British Columbia Hansard — Monday, February 27, 2017

20170227pm-Hansard-v42n4

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Sixth Session, 40th Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (HANSARD) THE HONOURABLE LINDA REID, SPEAKER ISSN 0709- 1281 (Print) ISSN 1499-2175 (Online) Monday, February 27, 2017 Aft ernoon Sitting Volume 42, Number 4

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Her Honour the Honourable Judith Guichon, OBC Sixth Session, 40th Parliament SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Linda Reid EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council .............................................................................................................. Hon. Christy Clark Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Gas Development and Minister Responsible for Housing ......................Hon.

Rich Coleman Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation ......................................................................................................... Hon. John Rustad Minister of Advanced Education ............................................................................................................................... Hon. Andrew Wilkinson Minister of Agriculture ........................................................................................................................................................ Hon.

Norm Letnick Minister of Children and Family Development ....................................................................................................... Hon. Stephanie Cadieux Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and Minister Responsible for TransLink ................ Hon. Peter Fassbender Minister of Education ............................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Mike Bernier Minister of Energy and Mines and Minister Responsible for Core Review .....................................................................Hon. Bill Bennett Minister of Environment ..........................................................................................................................................................Hon. Mary Polak Minister of Finance .................................................................................................................................................. Hon.

Michael de Jong, QC Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations......................................................................................Hon. Steve Th omson Minister of State for Rural Economic Development ..................................................................................................................Hon. Donna Barnett Minister of Health ............................................................................................................................................................... Hon. Dr.

Terry Lake Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for Asia Pacifi c Strategy and Multiculturalism ........................................................................................... Hon. Teresa Wat Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour ...................................................Hon. Shirley Bond Minister of Justice ...................................................................................................................................................... Hon.

Suzanne Anton, QC Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ................................................................................................................. Hon. Mike Morris Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction and Minister Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch ........................................................................................................ Hon. Coralee Oakes Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation..............................................................................................Hon.

Michelle Stilwell Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services ................................................................................................ Hon. Amrik Virk Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure ......................................................................................................................Hon. Todd Stone Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness .................................................................................................................... Hon.

Naomi Y amamoto LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Leader of the Offi cial Opposition ...................................................................................................................................................John Horgan Deputy Speaker .............................................................................................................................................................................. Richard T. Lee Assistant Deputy Speaker ...............................................................................................................................................................

Raj Chouhan Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole .................................................................................................................................... Simon Gibson Clerk of the Legislative Assembly ................................................................................................................................................... Craig James Deputy Clerk and Clerk of Committees .................................................................................................................................

Kate Ryan-Lloyd Clerk Assistant — Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ................................................................. .........................Susan Sourial Sessional Law Clerk ............................................................................................................................................. Loredana Catalli-Sonier, QC Sergeant-at-Arms ................................................................................................................................................................................. Gary Lenz

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Anton, Hon. Suzanne, QC (BC Liberal) ...................... Vancouver-Fraserview Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal).....................................................................Penticton Austin, Robin (NDP) ................................................................................ Skeena Bains, Harry (NDP) ....................................................................Surrey-Newton Barnett, Hon. Donna (BC Liberal) ..................................... Cariboo-Chilcotin Bennett, Hon.

Bill (BC Liberal) ...................................................Kootenay East Bernier, Hon. Mike (BC Liberal) ......................................... Peace River South Bing, Dr. Doug (BC Liberal) ................................ Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Bond, Hon. Shirley (BC Liberal) ........................... Prince George–Valemount Cadieux, Hon. Stephanie (BC Liberal) ................................Surrey-Cloverdale Chandra Herbert, Spencer (NDP) .................................Vancouver–West End Chouhan, Raj (NDP) ...........................................................

Burnaby-Edmonds Clark, Hon. Christy (BC Liberal) ........................................ Westside-Kelowna Coleman, Hon. Rich (BC Liberal) ...........................Fort Langley–Aldergrove Conroy, Katrine (NDP) .............................................................. Kootenay West Corrigan, Kathy (NDP) ..................................................... Burnaby–Deer Lake Dalton, Marc (BC Liberal) ............................................. Maple Ridge–Mission Darcy, Judy (NDP) ..................................................................New Westminster de Jong, Hon.

Michael, QC (BC Liberal) .............................. Abbotsford West Dix, Adrian (NDP)............................................................Vancouver-Kingsway Donaldson, Doug (NDP) ......................................................................... Stikine Eby, David (NDP) ..........................................................Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (NDP) ................................................... Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Mike (NDP) ............................................................ Port Coquitlam Fassbender, Hon.

Peter (BC Liberal) ................................... Surrey-Fleetwood Fleming, Rob (NDP) .......................................................... Victoria–Swan Lake Foster, Eric (BC Liberal) .......................................................Vernon-Monashee Fraser, Scott (NDP) ............................................................Alberni–Pacifi c Rim Gibson, Simon (BC Liberal) ............................................. Abbotsford-Mission Hamilton, Wm.

Scott (BC Liberal) .................................................Delta North Hammell, Sue (NDP) .................................................... Surrey–Green Timbers Heyman, George (NDP) .................................................... Vancouver-Fairview Hogg, Gordon (BC Liberal) ............................................... Surrey–White Rock Holman, Gary (NDP) .......................................Saanich North and the Islands Horgan, John (NDP) .......................................................................

Juan de Fuca Hunt, Marvin (BC Liberal) ....................................................Surrey-Panorama Huntington, Vicki (Ind.) ..................................................................Delta South James, Carole (NDP) .........................................................Victoria–Beacon Hill Karagianis, Maurine (NDP) ........................................Esquimalt–Royal Roads Krog, Leonard Eugene (NDP) ............................................................. Nanaimo Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal) ........................................................................ Shuswap Lake, Hon. Dr.

Terry (BC Liberal) ....................Kamloops–North Th ompson Larson, Linda (BC Liberal) .........................................Boundary-Similkameen Lee, Richard T. (BC Liberal) ......................................................Burnaby North Letnick, Hon. Norm (BC Liberal) ..............................Kelowna–Lake Country Macdonald, Norm (NDP) ....................................Columbia River–Revelstoke McRae, Don (BC Liberal) ............................................................ Comox Valley Mark, Melanie (NDP) ...........................................

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Martin, John (BC Liberal) ..................................................................Chilliwack Morris, Hon. Mike (BC Liberal) ........................... Prince George–Mackenzie Mungall, Michelle (NDP) ..........................................................Nelson-Creston Oakes, Hon. Coralee (BC Liberal) .............................................Cariboo North Pimm, Pat (Ind.) .....................................................................Peace River North Plecas, Dr. Darryl (BC Liberal) .............................................Abbotsford South Polak, Hon.

Mary (BC Liberal) .............................................................. Langley Popham, Lana (NDP) ...................................................................Saanich South Ralston, Bruce (NDP) ................................................................ Surrey-Whalley Reid, Hon. Linda (BC Liberal) ..................................................Richmond East Reimer, Linda (BC Liberal) ........................................

Port Moody–Coquitlam Rice, Jennifer (NDP) ........................................................................North Coast Robinson, Selina (NDP) .............................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Routley, Bill (NDP) .................................................................. Cowichan Valley Routley, Doug (NDP) ............................................Nanaimo–North Cowichan Rustad, Hon. John (BC Liberal) ................................................ Nechako Lakes Shin, Dr.

Jane Jae Kyung (NDP) .........................................Burnaby-Lougheed Simons, Nicholas (NDP) ................................... Powell River–Sunshine Coast Simpson, Shane (NDP) ..................................................... Vancouver-Hastings Stilwell, Hon. Michelle (BC Liberal)............................... Parksville-Qualicum Stilwell, Dr. Moira (BC Liberal) ........................................ Vancouver-Langara Stone, Hon. Todd (BC Liberal) .........................

Kamloops–South Th ompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal) ..................................West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Sullivan, Sam (BC Liberal) ...........................................Vancouver–False Creek Sultan, Ralph (BC Liberal) ..................................... West Vancouver–Capilano Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal) ............................................................Fraser-Nicola Th omson, Hon. Steve (BC Liberal) .......................................Kelowna-Mission Th ornthwaite, Jane (BC Liberal) ..........................

North Vancouver–Seymour Th roness, Laurie (BC Liberal).................................................Chilliwack-Hope Trevena, Claire (NDP) .................................................................... North Island Virk, Hon. Amrik (BC Liberal) ............................................. Surrey-Tynehead Wat, Hon. Teresa (BC Liberal) .............................................. Richmond Centre Weaver, Dr. Andrew (Ind.) .......................................... Oak Bay–Gordon Head Wickens, Jodie (NDP) ..........................................Coquitlam–Burke Mountain Wilkinson, Hon.

Andrew (BC Liberal) ........................ Vancouver-Quilchena Y amamoto, Hon. Naomi (BC Liberal) ................ North Vancouver–Lonsdale Y ap, John (BC Liberal) ......................................................Richmond-Steveston LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission ......................................................................Simon Gibson Abbotsford South ..................................................................... Dr. Darryl Plecas Abbotsford West ...................................................... Hon.

Michael de Jong, QC Alberni–Pacifi c Rim .......................................................................... Scott Fraser Boundary-Similkameen ................................................................ Linda Larson Burnaby–Deer Lake ................................................................... Kathy Corrigan Burnaby-Edmonds ..........................................................................Raj Chouhan Burnaby-Lougheed ...................................................... Dr. Jane Jae Kyung Shin Burnaby North ..............................................................................

Richard T. Lee Cariboo-Chilcotin ..............................................................Hon. Donna Barnett Cariboo North .................................................................... Hon. Coralee Oakes Chilliwack ......................................................................................... John Martin Chilliwack-Hope ....................................................................... Laurie Th roness Columbia River–Revelstoke ..................................................

Norm Macdonald Comox Valley.....................................................................................Don McRae Coquitlam–Burke Mountain .......................................................Jodie Wickens Coquitlam-Maillardville........................................................... Selina Robinson Cowichan Valley ................................................................................ Bill Routley Delta North .........................................................................Wm.

Scott Hamilton Delta South...............................................................................Vicki Huntington Esquimalt–Royal Roads .....................................................Maurine Karagianis Fort Langley–Aldergrove ...................................................Hon. Rich Coleman Fraser-Nicola.................................................................................... Jackie Tegart Juan de Fuca .....................................................................................John Horgan Kamloops–North Th ompson ............................................ Hon. Dr.

Terry Lake Kamloops–South Th ompson ..................................................Hon. Todd Stone Kelowna–Lake Country ..................................................... Hon. Norm Letnick Kelowna-Mission .............................................................. Hon. Steve Th omson Kootenay East .......................................................................... Hon. Bill Bennett Kootenay West ............................................................................ Katrine Conroy Langley.......................................................................................Hon.

Mary Polak Maple Ridge–Mission ..................................................................... Marc Dalton Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows ........................................................ Dr. Doug Bing Nanaimo ........................................................................... Leonard Eugene Krog Nanaimo–North Cowichan ......................................................... Doug Routley Nechako Lakes ........................................................................ Hon.

John Rustad Nelson-Creston ........................................................................Michelle Mungall New Westminster ............................................................................... Judy Darcy North Coast......................................................................................Jennifer Rice North Island .................................................................................. Claire Trevena North Vancouver–Lonsdale ........................................Hon.

