2004 Legislative Session: 5th Session, 37th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes

only.

The printed version remains the official version.

Official Report of

DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

(Hansard)

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2004

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 20, Number 6

CONTENTS

Routine Proceedings

Page

Introductions by Members

Statements (Standing Order 25 B )

Recognition of work of Surrey police officers and

citizens

D. Hayer

Employment in Cariboo area

W. Cobb

Small business in Victoria

S. Orr

Oral Questions

Funding for RAV line

J. MacPhail

Hon. G.

Campbell

Passenger rail service to B.C.

interior communities

J. Kwan

Hon. K.

Falcon

Release of report on B.C. forest

fires

K. Krueger

Hon. G.

Campbell

Alternative budget

R. Nijjar

Hon. G.

Collins

Safety of farmed salmon

B. Belsey

Hon. J. van

Dongen

Reports from Committees

Select Standing

Committee on Crown Corporations, third report

K. Stewart

Point of Privilege

J. MacPhail

Hon. G. Collins

Ministerial Statements

Multiculturalism

Hon. G.

Cheema

J. Kwan

Throne Speech Debate (continued)

L. Mayencourt

Hon. G. Plant

Hon. C. Clark

Hon. K. Falcon

Hon. S. Hagen

R. Lee

B. Penner

Hon. S. Brice

B. Suffredine

[ Page 8553 ]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2004

The House

met at 2:03 p.m.

Introductions by Members

Hon. S.

Brice: Both the Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural Services

and I would like to welcome to the gallery an important leader in mental health

in this province. He and his family are to be commended for both leadership and

dedication in promoting mental wellness in the workplace. Just recently his

company, Coast Capital Savings, has launched an initiative to train 20 human

resource counsellors so they will be better equipped to help managers and

employees recognize and deal appropriately with depression and anxiety. He is

also leading the way in his work to create a research chair in depression at the

University of British Columbia. Would the House please welcome Mr. Lloyd Craig,

CEO of Coast Capital Savings and chair of the B.C. Business and Economic Round

Table on Mental Health.

[1405]

Hon. C.

Clark: I am delighted today to be able to welcome to the gallery, for the

first time since Mark Rose was their MLA, Margaret and Art Wilkinson — both of

whom have the freedom of the city of Port Moody, both of whom have led and

inspired a generation of people in our community to do better and to serve the

people that we live next door to. I hope the House will make them welcome.

H. Bloy:

It's my pleasure today to introduce two young people in the gallery with us.

They are recently engaged: Ms. Jennifer Sutherland and Mr. Dennis Fynn. I have

known Dennis for almost 20 years, watching him grow up and go to school and

scouting with my family. Would the House please make them welcome today.

Statements

(Standing Order 25

b) RECOGNITION OF WORK OF SURREY

POLICE OFFICERS AND CITIZENS

Hayer: There continues to be a great deal of concern about crime and

violence in our community, but I know we are making progress. In fact, we have

some of the most dedicated police officers in the province in Surrey, and

particularly in my riding of Surrey-Tynehead, battling these cancers on our

society.

Recently

RCMP assistant commissioner Gary Forbes, along with the mayor and MLAs for

Surrey–Green Timbers and Surrey-Whalley and myself, honoured 15 outstanding

Surrey officers for deeds that were far and away beyond the call of duty.

They have

spent countless hours on murder investigations, crime prevention and making

Surrey a better, safer place to live and to do business in. In addition, there

were certificates of recognition given to civilians who chose to take action

rather than sit idly by. These acts by police officers and citizens alike are

reassuring, and they demonstrate that dedication to the community and to help

others is alive and well in Surrey.

Receiving

RCMP commendations were Cpl. Peter Cross, Cpl. Robert Parker, Const. Gordon

Reid, Const. Duane Rolls, Const. Margo Halliday, Const. Jose Carlos, Const.

Perry Olson, Const. Christian Bichler, Const. Kurt Neuman, Const. Rudy Exantus,

Const. Rob Lewis, Const. Mike Hall, Const. Bruce Crabb, Const. Graham Morgan and

Const. Paul Dadwal.

Civilians

honoured were Simon Prodromidis, Andrew Henderson and Andrew Cilliers, who all

were cited for courage and selflessness when they dragged a man to safety from a

burning car, while Geoff Beaumont was honoured for alerting police to a vehicle

and operator who was involved in a marijuana smuggling operation along the U.S.

border.

Also

honoured was Cpl. Fred Nicks for his above-and-beyond work on Project

Evenhanded, and civilian Teresa Campbell was recognized for her work with youth

in the Surrey school district and the Surrey RCMP school liaison program. I

would ask the House to join me in congratulating these fine police officers and

citizens who by their own actions deserve these awards.

EMPLOYMENT IN CARIBOO AREA

W. Cobb:

Forest fires were breathing down our necks; pine beetles are infesting our

forest; trading partners are restricting our beef and our lumber. It has been a

challenging year for the Cariboo. We needed some good news, and it has arrived

from Stats Canada. People in the Cariboo are finally getting back on the job.

Employment numbers in our region have improved dramatically. Our unemployment

rate is currently at 9.8 percent and closing on the 7.3 percent average. The

rate has improved by 3 percentage points in the past seven months. It is

encouraging to see that fewer Cariboo residents are looking for work, but there

is an even better signal for us. The Stats Canada rate tells us how many people

are actively employed, and that number is climbing beyond any level in the past

two years.

In January

our employment rate was at a low of 58 percent, but now it is outperforming the

provincial average and sits at 63 percent. In the past year the Cariboo region

generated a total of 3,300 new jobs. To put that in perspective, that was the

third-highest in the province. Only the Thompson-Okanagan and the northeast have

job creation numbers above ours.

[1410]

These

regions are all in the heartlands, where Premier Gordon Campbell pledged to

focus B.C.'s economic renewal. The plan is clearly paying dividends in our area.

Success is being felt all across B.C. There were 77,000 new jobs created in 2003

— tops in Canada. B.C. has increased its job creation numbers by a whopping

8.1 percent, well above the Canadian increase of 5.5 percent. It is clear. B.C.

is recovering from a decade of decline.

[ Page 8554 ]

SMALL BUSINESS IN VICTORIA

S. Orr:

Two-minute statements are used for a huge variety of reasons. For me it's

usually a time to brag about good things happening in Victoria-Hillside.

Small

business is big business in my riding, and I have many success stories. This

month, one in particular jumped out at me. It's a lighting store called

Illuminations. Three years ago a couple called Bob and Wendy McRichie moved to

Victoria. They had been working very successfully around the world in the

computer industry, and, in fact, Bob still does. They decided to move back to

B.C. where they had lived before and take a chance once again.

This couple

are very astute in business and saw changes happening here with a change in

government. They took a huge risk, and knowing nothing about the lighting

business, they bought a store that had been in business since 1975. It was a

modest store with six employees. They then took all their expertise in their

computer business and in customer service, and with the boosts in our economy

and the construction industry combined, they applied their knowledge to this new

business.

Today,

three years later — during the time of this government — they employ 24

young people whom they took great pride in training to a very high level of

customer service, and they now all have good jobs. The crowning glory is that

last month they won in Dallas, Texas, the equivalent of the Academy Awards in

lighting. There is such a thing. They were selected from literally thousands and

thousands of lighting stores throughout North America for the award for lighting

showroom, which is the equivalent of best picture.

Yes, here

in my riding of Victoria-Hillside, Illuminations is the best in the west. Well

done to Illuminations lighting store. You have just proved to me once again that

small business rocks.

Mr.

Speaker: That concludes member statements.

Oral Questions

FUNDING FOR RAV LINE

MacPhail: On Friday the federal government said it had an agreement to

divert $60 million from the rural infrastructure fund to the

Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit line. "News to us,"

said the Minister of State for Mining. "We're still in negotiations,"

said the Minister of Small Business. Then today the Minister of Small Business

says the federal release is "flat wrong," to quote him.

Now, this

news release didn't come out of group action Quebec. It's a very thoughtful news

release, and it says specifically that the money was going to be diverted. To

the Premier: why did his government come to an agreement to divert rural money

to the RAV line and then deny it only when it was exposed?

Hon. G.

Campbell: The press release from the federal government was wrong. Let me

say that again. It was wrong.

I visited

with the Prime Minister in July of 2003. I pointed out to him explicitly that we

would not touch one cent of infrastructure money for rural British Columbia. I

met with Minister Rock and I said to him that we will not touch one cent of

infrastructure money for rural British Columbia. I talked with three mayors from

the greater Vancouver regional district, who suggested it might be a good idea

to do that. I said: "Just so you're clear, we will not touch one cent of

infrastructure money for rural British Columbia."

The member

opposite should be aware of this. We will not touch one cent of infrastructure

money for rural British Columbia for the RAV line. We have said that to the

federal government. That is our commitment to the people of rural British

Columbia. More importantly, it was the federal government's commitment back to

British Columbia, and we intend to hold them to that commitment.

Mr.

Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a supplementary question.

MacPhail: Well, it looks like once again the federal Liberals are making

life miserable for B.C. Liberals. I know it's tough — that relationship

between the federal Liberals and the B.C. Liberals — but this news release,

which as far as I know hasn't been asked to be withdrawn, is very clear. It's

not a news release where one federal body is skimming off 15 percent and

transferring the money to another federal body. It's very clear. It's a couple

of days old, and it's very specific on the commitments….

[1415]

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please, hon. members.

MacPhail: The governments of Canada and British Columbia have already agreed

to use $60 million of the province's allocation under the MRIF for the

Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit project line.

Now, if the

Premier is standing up and saying the Prime Minister didn't tell the truth or if

he's saying the minister responsible for the program didn't tell the truth….

Or is he saying that this is just another example of the federal Liberals

playing fast and loose with tax dollars? Is the Premier now, with his vehement

denial, accusing the federal government…

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please.

MacPhail: …of lying about this agreement to redirect money from rural

communities to the RAV line? Who is telling the truth — the Liberal Premier of

[ Page 8555 ]

B.C.? Or who's not telling the truth — the Prime Minister of Canada?

Hon. G.

Campbell: Well, again let me tell you that in the discussions we had with

both the minister responsible and the Prime Minister, it was always clear that

in British Columbia we felt rebuilding the rural infrastructure that was left to

fall under the previous government was one of the critical priorities we had.

That's why this government said to the federal government that our top

transportation priority for a Canada–British Columbia partnership was the

Kicking Horse Canyon upgrade, and that's why the federal government has

committed to that partnership with the people of British Columbia.

Let me

simply say again: the new federal minister got it wrong. We can't say it any

clearer than that. They got it wrong. There will not be one cent of rural

infrastructure money that goes to the RAV line between Vancouver, Richmond and

the airport — period.

Mr.

Speaker: Leader of the Opposition has a further supplementary.

MacPhail: Oh boy. I'm sure the Prime Minister of Canada is very nervous

today, because what this Premier is saying is that the federal government isn't

telling the truth about where federal tax dollars are going. With friends like

that, hmm, who needs enemies? Here's the release, and it said that the minister

of state for infrastructure…

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order, please, hon. members. Let us hear the

questions.

MacPhail: …today announced that negotiations with each province had been

concluded just last week. So I take it that the Premier is saying someone's not

telling the truth — that's exactly what he's saying — and that the details

of this agreement, as listed here, are not the truth.

