

Then my youngest daughter, Aubrey, and her partner, Brendan, who live on Mayne Island and who rooted really hard in the election for their New Democrat candidate — who didn't quite make it in Saanich North and the Islands — but perhaps they'll have better luck next time.

To my campaign team who did just a terrific job. Jayne, who ran my campaign — a young woman, very dynamic, who I expect someday to take her place in here as one of the women who have sat in the Legislature. She's done a terrific job and continues to be a great friend and supporter.

To Lawrence, Jared, Dave, Bobbie, Barb, Jock, Jaime — all of them who did just an enormous job and terrific job of running a great campaign and getting me here. I owe a great debt of thanks to them. And to my good friend Ray Rice, who always stands by me.

But mostly to my constituents who have done me the great honour and privilege of having elected me now twice to the Legislature, three times in the constituency as a municipal councillor in Esquimalt. So I think, as the previous speaker said, I have now spent 13 years representing my community in some form or other in elected office, and I do thank my constituents for their continuing support. It's a great privilege to stand here on their behalf.

So Madam Speaker, I have a new riding, as you so aptly announced there — the riding of Esquimalt–Royal Roads. That has meant that I've changed the scope and

[ Page 79 ]

character of my community considerably. Gone are the rural parts of the community that I enjoyed under the Metchosin municipal community that was part of the previous constituency. I no longer represent Langford as well. Both those communities are very, very ably represented by my colleague and good friend the member for Juan de Fuca.

I have gained in the process the community of Vic West, just over the blue bridge. So now it's pretty easy for me to say everything over the blue bridge that you can see is part of my riding. That's been a great community to add to my constituency.

Certainly, there are a lot of issues that I'll be raising here in the House on behalf of those four municipalities that I now represent: Colwood, View Royal, Esquimalt and part of Victoria under Vic West.

Transportation, as always, continues to be an issue that we raise here in the House, both the member for Juan de Fuca and I repeatedly, and will continue to do so, because it's a huge challenge for our community. The West Shore is growing dramatically, exponentially. Even in tough economic times, huge growth is still going on there.

Transportation. The need for some kind of commuter rail system there — expanded transportation options always on the constituents' minds.

Sewage treatment continues to be a very hot topic here in the region, and certainly the community of Esquimalt is front and centre of that issue.

The need for replacement of Belmont School, which sits in my riding but that both the member for Juan de Fuca and I share, absolutely continues to be an issue we bring up over and over again here in the House.

Now, in the new part of my riding of Vic West, there is a huge issue broiling up there — the continued and very, very strong opposition to a mega-yacht marina, which would completely overshadow and change forever the scope and character of the Inner Harbour here. I've spent a great number of years working on cleanup and protection of the Gorge waterway and repatriation of the shorelines here. This would be a devastating project were it to come forward. So I expect we're going to have some opportunities to talk about that here in the House.

[1505]

But I wanted to talk a little bit more about what I've learned in 13 years of serving in public office. It's going to be a theme that I think will be familiar in this House. It's the theme about what it takes to stay in elected office, which is hard work and honesty.

That's going to be a theme for me in my comments here and probably in everything I do in the Legislature in the next couple of years, because in fact I raised my family…. I talked about this terrific family I have and what amazing people they are, what amazing, responsible and strong contributing members of their community they all are. One of the things that was the tenet of their upbringing was honesty.

They could make all kinds of mistakes. They could fail at things, but they were never allowed to tell a lie. That was the one solid continuum of their entire upbringing, and today my kids are absolutely dead honest about things.

I've always believed you're only as good as your word and that it's all about truth and honesty. Interesting enough…. As politicians we make lots of promises. I looked up the definition of a promise here, and in fact, a promise is a declaration of something that will or will not be done, an expression of assurance of what expectation people can have of you. It's a pledge, a covenant.

Truth and honesty, to me, are the real tenets of what we do as politicians. Certainly, right now in the province of British Columbia I hear every single day on the streets of this community, of my constituency and wherever I go that British Columbians are very disappointed that they have not been treated with fair and just honesty by their government that they elected. In fact, the promises that were made by the government, this covenant that was made by the government going into a very important election here, have been in fact untrue, have turned out to be very much the opposite.

You know, it seems to me that we're encouraging more cynicism here in the province of British Columbia when the people of this province feel betrayed by promises that they were given leading up to this election, choices that they made. They feel now that they have been deceived by a government that has broken those promises — the pledge that they made to the people of this province.

British Columbians voted on an expectation that the B.C. Liberals were telling the truth about what people could expect from them by re-electing a government here in May. The pledge that the people of British Columbia expected from this government formed the basis on which they voted. But in fact, now, as it turns out, none of that is true. None of the things that people in British Columbia voted for, in fact, are going to be what they get out of the government here. Nothing could be further from the truth than the things that they believed they were voting for.