Naomi Y amamoto North Vancouver–Seymour ..................................................Jane Th ornthwaite Oak Bay–Gordon Head ...................................................... Dr. Andrew Weaver Parksville-Qualicum .......................................................Hon. Michelle Stilwell Peace River North ................................................................................ Pat Pimm Peace River South ..................................................................Hon. Mike Bernier Penticton............................................................................................

Dan Ashton Port Coquitlam ..........................................................................Mike Farnworth Port Moody–Coquitlam ................................................................Linda Reimer Powell River–Sunshine Coast ................................................. Nicholas Simons Prince George–Mackenzie ....................................................Hon. Mike Morris Prince George–Valemount ................................................... Hon. Shirley Bond Richmond Centre ......................................................................Hon.

Teresa Wat Richmond East ..........................................................................Hon. Linda Reid Richmond-Steveston ..............................................................................John Y ap Saanich North and the Islands .................................................... Gary Holman Saanich South ................................................................................

Lana Popham Shuswap ................................................................................................Greg Kyllo Skeena .............................................................................................. Robin Austin Stikine ....................................................................................... Doug Donaldson Surrey-Cloverdale ....................................................... Hon. Stephanie Cadieux Surrey-Fleetwood ........................................................... Hon.

Peter Fassbender Surrey–Green Timbers .................................................................. Sue Hammell Surrey-Newton ................................................................................. Harry Bains Surrey-Panorama ........................................................................... Marvin Hunt Surrey-Tynehead ......................................................................Hon. Amrik Virk Surrey-Whalley..............................................................................

Bruce Ralston Surrey–White Rock ....................................................................... Gordon Hogg Vancouver-Fairview ..................................................................George Heyman Vancouver–False Creek ................................................................... Sam Sullivan Vancouver-Fraserview ..............................................Hon.

Suzanne Anton, QC Vancouver-Hastings ....................................................................Shane Simpson Vancouver-Kensington .................................................................Mable Elmore Vancouver-Kingsway..........................................................................Adrian Dix Vancouver-Langara .................................................................Dr. Moira Stilwell Vancouver–Mount Pleasant .........................................................

Melanie Mark Vancouver–Point Grey .........................................................................David Eby Vancouver-Quilchena ................................................ Hon. Andrew Wilkinson Vancouver–West End ...............................................

Spencer Chandra Herbert Vernon-Monashee ...............................................................................Eric Foster Victoria–Beacon Hill .......................................................................Carole James Victoria–Swan Lake.........................................................................Rob Fleming West Vancouver–Capilano ............................................................. Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky ..........................................................Jordan Sturdy Westside-Kelowna ................................................................

Hon. Christy Clark Party Standings: BC Liberal 47; New Democratic 35; Independent 3

CONTENTS Monday, February 27, 2017 Aft ernoon Sitting Page Routine Business Introductions by Members ................................................................................................................................................... 13851 Introduction and First Reading of Bills .............................................................................................................................. 13852 Bill M224 — Endangered Species Act, 2017 A. Weaver Bill 7 — Prevention of Cruelt y to Animals Amendment Act, 2017 Hon. N.

Letnick Bill M225 — Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act, 2017 M. Mungall Statements (Standing Order 25B) ....................................................................................................................................... 13853 SPCA Cupcake Day fundraiser and animal welfare advocacy J. Th ornthwaite Marilyn Smith L. Krog Sea to Sky area tourism and environmental management J. Sturdy Jim Taylor and University Neighbourhoods Association D. Eby Dave Holmberg S. Gibson Gitanmaax Career Fair D.

Donaldson Oral Questions ....................................................................................................................................................................... 13855 Funding for Maple Ridge youth shelter C. James Hon. R. Coleman M. Mungall Homelessness in Metro Vancouver G. Heyman Hon. R. Coleman Provincewide homelessness count S. Robinson Hon. R. Coleman Public access to back-country areas on Vancouver Island S. Fraser Hon. S. Th omson Video recording of NDP youth event D. Eby Hon. A.

Wilkinson Petitions .................................................................................................................................................................................. 13861 S. Fraser M. Farnworth

Orders of the Day Budget Debate (continued) ................................................................................................................................................... 13861 G. Holman Hon. R. Coleman D. Routley Hon. S. Bond K. Conroy S. Hamilton S. Robinson R. Sultan D. Eby Hon. S. Cadieux

MONDAY , FEBRUARY 27, 2017 Th e House met at 1:33 p.m. [Madame Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Introductions by Members K. Corrigan: It gives me a great deal of pleasure. I see that we have in the gallery today a longtime colleague of mine from when I was working at the Canadian Union of Public Employees. He is sitting right across the way. I hope you all make him feel very welcome. His name is Justin Schmid. L. Th roness: It’s nice to have Sheila Denis in the gallery today. She’s my scheduler. She does a great job ordering my various lives. She’s joined by her husband, Chris.

Th ey’re a wonderful couple, and they’re great friends to me. Would the House please welcome them. J. Darcy: It gives me great pleasure to introduce med students from UBC, who we had the opportunity to meet with today, as I’m sure other members of the House did. Every time I meet with UBC med students, I know that the future of health care and the future of the medical profession is in good hands in British Columbia. Th ese med students always come to us with bold policy ideas, progressive solutions for the future.

Today, it was very much about solutions to deal with harm reduction, to deal with the opioid crisis, to deal with pain management — interdisciplinary teams. Th ey really are on the mark about the issues that we need to be tackling in this province. I hope you’ll join me in welcom- ing the UBC med students who are here today. [1335] R. Sultan: We have in the gallery today fi ve representa- tives of the engineering profession, beginning with Keith Sashaw, who is the CEO of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies, B.C. — otherwise, ACEC-BC.

Th is organization represents 85 consulting engineering fi rms in our province, approximately 9,000 employees, annual billings in the range of $3.6 billion and operating on a worldwide basis. Secondly, in the galleries, we have Jeannine Martin with COWI North America, who would perhaps be more familiar to us — on the North Shore, at least — as for- merly in its North Vancouver affi liation, Buckland and Taylor, very much involved in very high-tech bridge de- sign. COWI, which has strong roots in Denmark and Bahrain, is involved in bridge tunnel engineering con- sulting work globally.

Th irdly, we have Ken Savage from Tetra Tech. Tetra Tech’s been in business for 50 years. Th ey’ve got about 16,000 employees around the world. Th ey specialize in water, environmental work, energy, mining, industrial sector and infrastructure, very versatile people — like, in fact, most consulting engineering fi rms. Next we have Ken Wiecke of Amec Foster Wheeler, a mere 36,000 professionals worldwide. Th ey have spe- cialties in oil and gas, chemicals, mining power, environ- mental and infrastructure as well. Finally, another constituent of the North Shore, Tim Stanley of Stratice Consulting.

Tim, through his many years of experience in the consulting world, has become a senior adviser to many major civil engineering pro- jects, including the Evergreen Line, the Canada Line and Ottawa’s new Confederation line. Would you please make these very, very accomplished engineers welcome. M. Mungall: I’ d like to introduce the House to Brett Macdonald. She’s a longtime friend of mine and has ac- tually spent the last 11 years teaching international stu- dents in Germany. We are very fortunate to have her back on Canadian soil. May the House please make her very welcome. J.

Th ornthwaite: We have some animal lovers here in the House today. From the SPCA, I’ d like to welcome Amy Morris, Geoff Urton, Tina Heary, Melinda Mennie, Tess Morgan, Marcie Moriarty, Craig Daniell, Erika Paul, Graeme Wright and Annie Prittie-Bell, as well as Catherine King, a very responsible breeder from my con- stituency of North Vancouver–Seymour. Can the House welcome these animal lovers to the House. J. Darcy: Among the engineers who are here today is a constituent of mine, Selena Wilson, a profession- al engineer who works with McElhanney Consulting Services.

She’s here with the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies, who are visiting us today. I hope the House will join me in making Selena feel very wel- come, together with the rest of her colleagues. V . Huntington: It gives me great pleasure today to introduce guests of mine — Delta fi re department chief Guy McKintuck and his family, Melanie Cheesman and his two lovely daughters, Brynn and Neve. I would like the House to know that Brynn single-handedly tackled one of the restaurant’s famous turkey clubhouse sand- wiches and demolished it. Congratulations there. J.

Th ornthwaite: I, too, would like to introduce some medical students that came to visit me in my offi ce this morning — Emma Mitchell, Laila Drabkin, Laura J. Kim and Kevin Liang. Th ey had some very fruitful sugges- tions for chronic pain and addictions management that I will be happy to pass on. 13851

British Columbia Debates13852 Monday, February 27, 2017 N. Simons: I hope the House helps me welcome a couple of friends from lower Elphinstone on the Sunshine Coast, John Davis and Petrina Wing. It’s real- ly nice to see friends in the House. Th ey’re also animal lovers, so a lot of us here today. [1340] L. Reimer: I have two sets of introductions today. We had the pleasure of being hosted today by the Association of Consulting Engineers, both sides of the House did, for lunch. It’s very rare for me to fi nd three of my constituents at that lunch.

I’ d like to take this opportunity to introduce Maureen Kelly, Lawrence Bicknell and Geoff McLennan. I’ d also like to acknowledge four UBC medical stu- dents I met with this morning — Laura Kim, Sarah Weicker, Yuhao Wu and Tanjeet Singh. Would the House please make all these people very welcome. J. Rice: I have two introductions I’ d like to make today. Th e fi rst one I wanted to nab away from the member for New Westminster. Selena Wilson was a resident of Prince Rupert for three years, up until recently. She’s down here to be closer to family, but I know her heart truly lies in the north coast.

She still has properties in Prince Rupert. I would like the House to make her feel welcome as well. Also, I think I’ve started a little bit of a trend here that I surely cannot stop. I need to mention that last week- end, the Charles Hays girls basketball team won the zone championships, which they hosted in Prince Rupert. Th ey played two hard-fought games against Caledonia Secondary School and Smithers. As well, I’ d like to ac- knowledge that Ruby Mason was named the MVP of the tournament, while Brittany Waite and Carly Cochrane were named the all-stars.

So I would like to acknowledge more basketball players in my riding. V . Huntington: I’ d like to introduce four other guests that I have with me in the House today. Th ese are four of the founding members of an amazing organization called Imagine X, whose website I encourage everybody to review — Taylor Singleton-Fookes, Yutaka Takahashi, Melody Ma and Gordon Jones. I’ d like the House to make them feel quite welcome. L. Popham: I would like to join my colleague from Delta South on her first introduction.

Those are my family members — my brother, Guy McKintuck; my sister-in-law, Melanie Cheesman; and my two lovely nieces, Brynn and Neve. Now, if you look up into the chamber and see those two lovely, sweet faces that they are, don’t let them fool you. Th ese two are British Columbia’s best candy hounds. I’m just putting an FYI out into this chamber: if you have a candy drawer in your offi ce, I suggest you lock it up for the next three hours, or you’ll have two visitors in there. Anyway, please make them welcome. Introduction and First Reading of Bills BILL M224 — ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, 2017 A.