Again to

the Premier: when he found out that the federal government was lying to the

rural residents of British Columbia….

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please.

MacPhail: When he found that out, did he write to the Prime Minister and

tell him that he was lying? When did he do that, Mr. Speaker?

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order, please.

To the

Leader of the Opposition and to all members of the House, let us keep our

language temperate and parliamentary.

Hon. G.

Campbell: I heard about this release on Friday. I communicated with my

deputy minister, who happens to be in Ottawa today, and I said: "By the

way, the federal government has got its press release wrong. There will not be

one cent of rural infrastructure dollars that will be going to the RAV line —

period."

PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE TO

B.C. INTERIOR COMMUNITIES

J. Kwan:

Right now, CN is taking proposals from private operators to run a passenger

rail service that the Liberals had shut down in 2002, leaving communities like

Lillooet and Quesnel without regular passenger service. But in the request for

proposals issued by B.C. Rail's new owner, CN, those communities are not even

included on the map of the B.C. Rail network.

To the

Minister of Transportation: how can rural British Columbians have any trust in

what the government says about the sale of B.C. Rail when the communities have

disappeared off CN's map of B.C.?

Hon. K.

Falcon: I missed the last little bit. What was the map? Well, no, I wasn't

able to catch that last bit, but let me just say….

Interjection.

Hon. K.

Falcon: My goodness. I'm shocked.

[1420]

Interjection.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order, please. The Minister of Transportation has

the floor.

Hon. K.

Falcon: The member opposite should be very happy to know that in the course

of undertaking that process, we ensured and wanted to make sure that the process

would be absolutely scrupulous and aboveboard. That's why we've got a former

assistant deputy minister of the Attorney General's office overseeing that

process to make sure it's absolutely aboveboard and above reproach, and it will

be great for rural British Columbia.

Mr.

Speaker: The member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant has a supplementary

question.

J. Kwan:

You know, it's troubling. It's very troubling to hear from this Liberal

government who make light of the fact that the rural communities are not even on

the map of the CN's request for proposal for passenger rail.

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please.

J. Kwan:

This is a government that sold B.C. Rail…

[ Page 8556 ]

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please.

J. Kwan:

…and sold the community out. This is the Liberal government who promised….

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please, hon. members. Order, please. Let us hear the

question. We can't hear the question up here. Please begin again.

J. Kwan:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is a

government that promised they would not sell B.C. Rail, and they sold B.C. Rail.

Now, with the request for proposal, rural communities are not even on the map in

the request for proposal for passenger rail services. How can this minister sit

back and laugh at a question that rural community mayors are asking: "Where

are we, and how can we have any faith in the request for proposal when we're not

even on the map for consideration?" So before CN shuts out rural British

Columbians, will the Minister of Transportation demand that his friends at the

CN put small communities back on the passenger rail line?

Interjection.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. Order, please.

Hon. K.

Falcon: I think one of the things that the member should take heart in is

the fact that we are actually going to ensure there is a commercially viable

tourism passenger rail service once again in British Columbia. Now, I understand

how difficult it is for this member, because they always feel a need to insert

themselves politically into things. I would remind this member that one of the

reasons why, sadly, there was no passenger rail service or it was discontinued

under B.C. Rail is that it was losing $10 million a year. The true strength of

rural communities is going to be when we have a commercially viable tourism

passenger rail in B.C. again, and that's exactly what we're going to do through

the CN–B.C. Rail partnership.

Interjections.

Mr.

Speaker: Order, please.

RELEASE OF REPORT ON

B.C. FOREST FIRES

Krueger: Communities in my constituency and across British Columbia were

hard hit by the devastating forest fire season last summer, and the constituents

of Kamloops–North Thompson and all across the province have been eagerly

awaiting the results of the inquiry by Mr. Gary Filmon and his recommendations.

It's my understanding that Mr. Filmon's report was submitted to the Premier's

office earlier today. I wonder if the Premier could update the people of British

Columbia, particularly Kamloops–North Thompson, as to when we expect that the

report will be made public.

Hon. G.

Campbell: Mr. Filmon's report was due yesterday. I am not aware that it's in

the office, but I'm sure it will be in the office today. As I said when we

commissioned Mr. Filmon initially, the government would like a few days to

review the report, but I can tell the member and all the members of the House

and the communities involved that that report will be made public by the end of

this month.

ALTERNATIVE BUDGET

Nijjar: The Carole James NDP budget proposes balancing the budget not this

year, not next year, not three years from now, not four years from now. They

propose to balance their budget not until 2010. The NDP Carole James budget

would give British Columbia taxpayers the highest income tax rate of all

jurisdictions not only in North America but around the world. Astonishingly,

British Columbians of the lowest income would be hit with a 40 percent tax

increase.

[1425]

Would the

Minister of Finance please tell us what a Carole James NDP budget would do to

British Columbia?

Hon. G.

Collins: I think if anybody wanted to know what kind of an impact that kind

of an NDP Carole James budget would have on British Columbia, all they need to

do is look back at the decade of the nineties and see what kind of effect that

policy had on the province and the people in British Columbia. We went from

having the number one economy in Canada to number ten. We went from being number

one in job creation to the last. We saw people's incomes go down as their taxes

rose, and we saw community services decay across the province.

If that's

what British Columbians want, they know who they can vote for. They can vote for

Carole James in the next election.

SAFETY OF FARMED SALMON

Belsey: My question is to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

A recent

study funded by a U.S.–based environmental group claimed there were high or

harmful levels of PCBs in farmed salmon, and all British Columbians demand to

know that their food is safe. I expect that the farmed salmon industry is going

to play a major

part in the economies of coastal British Columbia. Can the

minister tell my constituents that, in fact, farmed salmon is safe to eat?

Hon. J.

van Dongen: Food safety is the responsibility of Health Canada and the

Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Canada. They have assured the public that

farmed salmon is safe to eat. In fact, the presence

[ Page 8557 ]

of organic compounds in farmed salmon is about 1/80 of the acceptable limit.

I think

it's very unfortunate when anti–salmon farming groups engage in deliberate

misinformation campaigns of the public, when in fact nutritionists are actually

becoming concerned that these kinds of campaigns will encourage the public not

to eat salmon — both farmed and wild salmon.

I can

assure the public that farmed salmon is safe. We're pleased to support the

industry in communities like Prince Rupert. It's an environmentally sustainable

industry. We look forward to managed growth in farmed salmon production in

British Columbia.

[End of question period.]

Reports from Committees

Stewart: I have the honour to present the third report of the Select

Standing Committee on Crown Corporations for the fourth session, respecting a

review of the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission and the British Columbia Housing

Management Commission.

I move that

the report be taken as read and received.

Motion

approved.

Stewart: I ask leave of the House to permit the moving of a motion to adopt

the report.

Leave

granted.

Stewart: I move the report be adopted, and in moving the adoption of the

report, I wish to make the following comments.

I would

like to thank all those members who worked so hard in presenting these reports

and the staff that were involved with it also. I'd like to say that I've been

pleased with the work of the committee. We're starting to get to a point where

the reports are becoming more relevant and that the future reports will be

concentrating on the board and governance aspects of the Crown corporations.

With that,

I move the report be adopted.

Motion

approved.

Point of Privilege

MacPhail: Hon. Speaker, you will recall that last Tuesday I sought leave to

reserve my right to proceed on three privilege motions. I would like to address

the second of those motions today — now.

I have

material to support the motion I intend to bring, and I would like to table the

supporting documentation with you, as well as the

summary of the brief comments

that I have in support of the motion I am bringing today.

Mr.

Speaker, I would like to present to you what I believe will be a prima facie

case for the argument that the member for Surrey–White Rock breached the

privileges of this House by misleading this assembly. I will make the case that

the member for Surrey–White Rock — the former Minister of Children and

Family Development — misled this assembly by hiding the appointment of Doug

Walls to a senior ministry appointment. I have attempted to keep my presentation

brief and non-argumentative in accordance with the rules.

[1430]

On March 24

of last year I asked the member for Surrey–White Rock, who was then the

Minister of Children and Family Development, for a list of the CEOs of the

regional authorities. The member for Surrey–White Rock provided a list of the

names of the interim authorities but did not include the CEO for the Interim

Authority for Community Living. When I specifically asked for information as to

who was the interim CEO for community living, he replied with the following

statement: "Currently, the senior government representative is Elaine

Murray. They will be going through a selection process sometime in the next

number of months."

Mr.

Speaker, I have as evidence for you…. I refer you to the Hansard record

of the estimates debate for the Ministry of Children and Family Development from

March 24, 2003. I will turn in all these exhibits at the end, Mr. Speaker, if

that's okay.

I'd like to

further point out that during this debate, the former minister, the member for

Surrey–White Rock, was staffed by the former deputy minister, Mr. Chris

Haynes, and that the member sought information from his deputy minister during

this exchange. As further evidence of this exchange, I submit for your

consideration a video recording obtained from Hansard Services of that same

estimates debate.

Yet the

member's response to my question was an entirely misleading statement. The fact

is that the chair of the Interim Authority for Community Living B.C., David

Driscoll, had written to the Deputy Minister of Children and Family Development

on January 23, 2003, to advise that Doug Walls was the acting CEO. The

opposition has obtained a copy of this letter confirming the appointment of Mr.

Walls, and I will table that letter to supplement this presentation.

In this

letter, Mr. Driscoll informs Mr. Haynes: "Effective immediately, Doug Walls

will be acting as CEO." The letter also asks that Mr. Walls be included

"in any conversations, meetings, appointments, discussions or any other

aspects of business relating to transition activities where the involvement of

the CEO of an interim authority, regional planning committee or aboriginal

planning committee is required or desirable."

As a

further exhibit, I attach the signature page from the Interim Authority for

Community Living B.C.'s financial statements dated May 9, 2003, which confirms

that the January 23, 2003, letter appointing Doug Walls as interim CEO was

accurate. Again, I quote from the letter: "…for the purposes of the

interim authority's bylaws and for purposes of all ministry-related activity and

involvement, he" — Mr. Walls —

[ Page 8558 ]

"has been designated as the CEO." As of January 23, 2003, Mr. Walls

was designated the CEO for all ministry-related activities. Yet when I asked the

question a mere two months later, the member provided me with the name of Ms.

Murray, clearing misleading this House.

As further

evidence of Mr. Walls's de facto role as acting CEO, I attach an extract of the

minutes for a July 16, 2002, meeting of the Community Living Coalition that

indicate that the interim CEO of the community living authority would not be

eligible to apply for the permanent position. This policy as stated in the

minutes, which I also submit for your consideration, suggest a possible

explanation for the secret appointment of Mr. Walls in January 2003 and the

pains taken by the former minister, the member for Surrey–White Rock,

including misleading the House, to insist that Mr. Walls was not interim CEO of

the Interim Authority for Community Living.

Acknowledging

what was going on in fact and in reality — that Mr. Walls was acting as CEO

— would have made Mr. Walls ineligible to head the permanent authority to be

established in June 2004. Mr. Doug Walls was appointed as acting CEO of the

Interim Authority in January 2003. The member, when asked in his former capacity

as Minister of Children and Family Development about this appointment, clearly

misled this House, providing the name of a civil servant instead of that of Mr.