I have to say, based on that and my experience…. You know, I'm only as good as my word. So what happens when you have a government that's not as good as its word? What happens when you have a government that reneges on absolutely every single thing that they said they were going to do leading into an election?

We had a Finance Minister that talked about his revelations about the budget. British Columbians heard over and over again an assurance that, in fact, the deficit in this province was going to be $495 million. I mean, we heard that over and over again, an assurance from the B.C. Liberals going into the election and through the election process.

[ Page 80 ]

It would seem to me that the Finance Minister must have been the only person — along with the Premier, I guess — who was oblivious to the facts that were unfolding before all of us day after day after day in the newspaper. We talked about it here in this House before we broke and went off to fight the election. It was, in fact, the most compelling topic in every newspaper column for months, both before, during the election and, certainly, after it.

[1510]

You have to say to yourself: "What in the world are we to believe if the government says, 'We knew nothing about the true nature of the books of British Columbia until after the election. We couldn't actually come out with a more factual rendition of what the deficit was going to look like because we didn't know'?"

Well, I just don't think it's credible that the Finance Minister and the Premier would be the only people in the province who believed for one moment that the deficit was going to stay at $495 million.

But I think more than this is the fact that these revelations from the government have come out after an election that was fought on a whole different set of principles. I guess we'll talk about some of those things as we get into the budget, and we'll be debating that. We'll look at what the facts — we hope the true facts — are.

Nonetheless, I think that we have a skepticism now in British Columbia that puts a shame on government, on the fact that the government was in fact so misleading going into the election. The HST, which has been the most compelling topic on everyone's lips these days…. I can't go get groceries, walk my dog or put my garbage out by the roadside without people stopping to tell me how very angry they are about the HST and about the impact it's going to have on them, their families or their parents in some form or other.

I want to look again at this idea of honesty within government and how you're only as good as your word. What happens when you break that?

I have a quote here — the facts, in fact, of a questionnaire that was sent out by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association just prior to the election, where the B.C. Liberal Party said that the HST would extend the PST tax base to a broader range of goods and services. "This is a major concern. The B.C. Liberals have no plans to formally engage the federal government in discussions about potential harmonization."

Well, that was in May. In July we have the Finance Minister saying: "The HST is, in my view, absolutely the right public policy for British Columbia." There is not a person in British Columbia that does not believe that is a complete failure of honesty with the people of British Columbia — that in May the B.C. Liberal Party would say "absolutely no" to harmonization tax and then, literally within weeks, would turn around and say: "We're putting in HST, and not only that, it's a really good idea."

If in fact this is the basis on which we go forward here with government, then I would have to agree with what Barbara Yaffe wrote here in The Vancouver Sun on August 27. She goes on about the accountability for the HST. One of the lines she's written here: "The province's actions are certain to yield a loss of trust in the Campbell government, a loss that will challenge its future legitimacy."

That comes down to the basic tenet of "how good are you?" If you're not as good as your word, then what are you? What is your value? I think Ms. Yaffe has said it very clearly — that your future legitimacy, in fact, is in question.

People are outraged in my community. People are outraged in communities right across this province. The current reality for many people in my community and in many communities across British Columbia is that they are struggling from payday to payday. If they are seniors, they are struggling with a fixed income. If they are families, they are trying to raise their children and pay for housing, rented or owned, trying to get through their day, trying to make sure that there's food on the table and that their kids are clothed.

All of the very essential products that they are required every single day to spend money on so that those things can happen — basic food and shelter; raise your kids; if you're a senior, make sure you can eat, afford your medication — are now, under the HST, going to go up in price.

[1515]

There's a Facebook group that has over 100,000 people opposing the HST. There are petitions going on everywhere. I love the petition here — the half-page ad that came out, paid for by a group of angry former B.C. Liberals. I love this. There's a whole list here of all of the things that are now going to be coming out of individual people's pockets, from groceries to cable TV, tickets, haircuts, movies, theatres, newspapers, taxi fares, airline tickets, skiing, resort packages, parking, coffee shops, fast food, dry cleaning, repair and maintenance, hydro, natural gas, vitamins, school supplies, home maintenance and funeral planning.

These are not the kinds of services that families can choose yes or no. These are essential services that people don't have a choice about spending on. We have a government that has now decided that all of these things are going to cost people more, that we're going to make it more difficult for people in this province — for seniors, for families, for young people — to get by.

In fact, that's also being imposed in the context of a province that under this B.C. Liberal government has found itself with huge job losses across this province. The great fiscal managers of the B.C. Liberal government failed miserably to provide any kind of secure environment to stop job losses in British Columbia.

Child poverty — highest again in Canada, year six. Largest deficit in the history of the province, and I guess

[ Page 81 ]

we're going to see exactly how far that's going to balloon in the coming days. A forest industry decimated, salmon fishing in crisis, cuts to health care, higher costs for post-secondary education, no raise in the minimum wage. On top of all of that, what do we put as a solution? What's the great fiscal solution to that? We didn't talk about it during the election, but now suddenly we've got an HST that is supposed to resolve all of that.

