Third Session, 41st Parliament

(2018) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 89

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate

(continued)

D. Barnett

Hon. M. Mark

J. Yap

Hon. B. Ralston

R. Coleman

Hon. H. Bains

I. Paton

Hon. R. Fleming

M. Bernier

M. Elmore

C. Oakes

D. Routley

17:59:15, C. Oakes, “running who were livestock out in the range” changed to “who

were running livestock out on the range”

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018

The House met at 1:31 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

L. Reid: I am delighted to welcome to the precinct today Jackie Powell. Jackie

was formerly of Moms Like Us. The new name is Connections Place Society

because it now encompasses more dads advocating as well. Placement for

challenged, in terms of mental health, adolescents — these are their

children. We have a gorgeous model in Richmond called Pathways Clubhouse.

They’re looking to create the same opportunity here in Victoria.

I’d ask the House to please make her welcome.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued debate on the budget.

Budget Debate

(continued)

D. Barnett: To carry on from this morning. That leaves the NDP in a bit of a

dilemma. Now that they have maxed out income taxes on the high-income

earners, their next target is the private sector. Here’s where the new

employers health care tax comes in.

[L. Reid in the chair.]

This is what defines the stark difference between the NDP and the B.C.

Liberals. We announced a plan to cut MSP premiums in half because that

would’ve represented a $1 billion tax cut to individuals or to companies

that paid MSP as a benefit to their employees. We had a budget that was

balanced five years in a row, and the government was now generating a

surplus. So we, on the B.C. Liberal side, wanted to deliver a tax

break.

Now the NDP wants that money back. As a matter fact, they plan on

double-dipping. The NDP is going to do this by launching the new employers

health care tax in 2019, but they are not going to end MSP premiums until

2020. So if you are currently a business that pays MSP premiums as a benefit

to your employees, surprise. You get to pay both taxes at the same

time.

That will result in a $1.8 billion windfall for government. If they

call this making life more affordable for British Columbians, it depends on

your point of view. If you are a company in British Columbia with more than

ten or 12 employees, you’re going to find the cost of doing business in this

province a lot higher.

Here’s another little gem in this budget. The regulations surrounding

hotel tax are changing. The government says it wants local governments to

pay more for social housing, so they are giving more flexibility on how

hotel tax may be used. We are not talking about turning more revenue over to

local governments. The NDP is basically saying the province wants a greater

say in how you spend hotel tax.

Most municipalities already spend that money on existing programs. Now

they are being told by the provincial government to increase their budget

for social housing but without any new resources.

[1:35 p.m.]

This is the NDP way: “Our way or the highway.” So we are looking at

higher taxes in British Columbia and an NDP government that expects the

business community to fork over as much money as they can.

Here is what Val Litwin of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce has to say:

“When I look at the dogpile of increasing corporate tax, increasing minimum

wage, loss of neutrality around the carbon tax and now — we get to add to

that — payroll tax, that’s going to be leaving businesses by 2021 footing an

almost $2 billion bill.” Litwin goes on to add: “By the time we reach 2021,

the business community is picking up 70 percent of the tab. That’s a lot.

It’s too much. The impacts are real, and I think it will stifle growth and

investment in key sectors.”

It’s bad enough that the business community is feeling the heat from

the NDP. Now it’s an all-out war on the homeowner. If you heat your home

with an oil furnace or natural gas, it is going to get a lot more expensive

each year, for the next four years, because of the carbon tax cash

grab.

Homeowners have much more to fear from this NDP government. The

Finance Minister has made it clear that she wants to intervene in the

housing market and cause house prices to drop lower than the current value.

This is a dangerous game.

The government says it wants to study the effect of all punitive real

estate tax it is bringing in. This includes the expanded foreign buyers tax,

the speculation tax and now a huge tax hike on properties worth more than $3

million.

The fact is that a house is the largest single asset for most middle

class British Columbians. People that bought their home to raise a family

are more than likely making their home a big part of their retirement plan.