Weaver presented a bill intituled Endangered Species Act, 2017. A. Weaver: It gives me great pleasure to move that a bill intituled Endangered Species Act, 2017, of which notice has been given, be introduced and read a fi rst time now. Motion approved. A. Weaver: I’m pleased to be introducing a bill intitu- led the Endangered Species Act, 2017. Th e world is in the midst of an extinction crisis, and humans are the driving force. British Columbia is the most biodiverse province in Canada, but it is also the home to more at-risk spe- cies than any other province.

Half of British Columbia’s assessed species are deemed at risk. In addition to identifying, protecting and rehabili- tating at-risk wildlife populations and habitats, this act seeks to introduce proactive measures that will prevent healthy species from declining in the fi rst place. The act substantively expands upon the Ontario Endangered Species Act, the B.C. version of their legis- lation tabled by the B.C. NDP in 2011 and the American federal Endangered Species Act.

Under the guidance of lawyers and advocates who have worked tirelessly on this issue, I was able to close problematic loopholes and make this act more proactive, transparent and eff ective. Of note is the addition of a

section that changes how exemptions are made. Instead of being left to the discre- tion of the minister, under this new

section if govern- ment or industry want to take actions that will result in a species going extinct, it is required to go through an independent publicly disclosed board review. I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of this House aft er today. Bill M224, Endangered Species Act, 2017, introduced, read a fi rst time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House aft er today. [1345] BILL 7 — PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS AMENDMENT ACT, 2017 Hon. N.

Letnick presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2017.

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13853 Hon. N. Letnick: I move the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2017, be introduced and read for a fi rst time now. Motion approved. Hon. N. Letnick: Today I am pleased to introduce the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2017. Th is act will amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to enable the creation of a registration or licensing scheme for commercial breeders of cats and dogs.

Th e new act will allow government to create regula- tions that will prescribe standards of care that all com- mercial breeders of dogs and cats must follow once enacted. Th e amendments deliver on the Premier’s com- mitment to target irresponsible commercial breeders of cats and dogs so that puppy mills — like the recent one in Langley where over 50 animals were seized — do not occur anymore. I move that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2017, be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting aft er today.

Bill 7, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2017, introduced, read a fi rst time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House aft er today. BILL M225 — POVERTY REDUCTION AND ECONOMIC INCLUSION ACT, 2017 M. Mungall presented a bill intituled Poverty Reduc- tion and Economic Inclusion Act, 2017. M. Mungall: I move that the bill intituled the Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper, be intro- duced and read a fi rst time now. Motion approved. M.

Mungall: Today marks the sixth time the New Democrat opposition has introduced this legislation. Since 2011, when we fi rst introduced a bill for a poverty reduction plan, we have seen food bank use in B.C. dra- matically increase, while housing costs, food costs, hy- dro rates and post-secondary education costs increase too. We have also seen every other province adopt plans that tackle poverty and seek economic inclusion for every one of their citizens. B.C. now remains the only province without a legislative plan that is transparent and account- able to its citizens.

If we had a plan, government would have the structure in place to know when they are about to make a poverty- creating policy and avoid such detrimental actions. A plan, as enabled by this act, would also task government with identifying poverty-creating policies that already exist and seek to end them. Th ere are so many factors that contribute to poverty, and ignoring poverty costs our communities and our economy more than taking action with a real plan. To be sure, several studies have shown that there are substantial savings for taxpayers as a result of a poverty reduction plan.

Because of this and because it’s the right thing to do, we need a comprehensive plan with targets and time- lines to do the meaningful work of reducing poverty and including everyone in the economy. Today this Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act can do just that. I move that this bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of this House aft er today. Bill M225, Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act, 2017, introduced, read a fi rst time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House aft er today.

Statements (Standing Order 25B) SPCA CUPCAKE DAY FUNDRAISER AND ANIMAL WELFARE ADVOCACY J. Th ornthwaite: It is my delight to remind the House that today is National Cupcake Day. Th is event is an important fundraiser for the SPCA and for other hu- mane societies — great organizations that do outstand- ing work to protect the animals we love and care for. As a dog lover, this is a cause that is very close to my heart. Unfortunately, not all pets have the good fortune of liv- ing in a caring and loving home so they depend on the care and generosity of organizations, like the BCSPCA, to receive care and shelter.

Th at is why I’m incredibly pleased that I was able to announce that we provided an additional $5 million to the BCSPCA ’s facilities plan to upgrade or replace aging facilities. Th is funding is on top of the $5 million pro- vided previously. I’m also proud that moments ago we introduced amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to strengthen animal welfare in B.C. Th is legislation is the province’s latest action to target irresponsible dog and cat breeders. We want to develop a system that is supported by the responsible breeders in B.C. and that targets the ones that aren’t.

I want to thank the members of the SPCA, veterinar- ians, responsible breeders, the Canadian Kennel Club and the Canadian Cat Association for their input in developing this legislation and their tireless advocacy for animal welfare. I also want to encourage my fellow members to buy a cupcake and contribute what they can on National Cupcake Day. Together, we can bake a dif-

British Columbia Debates13854 Monday, February 27, 2017 ference and improve the lives of animals who need our help the most. [1350] MARILYN SMITH L. Krog: Today, I want to speak about Marilyn Smith and public service. Marilyn started, in what we used to refer to as a secre- tarial pool, with the City of Nanaimo in 1974. She served under six mayors: Frank Ney, Graeme Roberts, Joy Leach, Gary Korpan, John Ruttan and, fi nally, Bill McKay. She also worked with the much-beloved Helen Sponaugle, who worked at city hall for many, many years as well.

She started on call, then full-time and eventu- ally permanent full-time in 1988. As the city grew, she became, in 1993, the full-time assistant secretary to the mayor and council. During that time, she served our city diligently and well. Her public approval rating, if we had been able to publish it, would have been much higher than most politicians, I can assure the House. However, rather sadly — without getting into any kind of controversy — changes at city hall meant that she had to bring a constructive dismissal and human rights claim in 2016.

So in a sense, you could say she left city hall with a tiny bit of controversy surrounding her. As a result, the city responded in very direct ways in support of Marilyn’s long and illustrious career.

John Ruttan, the mayor, said: “She never failed to contrib- ute her very best eff orts at all times. ” Gary Korpan, who served on council as mayor and councillor for 24 years said: “It is impossible for me and, I expect, any city coun- cillor who has worked with her to think that anyone could have done a better job as secretary to mayor and council than Marilyn Smith. ” Former councillor Fred Pattje said, quite simply: “Marilyn Smith was city hall’s treasure. ” Joy Cameron, former city councillor, said: “Th e Marilyn Smiths in our world are rare and irreplaceable. ” In those circumstances, Marilyn didn’t get a going- away party.

She didn’t get a big, public thank you. But I think it’s important that we honour people who give 42 years of public service to their community. Today in this House, I am seeking support for Marilyn and an acknowledgment of those 42 years of public service. SEA TO SKY AREA TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT J. Sturdy: Can we love a place too much? In West Vancouver–Sea to Sky, improved access and proximity to Metro have brought many new residents as well as ever-increasing visits.

Aft er people have had an unforgettable experience in the front or back country, for good reason they want to relate those experiences, tell- ing the world about the magic. And with a picture worth a thousand words, social media spreads the news. Tour companies are thriving, record numbers on the hills and in the stores and needing services. But in places where people used to just get away to experience a more subtle nature — that is becoming harder to achieve. When camping along the Squamish or Lillooet River valleys, there may be camping conges- tion.

In much of Garibaldi Park, reservations for camp- sites are now required in order to bring better order to people’s experience and contain the impacts of camping in a fragile alpine environment. North of Pemberton, B.C. Parks upgraded a trail to a spectacular chain of lakes with an icefall above. Aft er just a little social media, the parking lot at Joff re Lakes was overwhelmed. Th e germane question today is: how big should that parking lot be?

Our constituency offi ce has been meeting with individuals and community organizations to try and better identify the range of concerns and opportunities as we manage our cumulative impacts on the landscape. At the table have been recreation tenure holders, camp- ing and climbing organizations, wildlife organizations, motorized and non-motorized access groups and others to see trends. What are the value components that need to be monitored? What is an acceptable level of impact and can it be mitigated? How do we grapple with assessing and predicting the quality of our collective experience?

For all the trials that a job as an MLA entails, questions like this are also why I so appreciate this House and this opportunity. JIM TAYLOR AND UNIVERSITY NEIGHBOURHOODS ASSOCIATION D. Eby: Th e neighbourhood where I live at UBC is made up of people from all over the world. Th e univer- sity neighbourhood community truly is the defi nition of diversity. But this didn’t happen overnight or by accident. One of the founders of this diverse community was Jim Taylor, Queen’s Counsel, who, sadly, passed away last year at the age of 72.

Jim’s infl uence in the university neighbourhoods and at UBC, where he had been a law professor, was so profound that the fl ag was lowered to half-mast when he passed away. [1355] His work in establishing the University Neighbour- hoods Association, a local resident group at UBC, led, in part, to him receiving a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for his work. I learned only aft er he’ d passed that as a lawyer, I knew Jim before I met him. He was co-author with current Supreme Court of Canada Justice Beverley McLachlin of McLachlin and Taylor, the go-to civil procedure guide for all litigators in the province.

Without Jim, I would have been an even more confused law student. So thank you, Jim, for the help.

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13855 In his later years, Jim was a founder and driving member of the University Neighbourhoods multicul- tural committee, which is oft en the fi rst interaction new arrivals in Canada have with community involve- ment in our neighbourhood. Rather than attempt to explain to you Jim’s infl uence in this new arrival com- munity, I’ll draw from quotes from members describ- ing Jim’s infl uence. Florence Luo, the current chair of the multicultural committee, wrote: “Jim was the most supportive and open- minded mentor…. He was a kind and insightful soul….

Jim was the type of true friend who wanted to take your troubles on his shoulders and used real actions to help out. ” Ying Zhou, a prominent campus volunteer and out- spoken elected member of the University Neighbourhoods Association board, wrote: “My life as a new immigrant to Canada changed dramatically aft er I met Jim…. Jim en- couraged my friends and me to get involved in the UNA election that year. Th is was the fi rst time I had voted, and it was my introduction to democracy. ” Thank you, Jim, for all of your work for British Columbians and for our community. DAVE HOLMBERG S.

Gibson: I miss Dave Holmberg, and I speak on be- half of the members for Abbotsford West and Abbotsford South. He passed away last month aft er a fi ve-year battle with cancer. Dave was truly one of Abbotsford’s outstanding cit- izens, a generous man, a genuine philanthropist. He per- sonally contributed $1.3 million to construct Holmberg House hospice, just one of many causes he supported. A highly respected businessman known for his integ- rity, he served on numerous boards and committees — Abbotsford Air Show, restorative justice, Ledgeview golf course, Ducks Unlimited and so many more.

He was instrumental in helping to develop the fi rst phase of the popular Discovery Trail, which traverses much of our community. He was chair of the Abbotsford Airport Authority and presided over the expansion and success of our great airport in Abbotsford. Dave was very much involved with civic politics, mu- nicipal campaigns, provincial. He was passionate about politics. He was a familiar sight, an emcee at many events in our community. And he was the recipient of numer- ous awards and recognitions.