I don't buy for one minute, nor do the people in my community buy for one minute, that this is going to make life easier. We all know it's going to make life harder. Somewhere in a big corporate boardroom, maybe, there's a list of things different from the list I just read out, where they're going to get a tax break. But the list I just read out…. I could go on, because there are many, many more things in there — smoke detectors; fire extinguishers; solar power; helmets, for Pete's sake; Chinese medicine; life jackets. Those are all essential things.

Somewhere, I'm sure, there's a corporate list that says: "Here are all of the things that we are going to gain money back on. We're not going to pay PST on this, and this is going to fatten up our bottom line." But for the bottom line of average families in my constituency, it is a cost. It is a cost that in fact could be very dire for seniors and for families.

So you have to say: why is it — when the B.C. Liberal government makes decisions like this, which they didn't talk about during the election but which are now apparently critical to the economic well-being of this province — that the people who get hurt are the most vulnerable? They are the working people of this province; they are the seniors of this province.

I'm the opposition critic for Children and Families. I have yet to even begin to hear the scope of what the impending impact of the HST and the resulting other cuts in services that this government has embarked on is going to do to those particular individuals.

It's fair to say that children in care are there because already they are living in an environment of vulnerability, because those families are already under enormous stress. If their cost of living goes higher, then that is only going to put more burden on this.

I know the children's representative has talked about this, about her concern for children living in poverty, for the children who are in care, for the children who are in foster care, for all of those under the umbrella of the Children and Families Ministry. What's going to be the impact to them of hardship, an economy that is causing hardships in its own right without the addition of an HST and a government bent on all kinds of cuts?

[1520]

It concerns me that day after day I see more and more evidence here that the government's way of dealing with this fiscal challenge they have — this huge deficit that we didn't hear about going into the election a few months ago, 90 days ago, but that we're now hearing about — is…. The throne speech indicated there will be more cuts. There will be more loss of programs.

We've already seen many of them shut down — the leaky condo program. We saw a bunch of seniors here. I went out and talked to those seniors. I talked to those seniors in my community who are very concerned about this program suddenly disappearing. Poof! — it's gone.

Cuts to libraries and schools; 10,000 surgeries cancelled. Some of those have been elsewhere, but we are very fearful about what the impacts will be here in my constituency.

There was a particular week in the Times Colonist where the headlines were remarkable. It would seem to me in lining these up that you'd think these might have been over several months, but this was one day in the Times Colonist : "Premier Defends HST," "Province Shuts Down Tourism Agency," "LiveSmart Program Cancelled," "Government Sitting on Grants to Community Organizations."

On-line gambling. The government has decided, in the midst of all of the hardship and chaos, that it's okay to now up the ante for on-line gambling so that families will feel the impacts of that.

That was one day in the local paper. Not a month, not a year. This is program after program being slashed that affect the people in my community and families right across British Columbia.

I attended the town hall meeting for the B.C. restaurant and food services industry last week and heard from a group of businesses that are normally very supportive of the B.C. Liberals but, in fact, are so deeply angry and outraged by the harmonization sales tax, by the lack of consultation, by the fact that they were told outright by the government prior to the election that this was not on. The HST was not on.

They are feeling so deeply betrayed by the government's actions on implementing the HST that they gathered together to talk about ways that they could stop the government from doing that — not how they could support the B.C. Liberal government, but how they could stop the government from implementing this harmonization tax.

You've got to say to yourself…. I know for a fact that the letters I've got — and I have a cluster of them here…. I picked just a few of the ones where people's lives are going to be most hurt and devastated, but many of these letters have been cc'd to all of the members of the government, certainly to the Finance Minister and the Premier.

It's not like the opposition is the only one hearing over and over again how very unhappy people are about the HST or about the many cuts that the government has already levied that affect their lives. I know that the members on that side of the House are hearing the same degree of concern that the members on this side of the House are.

It was funny, because I heard the Premier say in the last couple of days here that this session…. Why are the

[ Page 82 ]

NDP saying all those negative things? Well, it's not the New Democrats saying all those negative things. It's the people of British Columbia saying all those negative things. That's where the angst is coming from.

The people of B.C. are standing up and saying: "We were tricked. We were not given all the facts going into the election, and we are mad." I know why my constituents in Esquimalt–Royal Roads elected me: to speak for them, to bring their voice here into this Legislature. So when the Premier stands up and says, "Oh, those New Democrats, always just so negative," you know what? It's the voice of the people that he is hearing.

[1525]

I know that he's had enough letters from the same people who have written to me and to every other member of this House about people's concerns.

So you know what, Madam Speaker? The constituents of Esquimalt–Royal Roads elected me to come here and fight on their behalf — to fight for the services that they deserve, to say we don't want to lose our health care services. We don't want cuts to our schools and libraries. We don't want our seniors to be without the services that they deserve.