Walls. As all members know, since this incident the member for Surrey–White

Rock has resigned as Minister of Children and Family Development.

[1435]

While the

Government House Leader may try to argue that the member's resignation nullifies

my motion, parliamentary procedure is very clear on this matter, and I will

quote from Erskine May as evidence. In the

section dealing with ministerial

accountability to Parliament, Erskine May, twenty-second edition, states on page

63 a number of resolutions, including the resolution that "it is of

paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to

Parliament correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.

Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their

resignation to the Prime Minister." Erskine May makes it absolutely clear

at page 64 of the twenty-second edition that ministers offering "their

resignation will not affect the right of the House to proceed against them in a

case of alleged contempt, as it might proceed against any other member."

This House

functions when the opposition and, by extension, the citizens of this province

can rely upon what we are being told. My submission to you is that in this case

that has not happened and that a committee must be struck to examine the conduct

of the comments of the member for Surrey–White Rock. I believe that the

material I have cited clearly illustrates that there is a compelling and prima

facie case for striking the committee that is being requested today. For your

consideration, I put forward to you a motion that, if you consider proper, you

can put before the House. I include these exhibits and my remarks. Thanks very

much.

Mr.

Speaker: Hon. members, at this time the Chair will entertain a response from

the government side or a notice of response from the government side. Then I

will consider all remarks.

Hon. G.

Collins: As I said last week, I reserve the right of government's reply at a

later date.

Mr.

Speaker: So noted.

Ministerial Statements

MULTICULTURALISM

Hon. G.

Cheema: Today we celebrate Multiculturalism Week, a week in which we

celebrate our cultural differences as British Columbians. Diversity and a

cultural harmony make British Columbia a healthy, safe and prosperous province.

As a result of our diverse and thriving province, our children will live in

harmony and will be free to build upon the foundation of acceptance.

Our

government encourages everyone to take an active

part in our province's social,

cultural and economic affairs. Diverse communities are a significant part of the

social and economic fabric of this province and are the driving force behind the

growth of our labour market. Immigration is an important part of our history.

The diversity of our population translates directly into economic opportunity

for all British Columbians.

Today our

government reaffirms its commitment to provide a climate where all people are

full participants in all aspects of our society. Through acceptance and respect,

our government has created and will maintain a climate that favours progress and

prosperity for all. We are a province that's rich in history and opportunity.

Our Premier has built bridges between British Columbia's communities and diverse

countries around the world. We know that during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic

Games, we will be welcoming people from all over the world, from all

backgrounds, from all cultural histories and from all traditions. Those visitors

will see their reflection in the cultural and social life of this province. They

will see their culture accepted and respected in communities throughout the

province.

Our

government recognizes diversity as a valuable asset which we cherish and

celebrate. British Columbians who speak many languages and understand many

cultures make it easier for our province to participate globally and ensure a

prosperous future for our children. We are a part of the global community, and

we are more competitive and moving at a much faster rate than anyone could have

imagined.

I would ask

all members, their families, friends and neighbours to celebrate with each other

as we recognize this important week.

[ Page 8559 ]

J. Kwan:

I rise to respond to the ministerial statement. I am pleased to join with the

minister in celebrating Multiculturalism Week. Indeed, I'm proud to say that it

was the former NDP government that first introduced Multiculturalism Week in

British Columbia. The NDP government was very committed to not only celebrating

this province's rich diversity but also to working for social justice and

equality for all British Columbians through programs that worked to combat

racism and discrimination and highlight our multicultural heritage.

[1440]

Multiculturalism

is one of the most important defining features of this country. Language,

culture and religion all help define us as human beings and give us our sense of

identity. Multiculturalism recognizes that the sense of identity is both a

treasure to be cherished and a gift that we can share with each other. It is an

important approach that understands that all of us gain when we create the

conditions in which people of different backgrounds — culture, linguistic,

ethnic and others — are able to live in harmony with each other.

Here in

British Columbia we have tremendous examples of the powerfully positive impact

that multiculturalism can have when diversity is not just tolerated but

celebrated. Our province, which continues to be more diverse day by day, has

always been multicultural. Long before explorers started arriving on the shores

of North America, the first nations were multicultural, multi-ethnic and

multilingual.

With the

subsequent wave of immigration to this country and this province, our society

has been built by the growing diversity and enriched by the new reality of a

nation that's shaped by many cultural traditions. When leaders in this country

decided to officially recognize that reality, the word

"multiculturalism" was coined to indicate a strongly held belief that

it was a philosophy and a practice worth preserving and celebrating. It is

important not only that we simply celebrate the diversity of British Columbians

and our communities but also that we take steps to ensure multiculturalism is

something that all British Columbians, whether they are visible minorities or

not, share in the experience of. It is important that all British Columbians can

appreciate the multiple cultural, educational and economic benefits of diverse

societies.

Government

has an important role to play in this — promoting the acceptance of diversity,

defending human rights, combatting racism and funding important settlement,

integration and language programs. A government that cared about

multiculturalism would also ensure that refugees in this province had the

necessary legal assistance and not sacrifice them in a funding dispute with the

federal government. The reality is that this minister is presiding over a budget

that is only $9.33 million. This is a government that has provided a budget of

$32 million for sport and culture, but only $9 million for multiculturalism, and

I think that speaks volumes. This is also, I might point out, just half of what

the former NDP government devoted to multiculturalism and immigration settlement

programs.

I represent

a riding that I dare say has one of the most ethnic, multicultural communities

in all of Canada. It is reported that we have some 76 languages in

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant. I think that it is a tribute to Vancouver–Mount

Pleasant and its people to show that we not only tolerate each other, but we

promote the differences and celebrate them with much respect and understanding.

We are very fortunate to live in a country and a province that value sharing our

cultures, the acceptance of diversity and racial harmony.

Orders of the Day

Hon. G.

Collins: I call Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne.

[1445]

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

[J. Weisbeck in the chair.]

Mayencourt: It is indeed a great pleasure to rejoin you in this debate on

the Speech from the Throne. To begin with, I want to thank very sincerely the

people of Vancouver-Burrard. It's a wonderful opportunity that I have to be in

this House, to be able to represent their views, to be able to work with my

colleagues here in this Legislature, and I owe them a great debt for the

privilege of being able to represent them here. It has definitely been one of

the most exciting two and a half years of my life, and I look forward to serving

them well into 2005.

I also want

to acknowledge and thank the guests that I brought here for the throne speech. I

was joined here by Francois Giroux, Stephan Mouttee, Zdenky Burkhard, Chris

Garvey, Capt. John Murray from the Salvation Army and Lt.-Col. Don Copple. I

raise them because the theme of the throne speech has really been about bringing

out the very best in British Columbia. These folks are, to my mind, some of the

very best people that I know in the world. They come from my riding, and they

contribute so much to our communities. I really want to thank them for joining

us on that very important day.

We talked a

little bit on Thursday about some of the wonderful things that are happening in

Vancouver-Burrard. I just want to revisit those for a second. I'm so proud that

my riding is going to be home to a new and expanded trade and convention centre

that will open in 2008. That's something that's very important to my community.

In many

ways, in the 1990s, from 1995 through to 2001, the trade and convention centre

had become a bit of a political football for the previous government. It was

about a Premier's agenda — Premier Glen Clark's agenda — to make sure that

he was getting exactly what he wanted in the way he wanted. I'm so glad our

government took the politics out of it, because it really wasn't about politics.

It was about jobs, good jobs, for

[ Page 8560 ]

British Columbians not just in Vancouver-Burrard but throughout the lower

mainland.

I'm also

proud of the work that has begun and is continuing on our brand-new school. The

Minister of Education was very helpful in making sure that we got that new

school to meet the needs of the people in Vancouver-Burrard. There are a whole

new bunch of families that are down in Yaletown and in the Concord Pacific

lands. I am very proud of that. I'm glad that our government is able to fund

that and to work with Vancouver school board in a productive way to ensure that

we meet the needs of the 350 students who will attend that school in 2004.

I'm also

proud of the fact that we have a new building going up on the waterfront, right

beside the new trade and convention centre. It's the brand-new Shaw Tower, and

it is going to be the tallest building in British Columbia — perhaps the

tallest building in western Canada. It's a very beautiful testament to the

change in our economy. It is a testament to the work of this government that

they felt it was important enough — or they felt secure enough — to invest

that kind of money in that kind of endeavour and give jobs to people but also

bring the beauty to the shores of Burrard Inlet.

There are a

couple of other projects that are much smaller in nature, but they also touch

the very heart of my community. They are such projects as the Coast Foundation's

new project with B.C. Housing Foundation to provide more housing for mentally

ill members of the Coast Foundation. We're trying to reach out and work with

those community groups to ensure that we're providing good, safe, affordable

housing for those who live with mental health problems.

We're also

doing that in a number of other areas. I'm very proud to see some of the work

that's going on with Haro Park, which is a seniors residence in my community. I

know we're working very hard with the health authorities to try and ensure that

we meet the needs of those residents. Also, at Yaletown House and, more

recently, on the corner of Davie and Jervis streets we see the development of

the Knights of Columbus building, which is going to house a good number of

seniors in our community. Seniors are a really important part of my community,

as I have spoken on many occasions in this House. I'm always glad to be able to

work with them and see if we can do a better job of meeting their needs.

[1450]

The throne

speech was a very important document for me, because the throne speech is really

about some important values. It's about people. It's about caring and

compassionate people and citizens in our communities — people that give us

strength, make our communities whole, make our communities welcoming places —

and communities that come out and talk to us about the ways this government can

ensure it meets the needs of its citizenry well into the future.

One of the

great pleasures I have as a member of the Finance Committee is to go out and

tour the province and meet with people across this province. In fact, one of the

pleasurable parts of it is that I travel with my colleagues, and I also travel

with the Leader of the Opposition. I was very surprised, having done that for

the past three years, to see the new Carole James budget, which is called B.C.

Solutions Budget 2004 . It's subtitled "Getting Ready for 2010."

Then, as if two titles aren't enough, they're given another subheading called

"We've invited the world, they're coming, and the place is a mess." I

think the subtitle that actually works much better is: "The Premier invited

the world, they're coming, and Carole James and the NDP have a plan to mess it

all up."

This budget

here calls for tax increases. Let me detail one thing that makes sense to every

citizen in British Columbia. Today the province of British Columbia is

collecting $4.9 billion from personal income taxes. Carole James has a plan. It

will be $7.8 billion. Guess where that money's coming from. It's coming out of

your wallet. It's coming out of your pockets. It's coming out of your kids'

mouths. It's not good enough. We're not going to let that particular budget

become a reality.

In 2001 we

invited British Columbians into a new era of good governance. We invited them to

participate in creating a balanced budget — something we will be doing, I'm

assured by the Finance minister, tomorrow. We went out and visited British

Columbians for the past three years on the Finance Committee with the Leader of

the Opposition, and they told us in three successive years: "Stay the

course. You're on the right track. It's tough medicine, but it's something we

need for this province to get us back on track." They told us to stay the

course. Carole James and the NDP want to destroy all of that, and we're not

going to let them.