So when a Finance Minister says it’s her deliberate intention to bring down

the value of your house, this is a very serious matter.

There are a lot of seniors and retired pensioners out there who may

become victims of the NDP’s experiment with housing prices. There are a lot

of worried people out there, because they don’t know what the NDP really

stands for. There are a lot of voters who are asking questions, too, because

the NDP’s first provincial budget doesn’t live up to its campaign promises

either.

Let’s take a look at what’s missing in the budget. I think there were

a lot of young families who voted for the NDP because they liked what they

heard about $10-a-day child care. We are now being told that was just a

campaign slogan. This budget is now looking ten years down the road on child

care. Middle class families with young children are not going to get

$10-a-day child care.

Low-income families who are earning less than a combined income of

$45,000 will eventually benefit. But middle class British Columbians receive

little or no benefit at all.

This is what the Finance Minister had to say last week on Voice of

B.C. : “We could not, even if we had the resources, implement a

fully universal child care system for every parent or child who needed it

today because we don’t have the spaces. We don’t have the people to be able

to provide the support for early childhood education.” I know this will come

as a disappointment to many families in my riding.

What about the $400 annual rebate for those who rent? That’s missing

in the budget too. British Columbians are discovering that NDP campaign

promises are not worth a plugged nickel. But watch out, homeowners. The NDP

has a plan to make you pay for that renters rebate.

When asked about what she plans to do with the homeowner grant, the

Finance Minister had the following to say: “It is a difficult issue because

there are seniors who bought homes when they were not worth $1 million and

who don’t have the income to be able to manage. So we need to be able to

make sure we provide that balance. I’m sure it’ll be a lively conversation.

Whenever you talk about homeowner grants in our province, it’s a lively

conversation, but I think it’s a conversation worth having.”

[1:40 p.m.]

Get ready, seniors. Get ready, pensioners. Get ready, British

Columbia. The tax-and-spend NDP are back, and they are looking for new,

creative ways to separate you from your money.

I cannot support this 2018 budget.

Hon. M. Mark: It is my pleasure and my privilege to stand in these chambers to

support Budget 2018. But first, I’d like to acknowledge that the Legislative

Assembly is on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen-speaking people,

members from the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations.

Government is here to make choices. Budget 2018 is a message to

British Columbians about how we’re on their side. I’m proud to be a part of

a government that puts people first and makes life more affordable. In fact,

I got into politics…. I ran for office because I didn’t see how my children

were getting ahead in the education system. I didn’t see the lives of my

family and friends and loved ones in my community getting ahead.

I’m glad that we made the choices that we did, and I can’t wait to

drill down on those line items that I know are making people’s quality of

life better.

Beforehand, I’d like to give a shout-out to my team, just briefly, to

acknowledge my staff and everyone around me who put some materials together

for this budget — my hard-working constituency staff back in Vancouver–Mount

Pleasant, who are opening the doors for people that are coming in asking for

help and assistance.

Help is on the way. That’s really the message and the thesis of Budget

2018. We’re paddling in a different direction. We’re changing the public

policy for the better to make people’s lives better in British

Columbia.

Budget 2018 shows that our government is making life more affordable

for people in delivering services that people count on. It tackles housing

affordability with a new tax on housing speculators and a historic

investment in housing supply. I’m thrilled that we’re investing $1 billion

to create a universal child care plan. We’re making child care more

affordable, creating more spaces and training more early childhood

educators, which I’ll speak about momentarily.

Other highlights include $200 million towards Indigenous priorities.

We’re investing $50 million in Indigenous language revitalization.

Yesterday, there were remarks made about whether or not there’s any value to

investing in Indigenous language revitalization. I can assure you, with

grandparents that attended residential school, and with a public policy led

by the federal government which was intended to “kill the Indian in the

child,” it is vitally important that we fight for Indigenous language

revitalization.