Frankly, my constituents have said they want a government that is honest. They want to restore honesty and integrity to British Columbia. Unfortunately, they might have to wait a few years for that again.

Frankly, I have heard from my neighbours and my community that they are sick of the Liberal spin, the ineptitude, the manipulation of information and the withholding of facts and details going into the election. They're fed up with a callous government that just wants more from them, because at the end of the day, it's about taking money out of ordinary people's pockets and giving it to big corporations.

I do believe there's some revenue neutrality in this, but that's about ordinary people paying the price and the tax dollars that will be taken out of their households, perhaps out of their food bill if they're a senior, perhaps from their medication bills if they're a senior. Or families will have to make a hard decision about whether they will take their kids to a movie or be able to afford to pay the hydro bill.

All of that is at the expense of the people in my constituency in favour of big corporations, and I am here to stand up and say, no, no, no, on their behalf.

R. Sultan: Thank you to the constituents of North Vancouver and West Vancouver who have returned me to this Legislature for another wonderful four years. I am very indebted to them, and I pledge my hard work to them over the next four years.

I would like to assure these constituents that my brief flirtation with the NDP a couple of days ago, while it was consistent with my

"east of Main Street" roots, while it was consistent with my fond memories of my brothers in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, was rather rudely terminated by the deputy clerk, who said it was all a big mistake. But it brought back some good memories.

[C. Trevena in the chair.]

I would like to address the astonishing comments made by the opposition party in response to the Speech from the Throne, in particular, remarks by the Leader of the Opposition.

Yesterday, during question period, what might be termed the warmup to throne, the opposition leader accused this government of turning its back on its election promises, more particularly, its promise of no cuts to health care or other core services.

Now, maybe she had an advanced peek at the budget. I have not. But the Health Minister has already signalled this government's intention to increase Health spending by 1⁄5 over the next three years. Only in the world of NDP math is a 1⁄5 increase a cut.

The same holds true for education, as a matter of fact. According to the opposition leader: "It really is unbelievable to me that the Premier thinks cutting education is a smart thing to do."

The reality is that this government has, since coming into office, increased K-to-12 spending on each and every student by an average of 5 percent a year, year in, year out, and I would be surprised if the budget tabled next week departs from that trend line. As for post-secondary education, since 2001 this government has invested almost $18 billion — a provincial record. Once again, the arithmetic skills by which the NDP discovers cuts are on display.

[1530]

The opposition's unflattering adjectives in response to the Speech from the Throne have so far ranged from the forbidden "l" word to alibi, deceit, distaste, stench, betrayal, bankruptcy and illegitimacy. So much for elevating the tone of this place for the benefit of the school children.

On the issue of the HST, there has been a great parsing of the Finance Minister's daytimer. In the spirit of that famous accusation — what did he know, and when did he know it? — if we're to believe the NDP's version of the life of a Finance Minister, budgets are made and broken weekly or maybe daily, depending on the latest tidbit of economic information.

Housing starts are up this month in the United States. Hold the presses. Projected deficit is going down. Oh, wait a minute. President Obama gave a speech intimating continued closed borders to British Columbia lumber in the United States. The projected deficit is going up.

I was once chief economist of this country's largest financial institution. Once a year, at budget time, did the chief accountant come to my office and ask me my

[ Page 83 ]

opinion of the money supply? Yes, he did. Did he return every week thereafter asking for the latest nuance? No, he didn't.

How does an economist ensure accuracy? Forecast often. Why is he well paid? Forecasting is difficult, particularly of the future. How does an economist live to a ripe old age? Quit before his long-term forecasts come due. And that's what I did.

The Bible says, "Beware of false prophets," Matthew 7:15. And I would add: "…whether they come singly or in a multitude."

So our Finance Minister misjudged the future back in February of this year. Big deal. Welcome to the real world. If I could have forecast everything that's happened between March and today, I would be lighting cigars with $100 bills on the beach at Waikiki. I wouldn't be here getting ready for another cold winter in Canada.

Is the opposition's crystal ball any better? I doubt it. Certainly, they do not seem to be doing any better across the mountains in Alberta, where the provincial treasurer was forced to announce a $15 billion swing adjustment downward in his budget, surplus to negative, including a hasty $2 billion in the most recent quarter.

My serious doubts about the NDP's concept of management are amplified in the context of Budget 2009, the presumed February document of deceit and deception. An election was coming. The government had an obligation to present to the public the world as it saw it and how it would hope to configure its revenues and expenses.

By March the printing presses were rolling. Campaign literature was spewing forth. The pre-writ period was in full swing. The fiscal platform of the government had been declared and debated and analyzed and criticized in the Legislature.

The stage was set for the public to judge who was better able to govern this province in tumultuous times. The public rendered a decisive verdict, and they did not choose the opposition leader's party.