I want to

speak about some other citizens in my community and some work I'm doing, because

it's important work. In the past year I and a number of citizens in

Vancouver-Burrard have been working with Family Services of Greater Vancouver.

We're working together on creating an interagency committee to create an

integrated youth services facility in my riding of Vancouver-Burrard. Why?

Because when kids leave Montreal or Chilliwack or Fort St. John and head for

British Columbia, they all head for Granville Street. They all head for my

neighbourhood. They do that because it's viewed by those young people as the

heart of British Columbia's cultural and entertainment zone.

This

province has not really been able to deal with some of the issues that street

youth face every day. We think we can do something like creating an integrated

youth services building which will make a difference in the people's lives —

in those street youth there, who are coming to British Columbia, who are coming

to Vancouver — and make sure we do what we can to get them on the right track,

so they can build successful lives and make it back to their homes.

On Thursday

when I was concluding my comments, I mentioned an individual in my community by

the name of Ray Peterson. We were getting towards the end of the day, and the

members had to get back to their constituencies, so I had to cut it off a little

short. I didn't give Ray enough of a blast in the Legislature. I want to tell

you why this man is important.

[ Page 8561 ]

[1455]

He runs the

community police office on Granville Street. The man is one of my heroes,

because he works with street youth so effectively. Ray has made it his personal

mission to work with street youth that have arrived from Kamloops, from

Montreal, from Fort St. John — from all across this province and from all

across Canada — to do his very best to stabilize those kids' lives, to get

them into good shelter, to make sure they have a meal in their stomachs and then

to work with them to get them back home, to repatriate them to their moms and

their dads and their families, places where they can be protected and looked

after.

Many

hundreds of those kids have come through the Granville Street community police

office, met Ray Peterson and made it back home. I personally have been in Ray's

office and gone through letters that have come from a mom in Kamloops, thanking

Ray for spending the $70 to send their daughter home. They sent the money back

to Ray as a tribute so that he can continue his work.

When you

have heroes like that in your community, you are doing what this throne speech

has been saying all along. We are bringing out the very best in British

Columbians. Ray Peterson is one of those very best people. I salute him and the

workers that work with him.

I want to

talk about another event I went to just a few weeks ago: Arts Umbrella. Arts

Umbrella was founded 25 years ago, and boy, those 25 years have zipped by,

because I can remember almost every year of them. There was a woman at the head

of that organization by the name of Carol Henriquez. This province and this

country have honoured Carol Henriquez for her continual contribution to kids in

this province.

I was

amazed, Mr. Speaker. Carol is retiring this year — and believe me, she's way

too young to be doing that; we'll just have to find her another project — but

she has been there for 25 years as the executive director. In that 25 years,

half a million British Columbia kids — from wee tots up to 15 years old —

have gone through Arts Umbrella. They've been exposed to dance, to visual arts,

to singing, to all kinds of things. They are part of what we are doing with our

commitment to LegaciesNow They are part of bringing out the very best in British

Columbians. If kids get exposed to arts and culture, they have an opportunity to

succeed. They have an opportunity to express themselves. They have an

opportunity to be appreciated. It's always great to do that.

It was a

great pleasure to be there with the Premier and with other members of this

Legislature. I want to tell you something that was really great. We were at that

event, and it was very moving because literally hundreds of her students were

there saying thank you to her. Thousands of members of our community were there

saying: "Thank you for the contribution you've made through Arts

Umbrella." One by one they got up and thanked her. Then the Premier got up,

and the Lieutenant-Governor got up. When the Premier spoke, he made a

commitment. He delivered a half-million dollars to ensure the work of the Arts

Umbrella throughout this province, so the Arts Umbrella will affect kids all

across British Columbia.

I think

that's an important commitment. It says this government cares about arts and

culture. It cares about little kids. It wants them to build successful lives. We

know that when they're involved in those sorts of activities, they are going to

have great lives. I want to thank you for the opportunity to mention Carol.

One other

thing that I got to do…. Boy, a couple of weeks ago was a week of

acknowledgments, because I also got to go and watch Joe Cohen, who is known to

many British Columbians, get acknowledgment from the police board in Vancouver.

It's so amazing. Joe must be 85 years old. For much of the last 40 years he has

been a steadfast volunteer in the city of Vancouver promoting activities that

support the Vancouver police department. Boy, it was amazing. They did it up

right. Joe had a 15-motorcycle honorary guard that drove him in Vancouver in a

police car with sirens wailing. When he got to the front of the Hotel Vancouver,

there was a complete mounted squad there at full attention. Then there were pipe

bands and everything.

They really

did it. They pulled out all the stops to make sure that Joe Cohen knew he was

greatly appreciated not only by the police department in Vancouver but also by

thousands and thousands of British Columbians who saw the contribution of this

man. Joe Cohen is the guy that brought Sony to Canada. You know, in addition to

making some pretty good change for himself and his family, he gave back to his

community over and over again over those 40 years. It was wonderful to see the

acknowledgment of that man.

[1500]

Then I got

an opportunity to be at the Justice Institute of British Columbia's dinner the

other day. You know, they honoured three people in our community that I think

are pretty fantastic. We honoured Beckie Harcourt for her bravery in saving her

husband's life and making it possible for Mike Harcourt to walk today anywhere

he wants to and continue to contribute as a British Columbian. We honoured

Justice Frank Iacobucci. Man, I was really moved by his acceptance speech. It

was really incredible the way this man talked about his family and his

community, and it was so nice to see someone so appreciative of this award.

Then we

honoured the Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada. That is one

incredible person inside of that person. There's a great spirit of togetherness,

of caring about her province, of caring about her country and a commitment to

democracy not just in British Columbia, not just in Canada, but around the

world. It was a great pleasure to be there for that.

Hon. G.

Bruce: You had a busy week.

Mayencourt: I had a busy week — you bet. That's one of the beauties of

Vancouver-Burrard. There's always something going on.

[ Page 8562 ]

It's also

about a community acknowledging what we are acknowledging in this throne speech.

We're acknowledging the very best in British Columbia.

British

Columbia, through this government, is bringing out the very best in our economy.

We're eliminating unnecessary red tape. We're doing things to improve consumer

protection. We've improved the budget for education. We've made a commitment to

advanced education that has never been made in this Legislature by anybody ever

before — the way this has been done in this Legislature.

We are

going to increase the student spaces by 25,000 additional spaces, and that is

something to work towards. That's something that we in this caucus heard about

over and over again when we travelled the province on the Finance Committee.

They said: "Make a big commitment, a huge commitment, to advanced

education." Well, we did; 25,000 kids are going to be able to further their

education and make a better life for themselves. So we've heard lots about that,

and I'm very glad to be part of a government that sees that as such an important

part.

Also, I

want to talk about the commitment that the Minister of Education has made to

safer schools. As many of you know, I had the privilege of being the chair of

the safe schools task force, and we heard over and over about how we can do a

better job in protecting kids and making our schools safer. We're doing that in

this throne speech. We're making it safer for kids. We're making safer

communities. We're bringing out the very best in all British Columbians.

Hon. G.

Plant: Last week's throne speech is the fourth major throne speech of our

government's term of office. I am privileged to have the opportunity to respond

to that speech as the member, for nearly eight years now, for the constituency

of Richmond-Steveston.

Every

throne speech is a chance to chart a course, to remind us of where we have been

and to lay out a plan for the way ahead. This throne speech does all that and

more. It sets goals that will guide government for the last third of our mandate

and on to the end of the decade.

We promised

a new era of hope and prosperity, and we are delivering on that promise for the

people of British Columbia. We have built the foundation for economic renewal,

and we are seeing the results: job creation, economic growth, private sector

investment, and a growing spirit of optimism and confidence that we have turned

the corner as a province and that anything is possible.

We have

been staying true to the course that was charted in the New Era document

that represented our commitment to the people in the last election campaign.

First and foremost, this is a plan about renewing the economy. Our plan included

tax reductions, and we have delivered tax reductions. Our plan included a

commitment to reduce unnecessary red tape, and we have reduced thousands upon

thousands of unnecessary regulations. Our plan included a commitment to

modernize labour law, and we have delivered on that commitment. Our plan

included a commitment to renew the transportation infrastructure, which is

necessary for goods and services to move across this province, and we are

delivering on that commitment.

[1505]

A critical

component of any plan for economic renewal is the imposition of fiscal

discipline on government. In the short term, deficits and debts mean simply that

we're borrowing to pay for today's services from people who will come along

later. We're borrowing to pay for today's services with the dollars that we will

take and we will need to take from our children and our grandchildren. Sooner or

later these dollars have to be repaid. That's why we say that deficits are

simply deferred taxes.

It may work

once in a while in the short run, but in the long run, without fiscal

discipline, governments who borrow, governments who run deficit after deficit,

end up spending money on interest payments to their creditors when they should

be spending our precious tax dollars on services to citizens. The simple fact is

that when we took office, the fiscal commitments which former administrations

had hard-wired into government could not be sustained by the provincial economy.

We commissioned an independent panel, and they reported that the provincial

government had inherited a structural deficit of $3 billion.

Some change

of course was and is essential, and it continues to be essential if we are to

have the hope we need and must have of attracting the investment that is the

keystone of prosperity. It is not sustainable to increase spending on government

programs when the economy is falling behind, so we needed to make some tough

decisions. We made them, but they were moderate, they were balanced, and they

were necessary.

Three years

ago some argued that we should balance the budget in our first year in office.

In fact, I heard that argument from many. But yielding to that argument would

have required unprincipled, across-the-board spending reductions without much

ability to control their impact either on services or on the people who benefit

from them. So instead we made a commitment to a three-year plan, and we have

been following that plan.

That

expression, "following that plan," is a new experience for citizens in

British Columbia, because that was certainly not the experience under the former

government. I remember sitting in this chamber when I was in opposition and

listening to NDP Finance minister after NDP Finance minister deliver budget

speeches, where every year it seemed there was a new plan, a new framework or a

new something or other created with new targets, new goals and all the while a

sort of toxic amnesia about the previous year's plan that allowed that year's

Finance minister to forget all about the commitments that had been made a short

12 months ago.

All that

has changed over the past two and a half years. Each year since 2001 the Finance

minister has stood up in this House, tabled a budget and set targets

[ Page 8563 ]

for the deficit. We have met those targets. We made a plan, and we have kept

to the plan. We have kept to the plan even when unforeseen challenges like fires

or SARS or BSE have come along just when you wish they wouldn't. We have made

the plan, and we have kept the plan, because that was our commitment to the

people of British Columbia. Tomorrow the Finance minister will stand here in

this House and do exactly what we promised to do three years ago: table a truly

balanced budget.

Mr.

Speaker, I wanted to remind you of just a few of the new-era commitments taken

directly from the 2001 platform document. We said: "…a B.C. Liberal

government will…pass real balanced-budget legislation to make balanced budgets

mandatory by our third full budget and to hold all ministers individually

accountable." We have done exactly that.

We said

that a B.C. Liberal government would pass real truth-in-budgeting legislation

that ensures all provincial finances are fully, accurately and honestly reported

under generally accepted accounting principles. That is exactly what we have

done and will do tomorrow.

[1510]

We said

that a B.C. Liberal government would honestly balance the budget without cutting

funding for health care or education, and we have done exactly that. Mr.