We’re also investing $30 million to enhance the agreements with young

adults program led by my colleague, the Minister for Children and Family

Development, who is supporting 800 former youth in care.

I’m very, very proud to be part of a government that’s working for

people. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, it is as members in this chamber

talk about: budgets are about our platform commitments. When I knocked on

the doors back in Mount Pleasant last year for the election, people told me

about the hardship that they were facing trying to access child care and how

unaffordable the city was becoming. People want to talk about home ownership

when many of my constituents could barely find a place to rent.

I want to give a

summary of some of the areas that we committed to in

our budget, which I can guarantee you are going to make not only a big

difference in the people that live in my constituency of Vancouver–Mount

Pleasant but the people across British Columbia.

Introducing a new affordable child care benefit that will reduce child

care costs by up to $1,250 per month. That is a huge investment for 86,000

families. My children don’t go to daycare anymore. They go to after-school

care. My oldest daughter is 14 years old, but I can tell you that for 14

years, I was struggling. I’m not talking about 16 years. But for 14 years, I

was struggling trying to get child care for my daughter.

[1:45 p.m.]

Why did I need child care? I needed child care because I wanted to go

back to school. I wanted to finish my degree and go to Simon Fraser

University. But in order to do so, I needed someone to help me look after my

daughter.

Child care is a real issue. People are in crisis. I’m so glad to be in

this chamber and speak to Budget 2018 to reinforce that help is on the

way.

Also mentioned in our budget: improving B.C.’s Fair PharmaCare program

to eliminate deductibles for families with annual net incomes lower than

$30,000, starting in January 2019. That’s going to have a huge impact on

240,000 families who are going to now receive expanded coverage.

Another item related to our three pillars around making people’s lives

more affordable: we’re reinstating the free bus pass, adding flexibility to

support other transportation needs for over 100,000 people in this province.

I can tell you that many individuals rallied outside of my constituency

office, up and down Commercial Drive and by the social assistance offices,

saying how unfair the clawback was and the decisions made by the former

government were. Again, help is on the way to make people’s lives better for

over 100,000 people.

Speaking to another pillar that we spoke to, which was about

delivering the services that people count on. The Minister of Education was

in question period earlier today talking about investing in education. I can

assure you, as the member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, who had to work with

parents and students, to stand by them, because we were so afraid that they

were going to close down my only high school, Britannia Secondary, in my

riding of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant…. Those were real fears.

Of course, the direction our government is going…. We’re paddling in a

different direction. We’re investing in education. We’ve invested in 3,700

new hires across the province. That’s going to make the quality of education

better not just for my daughters, who are both in public education, but for

thousands of children across this province.

Dedicating $18 million to services that provide outreach in

counselling support for women and children affected by violence. Madame

Speaker, I know this is a matter that is close to your heart and many of our

hearts here in this Legislature. We know that there are residual effects for

children who witness violence, and there aren’t a lot of supports in our

communities for women that are fleeing violence. So I’m glad to see that

there is an investment of $18 million to support women to get not only the

outreach support and the front-end needs but also the counselling support

for women and their children.

Another service that we’re improving is access to justice, increasing

funding for legal aid and family law services and the hiring of more

sheriffs and court staff to reduce court delays. These are major issues for

court services that are overburdened. There are huge wait-lists. It has a

big impact on our criminal justice system. I’m so glad to see that our

government has invested in improving the access to justice.

Building a strong, sustainable economy. I know, when we’re in these

chambers, there’s a lot of mention, through some of the fear messaging that

comes from the opposite side of these chambers, about how we’re not

interested in jobs. That is certainly not true.

We’re investing in sectors like the B.C. agrifood sector, supporting

and enhancing the Buy B.C., Grow B.C., Feed B.C. initiative. I have a role

to play, as Advanced Education Minister, to help make sure that we have the

farm team — pardon the pun — to make sure we’ve got the students trained up

to have those opportunities in research to advance innovation to make sure

that we can build a sustainable economy and create jobs, all through

innovation.