Now, based on a parsing of the Finance Minister's daytimer, they would have the public believe that we were all victims of some sort of financial conspiracy. One of the opposition leader's key lieutenants, the self-described lefty from Nanaimo, is already murmuring about recall. Where I was educated, we had a technical term for all of this: horse feathers.

[1535]

The opposition leader has made a great to-do about small business. She said: "Small business is the economy's backbone. You don't build confidence by ignoring their advice. You build it by listening to them."

And again: "Small businesses across the province didn't ask for the HST." And she said that if the Liberals were listening to small business, they certainly didn't hear them.

Well, I beg to differ. For several years, carrying Rick Thorpe's briefcase, I was a participant in the Small Business Roundtable — the assigned topic: how to improve the provincial sales tax. Twenty-one assigned shepherds, from Tony Singh to Sue Adams, accompanied the tour. It went on for three years.

At 43 consultation sessions from Courtenay to Castlegar, attended by well over 1,000 small business persons, the effectiveness of the existing provincial sales tax system was debated. A common small business refrain at these meetings was the plea: "Please get rid of this pesky burden of the PST. Please allow us to fill in only one tax return and not two."

The same suggestion was brought forward by members of the Legislature's Finance Committee — both sides of the House represented, I might add — touring the province in advance of each budget. It was such a commonly bandied idea, the Progress Board issued a special report on it. They applauded it as good public policy, but they didn't think any government would have the fortitude to actually go ahead and implement it.

So the idea of integrating the PST…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members, Members.

R. Sultan: …and the GST was hardly new, as indeed discovered with triumph by the opposition. Former MLA John Nuraney — my friend John — was probably present for one of those discussions, but I'm also quite sure that our former Deputy Premier, now a talk show host, was not. Her erroneous speculations are forgiven.

The opposition would have us believe that it all boils down to trust. As the opposition leader says: "We're not going to know the real state of the economy until the Auditor General reports out, because I have no faith in any numbers that this government puts forward."

With respect to the opposition leader's lack of trust in published government figures, two images from the past stand out in my memory.

The first was the award received by our former Finance Minister Gary Collins from the head of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, who flew out here from Toronto, giving him this plaque for representing the first government in Canada to bring financial reporting in line with generally accepted accounting principles, otherwise known as GAAP, accompanied by applause not only from the member from Chilliwack but from the financial analyst community generally across North America, indeed the world, for our comprehensiveness and transparency and rapidity of British Columbia's financial reporting.

It was astonishing. They were thunderstruck. They had never seen a book of government accounts that they could add up from one end to another: Crown corporations, balance sheet to income statement — on and on

[ Page 84 ]

it went. It all computed, and it was done shortly after the closing of the fiscal year. Quite an accomplishment, I might say, for our civil servants. They were remarkable, and I think they still are.

The second image it conjures up about the same time is the NDP government of one western province, which shall go unnamed, creatively converting a deficit into a surplus through setting aside a paper reserve fund and then drawing on that paper entity the next year to balance the books. Bravo, NDP accountants. Even Enron didn't think of that one. So it does indeed come down to trust, and it was on that basis the recent May election was decided.

[1540]

In that election only half of eligible voters exercised their franchise. The Leader of the Opposition again dwelt on the considerable length of her explanation for why it happened. The voters, fed up with deceit, the "l" word and widespread government treachery, lacking in trust, voted with their feet by not voting. That was the explanation. Well, I have a different

interpretation. Voters, satisfied with the economic management of this government in difficult times and suspicious of the abilities of the NDP alternative, were not inclined to throw the rascals out and, perhaps with overconfidence, could not conceive that the other side would ever win, so they stayed home. They trusted us.

Why, I ask, is the NDP not trusted? Let me count the ways. The public does not trust a party which boldly suggests in its alternative budget that it can enjoy more than half a billion of additional revenue than our government had forecasted last January and February.

It doesn't trust a party which promises to match the government in reducing program spending by $1.9 billion and then further reduce spending by another $1.2 billion on top of that. They do not trust a party which airily discussed another $3 or $4 billion of discretionary spending and then, with all of this, somehow balance the budget.

It's been a long time, for those of you who maybe haven't been in Sunday school recently, since the parable of the 5,000 people fed with five loaves of bread and two fishes in the Holy Land, but the NDP apparently believes it can repeat the miracle. Furthermore, the public doesn't trust a party which can't decide whether to endorse a green energy agenda or cater to its fiercely opposed utility union supporters — a terrible dilemma. My heart goes out to them.

The public does not trust a party whose leader asserted yesterday that when the United States catches a cold, we sneeze. Well, actually, it was more likely to be the opposite, I might point out.

The public does not trust a party which denounces HST yesterday in this chamber because of its negative impact on the Harmac mill in Nanaimo when, in fact, the HST is probably the best thing that's happened to keep Harmac going and alive in a long, long time. So the Leader of the Opposition is quite right. The issue is trust. Whom do you trust? The electorate made their choice on May 12…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Order, Members. Members.