I know I speak for thousands of British Columbians when I join the family and close friends in mourning the passing of a truly great citizen. Dave Holmberg will be missed and remembered for a very long time. GITANMAAX CAREER FAIR D. Donaldson: Some MLAs in this chamber know what it is like to be mobbed in a good way. I was partway into that experience when I entered Tse- kya hall in Hagwilget earlier this month. A steady stream of young people immediately headed my way.

I quickly realized they were actually headed to catch their bus back to Hazelton Secondary, but it was a premonition of what awaited when I fi nally got into the hall — a mob scene it was, and that’s because the fi ft h annual Gitanmaax Career Fair was in full swing. Inside were booths representing employers, post- secondary training institutes and community organiza- tions. Members from all communities along Highways 37 and 16, from Gitanyow to Moricetown, fi lled the hall. Organizers previously prepared 700 welcome packages, and by noon, 500 had already been handed out.

I sat with Pansy Wright-Simms from the Gitanmaax band offi ce as she put together the 1,000th package by early aft ernoon. An incredible success and the best turnout in the career fair’s history. As offi cial opposition spokesperson on Mining, I was especially pleased to see the amount of traffi c at the booth set up by Pretium on their Brucejack mine project and Seabridge Gold on their KSM project. I also had a booth set up by the Stikine MLA Hazelton offi ce’s Julie Maitland.

Its main focus was registering vot- ers for the May 9 provincial election, as statistics show that once a voter is registered, they are much more likely to come out on voting day. As in the past, CFNR, Canadian First Nations Radio, was live broadcasting from the fl oor to add additional excitement to the day. Other major sponsors includ- ed Northwest Community College, the Upper Skeena Development Centre, Gitxsan Government Commission, Gitxsan-Wet’suwet-en Unlocking Aboriginal Justice and, of course, the Gitanmaax band.

Th e themes of the career fair — heegal, hard working; lip gyat , self-suffi cient; goliit’ lax ts’ ap, locally based — speaks volumes as to what economic development means to Gitxsan on the lax’yip and Wet’suwet-en on the yinta — the unceded territories. Congratulations to the organizers for a job well done. Lugul um. [1400] Oral Questions FUNDING FOR MAPLE RIDGE YOUTH SHELTER C. James: Last week the members for Maple Ridge– Mission and Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows announced $1 million for the Iron Horse youth homeless shelter. Th e problem? Th e shelter actually closed two years ago.

At that time, the government said no to the mayor’s request for support to keep the doors open. My question is to the Minister of Children and Fam- ilies. Where was the minister and where were the two

British Columbia Debates13856 Monday, February 27, 2017 local MLAs two years ago when this homeless shelter shut down? Hon. R. Coleman: Thanks to the member for her question. She should know, however, that Iron Horse was actually under a federal program when federal walked away from the funding. We’ve been building a suite of transition housings for youth that were in the market and continue to do. As we came in, they were looking at the issues in and around Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows. Some of the community people brought this up to us.

At that time, we were actual- ly looking for something that might work and thought this particular facility might work. We have the operat- ing dollars for it. So we made the announcement, along with the MLAs. Th ey made that announcement to the community, but they also announced

an ACT team for people who are very seriously sick on their streets, needing homes, a connection to housing, a connection to supports from Health. Th ey’ve also announced a number of other in- itiatives, including… Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Hon. R.

Coleman: …the fact that the government has still got $15 million on the table to build a purpose-built shelter in support of housing in that community, as well as a number of initiatives that they’ve worked on with the community — absent, probably, some of the work from the mayor, who has just basically said she doesn’t want to cooperate with us to even make these things work in Maple Ridge. Madame Speaker: Victoria–Beacon Hill on a supple- mental. C. James: Well, always this government’s line: it’s somebody else’s fault. “Forget what we’ve done. Don’t look at us. ” Let’s recap this.

First, the local MLAs announce fund- ing for a shelter that shut down two years ago. It was an- nounced publicly in the newspaper, the Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows News, in 2015. Th en the local MLAs, when they were actually questioned about why they announced money for a shelter that is shut down, said they didn’t have all the details at their announcements, that they misspoke. Now the Minister for Housing says: “Forget everything we’ve done.

Th ere will be funding to reopen a shelter. ” Well, that’s two years — two years without shelter, two years without emergency housing for youth in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, two years where youth were sleeping in tent cities and on the streets. My question is to the minister. Why should the public believe anything that this government says? Hon. R. Coleman: Maybe the member opposite might want to do some research on this fi le and get her head out of the clouds. Th e fact of the matter is that when Iron Horse shut down, we purchased another facility for youth in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, for kids.

We did that, and it’s funded by the Ministry of Children and Families. Iron Horse became available as we did our scan for fu- ture opportunities in that community so we stepped up, in addition to the one we bought, for another one for youth that can serve the north side of the river. If you’re opposed to having transition housing for youth, just say so. M. Mungall: If anybody needs to do research in this House, it’s that minister and it’s the MLAs from Maple Ridge. One of the MLAs had actually been to Iron Horse; the other one, apparently, had a son who worked there.

But they are so entrenched in this forget-everything budget, so entrenched in this “Forget everything that we’ve neglected for the last 16 years” scheme, that they even forgot that this important service for youth has been closed for two years. [1405] My question is to the minister, since he’s the one that wants to get up. Can he tell us which one it is? Did he get caught in a major fl ub by his back bench, or does he just want everybody to forget that this shelter closed two years ago because this government said it wouldn’t give it a dime? Hon. R.

Coleman: Let me speak slowly for the mem- ber opposite so she can get it straight in her head. Th e former Alouette Home Start Society, which was…. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members, Members. Hon. R. Coleman: Th e former facility was closed be- cause the federal government was not continued. At the same time, we went and bought a facility in Maple Ridge for youth. We replaced it. Now, if the member wants to neglect that and then say they did nothing…. Y ou’re wrong, Member. Th ey did. Th ey came to us. Th ey worked with us. We got a diff er- ent facility for youth, which has been working very well.

As we came through some issues with regards to home- lessness north of the river, we looked at this facility be- cause the building was now available to us and decided to go in and move on an addition to it for youth that may be in transition from north of the river and, in some cases, even south of the river. We’re always trying to build in- transition opportunities for young people and youth in our communities.

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13857 In addition to that, just so the member for Powell River–Sunshine Coast knows, if he wants to go read the budget…. I’m sure you’ll vote for the budget, because there’s $65 million in there for youth housing. M. Mungall: Well, let me just for the record reassure the minister opposite that I understand this issue very well. He doesn’t need to explain every little thing to me like I’m a little girl. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. M.

Mungall: It’s clear listening to this minister that he just wants everybody in British Columbia to forget what’s gone on for the last 16 years, that they’ve just let this important housing shelter close. It’s been closed for two years. But I’ll tell you who didn’t forget over the last two years. It’s the youth who are sleeping in tents, who are sleeping on couches, who are sleeping in unsafe places. Th ey know that they were shut out by this government. Again to this minister, how on earth could he have ever let this place be closed for two years? I don’t want to hear the excuses.

I want to know why kids were left in the cold for two years by this government. Hon. R. Coleman: Th e only thing this member doesn’t want to hear are facts. Let’s take you briefl y on a visit down memory lane. In 2001, money invested in oper- ation for housing in British Columbia: $125 million. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Hon. R. Coleman: Today it’s over $500 million in operating dollars. Th e number of households helped in British Columbia today by the housing programs, not in- cluding the shelters and the outreach — it also goes on — over 101,000 families.

Th at’s about 30,000 to 40,000 more families and couples in British Columbia than there were in 2001. We have built 14,000 units of housing in the province of British Columbia. We’ve bought about 3,000 units in British Columbia. We’ve continued to renovate and save for people that are vulnerable in our society. We’re the only government in history that actually put meals into a shelter and took them 24-7 so they weren’t thrown out every morning and could only come back at night. We’re actually the only jurisdiction to put 24-7 into transition houses in British Columbia. We keep stepping up. Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members. Hon. R. Coleman: We’ll continue to step up, and even in your own community. Of course, I’ve never received a letter of thanks for the buildings we’ve actually built in Nelson. HOMELESSNESS IN METRO V ANCOUVER G. Heyman: If the minister wants to deal with facts, let’s deal with some independent ones. Earlier this mor- ning, Metro Vancouver’s Regional Homelessness Task Force released the report on the homelessness crisis. Interjections. [1410] Madame Speaker: Members. Just wait. Members, the Chair will hear the question. Please continue. G.

Heyman: Th eir fi ndings make it clear that home- lessness has gotten much worse under this B.C. Liberal government. Th ere are 4,000 people who are in immedi- ate need of housing right now in the region. And under this Premier, the number of people who are homeless has jumped 26 percent every year. My question is for the Minister of Housing. Why did he let the homelessness crisis get so out of control? Hon. R. Coleman: On the noon news, the mayor of Vancouver — the NDP mayor of Vancouver — went on Global and said that in the last number of years, from 2011 to 2017… Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Hon. R.

Coleman: …under this Premier, we didn’t in- vest anything in housing in British Columbia. Can you imagine anybody going before a camera and doing that absolutely non-truth statement on Global? Imagine that. So I thought maybe we should have a little memory with that for you too, hon. Member. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Members. Hon. R. Coleman: Th ere are 27,555 households in the city of Vancouver that receive assistance from this gov- ernment every month in operating funds.

Just in the city of Vancouver, we spend over $200 million a year in oper- ating costs for people who are homeless — mental health, addicted and needing supports — across the community

British Columbia Debates13858 Monday, February 27, 2017 for housing. In addition to that, we’ve added shelter space, and I can tell you what it was: 720 spaces in 2001. Over 2,000 24-hour spaces in Vancouver today. Not once under the former NDP government did you actually give a meal to somebody that was in a shelter in Vancouver. Today they get three meals a day, because nu- trition helps people get better, helps them to get stable, helps them so that we can connect them with people for health and support and get them housed.

By the way, in addition to that, Vancouver was the fi rst city to get outreach workers in the province of British Columbia, and they got it under the watch of this gov- ernment. Th at program has continued to expand in the city of Vancouver. We have a relationship across Metro Vancouver. I heard from three mayors this morning who deliberately called me to say: “We don’t support this re- port. We think you guys have been an absolutely fantastic partner in the Lower Mainland and in British Columbia, and we look forward to doing more with you. ” Madame Speaker: The member for Vancouver- Fairview on a supplemental.

G. Heyman: I think this Premier and this minister are guilty of doing the same thing that he accuses the may- or of Vancouver of doing. He can stand there and smile and take glee, when the truth is that there are people in desperate straits in Vancouver, in every municipality in Metro Vancouver, and across the province. Th e facts are simple, and he doesn’t want to deal with them — 4,000 people in immediate need of housing, a 26 percent jump in homelessness every year under this Premier. Th e homelessness crisis we’re facing is the cost of this government’s choices.

When people can’t aff ord housing, the result is rising homelessness. When people can’t ac- cess mental health services and addiction services, the result is rising homelessness. For years, this government chose to ignore the housing crisis. For years, they chose to cut services to mental health, and now, every week, fi ve more people in Metro Vancouver become homeless. Why did the Housing Minister let us get into this des- perate situation? Hon. R.