Increasing grants administered through the B.C. Arts Council and

Creative B.C. will support…

Interjection.

Hon. M. Mark: Yes. Thank you very much.

…all the advocates for the arts. I know how important the artistic

community is in my riding. I will speak to post-secondary education shortly,

but Emily Carr, the school for design, is in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant. It is

one of our cherished institutes in British Columbia. They do important work,

again through innovation, designing clothes through use of our environment

to reduce our carbon footprint.

[1:50 p.m.]

I had learned, visiting Kwantlen Polytechnic University, that one of

the biggest polluters is the dye from our clothing. If we can advance

technology and reduce our impact on our ecosystem, we are making changes for

our generation.

I notice that there are some children in our chambers today. Thank you

for being here. It is all about making the world a better place for our

children.

Just a bit of a

summary. I could spend all day. I know I don’t have

all day to speak to Budget 2018. Again, I’m a proud member for

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, and I know that the investment that we’ve made is

going to have a big impact on families that are trying to get child care and

people that are trying to get access to MSP that we’re going to be reducing.

If not, we’re getting to eliminating them in January, 2020. We’re bringing

down the cost of prescription drugs, launching a comprehensive housing plan,

making child care more affordable and then, of course, increasing supports

for youth in care.

People that visit my office of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant sometimes come

to us with hardships. Sometimes they come in and they give us a high five

and say: “Thanks for making that happen.” I can tell you my constituents are

very happy with our budget. They know that they’ve a government working for

them. They know that they’ve got a government committed to investing in

people.

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant is a very, very vibrant community. It is home

to thousands of small business owners. We know that our cuts to MSP and the

cuts to PST on Hydro is going to have a big impact on their bottom line. We

know affordability is an issue. For those of you that have visited

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant and have walked Commercial Drive, many of our small

businesses have been forced to close, because they didn’t have someone

working for them to address the affordability issues.

Child care. I know that there is discussion. I’m hearing a little bit

of remarks from the members opposite. Investing in child care is an economic

investment. We know that by investing in parents and helping them reduce

those cost burdens to return to work that they can contribute to the

economy. But it’s not just about having affordable child care. It’s about

having quality child care. It’s making sure that we have licensed child care

facilities. I know that when I leave my daughters…. When I left them,

especially when they were younger…. I want to know that I’m leaving them in

good, safe hands and that when I return from work or school that they are

going to be there. It is essential that we have the quality side — and

accessible.

I mentioned earlier that I got into politics because things weren’t

looking too bright in my world. I had to scramble for child care and had a

whole kind of patchwork of services to help me go to work, and that added a

lot of stress. We know that families, through our investment in child care,

are going to have a better quality of life because of the decisions that

we’ve made on this side of the House.

Education. I had mentioned earlier, investing in 3,700 new teachers.

That means that I don’t have to rally to try to save Britannia Secondary

School from closing, because that had a major impact on students, families

and teachers in my community of Vancouver–Mount Pleasant. I’d mentioned

earlier about making prescription drugs more affordable.

What I haven’t gotten to, though…. I’m so proud to be speaking to

investing in tech and innovation. Vancouver–Mount Pleasant is home to

thousands of start-ups, people that are innovating and creating. We’ve got

now, as an announcement from my colleague the Minister of Jobs, our new

innovation commissioner.

We’re leaning in to invest in the digital tech community.

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant is home to the Centre for Digital Media and the

Creative Coworkers. There are so many entrepreneurs who are investing in

science, tech, engineering, math, design, arts and entrepreneurship. I’m

glad to be a part of a government that is investing in that

sector.

Housing. I spoke a little bit about housing. It’s the number one issue

not only — I wouldn’t say — just for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant but, I would

say, on the minds of all British Columbians. People are facing a crisis.