R. Sultan: …and I don't believe they will be otherwise inclined next time.

The matter of trust cannot be taken lightly. I am much intrigued by the thoughts of David M. Smick in his recent book The World Is Curved . Smick addresses the breakdown in trust in our financial system globally and nationally. The collapse of these systems of trust through a failure of credibility, a lack of trust, triggered the present economic crisis. I think we can all agree on that. He says:

"Today's global ocean of capital continually measures political risk. Because entrepreneurial capital is highly mobile and forward-looking, it darts across borders at the first signal of even potential negative change. These signals of negative change include signs of class warfare, politicians pitting one income group against the other" — interestingly, as an aside, he's referring particularly to the United States — "and excessive government intervention, including protectionism. Today the world is curved, because the political and financial market worlds increasingly don't understand each other."

However, I believe the public generally understands this. On the matter of trust, the party led by the Leader of the Opposition is not trusted to encourage jobs and investment, since they are stuck repeating the old refrain I heard in the House again yesterday: cake for the rich, crumbs for the poor.

[1545]

On such intellectual foundations, the Leader of the Opposition would build trust among the voters of this province. Well, I don't think the party opposite will succeed.

Deputy Speaker: I'd like to remind members that they will have the opportunity to speak to the throne speech. We've had very good behaviour in this House for other speakers, and I would hope that it continues.

B. Routley: I want to start off by saying to the good folks at Hansard that I've spent the last 18 years speaking out in lunchrooms and in the back of a pickup truck in a marshalling point, so you can forgive me if I stray a little bit from the rules in terms of…. The volume of my voice does go up and down, but I'm going to try and restrain myself.

The first thing I want to do is start out by thanking my family and friends and the supporters and all of the good people, the voters of the Cowichan Valley, who took

part in the election. This was the first election in the constituency of Cowichan Valley, and I am both honoured and

[ Page 85 ]

humbled to be elected in the new constituency of the Cowichan Valley.

I want to offer a special thank-you to Doug Routley and John Horgan, who are both outstanding MLAs.

Deputy Speaker: Member, Member. Don't mention names. The member from.

B. Routley: Well, they used to be from…. Okay.

An Hon. Member: The guy who shares my last name.

B. Routley: Yeah, "the guy who shares my last name" works for me.

They're both outstanding MLAs and work tirelessly to represent the people living within what are now the new boundaries that make up the Cowichan Valley constituency.

I want to say it has been a wonderful experience already to represent the people in the communities that I grew up in, to go to schools and to be there with children getting special awards. It has already been a tremendous honour just to be an MLA, and I understand now what a privilege and honour it is to be in this House.

I want to add that I congratulate all MLAs, from whatever party, for being elected. It is indeed a special thing, and good on you for working hard to get elected in the province of British Columbia. I just happen to believe that some of you have your ladder on the wrong wall.

At the end of the day, it's been incredible to represent those folks in the Cowichan Valley. I want to thank my wife especially, who helped me throughout my career, who was there to support me. Charmaine and I started our family in Youbou, and we raised our son Noah and Alisha in Lake Cowichan and Duncan, which are all communities within the Cowichan Valley.

I love the Cowichan Valley. I've spent the majority of my life there, and I hope to spend the rest of my days in the Cowichan region. So it is indeed an incredible and special place, and I'm honoured to be their representative.

To give some context to where I come from, I started my working career back in the 1970s at the Youbou sawmill, so I understand the forest industry from the ground up, from the plant floor. I spent years working my way up through everything from the cleanup man's job to the greenchain, through the planer in the mill, the chip plant, the veneer plant and through the booming ground area.

I enjoyed every bit of my career working with those people, and I have nothing but respect for workers and their families. Again, I will try to do my best to represent my roots and never forget the roots of where I come from.

I have spent the last 18 years serving as president of what was IWA Local 180 in Duncan, with more than 4,000 members when I started out. Today we're down to probably less than 2,000 working.

[1550]

It's a tragedy to see the impact that we've seen on forest workers and their families. But I want to thank all of those workers and their families for the tremendous support that I've had.

I'd like to add that I started out running for election on safety committees back in the 1970s. I have run for election — either for safety committee, safety chairman, plant chairman on to the presidency — every three to four years. Since the mid-'70s I've run for election and been elected by my peers. I believe that's because I listened to their interests. I did my best to represent their interests, and I consulted, first and foremost, with those workers and their families before I made a move.

I never, ever got a letter right after being elected telling me that I'd failed them and that I'd made an absolute disgrace like we're seeing here with this Liberal government. The ink is hardly dry on the fact that people have been elected, and here we are getting all kinds of mail from people in every constituency in British Columbia complaining that they feel misrepresented, misled and deceived by the government of British Columbia that's elected today.