Coleman: Well, the one thing I did agree with the mayor of Vancouver on today when he spoke was he said that up until two years ago, 18 months ago, we were actually bending the curve the other way for homeless- ness in British Columbia and on the Lower Mainland of B.C., because we had made the signifi cant investments to lower the number of people who are homeless in British Columbia. But the member knows just as well as I do that there has been an infl ux of people that are in need be- cause of where our economy is, and people coming from other jurisdictions are having diffi culty . Interjections. Hon. R.

Coleman: We track this, so this is a fact, okay? I know you hate to hear this. [1415] Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Hon. R. Coleman: Th is member knows very well that we bought 24 buildings in his city that would not be there for housing today if we hadn’t bought them. We actually went in and renovated them, gave them another 50 to 100 years of life, because some of them were as old as 100 years, and never lost a single tenant. Interjection. Hon. R. Coleman: See, that’s what you don’t get. We keep buying. We’ve bought more in the last six months.

But you don’t have to have the facts because you’re not interested. Th e fact of the matter is that we bought 24 to 30 build- ings in Vancouver, over 60 across the province. We con- tinue to do that. We continue to invest in new buildings with the city with regards to supportive housing for people that are homeless, mental health and addicted. We’re making another $900 million investment in af- fordable housing in British Columbia right now. Th at’ll take us to an additional 2,500 units of housing, which is more than the NDP built in the entire decade of the ’90s.

We have actually been the most aggressive investor in trying to fi nd solutions for mental health and addiction — including outreach workers, ACT teams, coordination with health care, coordination with police — as we try and drive this backward. Th e one thing I told the media today…. I won’t do it, and I have never done it in any speech or any interview. Th e mayor of Vancouver chose to politicize the most vul- nerable people in our communities today. I totally agree with that. I totally agree with it because he knows darn well all the good work that’s been done in his city. PROVINCEWIDE HOMELESSNESS COUNT S.

Robinson: Th ere are more than 70 homeless camps in Metro Vancouver. They’re in communities from Chilliwack to Abbotsford to Maple Ridge and in Surrey — more than 70 camps, and there are thousands of others who don’t have a home. But this government doesn’t even know how many homeless people there actually are in British Columbia. Why? Because they actually refuse to do a provincewide count, making it very easy for this government to completely ignore this crisis. My question for the minister is: why does the minis- ter continue to refuse to do a provincewide homeless- ness count?

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13859 Hon. R. Coleman: A number of the communities the member just said were in Metro Vancouver are actually not in Metro Vancouver. Th e fact of the matter is that in the city of Chilliwack, we’ve just purchased…. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Members. Th is House will come to order. Interjection. Madame Speaker: Member. Minister. Hon. R. Coleman: I actually don’t….

I missed the let- ter from the member for Coquitlam-Maillardville saying thank you for 3030 Gordon, the supportive housing and shelter that was purpose-built in that community at the expense of dollars paid in by the provincial government. I missed the fact that the member didn’t mention that we’ve already just bought another building in Chilliwack. We’re actually in the planning stage and have announced the money for another supportive housing and pur- pose-built shelter in Chilliwack to help them deal with their needs.

Missed the fact that we’ve already done two new build- ings in Abbotsford and that we’re already in the middle of doing another planning for an additional facility; missed the fact that we’ve put money on the table for a purpose- built shelter in Maple Ridge, in addition to adding all kinds of other supports to put wraparound supports around people in that community; missed the fact that there’s a purpose-built shelter in Surrey that’s about to be approved, that has the money committed to it and that other facili- ties that have already being built there; missed the fact that there’s a purpose-built shelter and supportive housing project in Langley — all the way across Metro Vancouver.

Th ere is one exception, however. Th ere is no purpose- built shelter or supportive housing project for people with homelessness and mental health and addictions in the city of Burnaby. Th e mayor of that community refuses to zone a property and recognize that maybe he’ d like to do something in that community and maybe, maybe just maybe, take an example from those other communities in British Columbia. [1420] Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members, this House will come to order. S. Robinson: Well, this minister missed the fact that there are 4,000 people without a home — 4,000. And also seems to take lightly….

I wonder if the member from Chilliwack and the members from Abbotsford think that it’s okay that this minister takes it so lightly that there are homeless camps there too. Th e minister…. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. S. Robinson: Th e people in these communities know how bad the homeless crisis has grown under this B.C. Liberal government. Whether they’re in Chilliwack or Abbotsford or Surrey or Maple Ridge, they all know how bad it has gotten. Th ey live with it every day.

Th e people in Maple Ridge know this government is so neglectful that when this government tried to announce resources for the Iron Horse youth homeless shelter that was closed two years ago, it really demonstrated just how out of touch this government is. I want to know from this minister what it would fi nally take for this government to actually do a real homeless count of the real people who are out there on the streets in every single community of this province. Hon. R.

Coleman: Th is morning I sat in this House and listened to the member opposite advocating to open an old building for people who are homeless and for men- tal health and addictions, on the Riverview lands, not even thinking that maybe there might be asbestos in the building. But it’s okay for those guys to go live there, right? Interjections. Hon. R. Coleman: Y ou don’t like it, do you? Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Members. Hon. R. Coleman: Y ou have this warehousing men- tality towards housing and mental health and addictions. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Minister, just wait. Please continue. Hon.

R. Coleman: Th ank you, hon. Speaker. To the member opposite: the fact of the matter is that for homelessness and mental health and addictions, there have been probably close to 8,000 to 9,000 units de- veloped in British Columbia in just the last fi ve years. In addition to that, there’s additional shelter space, which is the front door connecting people with outreach workers and ACT teams for health care and support to actually connect people with their mental health and addictions.

British Columbia Debates13860 Monday, February 27, 2017 Th e member didn’t mention that we’re spending close to $200 million on the Riverview lands right now for a facility for mental health and addictions — a brand-new one. Also, the replacement of the Maples is there and a commitment to also build a signifi cantly sized seniors project on the Riverview lands in Coquitlam.

Th e fact of the matter is pick a community and tell me where you can fi nd a place where there’s been no invest- ment in housing in British Columbia and you won’t fi nd one, because we’ve been making those investments across British Columbia, including some pretty innovative stuff , even outside of this piece of the fi le, to keep seniors in their homes in small communities. So 1,350 little sen- iors cottages have been built across British Columbia for seniors in the last few years alone, and $900 million is about to be invested. In addition to that, for the member from Vancouver — let’s just pick one community.

There are also 110 people — families, couples, individuals — in the city of Vancouver that have already been approved to buy their fi rst house with the down payment assistance program called HOME. Th ey won’t actually admit the fact that they don’t sup- port anything to do with housing. When the budget comes, when you see the millions for housing, get up and vote for the budget. PUBLIC ACCESS TO BACK-COUNTRY AREAS ON V ANCOUVER ISLAND S. Fraser: While travelling yesterday morning towards Port Alberni on Highway 4, it was quite treacherous. It was snowing.

But despite that, at the turn-off at the top of what they call the hump on Highway 4, approaching Port Alberni — the access route to our regional park called Mount Arrowsmith Massif — there was a crowd of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who had braved the weather to be there to express their out- rage at this Liberal government’s inaction while gates go up all over Vancouver Island, not just the Alberni Valley, restricting and preventing people from accessing their back country, their recreational areas and their parks.

To the minister that should be responsible: why is he sitting idle while the public are systemically having their rights and their access removed to the back coun- try, parks and recreational areas in their very backyards? [1425] Hon. S. Th omson: Th e government recognizes the im- portance of access to Crown lands and the experience of recreation and tourism in our backcountry. Th at’s why a balanced budget has provided additional funding for recreation sites and campsites across British Columbia.

With respect to this particular situation, access through private land, the member opposite well knows that there are times when, temporarily, access can be restricted be- cause of safety concerns, because of fi re concerns, because of protecting equipment during active logging operations. All of those are part of the agreement that was made when these lands were established — that access would be main- tained, but it would be also restricted under certain condi- tions for public safety, for protection of assets. Th at’s the case here.

Th e information is put onto an in- formation site, a blog, in terms of where those sites go in place. Can we improve that process around communica- tion and access? I’m sure we can. We’ll continue to work with the company to ensure that they reach out and work with the recreation groups and the citizens in that area to make sure that access is maintained when appropriate but, also, restricted when appropriate. Madame Speaker: Alberni–Pacifi c Rim on a supple- mental. S. Fraser: Well, the minister should get out a little more. Y ou know what?

Th ere were hundreds and hun- dreds of people there from as far as Campbell River and Victoria. Th ey travelled from all over the Island. Th e people of Vancouver Island are being systematic- ally prevented from accessing their back country, the areas that they’ve used as recreation for hunting, fi shing, birdwatching, mountain climbing. We had groups — the alpine society of British Columbia. We had quad groups. We had snowmobile groups. We had hiking groups from all over the Island. Th ey’re systematically being prevented from access to their traditional areas, and the minister knows this.

He’s done nothing for a year on this except spout a company line. He’s supposed to take care of the public interest, not some private interest. Will the minister stand in this House and commit to protecting the public interest and making sure those gates come down? Hon. S. Th omson: As I said, we recognize the value and the importance of public access to Crown land. I would like to maybe draw the attention of the member opposite to the agreement that was put in place when those private lands were put in place.

It says that subject to applicable law, operational, risk management and other needs, companies will maintain current access for public industrial road users and ab- original groups. Subject to applicable law, subject to risk, subject to operational risk, subject to public safety, that access is to be maintained. Island Timberlands has access management agree- ments with a whole number of groups, including the Alberni-Clayoquot regional district.

We will continue to promote and work on those access management agree- ments to make sure that we provide that access, recog- nizing the important responsibility of public safety and protection of forest assets, protection of company assets,

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13861 protection of the values in those areas — and mostly, public safety. VIDEO RECORDING OF NDP YOUTH EVENT D. Eby: It was this weekend that an employee of this government secretly videotaped ten young people, many of them minors, at a young New Democrat meeting in Richmond. Th ese young people had organized a discus- sion about politics for youth in a multipurpose room at their local community centre. Y et a government employ- ee showed up posing as a young New Democrat.

She said she was interested in “post-secondary educa- tion and housing. ” Th ose are her words. She then secret- ly recorded these youths, using a cell phone she tried to hide on her lap. When we posed for a group picture, she pretended to take a phone call and left the room to avoid being photographed. How ironic. [1430] At a minimum, this violates

part 3 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. It violated the privacy rights of these youth. To the minister responsible for government communi- cations: will he destroy this recording and send a privacy breach notice to these youth? Or is it too late, and it’s al- ready on B.C. Liberal Party’s servers? Hon. A. Wilkinson: Of course, we can tell we’re get- ting close to the big day in May when it’ll be determined by the people of British Columbia what the future of the government of British Columbia will be.

So we can ex- pect that these kinds of events may occur, where individ- uals perhaps do things that are debatable. But under the circumstances, these are wild allegations with no names, locations or specifi cs. I would invite the member, if he has a serious complaint, to fi le that complaint. [End of question period.] S. Fraser: I seek leave to present a petition. Madame Speaker: Please proceed. Petitions S.

Fraser: I have a petition signed by, as of this mor- ning, well over 6,000 individuals, demanding that this government take action and ensure that the public have access to their back-country recreation areas and parks. M. Farnworth: I have a petition signed by about 400 con- stituents, concerning palliative care in British Columbia. “Th e petitioners respectfully request that the hon.