They’re trying to find a place to live. They’re trying to go to work at

sometimes, for some people, because of the affordability issues, two or

three jobs. They’re scrambling to put that patchwork of services together

for child care.

[1:55 p.m.]

I’m so glad, as I mentioned earlier, that under Budget 2018, help is

on the way. We’re investing historic amounts of money to address the housing

issues in British Columbia and the child care issues. These are going to

have a big impact on people in my community, people that access things like

the SAFER program. We’re really reaching out to seniors because we know that

they’ve made a huge investment in British Columbia, and we should be on

their side.

We know that renovating social housing building units is essential,

because some people, sadly, have been living in…. I don’t want to say

“filth,” but when people contact my office and say that they’re living with

mould and infestations and poor air quality, that isn’t acceptable, and we

as a government need to be leaning in to invest in people’s quality of

life.

I mentioned the bus pass earlier. Investing in the bus pass means that

we’re investing in people and their mobility so that they can be active

participants and members of the community. It helps them get to their

medical appointments. It helps them volunteer in community. So the bus pass

is going to have a big impact on Vancouver–Mount Pleasant

constituents.

I mentioned the B.C. Arts Council. For those of you that get the

chance in November, visit Vancouver–Mount Pleasant and hit up the Eastside

Culture Crawl. There’s a lot going on in Mount Pleasant. People open up

their doors to show their glass work, their pottery work, their jewellery

work, their paintings, you name it. Vancouver–Mount Pleasant has it all when

it comes to the arts. The artists in my riding and throughout British

Columbia are definitely going to benefit from the increase in investment to

the B.C. Arts Council.

Mental health and addictions is a major issue for Vancouver–Mount

Pleasant. We know, however, that the opioid crisis is not isolated to one

community; it’s a provincial issue. It has gone across the nation. It is a

crisis. I know there has been a lot of loss to members of my community who

have died from the opioid crisis, so I’m glad that we have a minister who is

dedicated to go to work every day to work with partners like the First

Nations Health Authority to address the opioid crisis.

We know that affordability has been a major issue. I spoke a bit

earlier about how we’re eliminating MSP premiums and how we’re increasing

things like the minimum wage to $12.65 by June 1. That’s going to have a big

impact on people, as I mentioned, that might be working those two or three

jobs — to address the affordability crisis in urban centres or ridings like

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant.

Moving on, I want to reserve some time to speak to my portfolio. I am

proud to be a member of cabinet. I’m proud to have the dynamic portfolio of

post-secondary education, skills and training. I had a chance in the early

days of my tenure to get out to visit all 25 public post-secondary

institutions in the province.

I just want to list them off because I want to show the magnitude of

who’s out there working in the post-secondary sector: BCIT, Camosun College,

Capilano University, College of New Caledonia, College of the Rockies,

Douglas College, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Justice Institute

of B.C., Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Langara College, Nicola Valley

Institute of Technology, North Island College, Northern Lights College,

Northwest Community College, Okanagan College, Royal Roads University, Simon

Fraser University, Thompson Rivers University, University of British

Columbia, University of Northern British Columbia, University of the Fraser

Valley, University of Victoria, Vancouver Community College and Vancouver

Island University.

These are the institutions that are training up the leaders of

tomorrow. They are the farm team for the people that are going to go out

into the workforce and create those businesses and those innovative jobs,

and they’re going to solve some of the global issues that we are faced with

and some of the health issues that we’re faced with. I’m so proud to be a

part of a ministry that is so invested in innovation.

I can tell you, however, after visiting all 25 of those institutions,

that students told me about not only the pressure of getting into school and

the pressure — for those of you at home that remember what it was like to

pull those all-nighters and write those 20-page essays.

[2:00 p.m.]

For me, back in the day, the Internet wasn’t so accessible. It doesn’t

mean…. We don’t have to say how old I am. But anyhow, the point being that

students have told me, in addition to the stressors of having academic

success…. Their success in their institutions is going to help them reach

their dreams. I studied political science. It wasn’t my dream to become a

politician, but look at me now. You never know where you’re going to wind

up. You never know how your education is going to pay off.