Speaker, those promises were there in writing. They were on page 8 of the New

Era document. They have been the road map we have followed and will continue

to follow throne speech after throne speech and budget after budget throughout

this term of office.

Our

decisions have been made against the framework of priorities that is both

principled and pragmatic. We expressly committed, as I've said, to protect

health care and education funding. The constituents I represent tell me that

these are the most important social spending priorities of government. We

committed to protect these program areas, and we have. We have done better than

that. Health care funding has increased massively, largely as a result of the

need to fund wage settlements with health care providers, and as I will show in

a minute, education funding has been increased at a time when public school

enrolment continues to decline.

The fact

that these increases have meant, nonetheless, that health authorities and school

districts have had to make difficult decisions is some evidence of the extent to

which expenditure growth in these areas has simply been out of control both in

absolute terms and in terms of the capacity of our economy to support the

delivery of these services. But as we continue to maintain fiscal discipline, we

will see the rewards. Mr. Speaker, we are seeing the rewards. We inherited the

worst-performing economy in the country, and we have turned that around. On

every indicator, we're moving up the ranks of provinces. When you start from

dead last, it's a long climb, but we're making great progress.

What better

measure of prosperity is there than jobs? Well, let's look at jobs. More people

are working than ever before in British Columbia, and over the past two years

159,900 jobs have been created in British Columbia. Our 8.8 percent increase in

employment is the highest in Canada and well ahead of our fellow provinces and

the national average. This will continue. The economy will continue to grow.

Revenues to government will increase, debt-service costs will decline, and our

ability to support critically important public programs will grow. That is what

it means to promise and to deliver a new era of hope and prosperity.

We've done

more than that. We've challenged the status quo in critically important public

institutions, because the status quo is never more than yesterday's answers to

yesterday's problems. Here, too, we are seeing the results of a willingness to

embrace new thinking. Our reorganization of health authorities has reduced

bureaucracy so that more health care dollars go to patients. Our education

reforms ensure that parents have a voice at the table when the education

decisions about their children are made. Our reform in social assistance has

focused on helping those who can work to get work, and it provides for those who

cannot. Institutional reform in the provision of services to children and

families at risk, which is needed to ensure that those services respond to the

needs of communities, is underway and will continue.

The

administrative justice project has helped guide the reform of dozens of

provincial adjudicative agencies, ensuring that tribunals focus on serving

citizens fairly, effectively and affordably. When you challenge the status quo,

you have to expect that those who have an investment in the way things are done

will defend that investment. Change can be unsettling. Change which affects us

directly and challenges what feels like entitlement can be more unsettling

still. But if we allow our fear of change to control our decisions, we will

never make progress. For a decade in British Columbia we fell behind, but at

last we are moving forward again.

[1515]

Some

politicians promise democratic reform; we have delivered. We recognized the need

for democratic renewal, and we have embraced that challenge with initiatives

that have made us a leader in governments and electoral reform — fixed

election dates, free votes, parliamentary calendars, televised cabinet meetings

and a legislated budget date. After two and a half years some of these

initiatives feel like old hat, but they were new, they were necessary, and they

have helped change the face of government in ways that were long overdue in

British Columbia.

Now we have

the Citizens' Assembly. A man and a woman have been chosen randomly from every

constituency in British Columbia and are now at work weekend after weekend,

giving up their time so that they can learn about our electoral system, about

the way we elect MLAs and the job that is done for them — for the people —

by those MLAs. Over the course of the year ahead this assembly of citizens will

be asked to answer the question of whether there would be a better way to elect

our legislators than the familiar

[ Page 8564 ]

first-past-the-post method which has governed elections in British Columbia,

with one or two exceptions, for as long as there has been a province of British

Columbia.

If the

citizens in the Citizens' Assembly decide that there is a better way to elect

our legislators than the way we have been doing it, then we will ask the

citizens of the province, in a provincewide referendum that we will conduct at

the time of the next general election in May of 2005 — 15 months from tomorrow

— to vote on that alternative. If the vote passes by a margin of 60 percent

and in a majority of constituencies, then the people of British Columbia will

have spoken — the voice that needs to be spoken for change — and our

electoral system will be changed.

No one

could doubt that the existing electoral system, that old first-past-the-post

system, worked to our advantage in 2001. We were elected with 58.8 percent of

the popular vote, and we ended up with 77 out of 79 seats in this chamber.

Obviously, any government driven only by self-interest might have forgotten that

promise, that new-era promise, to create a citizens' assembly, but we have not.

To take the risk of change in these circumstances and to assign the

responsibility for designing our electoral system to the people it is intended

to serve was the right thing to promise, and it is the right thing to do.

At the top

of our vision for a new era was a top-notch education system for students of all

ages. The constituency I represent, one of three constituencies in the city of

Richmond, is blessed by a school district with leadership at all levels — from

administrators and teachers to staff and students, in board offices, classrooms

and parent advisory councils. Richmond school district has reason to be proud of

its achievements. Its levels of graduation are among the highest in the

province. It has great success in producing students that are ready for

post-secondary opportunities both in the lower mainland and around the world. It

has a remarkable track record of adjusting to pretty serious and profound

demographic change over a pretty short period of time with harmony and

stability.

Over the

last year I've been meeting regularly with parent advisory committees at the

elementary schools and the secondary schools in my constituency. When I attend a

PAC meeting, I meet passionately committed parents and teachers, and they have

concerns about change, and they have concerns about funding. The good news is

that those concerns are heard in this throne speech. This throne speech

recognizes our continuing commitment to education, our recognition that

education is the key to unlocking the promise of British Columbia for our

children and the opportunities they will inherit.

[1520]

The reforms

we have enacted to date, from the protection of volunteers to the creation of

new school planning councils and a new set of graduation requirements, are being

implemented and phased in, and that implementation will continue. But what we

know from the throne speech, in addition to this, is that over the next three

years K-to-12 education funding will increase by more than $313 million — from

$4.86 billion this year to $5.2 billion in 2006-07. All this is at a time when

across the province as a whole enrolment is declining, and in fact it has

declined by more than 21,000 students in the past five years. Next year's

operating funding per student is projected to be $6,748. That's an increase of

$904 per student since 1998.

Declining

enrolments are not just about numbers; they're about a reality. They're about a

reality that in the schools in my community, elementary schools that a decade or

so ago were full to the brim are now half empty. Some elementary schools that

weren't that crowded ten or 15 years ago have become busy. High schools face

challenges in predicting where their students will come from. These challenges

leave school boards with tough decisions, but we are doing our part as

government to give the school boards of British Columbia the tools they need and

the additional resources they need to help meet those challenges.

In my

community, in addition to the increase in operating funding, our government has

committed to fund a new secondary school for the Steveston community. The

Richmond school board will have all the challenges that school boards have when

they have to meet all the expectations of all the parents who have ideas about

what that facility should look like and how it should be designed. I am

certainly confident that the school board will meet those challenges, and I will

do whatever I can to help ensure that a new Steveston secondary school meets the

needs of the students and parents in the community it will serve.

When I go

to PAC meetings and talk a little bit about what we're doing and hear questions

about what we're doing for K-to-12 education, I also hear questions and concerns

about what lies ahead for the parents' kids when they reach the end of high

school and face the prospect of post-secondary education. Parents know that this

is what they want for their kids, but they also know that achieving access to

post-secondary education has become a bit more of a challenge than it ought to

be.

We've

actually done our part over the last two years to help address this challenge.

We've added 6,000 spaces to post-secondary schools across the province, but more

is needed. My son graduated from high school last year. I watched as he and his

friends dealt with the anticipation of some uncertainty about not knowing what

percentage grade point average would be needed to get admission into Kwantlen,

UBC, SFU or any other institution. Those numbers are pretty high. In fact, I

think those numbers are higher than they ought to be. To say to someone that you

need an 81 percent average to get access to the first-year arts program at the

University of Victoria may work for some kids, but for others it may prove to be

a hill too steep to climb. That's not something we want for our kids, and it's

not something we want for the people of British Columbia.

The throne

speech makes two hugely important commitments to those kids and the kids who

will fol-

[ Page 8565 ]

low them: 25,000 new student spaces to B.C.'s colleges, universities and

institutes by 2010. That's a bold goal, but I'm sure going to work as hard as I

can to help meet it. To say to the kids of British Columbia that a 75 percent

average is good enough for university is also to make a bold commitment to

ensure that all kids know that if they apply themselves, if they study from time

to time — and I've had some personal experience watching that challenge — if

they sit down and do that work, then they can in fact get access to the programs

they believe are going to create the path to success for them and their future.

This throne speech sets great targets for post-secondary education, and we all

should commit in this chamber to working to make those targets a reality.

[1525]

Over the

past two and a half years we have also worked hard to maintain our new-era

commitment to ensure that all British Columbians have equal access to legal

representation and justice. We have much to be proud of in our justice system.

We have a constitutional framework that protects liberty and human rights, and a

strong and independent judiciary that upholds those fundamentally important

rights and upholds them fearlessly.

But the

fact is that the traditional approach to justice too often and in too many cases

produces a system that puts process before people. So what have we done to

respond to that reality? Well, we have done some things that lie within our

powers. We have reformed administrative tribunals to focus on service to

citizens. We've emphasized the use of technology to reduce unnecessary barriers

of physical access so that people can fax documents, and soon they'll be able to

e-mail documents instead of having to travel to a courthouse to file them.

We're

changing institutions. We're changing institutions by doing things like taking

minor bylaw disputes out of the court system and putting them into bylaw forums,

where they can be dealt with effectively and fairly and without the burden of

process or cost that is associated with traditional court proceedings. We've

made it easier for people to get justice by doing things like reforming the way

in which maintenance and support orders could be enforced for people who have

maintenance and support obligations in different provinces of Canada.

There is

much more to do. We have spent a great deal of time over the last two and a half

years working with the Legal Services Society to help them develop the tools

that are needed to encourage people to solve their disputes in a timely and

effective way without going to court, if that can be achieved in a way that's

consistent with justice. We know that when people take ownership for the

resolution of their disputes and grievances, when they pursue alternate dispute

resolutions like mediation or conciliation, when they just sit down and try to

talk things over, they can get results that work for them — that work for them

in the short term and that work for them in the long term.

The

traditional adversarial litigation model is still an essential core of our

justice system, but it is not the way to deal with every case. We can improve

access to justice, and we can improve it without just throwing more money at it,

but we will only improve access to justice if we are willing to rethink justice,

to make justice citizen-focused, not lawyer-focused, to ensure that we are

governed by the rule of law and not by the rule of lawyers.

There's

more to do on this front. For the past year the Justice Review Task Force has

been working on initiatives to enhance access to justice in the Provincial

Court. For too long the $10,000 limit in provincial small claims cases has

represented a barrier of access to all those who have claims just above $10,000

but who could not afford to pay lawyers to argue those cases in the Supreme

Court according to the rules that exist for that court.

We've been

looking at initiatives like raising the small claims court limit, perhaps

introducing further streamlined processes for small claims cases even to the

extent of reforming the Supreme Court rules to create expedited processes for

other civil claims. All of this and more is necessary if we are to make access

to justice a reality for British Columbians. There is more we have to do to make

our criminal justice system begin to look like a system and less like what it

has been: a collection of fiercely independent and only occasionally

interdependent institutions that have a hard time working with one another.