House en- act and uphold laws that will keep hospice and palliative care facilities separated from those that off er euthanasia and assisted suicide; will implement regulations and policies that ensure respect for the freedom of conscience of all health care workers and administrators who will not and cannot accept suicide or euthanasia as a solution to pain and suff ering. ” Orders of the Day Hon. M. de Jong: Madame Speaker, continued debate on the budget. [R. Lee in the chair.] Budget Debate (continued) G. Holman: I’m pleased to continue my remarks on the budget of the day.

Just to recap briefl y, I challenged, last week, whether the budget actually has been balanced. When you look at the shell game that’s been occurring with Crown corporations — B.C. Hydro and ICBC in- curring massive debt and annual fi nancial shortfalls — one really has to question whether or not the budget has been balanced. [1435] If you look at the dividend transfers from these Crown corporations over the past years, billions of dollars have been transferred to the provincial budget. So there really is a serious question about how it has been balanced or whether it is balanced.

Of course, those dividends are based on huge increas- es to ratepayers — to drivers through ICBC, to ratepay- ers through B.C. Hydro and also massive increases in MSP , ferry fees and tuition fees. On and on it goes. Really, these budgets have in a very real way been balanced on the backs of folks who are less able to aff ord it. All of these are taxes and fees. Th e other side doesn’t like to ac- knowledge that in fact they are taxes, but in reality they are. Th e problem with them is that they’re regressive in nature, so they hit low- to modest-income households much more severely.

I was making some thoughtful suggestions about what we could put on the side of the Premier’s bus — who, you’ll remember, famously campaigned on a “Debt-free B.C. ” slogan and on having an LNG industry, which I’m not even sure got any mention at all in the budget or relat- ed documents. LNG seems to have disappeared from the agenda, and the promises of $1 trillion in economic ac- tivity, $100 billion in government revenue, reducing debt to zero have faded considerably. So I have been thinking of some possible alternatives for the bus.

One that occurred to me, given the huge run-up in debt in this province: rather than “Debt-free B.C., ” I think “debt-spree B.C. ” would be a much more suitable slogan for the campaign bus. It’s the same amount of words, and I think a much more accurate portrayal of what has ac- tually happened in the province. Th is government has taken debt from about $34 or $35 billion, and at the end of the forecast period, that will be

British Columbia Debates13862 Monday, February 27, 2017 approximately doubled to about $78 billion. In the term of this Premier alone, she’s run up debt to the tune of $21 or $22 billion in a space of fi ve or six years. Th at’s unprecedented in the history of British Columbia. Th at truly is a record — not one to necessarily be proud of. Th e other side points the fi nger at the NDP about be- ing free-spending, not concerned about fi scal prudence and running up the debt.

We ran up the debt in the 1990s, when GDP , population growth and employment growth all proceeded at a faster rate than under this Liberal term. Th e debt was run up during that period for things like hospitals, roads, schools and all good things — those things are invested in by this government as well — but we increased debt from about $17 billion to $34 billion. Th is government has taken it from $34 billion to $78 bil- lion. If you look at the absolute dollars involved, they’re actually quite stunning.

Of course, those fi gures don’t include the equivalent- to-debt run up as a result of this government’s imprudent policies around power development in British Columbia. By precluding independent power producers and the so-called smart meters, tens of billions of dollars have been run up in additional contractual obligations over a 30-year period in which B.C. Hydro is obligated to pay a fi xed high price in the face of a huge power surplus in British Columbia.

Power demand has been fl at for the last decade, and as a result, ratepayers — i.e., taxpayers — are paying through the nose for these very expensive decisions that are ideologically based. During the ’90s, the NDP did approve independent power projects.

It’s not that we’re opposed in principle to private power production, but in the face of zero in- crease in demand, those kinds of investments just don’t make sense. [1440] Th e problem with this government is that they’ve been unwilling to refer those kinds of decisions — which are very, very important to ratepayers and taxpayers — to our independent utilities regulator, which in fact was estab- lished by Premier Bill Bennett back in the day.

So a so-called right-wing government created this entity to protect ratepayers in British Columbia, and this current Liberal government refuses to refer huge capital spending to this independent regulator. Th e result is that we are pay- ing hundreds of millions of dollars more per year, each and every year, because of projects that are not being referred to the Utilities Commission. It’s very fi nancially imprudent. Debt-spree B.C, I think, would be a suitable slogan that perhaps the other side could consider.

LNG-free — there would be another one that would be a more accur- ate portrayal of what’s actually happening in the province. No LNG whatsoever, despite grandiose promises by the Premier, by the Minister for Housing and Gas. Th ose benefi ts to B.C. taxpayers have not come to pass. It’s very doubtful, given the status of LNG markets in the world — huge supplies coming on, much more com- petitive than British Columbia. Projects that already have been decided on are being built — a huge excess supply in LNG. Th ere continues to be a bit of a blind spot of this government to look at economic conditions.

With respect to Hydro, we’re busily building a $9-bil- lion-and-counting project in the face of a huge surplus of electricity — fl at demand, even declining somewhat over the past ten years — yet we proceed with the use of taxpayer money in this way. Th at $78 billion of debt, by the way, at the end of this forecast period doesn’t include Site C, and it doesn’t include independent power projects. Th ere are a couple of alternative thoughts for the side of the Liberal campaign bus this year. Perhaps the other side can take that under advisement. Hon. R.

Coleman: I rise, pleased to respond in favour of the budget presented by the Minister of Finance, the fi ft h balanced budget in British Columbia in fi ve years. I want to touch on a number of things that are in the budget. I want to start out, fi rst of all, for the members in this chamber today, with just a little update and some information and understanding. Th e province, as you know, has launched a $705 mil- lion B.C. HOME partnership program. Basically, B.C.

HOME partnership allows someone, if it’s going to be the fi rst time they’re ever going buy a home, to get assistance with their down payment for fi ve years at no interest costs. Th is is actually recognizable by the fi nancial institution as part of their down payment. Up to today, we have received 609 applications for the B.C. HOME project. Over 400 of those have already been approved to buy their fi rst home.

So these young people — singles, couples, couples with children — who are renting in the marketplace will be vacating, probably within the next 30 days, 400 units of rental housing so that they can go into their fi rst home. Th ey get to go into their fi rst home and actually open up more rental supply in the marketplace. Th ey get this opportunity to own for the very fi rst time. I know what that is like. When I was 20 years old, I got married to my sweetheart, who I’m still married to to- day, and we moved to Brooks, Alberta. Th at’s where the RCMP had chosen to station me. We looked at a house in Brooks.

It was $20,000 back then. We only made about $5,800, so it wasn’t like we had a huge income. Interest rates were around 13 percent. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to buy that house, because the foundation was weak, and CMHC wouldn’t give me a mortgage. I ended up convincing my wife at the time that we should buy a single-wide mobile home. Th e reason that I was able to make that sale to her was because in Alberta, they were 14 feet wide and not 12 feet wide.

It gave you just that much square feet, another 140 square feet. [1445] We moved into that home, and that home allowed us to build a little bit of equity and save some money. I bought

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13863 a lot ten miles north of Brooks, Alberta, for $2,000 on a cul-de-sac. Th ere I built our fi rst home — our fi rst home that wasn’t a manufactured home. I know what it meant to get that start. I know that when I left the RCMP , the money I made on that house helped me to start my fi rst business. I know my home equity that I built up over the years has helped me to start two other companies but also to help my own children, who are homeowners today, who started out in condos and moved up the market to duplexes and single family to where they are today.

Th e beauty of the fi rst-time-homebuyer program, the B.C. HOME partnership program, is that it gets people into their fi rst home, whether it be a condo, whether it be a duplex, whether it be a townhouse. In many areas of the province of British Columbia, it will be a single- family home, simply because we know where the prices are regionally, across the mix. I think the interesting thing, Madame Speaker, is that just in the short period of time of this program…. I want to give you sort of a sense of where these are coming from and who is actually applying. In Fort St.

James, which is in northern British Columbia, there are three homes that would be bought by people for single family; two in Smithers; in Victoria, it will be 50; and in Kelowna, there are 26 approved. As we go through the list, it goes to all kinds of places — Cranbrook, Edgewater, Fernie, Kimberley and to places like Agassiz. Abbotsford has 21 people approved to buy their first home. Burnaby, Metro Vancouver, has 40. Coquitlam has 19. But little places, like little Surrey — well, they’ve got 62. Just Vancouver by itself is over 102.

Th ese are all people who are buying their fi rst home, and they’ve been approved. Th ey’ve been preapproved for their mortgage and their home, and they can go out and buy. It also includes places like Fort Nelson and Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls. As a matter of fact, if you go through the province of British Columbia, you actually fi nd out new names of places where people are going to buy their home, like in Baldonnel, which is in the Peace River area, or Rolla and Pouce Coupe, and places like Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlottes as well.

Lillooet, Gibsons, Half Moon Bay, Madeira Park, Chase, and the list goes on and on. Today over 500 people have been approved to go buy their fi rst home in just over a month since the program was launched. I believe this program is worthwhile in a number of perspectives. Th e fi rst one is our commitment of $703 million is actually to get 10,000 units a year for the next four years, up to 40,000 people, into their fi rst home in British Columbia — 40,000 people. Now, our research so far, as we’ve seen this come through, is that about 90 percent of the people who are buying their fi rst home are renting.

So if you could take 36,000 units that were no longer rented and put them back into the marketplace while you put people into their fi rst home, you accomplish two things. Y ou increase rental supply, because notionally, that is what happens when you vacate. Somebody else goes into rental, and it actually changes the outcomes with regards to many communities. If somebody said, “Go build a purpose-built, 110-unit project in Vancouver for rental, ” the fi rst thing they’ d have to do is get the land. Th en we’ d have to zone it. Th en we’ d have to get the permits. Th en we’ d have to build it.

In Vancouver, that’s three years to get into the ground. Th is is opening up 100 units in Vancouver for rental in the next 30 days. Now, I know it’s very clear that this is one of the areas that us and our opposition totally disagree on, and I ac- cept that. Th e member for Vancouver–Point Grey has made it clear that the NDP will cancel this program should they form government — clear. A public state- ment made, very clear: “We will just cancel that.” So that’s a line that’s diff erent than us, because we actually believe in young people getting their fi rst home.

We believe that people should have the opportunity, if it’s possible, to be successful by building equity in their fi rst home. And it’s not the fi rst time that it’s happened in British Columbia. It happened in the 1970s under W .A.C. Bennett. Actually before 1970, they had a program to assist with fi rst-time down payments. I just know what it felt like to look at the ceiling in my fi rst home, what it felt like to move into it. It was diffi cult to move into it, because my bride, my sweetheart, want- ed to be carried across the threshold, but I hadn’t built the steps yet. So I’m trying to boost her up.

She says: “I’m going in only if you carry me in. ” I’m going: “Micky, it doesn’t make any sense. We’re just going in to have a look at it. We’re going to move in, in a week or so. ” [1450] Anyway, I did eventually carry her over the threshold when I got those stairs built, and she was pretty happy about it. It’s a bit of a family laugh now — a memory of the fi rst night we spent in our fi rst home and how import- ant to us it was and, frankly, how proud we were, as a 19- and a 20-year-old, moving into our fi rst house. I want that feeling for everybody. I wanted that feel- ing for my children, and they’ve had it.