Students told me that in addition to meeting deadlines, all-nighters

and taking breaks to check out a little bit of Netflix, housing and paying

for rent is a major stressor on their lives. Affordability, student debt. We

have one of the highest rates of student debt for students across the

country.

I’m so glad that in the early days, seven months ago when we formed

government, one of the first moves, the first decision, which I made with

decisive action, was to reduce the student debt by 2.5 percent. That had a

huge impact on students’ bottom line as they get out of college and the

institutes and universities. That had an impact on 200,000 students in the

province.

Student debt was a theme, but the other themes were mental health,

sexual violence and misconduct. Students really wanted to emphasize how

important it was for them to be able to go to school feeling safe on campus

and how important it was for them to feel that their quality of life was

solid.

Speaking to Budget 2018, I’d mentioned earlier about how our canoe, so

to speak, is paddling in a different direction. Our ministry, our government

are leaning in and investing in students. Budget 2018 shows a boost of $116

million in the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. It

includes a record-level investment in housing — $450 million for on-campus

housing. Our government is making sure we give people the opportunity to

grow and succeed.

I know I mentioned earlier in my remarks that government is about

making choices. The second massive decision that I made as a cabinet

minister was to eliminate the cruel fees that were put into place for adult

those fees, my in-box and the in-box of my ministry were filled with

thank-you notes. Thank you, thank you, thank you — for eliminating those

cruel and unfair fees that stood in the way of students going back to school

to upgrade and access education.

As I said, I’m so proud to be in these chambers speaking to Budget

2018 and to emphasize that help is on the way.

In the early days…. It’s been seven months, but at the very beginning

of September, I stood with the Premier and the Minister for Children and

Family Development up at Vancouver Island University to say that we are

going to make a tuition waiver program for former youth in care. Not only

was that an initial decision that we made, but this budget, Budget 2018,

added an extra investment to make sure that help was on the way for former

youth in care, young adults, through the agreements with young adults

program.

We’ll be adding more information technology, computer science and

engineering seats as part of our 2,900 tech spaces. Back in July, our

government announced 2,900 seats across the ecosystem to deliver, for

example, at UNBC the first civil and enviro-engineering program and the

first software engineering degree program at Thompson Rivers

University.

This is groundbreaking. This is historic for communities that said:

“We don’t want our students to have to leave, to do two years of their

diploma and then have to leave the community, go down south to UBC or SFU or

whatever other institution to complete their degree.” Help is on the way. We

were able to deliver and make sure that those degrees are now available in

their own backyard.

[2:05 p.m.]

There was mention from members opposite that we don’t seem to care

about the north or the Interior communities, and that’s just simply not

true. I have family members in Haida Gwaii. I have family members in the

Nass Valley.

My family members from the Nass Valley have to travel to UNBC, which

has an amazing medical program, to take their medical training, which is

great. It’s closer than having to go all the way to the Lower Mainland to

access that education.

I’m so pleased with our government’s announcement of the 2,900 seats.

There is more to come.

We’ve invested $30 million over three years to improve Indigenous

skills training. Part of my mandate is to deliver on helping people with

their apprenticeship training. That’s right through to completion. We are

working with communities. We’re working with the Industry Training

Authority. First Nations communities made it loud and clear when we met with

them at the First Nations Leaders Gathering that they want people to have

access to skills and training so that they can have those jobs in their

backyard.

There’s so much that I can say. I got wind that I don’t have much time

to go. But I do want to emphasize that we’ve invested in new trades

facilities. The importance of that is you can’t expect students to work in

the 21st century, for those 21st-century jobs, unless they have the right

equipment, unless they’re working in the domain of the 21st

century.

We know that technology moves fast. We know that places like the car

mechanic sector have changed. Think about those cars that you have nowadays.