I wanted to carry on by acknowledging in a special way the first nations tribes in the Cowichan Valley and thanking them for sharing their traditional territory with us. The Cowichan Tribes are the single largest first nation in British Columbia. It's been an exceptional experience for me to spend time with Cowichan band elders, to connect with childhood friends like my friend Bob Page, who I grew up with. I'm grateful to have the support of so many Cowichan Tribes members, who I'm honoured and privileged to call friends.

I would like to express my gratitude to the terrific people who worked their hearts out to help in my campaign — people like the campaign manager Calinda Brown, who was federal MP Jean Crowder's campaign manager as well. She had lots of experience and understood the people of the Cowichan Valley.

Laurie Strom, E-day coordinator; James Herata Down; Ellen Oxman, my financial agent; Doug Morgan; Tom Harkins; Diana Brynley; Joan Gillatt, who worked with Tommy Douglas, if you can imagine, back in the 1970s on his federal campaign. I was indeed honoured to have somebody in their 80s working just about every single day on my campaign. Joan is a fixture in the Cowichan Valley and is a tremendous New Democrat.

Carol Gillatt, who happens to be Joan's daughter; Helen Nation; Dee Shooligan; Al Robinson; Faye Griffiths; Trudy Thorgerson; Ann Anderson; Laurie Jordan; Gus Williams; Ed Elliott; Chuck Seymour; Hannah Seymour; Don Gordon, who was also working with me when I became a school trustee back in 1980; Diana Gunderson; Rosemary Danaher; Rick Whiteford; Brian Butler; Jagish Pagely; Kirpal Sandhu; Roger Stanyer; Debra and Gerry Toporowski; and more than 300 others took

part in the campaign. I want to thank all of them from the bottom of my heart.

[ Page 86 ]

I would be remiss if I didn't start off by talking about issues like Cowichan Lodge. I'm particularly proud to come from a community that is prepared to fight and defend the elderly. I'm here to tell you that this opposition will continue to fight to defend seniors and all those whose voices are not easily heard.

It's important to understand some of this struggle, but there are some important letters that outline some of the difficulties that we have in the Cowichan Valley. I want to take a moment to read a letter that was sent to the Premier from the Fair Health Care Funding for Cowichan Now.

[1555]

"This letter is sent to you by a unified coalition of more than 50 Cowichan Valley health care agencies and non-profit organizations, physicians and community citizens. We are demanding immediate action and resolution of the rapidly escalating health care crisis in the Cowichan Valley. Our coalition has deep concerns about health care funding and the disparities that exist between the Cowichan Valley and Victoria and Nanaimo and about the future of the Cowichan Lodge.

"Statistics from the Vancouver Island Health Authority, VIHA, prove that this funding discrimination has existed for more than ten years. Many of these inequities occurred in the mental health and addictions sectors and have a profound negative impact upon broader services and the community at large. Despite this funding disparity causing unacceptable burdens and pressures on our health care providers, they have still done their best to meet VIHA standards.

"The Ministry of Health and VIHA have completely disregarded the numerous funding proposals submitted by physicians and other service providers and have historically failed to rectify these significant imbalances.

"At this time Victoria has 2.89 beds per thousand of the population. Cowichan has 0.9. Victoria receives $216 per capita, while Cowichan receives $124."

These are from VIHA's own statistics, March 31, 2009.

"Victoria has 800 mental health and addiction beds. Cowichan Valley has 19. Victoria has five assertive community teams, and there are no assertive community teams north of the Malahat.

"VIHA made a unilateral decision to close the Cowichan Lodge despite overwhelming evidence in favour of keeping the facility open. This has caused the loss of vital existing health care services in the community, statistically higher than levels of mortality amongst the senior population involved, and a critical backlog at the Cowichan District Hospital, which, by the way, is operating most days at over-capacity priority 5 level."

It's shameful that this government has allowed this kind of thing to continue, and now they're talking about making it worse.

"Since June 2008 significant efforts have been made by the Cowichan Valley community to avert the Cowichan Lodge closing. It is apparent to the coalition that this closure is a primary contributor to the current critical bottleneck in the Cowichan Valley health care system. VIHA has neglected to properly involve stakeholders despite repeated promises to do so."

This is the record of this government. No consultation. Roll into the community. VIHA comes in and says, "We're shutting down the lodge," with 30 days' notice. Then, after loud howls and protests, they extend it to 60 days. Then, after threats of going to court, they move it to a year. This is the kind of government that we have in British Columbia today — a government that doesn't consult, doesn't listen. The people of Cowichan Valley are fed up, and they got it right in the election. They understood what they were doing full well.

Another letter I want to read is to give a face to some of the hard-working care providers that are there in the Cowichan Lodge. All those years that they worked and served seniors in our community, and they were just ignored, told one day: "You've got 30 days to pack your bags and get out."