Th e stability for them has been important. But I want it for other young people. I want it for other young people who may be liv- ing in Vancouver and renting who could now go buy a one-bedroom condo and use the down payment system to help them buy that fi rst place and build their equity. Every month, as they spend their money, they’re building down principal on their mortgage payment and build- ing up equity in the marketplace. It’s important that they have that opportunity. I think it’s an important piece of a strategy which was written in 2006.

It was the fi nal piece of the strategy where we were going to fi nd a way to have a map to af- fordable home ownership for British Columbians.

British Columbia Debates13864 Monday, February 27, 2017 When I look at this here, I think this is pretty fantas- tic to know that in the next 30 days or so, probably 400 people are going to move into their fi rst home. Th e next 30 days aft er that, it looks like there will probably be an- other 300, 400, 500 into their fi rst home — and each month aft er that, as we go through the year and we start to see an uptick in applications. Th ose people deserve that opportunity. Th is is us giving back to British Columbians.

As we’ve balanced our budgets and gotten to where we have, we’re able to build programs like this, programs that can actually strengthen and change lives for young people, for their families and for the pride in their parents when they see their son or their daughter or son and daughter-in-law or daughter and son-in-law ac- tually having their opportunity to get into a home. Th at’s one piece. In this budget, we also had the op- portunity to vote to support the single largest investment in social housing, supportive housing and housing for people with mental health and addictions in the history of our province.

In addition to the 2,000 units that are already under construction, 2,600 additional units will be built across the province of British Columbia. We will also…. We’ve done this already. Some of these you know in your rid- ings, or you will be advised as they come through and subjects are taken off , because nobody knows where we are buying. We never actually just buy as B.C. Housing. We know that we have to do it through a numbered com- pany or agents simply because we don’t want someone to just raise the price because it’s government who happens to be interested in buying the property.

We bought a number of buildings across B.C. — about 60, to be exact — where we’ve renovated them, upgraded them and allowed them to be a diff erent use than what they were before. I’ll give you a couple of examples. In Prince George, there was a need for women who were fl eeing the sex trade and abuse to have a place to be stable and live. We couldn’t fi nd quite the right property as we went through this, but our two members in Prince George really worked with us to let us know what the concerns and the issues were in that community.

As we did that, the member for Prince George–Mount Robson made it clear that we really needed to fi nd a solution for this cohort of people because we were having diffi culty mixing them in some of the normal housing cohort. Lo and behold, the Astoria hotel came up for sale in downtown Prince George. We bought it, we renovated it, and we opened it up for support for women fl eeing sexual abuse and the sex trade. It’s operating today for those people. It has changed the lives of a number of those people in the fi ve or six years since we’ve owned it.

I think that’s a smart investment to make in housing that actually addresses a problem quickly, if you can fi nd that opportunity. We had a situation in Quesnel. We needed something, a place — the ability for people to come out of shelter into something. We went into the community. If you know Quesnel, there are a number of areas that have had some issues with some of their slopes, so you’ve got to stay away from there if you want to develop that situation with housing. But the Wheel Inn came up. We picked up the Wheel Inn, and we renovated it. We’ve stabilized the population in Quesnel for some years now.

But the Wheel Inn got a little older. So recently we an- nounced that we’re building additional facilities, new in Quesnel to support those vulnerable populations in that community, which is the right thing to do.

We have communities across B.C. that support the work of government, that really do support trying to be collaborative and trying to work together and not pol- iticize the issues around mental health, addictions and people that are homeless or at risk of homelessness. [1455] One of the biggest frustrations I have as minister — and I’m sure all local governments do too — is that communities will say: “Y ou’ve got to do something about the people that are homeless in this community. ” Th ey’ll tell the council, tell the community: “Y ou’ve got to do something about this. ” So government, in part- nership with municipal governments, will come along, fi nd a location by agreement, and then we’ll try and get it zoned.

I feel sorry for the guys in local government sometimes because they’re the ones that are at the front end of this piece. We can come along and say: “Here are the dollars. Y es, we’ll build a purpose-built building for $20 million with a shelter and supportive housing and transition housing in the same campus of care. We’ll do it in your commun- ity. ” We’ll have a public hearing, and hundreds of people that have told the local government and us and the MLAs, no matter which party or which side of the House they’re from, that this is needed in the community will come and say: “Don’t put it here.

Don’t put it in my backyard. How dare you think of bringing this into a community?” I’ve seen this at so many levels, and I admire the people in local government that actually do, aft er long hours of public hearing, make decisions that they think are im- portant for the most vulnerable citizens. When I became the Minister Responsible for Housing, I attended an opening of a facility on Fraser Street in Vancouver. Now, this was one of those marathon pub- lic-hearing-type projects.

I don’t know if the member for Vancouver-Fraserview remembers it, but I think it was four or fi ve nights till midnight or one o’ clock in the morning. Th e council of the day had decided to say yes — to their credit. At that time, we went ahead, and we built the project. I wasn’t the minister at the time, but I was the minister that opened this project. Th e neighbourhood was pretty upset at the project going there and all of the rest of it. When we got there, I went to the opening. It had been open about three months at this point in time.

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13865 A number of the people from the neighbourhood came to the opening, and I remember two elderly women that spoke to me at that opening. One said to me: “I’m a lit- tle embarrassed about all the fuss there was about this. I really didn’t understand. See, these men are wonder- ful people. We thought they were all criminal and what have you. We judged them based on an idea of who they were in our minds. ” “Do you know they pick up the garbage in the alley and on the streets every day?

Do you know they come over and ask me if they could cut my grass because I’m a senior?” She said the relationship now between the com- munity is actually part of the healing of these people in the community. Th e second lady said to me: “I heard about all of this, and I didn’t go to the public hearing. I knew it was pretty tough on the community. But I’ve met this young man over here. ” She pointed him out. I don’t want to use any names, but she said, “I really like him, ” and she gave him a hug. Y ou could just tell that there was a welcome.

I know when we try and do projects for people that are vulnerable, we have a tendency to be afraid. Don’t be. Y ou can work with the community. Remember, each time you decide you don’t want to support somebody getting into something aff ordable…. If you don’t support them, remember that’s somebody’s son, daughter, mother, father, even maybe a grandfather or a grandmother who you’re opposing. I have a project in B.C. where there’s a modern sub- division beside it. It hasn’t gone through public hearing. It’s just in the early phase of approval, and the community has already said they’re opposed to the project.

It’s sen- iors housing, with 15 units of townhouses for aff ordable rental for families. In the area where this project is, some people have said: “We don’t want those people living here. We don’t want their kids going to school with our kids. ” But the irony of this one is this: in the neighbourhood around where this project is, there are people on rent assistance living in those very people’s basement suites that will be in this project. Th e education for them, as we go through that, will be important.

Th ey need to understand that the rent assist- ance program, which is in place in British Columbia for 20,000 families and children and parents, is everywhere. In any community you can fi nd in British Columbia, pretty much, there’s somebody on rent assistance. Quietly in the marketplace every month, they get a cheque to off set their rent so they can have aff ordable housing for their families. [1500] Th at’s important too. It’s important to note, though, that my opposition has made it clear a number of times in estimates that they do not support the rent assistance program.

So I don’t know what they’re going to do with 20,000 households. I was in opposition as a Housing critic in the 1990s, across the House from the minister of the time, who told me straight up: “We don’t support rent assistance. We don’t support rent supplements. ” Today in British Columbia, just so everybody knows, there are 30,000 households plus, both seniors and families, who get rent assistance in their marketplace, in their homes, somewhere integrated in the marketplace of British Columbia. Nobody knows who they are.

Th ey get to have that as- sistance that helps them shape their lives and improve their outcomes without somebody having to build some- thing, cut a ribbon, do a celebration or say: “Th is how good a job we’ve done. ” We just take care of people. Now, back many years ago, I got a letter from a lady in the early days of rent assistance. I told a story about her at my annual barbecue. Of course, I didn’t use the name. Th e names were changed to protect the innocent, so to speak. She had written to me saying what a diff erence it had made to her that she could get on rent assistance.

Her son at that time was 12, so today that boy would be 23. Her letter started out: “Y ou’ve changed my life. Th is program has really made a big diff erence for my family and for its outcomes and for its future. ” At that barbecue, a lady came up to me. She said: “I’m on rent assistance. I have six children. I was moving into my car when you developed this program. I was able to go fi nd a home and get assistance for my rent. ” She’s been employed in my community for the last decade plus. Th e kids are grown up. Th eir outcomes are better. She’s healthy. She’s happy.

Whenever I see her, because she works in a place where I sometimes take my grand- children, she reminds me of just how important that pro- gram was for her to change her life. As we move from being able to own your own home to being able to have aff ordable rentals in your commun- ity, why do you make the second strategic investment on rent assistance? Why not go down the song sheet of the NDP of the ’90s, and others before that, about building, owning and operating every form of social housing in British Columbia? Th e reason you can’t is because it’s too much capital. Y ou can’t get it zoned fast enough.

Y ou can’t get it built fast enough for people to use it. So what you do is you actually help people immediately in the marketplace to change their outcomes. It’s also strategically done for an- other reason.

Let’s take the capital left over that we won’t have to put into building, let’s say, 30,000 units, which would have cost somewhere around $9 billion, and put the money into the most vulnerable, people who are homeless, at risk — youth transition housing, types of facilities that you need, better shelter space with meals and activities so you can actually connect people with supports and help them turn their lives around, whether the issue is mental health, addictions or otherwise.

British Columbia Debates13866 Monday, February 27, 2017 It’s what we did. We went out into the marketplace, and we started to purchase buildings. Th ere were 900 units purchased in one buy in Vancouver under the watch of the then member for Vancouver–False Creek — 900 units that were going to be torn down. Some of the buildings were over 100 years old. Th ey were seismically upgraded. Th ey were renovated, and people were moved between fl oors and buildings as it was done. Of 900 people, 898 went back into their new unit aft er the project was done and one couple moved out of town.

We knew every single one of them, and we made sure that they were rehoused as we did that. We’ve continued to do projects like that, because it’s the most important way to get into the market to help people that are the most vulnerable. And to be honest with you, it saves time with regards to being able to be nimble on the ground. We buy a motel. We can renovate it, and we can get it into the market very quickly. But at the same time, we’ve done some pretty neat purpose-built stuff . I come from a pretty cool community — the Langleys, we call it. When it comes to this fi le, they’re kind of spe- cial, in my mind.

Back in the day, when we fi rst started to build transi- tion housing with supports for families and meals and all of that attached to shelters, there was one project go- ing on in the Lower Mainland where there was a huge amount of opposition, a huge amount of people going to the public hearings and some very nasty conversations about the clientele and people of humanity that they were prepared to, basically, turn their back on. Not too far away was another community — Langleys.

Instead of saying no, what they did is the local Rotary set up a fundraiser to help to raise money for the Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope. Th e governments…. Langley put up land, the municipality put up $1 million, and B.C. Housing and us came in with the rest. [1505] Today it’s one of the best-operated purpose-built shel- ters — transition housing and supportive housing — in the province, supported by the community not just at the beginning but way back at the beginning to help to raise money for it too. It changed the dial — that that com- munity had some love for people that were disadvan- taged to them.