You can talk to them. Some of them, I’m not sure…. You can talk to Siri.

You’ve got Bluetooth. Some of them park by themselves. There’s all sorts of

advanced technology going on within the car industry. We need to make sure

that we’ve got the right training facilities to meet that demand.

I talked about a record investment in student housing. I just want to

underscore that it’s a part of our ten-year plan. I know there’s a bit of

criticism, that we’ve got plans. There’s a saying in martial arts: fail to

plan, plan to fail. We need a plan, a long-term plan that’s going to address

any affordability issues. Bricks and mortar, not just renovating. We’re

going to renovate, but we need to build housing. Why? Our economy is

growing. It’s building. People are coming here. They are going to continue

coming here. So we need to plan for the future.

When I talk about student housing, what is most thrilling to me is

that it’s going to be transformational on campus for students and campus

life. When people, students, choose to go to any of those post-secondary

institutions in British Columbia, they want to be a part of student life. If

they can work, play, learn all in a one-stop shop, that’s going to make

their quality of life better.

Reconciliation. All members of cabinet are required to make sure that

our policies, our programs, our investment — everything that we do — is in

line with Truth and Reconciliation’s call to action and UNDRIP, the United

Nation declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. There are so many

points, but I’m just going to give some highlights.

We made a $50 million historic investment in language revitalization.

As mentioned earlier, I’m Nisga’a and Gitxsan. My grandparents went to

residential school. I don’t speak the language. There’s a chance that if we

invest, we’re going to salvage what we have left. Some communities have less

than ten elders that speak their traditional mother tongue, so it’s vital

that we hold on to the language.

As mentioned, the residential school policy was about killing the

Indian in the child. Right now I can assure you, as a proud Indigenous woman

standing in these chambers, we are the fastest-growing population, the

Indigenous community, across Canada. So I think it’s important that we make

those significant investments.

As the Minister for Advanced Education, I’m proud to say that we

invested in the first Indigenous law program, which is going to be held at

UVic, the first of its kind in the world. It’s going to invest in looking

not only just at the common law but also how Indigenous law and common law

can be interpreted side by side. Indigenous communities lived without

Internet and books and a library. We relied on our oral traditions. We were

stewards of the land since time immemorial. So it’s important that we weave

those Indigenous laws into the 21st century.

[2:10 p.m.]

I won’t say much more. Well, I guess I want to add one more thing —

friendship centres. I’m sorry. I have to say it. Everyone has got those

shining lights, the beacons of light in their community. The Vancouver

Aboriginal Friendship Centre is a beacon of light. They open the doors to

all sorts of programs — skills and training, youth recreation, advocacy.

They host elders luncheons. Bottom line: we’re investing, in this Budget

2018, in the aboriginal friendship centres.

I won’t say too much. But obviously, there’s a lot to say about

investing in British Columbians and how help is on the way.

R. Coleman: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

R. Coleman: In the chamber today, coming through, are three classes from the

Langley Christian Elementary School in my riding. The teacher is Tim

VanHemert. One group will be here at around two, right around now or shortly

before now. One will follow after, and another after. The teacher, with all

groups, is Tim VanHemert.

Would the House please make them welcome.

Debate Continued

J. Yap: It’s, as always, a privilege to rise in the House and to take my place

in the debate on behalf of my constituents of Richmond-Steveston. As you

know and as I’ve mentioned many times in this House, I never get tired of

saying, really, that Richmond-Steveston is just a wonderful, vibrant area

that I have the privilege of representing, with community organizations,

sites where films are filmed, tourist sites and small businesses. A great

community — Richmond-Steveston.

There’s a lot always happening. Much of that is thanks to the great

community leaders and volunteers who contribute so much to our community.

They’re constantly working toward creating a community that meets the needs

of everyone within it. That’s why it’s a shame that this government is

willing to ignore the needs of the constituents of my riding.