That's the kind of government we have across the table. No consultation. Almost no notice. After years of sacrifice they roll into town with their flunkies and tell the community: "We don't care what you think. We're pushing you out and your seniors along with it."

[1600]

This is a letter from Kathy Sharp, who worked at the Cowichan Lodge. She said just recently:

"As I was working this week at Walden House, it was with bittersweet feelings that I felt inside. Walden House was given a reprieve until the spring by VIHA. But as I would go back and forth from the lodge" — Cowichan Lodge — "to Walden House, I would walk by the Price's Alarm truck knowing that it was there because of things to come."

In recent weeks, by the way, the Cowichan Lodge has been closed.

She goes on:

"I realized when I started there as a fresh-faced 22-year-old, unsure of what I wanted to be when I grew up, that now I have spent more than half my life there and have gone through the death of a parent, a sister, marriage, divorce and all kinds of life challenges with the love and support of co-workers and lifelong friends I have made there.

"I have helped my co-workers celebrate their marriages and the births of their children, have drunk tea with the seniors and have loved so many of the residents. One could even say thousands. And I've listened to their stories, what made their lives unique to each of them.

"We can't really say it was just seniors because, in the end, they were seniors and much more."

They care deeply about these seniors.

"We had former co-workers who became sick whom we helped, who lived and died there. Not many people can say that. We were the heart and soul. It is now just an empty building with empty rooms and the blinds pulled shut, waiting to be closed. What will become of it? We will wait as the tangle of red tape decides.

"My work at the Cowichan Lodge and being part of such an experience has been an honour and has taught me many things in life that I would have never learned anywhere else. Cowichan Lodge will never be the same. The flavour that made the Cowichan Lodge what it is, is now gone. No matter what the place becomes, it can never be what we had.

"I hope that somehow we at Walden House can attempt to go on and honour those that put so much of themselves and their lives into making the Lodge home for those that needed that extra bit of help."

She concludes, and I want to add to her words the same thought:

"Thank you to all who lived, loved and fought for the Cowichan Lodge. Gratefully and respectfully, Kathy Sharp."

This government should be ashamed of themselves that they came into our community and took those kinds of actions. You put people through the kind of stress….

[ Page 87 ]

And our seniors — you might as well have attacked them. It's unacceptable, the kinds of actions that this government has taken to hurt seniors. Government is supposed to be there to help, not hurt, our seniors.

Closing the Cowichan Lodge did not make ethical or fiscal sense. It was a decision that hurt so many people in the community, but this government doesn't seem to do what makes sense. They do exactly what they want and with no regard for people of this province and of communities in the Cowichan Valley, and that is unacceptable. We don't accept it on this side of the House, and we're going to continue to fight for our seniors.

I want to talk about the other things going on in health care in the Cowichan Valley. I want to talk about Matthew Leeming who, just at the end of July, on July 30, fell down the stairs. Now, this could be happening anywhere in British Columbia, but this happened with Matthew Leeming who is over 65.

[1605]

He fell down the stairs, and instead of going to the phone and phoning the ambulance — because he was bleeding profusely — he managed to get himself to the hospital. And you know what he was told? "Bring out your gold card and take a seat over here." He ended up with 19 stitches, and he was told by somebody working there, which I just can't believe that they would suggest: "You're making quite a mess on the floor."

That's the kind of health care we've got in the province of British Columbia. The conditions are so poor and the hospitals so jammed that people start to be uncompassionate with other folks. Somebody coming in bleeding all over the floor gets told: "You're making quite a mess on the floor."

That's unacceptable. And it could happen to you. Anybody in this House, it could happen to you today or tomorrow, and we should think about what we're doing. I ask you; I plead with you. Think about what you're doing. Make sense. Our hospitals are important to the people of British Columbia, and we can't….

Deputy Speaker: I'd like to remind the member to address his remarks through the Chair.

B. Routley: Hon. Chair, people are suffering and in pain. This government is not helping. They're hurting British Columbians, and it's got to stop.

I heard some of the folks on the other side talk about the forest industry and how this is good for the forest industry and mining and for oil and gas. Well, well, well. I guess it is. I just guess and bet it is. This government has a litany of experiences in destroying forest communities starting in 2003.

I remind you that I come from the shop floor. I know who this government should be representing, and that's the people of the Cowichan Valley — the workers, the families, the communities, the small businesses — not big corporations. But Rick Jeffrey from the Coastal Employers Coalition would have been high-fiving the Premier of the province, saying: "Right on." He said in the paper: "We've been talking about this for years."

You know what? They're some of the biggest contributors to the Liberal Party. Oil and gas, the forest companies, mining — they're all there, and it is payback time. That's what's going on in British Columbia.

We can't have the corporatization of British Columbia. We can't have our province sold off to the lowest bidder. We can't have our rivers and streams given away. It's an outrage what's going on, and the people of British Columbia have finally….

There are a lot of folks th