As I look at this budget, I see a signifi cant investment — $900 million in aff ordable housing; plus that, $65 mil- lion now for youth housing as well, which is now being deployed in the marketplace to add additional transition housing for youth. As we go through that, we’ve got to remember that if we go back, there’s another substantial $500 million being spent in the housing market today — $1.4 billion. Th e totality of that is amazing for any juris- diction across Canada. I know that the members opposite would like to just attack us on this issue.

I accept the fact that they’re in op- position, but I ask them to remember, when the budget comes for a vote: decide, when you’re voting, for whether families should have their fi rst-time home; decide wheth- er we should create more rental market by actually having people move into a fi rst-time home, vacating a rental that we could use for SAFER or rent assistance or just any- body wanting to move into the market; decide whether you support the billions that are invested in the tens of thousands of units to help people with mental health, ad- dictions and supports, and the additional money that’s on the table to do more and more of that.

Ask yourself, well…. I mean, I know you want to kill the HOME program. Y ou don’t support rent assistance. I understand it. Th ere are philosophical diff erences here. But think about the woman with the six kids when you decide to vote against the budget and rent assistance for families. Y ou know what? I’ve gotten to know those kids. Th at program changed their lives, and that’s important to remember. Now, we always hear the members opposite saying that the LNG idea is dead, nothing is happening in LNG, so I thought I’ d spend a couple of minutes on this.

Woodfi bre has taken a fi nal investment decision in the $1.9 billion investment in Squamish. Fortis is build- ing their phase 2 and looking at their phase 3 for lique- fi ed natural gas, which will also help to change the fuel in our ferries, to reduce fuel costs and have a cleaner ship. Th e fact of the matter is there’s actually been about $20 billion invested in B.C. as a result of pursuing LNG. Just as a result of approving LNG, AltaGas recently an- nounced its fi nal investment decision to build a propane port in Prince Rupert.

Th e activity and the drilling that’s been taking place, for people to be prepared to prove out the resource for an LNG opportunity, has also brought on the fact that we’ve learned we have benzene, methane, propane — the liquids, they call it in natural gas, which are all the by-products — which now has proven to turn out that we in the northeast part of our province have one, if not the one, of the richest reserves in the world with regards to combination in natural gas. Th ere’s more coming. Th ere’s some more innovation going on.

I think people will be surprised to see what other products come along as we pursue the natural gas opportunity. Th e fact of the matter is that there are nine environ- mental assessments completed; six are underway. Th ere’s an estimate that $20 billion in natural gas assets and de- velopment has been done in British Columbia. Th e build- ing of the plants is even exponentially bigger than that, as we move forward. Work has been done on a number of aspects of this, including working with communities, working with First Nations. I want to talk about First Nations for a minute.

I was asked to go in by the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council, as the Deputy Premier of the Premier, to be the government- to-government negotiator for the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council in British Columbia. Th e Carrier-Sekani Tribal

British Columbia DebatesMonday, February 27, 2017 13867 Council is made up of seven First Nations groups. We negotiated a pipeline benefi t agreement and some other agreements that led to agreement for pathways agreement on resource development, on forestry and on education. Th ere are two things I learned in those negotiations — fi rstly, how passionate the people were at the table, who represented the very people in those First Nations com- munities, and their love of their people and their concern for their future.

Th ey saw this as maybe the only eco- nomic opportunity that will come along where they can actually oversee the environmental control of the pipe- lines and the work but have the training and the jobs as well for the next generation and the generation to follow. I also did the direct negotiations with the Lax Kw’alaams and Metlakatla up in Prince Rupert. I’ve never seen more passionate people for their children and their grandchildren and their future than some of these folks that I’ve dealt with. [1510] Th ey know that they have huge unemployment com- pared to other portions of our society.

Th ey know they’ d like to build more housing, but they don’t have the dol- lars to do it. Th ey know the employment rates are low. Th ey know their education outcomes could come up. But more than anything else, they know that the best thing they could do for their nation would be an opportunity for those young people to go to work. So we’ve started a program with the Lax Kw’alaams and the Metlakatla and the rest of the Tsimshian nations up in northwestern British Columbia to pre-train people for opportunities like natural gas. I don’t think we should ever forget that.

I won’t, because when you have a grown man and a matriarch from a community, when they sign an agreement with you, grab on to you, hold you and cry with emotion about what they think they’re doing to im- prove the outcome for the lives of the community, you recognize — to the members — one thing. Th e resource is there for everybody. Th e opportunity has to be there for everybody. Th e opportunity to be part of the economy and to be part of what’s going on in British Columbia and for the future of their children and grandchildren should be the same as for all the rest of us and even more.

Th ey deserve better housing, better outcomes and better opportunities. We set up a tutoring program in one First Nations community a couple of years ago, as part of one of these, so the kids could get through grade 10, past grade 12 and into training — by getting direct tutors to come into the community and sit down one-on-one or one-on-two with young people to help them with their high school. It’s amazing the passion and the love that go into First Nations and their community.

We should never forget, as we work on LNG, albeit how critical we want to be of the opportunity in pursuing it, that we’re actually pursu- ing something a lot bigger than just the production of a resource in British Columbia. We’re pursuing a better future for First Nation com- munities in British Columbia, with their leadership at the table working with us, passionately believing that they should be part of the environmental oversight, that they should be part of the jobs and training. With the confi dence that….

If they’re part of the environmental oversight on a daily basis, through the construction to the fi nishing of the project, the transcending agreement we’ve signed with the Metlakatla and the Lax Kw’alaams, will change how all of these things will be done in the fu- ture, in a relationship. Th ank you for my time today. I wish I had more time because the budget has a lot more in it than that. I look forward to other members in the debate. D. Routley: Th ank you for the opportunity to speak to Budget 2017 and, fi rst, to thank the people in the many communities I represent between Duncan and Nanaimo.

Th is includes Chemainus and Ladysmith and several is- land communities like Gabriola, Th etis, Penelakut. Th ere are 14 local governments — six First Nations, two school districts, six local governments. It’s a widespread area that includes very urban portions of Nanaimo through to very rural portions of the Cowichan Valley and the mid-Island area generally. It’s a wonderful place, beautiful, and it shows great hos- pitality to everyone who visits. I’m very proud to repre- sent the area that I grew up in. I need to also ask the Speaker’s indulgence in thank- ing my family, my spouse, Leanne. I love you, Leanne.

Th ank you so much for the support. I feel really grateful and blessed by Leanne’s love and support. Then we come to Budget 2017. The member from Saanich North, being an economist, asked a question in his presentation. He asked: “Is this budget balanced?” He asked the question in a very serious way. It’s been asked by many people. How can the government consider its budget balanced when, in fact, it’s robbing billions of dollars from B.C. Hydro and ICBC in order to achieve this supposed balance?

We see the dividends from these Crown corporations being extracted not from profi t but from increased debt. [1515] B.C. Hydro — if it were profi table, as it was in the ’90s, when it was paying into the treasury about $1 billion a year — is now losing billions of dollars. Now it fi nds itself in debt, $19 billion. Th is is directly as a result of choices by the B.C. Liberal government. Th at’s what budgets are all about: they’re about choices, and they refl ect principles — the choices made by a gov- ernment and the choices made by a parent when they’re budgeting.

If the parent decided that the new car in the driveway was more important than housing and cloth- ing and food for the children, that would say something about their principles. And it says something about the principles of this government that it leaves children in

British Columbia Debates13868 Monday, February 27, 2017 care and seniors languishing without the attention, sup- port and resources that they need, while they brag to British Columbians about a surplus that they extracted from the pockets of ratepayers. Ratepayers, British Columbians, have seen huge in- creases in fees and taxes. Th is government has increased taxes to balance its budget. It increased the MSP premium. It doubled the MSP premium, the most regressive tax in the province, in order to achieve a balance.

So while they pat themselves on the back, all along they should be thanking and indeed apologizing to British Columbians for the conditions they’ve delivered in order to achieve what they consider to be a laudable goal — to load, onto the backs of struggling British Columbians, an inordinate, unfair share of the burden for this province’s operation. While billionaires and millionaires walk with huge tax breaks, regular families struggle. Th is government wants people to forget that.

Th is budget was designed not to satisfy the demands of British Columbians, not to repair damage done in previous budgets, not to make an invest- ment in the future of British Columbians, but simply to encourage people to forget the last 16 years, and people are not forgetting. Th ey’re not forgetting. Th ey won’t for- get that this government views child care as a scheme versus the economic infrastructure program that the op- position, the B.C. NDP , see child care as. Th is government is unwilling to support the people of B.C., especially those vulnerable people who they are most responsible for.

It really begs the question: who is all of this exercise for? Who is the economy of British Columbia for, if it’s not for British Columbians, if it’s not for the families, the working families of the province? And it’s not. It’s been converted by this government to deliver benefi ts to their donors. It’s a government that holds the door of the treas- ury open, while their donors take benefi t at the expense of every struggling British Columbian. Th is budget does nothing to refl ect any other principle than that.

We can see it in the government’s priorities around electrical power generation when they created a run on the rivers, a gold rush on rivers in British Columbia, through IPP speculation. Th ey entered into project agree- ments and power purchase agreements that will see B.C. Hydro purchase $55 billion of power it doesn’t need. At a time when power demand is slumping and is projected to remain low or fl at, this government is charging ahead with a $9-billion-plus dam, Site C, designed as a political wedge and not a component of economic infrastructure. Th is project by itself reveals the principles of the B.C.

Liberal government — that they are willing to commit to a project that is unneeded, that will fl ood enough class 1 agricultural land to feed one million people, that will fl ood 1,500 First Nations cultural sites, heritage sites, that will propel climate change rather than fi ght it and that is being done against the opposition of local First Nations fi ghting the project in court. [1520] Th e B.C. Liberal government needs a political wedge to drive between environmentalists, people in the labour movement and the progressives of the province.

Th at betrays a cynicism that has become all too char- acteristic of the B.C. Liberal government. A tax break for the top 2 percent, worth $1 billion, through this last term of government. Th at’s what they see from their government. What they see from their government, physically, every time they turn on the television are ads paid for by themselves. British Columbians watching the ads they paid for, bragging about the B.C. Liberal government’s achievements. Th ose ads, if the B.C. NDP form govern- ment, will be illegal. Th e ads run by the B.C. Liberal government that praise their own performance….

How can those be considered simply informative government ads in the public in- terest? Th ey’re not telling people how, when, why they should apply for a certain support or program. Th ey’re simply bragging about the government’s latest sloganistic attempt at buying votes. Th at’s all that they do, and every British Columbian who watches them knows it. Th is is what they see from the government, rather than child care, rather than full-time, family-supporting jobs in the forest industry and rather than schools that have adequate supplies and class sizes that are man- ageable for teachers.

No, they don’t see those things. Instead, they see government spending millions upon millions of dollars of their own money, of public money, to buy votes. Th is is a government that refuses to ban corporate and union donations to political parties because of the huge donations that they take from corporations. Sixty percent of their donations come from corporations, 20 percent from individuals over $250 per donation and a single- digit percentage from individuals un

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Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20170227pm-Hansard-v42n4
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20170227pm Hansard v42n4
Language	en
Format	pdf
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