[1530]

We have

announced just today a backlog reduction initiative in Vancouver to help make

sure that when criminal cases are set down for trial at 222 Main Street in

downtown Vancouver, the busiest criminal court in the province, we get those

cases to trial as soon as we can. When you get cases to trial soon, particularly

when you get criminal cases to trial soon, witnesses' memories are intact,

people are more inclined to feel accountable for their wrongdoing, and the

system as a whole will ensure that people have confidence that it is helping to

keep our communities safe, as it should be. All of this and more is part of the

work that lies ahead in the justice ministry.

The throne

speech talks about our relations with first nations. We took office with a

commitment to engage the people of British Columbia directly in a conversation

about their vision and their principles for the treaty process. We kept that

commitment. We conducted a provincewide referendum. In the past year we have

acted on the input the people of British Columbia gave us in their answers to

the referendum questions. We have put the people's principles to work at treaty

tables with unprecedented success — three AIPs last year and the fourth, which

is imminent. For the first time in a decade of negotiations under the B.C.

Treaty Commission process, final agreements are within reach. We have done a

great deal, as the throne speech set out, to help make a difference in the

economic and social lives of aboriginal people today.

Mr.

Speaker, there is a plan for the future, and it is working now. There is good

news wherever we choose to look for it. The lower mainland is consistently rec-

[ Page 8566 ]

ognized as one of the most livable places in the world. My home city of

Richmond wins prizes for livability. Its citizens enjoy long and healthy lives,

there are economic opportunities across a range of sectors, and if you take us

all together for just a moment and reflect on these facts, we must be doing many

things right. That's not to say there are no challenges. There will always be

challenges, but strong communities contain within them the resources to meet

those challenges.

My job

gives me many opportunities to meet the people who help make strong communities.

In January, I met with three individuals who do just that. They represent a new

organization called Virsa — Sikh alliance against youth violence. Virsa was

formed in December 2002 by members of the Sikh community concerned with what

appears to be an escalating level of violence among Indo-Canadian youth. Virsa

is a group of community leaders and parents who are willing to do what it takes

to help address this problem. Its goal is to help coordinate information,

education, training and support services for members of the Indo-Canadian

community in British Columbia; to provide youth with opportunities and promote

values; to build self-esteem, self-pride and leadership.

It's groups

like this who identify the challenges that we face in our communities, who take

ownership of the problems and look for ways to resolve them that have my highest

admiration and should have the admiration of all of us in this chamber. Groups

like this, day by day, in the work they do are helping all of us to realize on

the throne speech commitment of 2001, the throne speech commitments of 2002,

2003 and 2004 — a new era of hope and prosperity for all British Columbians.

Hon. C.

Clark: It's a pleasure to speak in response to the throne speech today. It

is a pleasure to speak to it because the throne speech throws out a challenge

for all of us — that is, a challenge to bring out the best in ourselves, the

best in our families, the best in our communities and the best in our province.

I think one of the challenges we face is that we hear often about all the things

that are going wrong, but we need to remember — every British Columbian needs

to remember — how blessed we are to live in British Columbia. People will

literally risk their lives to come and make their home in this province. People

have been coming from all over the world for hundreds of years because of the

hope and opportunity that British Columbia represents today and has always

represented for people around the world.

[1535]

This is a

beautiful place full of resources, full of forestry resources and minerals under

the ground, full of rich land, the beauty of the seas, the beauty of the

mountains — all of the assets that we will present to people from around the

world when they come to British Columbia in 2010 for the Olympics.

It's also a

free society. It is a safe society. It is a place where you know you can walk

out your door in the evening and get home safe afterward. That's not true for

many people all over the world. It's a place where we know we can choose our own

government. It is a place where we know we can send our children to school in

the morning and know they will come home safe at the end of the day. It's a

place where we have the world's best health care system, a public education

system that is second to none, a province filled with strong communities where

people care about one another and are prepared to look out for their neighbours.

It is a place full of energetic, innovative people full of ideas, always looking

for the next opportunity. That's what British Columbia has always been and what

we will continue to be.

In the

throne speech we talked about how we want British Columbians to be the best they

can be. A friend of mine came to me the day after the throne speech and said:

"Gosh, you know, I don't know if I want to be the best I can be. It sounds

like a lot of work. I just want the government to let me be, just be." I

thought: there's nothing really the matter with that either — just to be. You

know what he is? He's a guy who goes home for lunch every day, comes home from

work at 5 o'clock every day. His wife doesn't work, or doesn't work outside the

home. Do you know what he does? When he goes home for lunch, he has lunch with

his kids. When he goes home at the end of the night, he doesn't sit down and

watch cartoons with them, because he's not exhausted at the end of the day. He

plays with them, reads to them and gives them all the attention they need. He

says, "I don't want to be the best I can be; I just want to be," but

to me he's a great parent.

That's

really being something. If there is something we could be the best at, surely

it's to be the best possible parents we can, to make sure our kids get the best

start in life, because a child will never, ever have a parent as good as the one

they're born to. Some do, actually. Some children who are adopted — and I see

some adoptive parents sitting in this House — are fortunate to find loving,

caring families, families that might even perhaps be better than the families

and the homes they left. For most kids the best place for them to be is with

their families and in their homes, whether that is an adoptive home or a

biological family. That's where kids need to be.

What better

thing can we do as citizens than make sure we raise our children with the right

kinds of values and ethics, with all the skills they're going to need to

navigate a really incredibly complex world? What better can we do as a society

than make sure our kids all have the tools they need to be able to fulfil every

single ability they have? In this throne speech the commitment our government

has made is one that puts education at the centre of our government's vision.

Education

is an investment in kids. Education gives kids all of the tools they'll need to

succeed. If you look around the world and find the richest societies, the most

democratic societies, the most civil societies, the safest societies, the

strongest communities, those are all societies that have the best education

systems, the best public education systems you will find anywhere. At the heart

of British Columbia's success is its people, first of all. Second, it's the

education we've provided to our citizens.

[ Page 8567 ]

Our

education system is continuing to get better year after year. Graduation rates

are improving, not just overall, but graduation rates for aboriginal kids are

improving. Success rates for kids across the board are growing — not just more

kids getting scholarships, because that's true, but kids who used to perhaps not

meet expectations. More of them are now beginning to meet expectations.

[1540]

Higher

levels of satisfaction about what's going on in classrooms amongst teachers,

amongst students, amongst parents. More parental involvement at schools across

the province, where more parents get more say in how their children should be

educated. More choices for children. Any child can attend any school in British

Columbia that they choose provided there is space. We are leading the country in

so many regards in our public education system, and that is something that every

citizen of British Columbia deserves from its government. Citizens in British

Columbia deserve to know that we are investing in the next generation of

children and that we will give them all the tools they need to succeed not just

in British Columbia but in Canada and around the world.

This year

we will see the first truly balanced budget that British Columbia has had in

many, many years. A balanced budget isn't just an exercise in bean-counting, in

the bottom line. A balanced budget is an exercise in ensuring that we make sure

the next generation of kids has choices to make. Our generation of citizens

consumes not just all the resources that we take in as a government but more,

and that's been the source of our growing deficit and debt over the last 20

years. We have an obligation to that next generation to make sure we leave them

some choices, to make sure they have more options than just having to pay off

the credit card bill that we've created for them. So we have to balance our

budget. We have to get our fiscal house in order for their benefit.

We have to

create jobs. British Columbia is now number one in job creation across the

country. We have led Canada in creating more jobs than any other province. Over

100,000 new jobs have been created here, and that means more people are able to

put food on the table, pay their mortgage, take care of their families and

provide stability. Forestry, mining, and all of the resource industries that are

so critical to British Columbia are receiving focus from this government to

ensure that they can continue to drive our economy, because when forestry and

mining are doing well, our social services can continue to be supported.

The

Ministry of Children and Family Development is not an economic ministry, but the

people we serve certainly benefit from a stronger provincial economy. It

translates directly into communities that are more confident; it translates

directly into families that are healthier and self-sustaining. That's a legacy,

I think, of the member for Surrey–White Rock. He brought his best to this

portfolio. He provided a vision and dedication to make sure that our ministry

moved forward into a more productive course. He provided focus and vision that

hasn't been in this ministry for many years. So to talk a little bit about this

ministry in the context of the throne speech, I want to make it clear that my

job as minister is to build on the incredible foundation built by my predecessor

— the blueprint he created, a vision for the future, a solid vision that is

broadly supported in the community.

Here are

some of the bests that he helped establish in this ministry. The best place for

a child is in a responsible, caring family in a safe and inclusive community.

Every child in this province deserves the best possible start in life. The

greatest number of vulnerable people need to achieve the best possible outcomes

in overcoming their challenges. The best way to make use of a community's

knowledge and strengths is to make those decisions based in communities. Now,

those are all of the bests, all of the challenges that he set out for us.

I can't

tell you that we've met all of those goals yet, but we are doing better. Better

social work, increased community input and innovative programs are starting to

produce incredibly positive results. More children in British Columbia are able

to remain safe and secure in their own biological or adoptive homes. Family

support programs are working; fewer children have to be removed from their

families and put into government care. Risks to children and families are

identified early before those problems become crises. Reforms are starting to

improve the lives of children and adults who need support to ensure their safety

and well-being.

[1545]

But there

is one clear and very important best in this ministry's accomplishments. In just

two and a half years we have created the best working partnership between a

family-serving ministry and aboriginal communities in British Columbia. That

partnership is based on a common goal of responsibility to ensure that

aboriginal communities have the resources, skills and opportunity to safely care

for their own kids in their own communities, to care for them in the context of

their own families and their culture in a way that draws on the traditional

strengths of extended families.

As part of

that partnership, we now have a sound working relationship with every aboriginal

band and tribal council in British Columbia. That has never happened before.

This is hard work for everyone involved. It's been hard work for the ministry;

it's been hard work for aboriginal communities. There have been bumps along the

road, and I'm sure there will continue to be bumps in the road for us. But we

are building solid, trusting, durable relationships with aboriginal communities.

It has to be done. It is the best way to do it, and I believe it is the only way

to do it.

Our

responsibility in this ministry is to protect the safety and well-being of

children at risk of neglect, abuse or harm. Children thrive best in the safety

and security of a caring home and family. Long-term outcomes for children are

best when those links can be maintained. Placing children safely with extended

family, friends and communities is often the best option. That's true in

non-aboriginal communities, and it's true

[ Page 8568 ]

in aboriginal communities as well. Removal of a child from a family has to be

the last resort. Cultural, racial, linguistic and religious heritage are key

considerations when determining how we should help a child and their family.

The number

of children that the government has taken into care is down by 15 percent since

July 2001. That's because social workers now have more tools at their disposal

to be able to try and support families. Obviously, if a child is seriously at

risk of harm or neglect, that child needs to be removed from their home. But the

choice for a social worker can't just simply be between taking children out of

their home or leaving them in. A social worker also has to have a range of other

tools available to try and build supports around families to give them the

skills and the capacity they need to make sure their children are safe there.

This is a

big break with tradition. The number of children that were taken from their

homes and placed in permanent government care rose steadily from 1995 to 2001.

Our success in breaking that pattern speaks to the skill and dedication of the

front-line staff in the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Their job

requires them to make decisions that take them to the very edge of their

professional knowledge. They do that knowing it is impossible to make a 100

percent accurate prediction of human behaviour. They do that knowing that if

their decision is wrong, hindsight is always 20-20. They make those decisions

knowing that from time to time, their decisions might be called into question.

They make life-changing decisions for children every day.

It is

frightening enough to be a parent, in my case, of one child and know that I make

decisions on behalf of my child that can affect his life for the rest of his

life every day. Imagine if you were a social worker and you did that not just

for your own children but for other children. To every day make decisions that

will affect them for the rest of their lives is a tremendously difficult job and

a tremendously rewarding one but not one that everyone can take on. The social

workers that work on the front lines for the Ministry of Children and Family

Development deserve our support. They deserve to know that we respect and value

the contribution they make, that we will honour their judgment and the

experience they bring to their jobs, and that we will stand by them when

sometimes those decisions are difficult.

[1550]

Now, in

other areas of the ministry we also have some encouraging results. Not only are

there fewer children that are being brought into care, there are fewer kids

going to jail. The number of youth in custody has declined 60 percent since

1995. Improved treatments and alternatives to custody, such as family group

conferencing and restorative justice involving both the offender and those that

are harmed, are working for most minor offenders. Custodial sentences are

usually reserved for a small number of youth who commit very serious crimes. The

youth crime rate has dropped by more than 50 percent since 1991 and continues to

decline. Those are very positive trends, trends that we hope will continue.

As I said,

we have a strong working partnership with aboriginal communities. The number of

aboriginal children in care almost doubled between 1997 and 2001. It was up to

4,300. That is a tragedy. It is a failure of policy, and it is a failure of

government. Since 2001 that number is finally starting to dip. Last month it was

less than 4,200 children, but it is still far, far too high. Far too many of

those children have been separated not only from their parents but also from

their communities, their culture and their roots.

We've

started a new program called A Child's Roots are Forever, and about 2,700 case

files of aboriginal children are now being reviewed by Ministry of Children and

Family Development staff and aboriginal workers. We are going through every

single one of those files individually, because our view is that we don't need

to say: "How do we fix the system?" We need to say: "How do we

fix the situation for this child?" We need to recognize that every single

one of those children isn't a file. They are children, they are unique, and each

one of them will have a solution that can work for them.

We need to

know if it is in a child's best interest to return to their communities, their

extended families and their parents, so we are moving to regional and aboriginal

governance, which will help us build a system that does a better job of helping

aboriginal families before they break down. If they do break down, the system we

want to create will find better ways to keep those kids in their extended

families in their communities so they aren't cut off from their roots.

We've

worked hard in this ministry on adoption. More children are now in permanent and

loving homes as a result of adoption. Adoption of children from permanent foster

care to what we call "forever families" — children who have moved to

loving, permanent families where they feel they have some certainty — doubled

last year. Now 338 more children have permanent homes, and that is the highest

annual placement since the early 1980s. That's quite an achievement.

Adoption

doesn't just change the lives of the children who are adopted; it changes the

lives of the entire family who are blessed to take those children in. I know the

stories of many, many adoptive parents who talk about the change in their lives

when their adoptive child comes permanently into their home. It's a gift, and

it's a blessing.

B.C. is

changing the way services are designed and delivered to support adults with

developmental disabilities. Extensive consultations with families and

organizations have shown a very broad support for a community-based way of

delivering services. The old system was rigid and bureaucratic. With the Interim

Authority for Community Living, we are building a responsive system that makes

sense to the people in the community who use the services that we provide. The

provincial community living authority is a groundbreaking response to community

demands for greater control over services.

[ Page 8569 ]

Groups like

Inclusion International, a UN-recognized disability organization, say that what

we are doing in British Columbia is truly unique. The B.C. Association for

Community Living, advocates for 30 years on behalf of children and adults with

developmental disabilities, says the same thing. They call it the third wave of

deinstitutionalization. British Columbia is leading the world in handing back

control for these services to communities. If these services are indeed intended

to be reflective of communities, then surely they should be controlled by

communities.

[1555]

We are

investing in the earliest years for kids. Research all over the world tells us

that children's earliest months and years are the most important time of their

lives, and if we invest in those years, it will make a difference for an entire

lifetime. Previously, my job was to make sure children had access to a strong,

healthy public education system. Well, early childhood development is the other

side of that responsibility — supporting young children before they get into

our education system, giving them the best possible start in school and in life

by identifying and dealing with problems early.

A child's

entire platform for learning may be set by the time they are six years old. We

have an obligation as a society to make sure that platform is as big and rich as

it possibly can be, because that's where a child's opportunities will come from.

We want to give parents the tools they need to help their children maximize

their absolute potential.

Annual

investment in provincewide early childhood development programs has increased by

$50 million since we took government. These investments have been made across

the seven child-serving ministries of the B.C. government. Early literacy

programs, neighbourhood houses, family support centres — these are the

community-based services that target the unique needs of local children and

families. Services like Children First learning initiatives are operating in

communities across the province under that banner, and these initiatives are

showing us at the ground level what services are available to communities and

what gaps need to be filled. Thirty-eight aboriginal communities are benefiting

from funding that allows them to deliver ECD services that meet their community

and cultural needs.

We've

provided $10 million in a grant to the Success by 6 partnership between the

ministry, the United Way of the Lower Mainland and Credit Union Central of

British Columbia. It's a partnership that supports the expansion of a successful

community-based program promoting healthy development of children before they

turn six. Many of the Children First initiatives are working in partnership with

Success by 6 to make the best use of resources.

In addition

to that, more families of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder are

also receiving services. We have increased funding for autism services by $21.8

million. More importantly, or just as importantly, that funding is being made

flexible, so parents can choose the best therapy for their children based on

what those children need. In addition to that, we have supported $30.1 million

in additional funding to school districts this year to support children with

autism.

There is

much we still need to learn about the implications of this baffling condition.

We are continuing to work with experts across the field to make sure we are

taking advantage of the best practices and the most current research and are

applying that as soon as we possibly can to help every child and give them the

best possible start that we can.

It is a

tragic fact in British Columbia that 320 children are born with fetal alcohol

syndrome every year, and they will struggle with the effects of that for the

rest of their lives. Fetal alcohol syndrome is something that is entirely

preventable. Dozens of aboriginal communities across the province are trying to

deal with these issues as well. That's why we are working on programs like

Healthier Babies–Brighter Futures in Burns Lake, which takes a three-pronged

approach to help deal with fetal alcohol syndrome. It has three prongs to it:

community awareness, community education and community mobilization. They are

supporting high-risk women and their families, and it is a great example of how

an entire community can focus itself on a single goal.

It is

incumbent on us as a generation to leave this province a better place than we

found it. In the throne speech this week we talked a little bit about the things

we can do to try and make our province a better place. We have an obligation to

make it a better place, where our children will have more choices or as many

choices as we do about building the kind of society they want to live in.

We have an

obligation to make sure we don't make all the choices for them and don't just

leave them with a big credit card bill. That's why we're balancing the budget.

We have an obligation to make sure this is a place where they have the

opportunity to fulfil every gift they are given. That's why we are investing in

education and early childhood development.

[1600]

This is a

land of opportunity. British Columbia has always been a place where people from

around the world have looked and hoped that they might be able to build a better

future for themselves and for their children. It is a place that can be filled

with hope and prosperity for generations to come — if we do our job right, if

we take our obligations seriously, if we remember that children need to be at

the centre of our agenda and if we remember that investing in children is an

investment in our future.

Hon. K.

Falcon: Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, I am indeed proud to stand here today

to speak on the vision put forward by our government in the throne speech

delivered last week. I'm proud because one of the things we have done here in

government is something that was very common when I was in the private sector

— that is, you lay out your three-year plans as to

[ Page 8570 ]

where you expect to see government over the next few years, and you actually

do something that's novel in government: you stick to those plans. You build in

enough flexibility that you can make some strategic changes, but you stay within

the scope of the entire plan. That is so hugely important.

I'm also

proud to be the member that has the honour of serving a community called

Cloverdale. Surrey-Cloverdale is one of the finest communities in the province.

All of us in Cloverdale recognize that 2003 really was an extraordinary year in

British Columbia — extraordinary because we had some challenges this province

has never seen. They've been enunciated quite clearly from some of my colleagues

— fires, floods, drought. We had to deal with SARS and BSE. I mean, these are

not small challenges. They are in fact very large challenges. I'm also proud of

this province because the volunteers, the workers, the public service and those

who rose to the challenge to meet those challenges we faced did so in a really

extraordinary way.

When we

were elected in 2001, it was clear to me and to my colleagues that we were going

to have to make some tough decisions, that we were going to have to change

course in British Columbia. We did that. Not all of those decisions were easy.

Not all of those decisions were decisions that were universally rejoiced. In

fact, I can tell you that there are many folks that kept saying to us: "You

know, you ought to stay with the way you were doing it before. We don't like

this change." I had to remind some of these folks that actually, if we kept

doing things the same way we always did them, we would get exactly the same

result. What was that result? That result was that British Columbia, this great

province, for the first time in its history had become a have-not province under

the previous government. Our goal was to make sure we moved from have-not

province and number ten in the country in economic growth back up to where

British Columbia ought to be, and that's leading.

Our

Premier, right from the very beginning, was always clear to us. He said:

"We are going to be judged on jobs. It's all about jobs." The tough

decisions we're making, the dramatic tax cut we gave on our first day in office

of 25 percent to every British Columbian, the efforts we're making and still

make in reducing unnecessary regulation in this province…. We're already

two-thirds of the way to achieving our one-third reduction, which represents

over 90,000 regulations thus far. All of those decisions were being made because

we wanted to create a climate that would create jobs.

You know,

that's why today I'm so pleased to see that the Premier was right. We will be

judged, and I'm pleased we will be judged, because today in British Columbia we

have the strongest job creation record in the entire country. Over 160,000 jobs

have been created since we got elected in 2001. More than 83,000 jobs were

created in 2003. If you think about that in light of all the other challenges I

just outlined that we faced in 2003, with the floods and the fires and SARS and

everything else, that really is a spectacular figure.

We've got

more people moving into British Columbia than moving out for the first time in

six years. Net in-migration has returned to British Columbia, and boy, we all

know how that is so very important to bring back the young, talented people that

were moving out of British Columbia under the previous government.

[1605]

We've seen

the number of small businesses increase in British Columbia last year. One of

the strongest increases in the country was in small business. We've seen B.C.

families' income posting the largest gains in 20 years, right here in British

Columbia. Those are families in my communities, and I can tell you it makes a

difference in their lives. B.C. is the only province where consumer confidence

leads the country. That is so very important because a lot of the folks are

looking around, and they're seeing the unemployment rate starting to drop

dramatically. They're seeing their friends, their colleagues and their spouses

go back to work, and they're feeling excited about the future of British

Columbia.

As the

announcements just keep rolling out — being awarded the 2006 World Junior

Hockey Championships and what that's going to mean in terms of investment and

tourism in the province, the 2010 Olympics and what that is going to mean and

already is starting to mean in British Columbia — it's starting to get people

really excited.

Tomorrow

our Premier and his Finance minister, in particular our Finance minister, are

going to stand up, and they're going to introduce something that this House has

not seen very often — in fact, far too rarely in British Columbia. They are

going to be introducing a balanced budget, one of only four balanced budgets in

the last 25 years in this House.

More

importantly than that — not just that it's a balanced budget — because our

government passed truth-in-budgeting legislation that said we were going to keep

our books the same way we tell small business people and the public they have to

keep their books — according to generally accepted accounting principles —

it will be, I believe, the first honestly balanced budget in the province in 30

or 40 years. And that's something that I am very, very proud of.

The

opposition, of course, doesn't seem to understand this. They actually don't

understand why that's important. They don't understand why it's important to

families in Cloverdale and families up north and families across this province.

They don't understand why it's important to small businesses, and 98 percent of

business in B.C. is small business. They don't understand the philosophy of ours

— that we believe taxpayer money is better left in the taxpayers' pockets,

because they can make their spending decisions a lot more effectively than

government can on their behalf. They don't understand how to be responsible with

taxpayer dollars. That was clearly demonstrated over the last decade of despair.

They certainly don't understand that a strong economy, where we have more

British Columbians at work and in the workplace, means that

[ Page 8571 ]

we're generating more tax revenues so that we can actually fund a first-class

health care and education system. They don't get any of that.

Never was

that more hit home than when I saw the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

release their so-called alternative budget. What a joyous piece of work this

was. If this doesn't just beat it all, I don't know what does. For those in the

viewing audience that may not understand the Canadian Centre for Policy

Alternatives, they are what I call the NDP think tank. This is the left-wing

farm team that comes up with all the kooky socialist ideas that keep our two

members of the opposition going. It is just tragic, what they've come forward

with.

I call this

the Carole James NDP budget, and the Carole James NDP budget is quite

fascinating. I've only got time to cover a few of the high points, or shall we

say low points. But some of the key things that they talk about are hitting what

they used to always call the working folks, the working families. Remember that

government used to talk about how they're for the working families? Well, over

the last decade we know what they did to the working families. They devastated

them. The working families were utterly devastated in British Columbia.

Under the

new Carole James NDP budget plan, they intend that people who earn between

$32,000 and $65,000 a year would face income tax increases of more than 40

percent. Well, there's a real kick in the teeth for working families. They want

to increase gas taxes up 5 cents a litre, and they want to take every penny of

that and plow it into the lower mainland, yet again ignoring rural-resource

British Columbia as they did over the last decade — totally unacceptable.

[1610]

The NDP

plan would also give B.C. once again — under the NDP they had it before we

came into power — the highest tax rate in North America, and they would run

deficits every single year right up to 2010. We all know in this House that they

would continue running them well after 2010 too. But they're honest enough to

tell us that they have no hope of balancing the budget under a Carole James

budget. You know, folks, it almost leaves me speechless. But this is really

wonderful news, because I intend to go out and every group I speak to, I'm going

to remind them about the Carole James economic budget. I'm going to remind them

that the NDP government actually spent hundreds of thousands of our taxpayer

dollars just before the last election, firing a cheque off to the Canadian

Centre for Policy Alternatives so that they could come forward with that kind of

silliness that would only return British Columbia right back to the bottom

again. That's certainly not where we're going to go in British Columbia.

We actually

have a situation, thankfully, where B.C. is moving in the right direction, and

we're on track to be the leader again in 2004. Scotiabank came out with a survey

that says British Columbia is going to be the number two province in economic

growth in 2004. There are others that say we're going to lead the country in

2004-05. That's the kind of independent evaluations you're starting to hear.

Another key

element of this throne speech that I really want to touch on is education,

because education is very important in Surrey. It's important because Surrey has

the largest school district in the province — larger than Vancouver, folks —

and Surrey has had the challenges over the years of dealing with a fast-growing

school district. The funding formula under the NDP was a very broken,

impossible-to-understand funding formula. Under the leadership of our Education

minister and the Premier, we moved over to a funding formula that made the

funding decisions on a per-pupil basis. That has been very important in Surrey,

a growing community. It has meant hundreds of dollars more per pupil in funding

in the Surrey community.

The throne

speech also laid out that over the next three years we will be investing an

additional $313 million in K-to-12 education, and that is in spite of the fact

that we actually have declining enrolment across the province. That is hugely

important, and that also demonstrates the benefits of the strong fiscal

discipline that has been demonstrated as a result of the leadership of our

Finance minister.

The Surrey

school district has received more than $16 million in extra funding since 2001.

The community of Cloverdale, which I am proud to represent and where our

families have been growing exponentially…. On any drive through my community,

you will see housing developments going up all over the place — new housing,

new townhomes, new apartments. It is really quite extraordinary, and our

government is meeting that challenge. We have opened two new elementary schools

in the last couple of years in my community of Cloverdale: Morgan Elementary and

A.J. McLellan Elementary. Grandview Heights Elementary, which is an existing

elementary school, is being completely renovated in the upcoming budget year.

Our government is living up to our commitment to reinvest in education as our

financial situation continues to improve.

I'm also

proud of the commitment that we're making to advanced education. You heard in

the throne speech that we are committing to 25,000 new seats in advanced

education institutions by 2010. That is an extraordinarily bold promise, and

it's a commitment that I really look forward to seeing fulfilled. That's going

to mean a lot in Surrey also. The contemplated Cloverdale trades and technology

campus of Kwantlen University College in Cloverdale will, I am certain, be a

part of that exciting growth. We've invested $3.5 million on roadwork, which is

largely completed, and we're looking forward to the ministry bringing forward

plans so we can get building construction started and get students into that

trades and technology education program.

I do also

want to take a moment to speak, if I could, on transportation, the ministry of

which I am now proud to take over the reins from the previous member, who did an

outstanding job as Minister of Trans-

[ Page 8572 ]

portation and, frankly, has left me with most of the heavy lifting having

been carried out by the former member.

[1615]

We have

some very exciting things happening in transportation, and one of the things I'm

most proud of is the fact that we're actually investing in transportation the

way our grandparents used to — that is, we're paying as we go. We're not doing

it the old NDP way where you borrow money you don't have and you have your

grandchildren paying the costs. We're doing it pay as you go. That's why we put

in a 3.5-cent surtax on the gas tax. We said to British Columbians: "We're

going to do this, and we're going to make sure every penny and more goes into

transportation infrastructure." That's exactly what we do in British

Columbia. We collect $637 million in gasoline tax in British Columbia, and we

invest almost $750 million in transportation — more than we take in. That's

making a difference throughout British Columbia.

We're

investing over a billion dollars in transportation infrastructure across the

province during a three-year period. The vast majority of that is going to be in

rural British Columbia. I'm proud of that fact. I'm proud of the fact that we're

contributing over $600 million to the Kicking Horse Canyon, widening four lanes

from Golden to Yoho Park further down the line. That is going to make an

extraordinary difference in an area of transportation that has had a very high

— unacceptably high — crash rate over the years.

In the

lower mainland we recognize that congestion costs anywhere in the range of $800

million to $1.5 billion a year for commuters and truckers. That's why, in Surrey

and our surrounding communities, we're excited about moving forward and

exploring options for what is called the Gateway project to help move the flow

of tourists, goods and commuters in a really thoughtful way that looks at the

entire lower mainland and starts to make decisions that will benefit all of us.

That could

include twinning the Port Mann Bridge. It could include widening Highway 1 right

up to 200th Street in Langley and all the way down to First Avenue in Vancouver.

It could include a north and south perimeter road, which would act as an

excellent conduit, particularly for truck traffic, to be able to get to the

Delta ports and get to the border crossings without having to go through a lot

of the cities. Our border infrastructure projects investments, which total over

$200 million, will include widening Highway 10 to four lanes in Surrey and

widening Highway 15, which is commonly known as 176th Street, to four lanes to

make sure we can get the truck traffic efficiently to the border and make sure

that our commuter traffic also can move through Surrey in a speedy and safe

manner.

The other

thing that we're doing in transportation, of course, has to do with the very

exciting B.C. Rail–CN partnership that we announced earlier in the year. I

believe the CN–B.C. Rail partnership is going to offer extraordinary

opportunity, particularly to northern British Columbia. Just think about what

it's going to mean when 600 new centre-beam cars are added to the rolling stock

of the B.C. Rail–CN partnership; what it's going to mean when 1,500

refurbished cars also get added to that rolling stock; what it's going to mean

when we can ship our goods to Chicago on the Chicago express line that will

allow our goods to get into that most important market two to three days faster

than it took us before; what it's going to mean for productivity and what it's

going to mean for our shippers in getting goods to their customers a lot faster

than they were able to before; and what the lower costs for shippers are going

to mean — an average of 7 percent reduced cost for the shippers. That is going

to be very exciting.

I'm also

excited about the fact that we're going to have a new wheel plant opening up in

Prince George, and the jobs it's going to bring in Prince George, and that the

northern regional office for the CN–B.C. Rail partnership will be centred in

Prince George. That's going to create some real opportunities for Prince George

to become the northern hub of our railway operations here in British Columbia.

I'm proud

of a deal that's created a $135 million northern development initiative to

ensure that northerners have access to funds and that northerners will determine

where they ought to invest those funds for the benefit of northern British

Columbia. That is something that I think I'm also very, very proud of.

Also, of

course, Prince Rupert, which has so much potential in the province of British

Columbia. That's why we will be investing $17.5 million in the port of Prince

Rupert to encourage them towards containerization, and that's why CN is going to

invest $15 million to upgrade the tracks to ensure that the port of Prince

Rupert is capable of taking advantage of the fact that it can get goods to Asia

and from Asia several days faster than the other existing ports in British

Columbia.

[1620]

All of that

is tying into something that we're starting to see in British Columbia: a return

of pride, a sense of growing confidence in British Columbia's economy, a sense

of communities working together and a real sense of growing spirit around 2010.

I just want to talk for a moment about what that has meant to my community by

giving you a specific example. I was fortunate to witness firsthand the

combination of all of those things — the Spirit of 2010, communities working

together, and the excitement and hope that our youth offer all of us in British

Columbia.

Last month

I was pleased to organize and chair and host a fundraiser for a young girl named

Brittany Reimer in my riding in Cloverdale. Brittany is a 16-year-old swimmer

who attends Lord Tweedsmuir high school in my riding. She's the youngest member

on Canada's national swim team, and she holds six Canadian records in swimming.

This young girl, at age 16, is going to be competing in the Athens Olympics this

summer in August, which is an extraordinary feat.

Her

parents, Tim and Mary, are good folks. They are good folks who have struggled

and made sacrifices for their daughter so that she could have every opportunity

to become the great athlete she has become. It's been a struggle in a whole

number of ways, particu-

[ Page 8573 ]

larly financial. What we wanted to do was host a fundraiser to raise some

money so that we could get a laptop for Brittany, so that when she's training

outside of the country in Australia, she could stay in touch with her school

work. That's obviously very important to her. We also wanted to raise some money

so that we could send the parents to watch their 16-year-old daughter compete in

the Olympics in Athens, something they did not have the financial resources to

do and something that I knew the community of Cloverdale would get behind