One example is their inaction on the worst bottleneck in British

Columbia, in terms of traffic. The Massey Tunnel replacement project seems

to have been scrapped by this government, after having been thoroughly

consulted on, with shovels literally ready to hit the ground last year.

Environmental and engineering assessments were performed, and the results

were conclusive.

Our previous government was prepared to get to yes in order to move

people and goods more efficiently through the region. Instead, residents in

my constituency as well as others throughout the Lower Mainland will

continue to wait for hours and hours in traffic, to and from work, as well

as away from their families. Emergency responders will continue to report

difficulty in getting to crash sites and in transporting the injured to

hospital. Commercial truck drivers will continue to be stalled in their

efforts to get goods to market, which has negative impacts, obviously, on

our economy. In fact, over 85,000 commuters are stuck in traffic gridlock

each day because of the Massey Tunnel.

This is completely unacceptable. But this budget makes no mention of

improving the situation. Instead, the government’s priority is the Pattullo

Bridge, which is indeed a worthy project as well. The government says it

will become unsafe to drive on the Pattullo Bridge in five years’ time. The

Massey Tunnel, as we know, is unsafe now, so it’s frustrating to see there

is no plan or timeline in place to address this worst traffic bottleneck in

British Columbia.

Furthermore, while the Pattullo Bridge is in need of being revamped or

replaced, there’s no reason for the government’s negotiation tactic to start

by giving away the house. One hundred percent of the $1.377 billion cost of

this Pattullo Bridge is being taken on by the provincial government with no

federal infrastructure support. So the good residents in places like

Richmond, Revelstoke and Rossland are left to wonder: “Where is the money

for infrastructure in our communities?”

Unfortunately, this government seems to have blown its budget on this

bridge. But surprisingly, they may be sticking to at least one promise found

on the internal campaign document that proved that they never intended to

replace the Massey Tunnel. Indeed, the Pattullo Bridge is the first step in

their stated goal that they would ditch the Massey Tunnel replacement for

the Mayors Council vision.

[2:15 p.m.]

Meanwhile, another way this government is ignoring the constituents of

Richmond is in the important area of health care. The Richmond Hospital

acute care tower, as you know, had been announced by the previous

government. It received no mention in the budget and is now pushed further

down the line to a yet-to-be-determined date.

The men and women who work at Richmond Hospital do a tremendous job,

but the facility is aging, and its seismic safety issues need to be

addressed. The equipment that those medical professionals will work with is

in need of updating, and patients could enjoy a more comfortable setting

with the right improvements.

Now there’s a major effort in our community to get a firm funding

commitment from the province for a new tower. More than 1,800 people from 47

Richmond businesses got behind a Richmond Chamber of Commerce appeal to the

provincial government to provide this capital. At last check, a petition

started by three Richmond city councillors on this issue has garnered more

than 2,000 signatures.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also acknowledge the incredible amount of

work that has been done by the Richmond Hospital Foundation — which I know

that you also appreciate, Madame Speaker — not only to raise awareness of

this issue but to raise funds to support the new tower, among the many other

hospital initiatives that it supports.

We know that a sizeable chunk of the money already committed for the

tower is contingent on a firm funding commitment by the province, as well as

a 2020 construction start date. But this budget certainly puts a question

mark around the project, given that Richmond Hospital is not mentioned. In

fact, the word “Richmond” does not even show up in this government’s

budget.

I should note that it’s not only Richmond that’s suffering from this

government’s inaction on vital infrastructure, as well as its poor

negotiating skills. This budget outlines no new capital funding projects for

the next three years for hospitals or health facilities in this

province.

There’s no relief coming for those needing new light rail transit in

Surrey’s growing communities. Chilliwack residents will not see the widening

of Highway 1 any time soon either. The Broadway line in Vancouver also isn’t

in this budget. It’s clear that this budget is an abandonment of the

province’s critical infrastructure needs.

Another unsurprising revelation with this second Green-NDP budget is

the prominence of broken promises. We know the junior partners, the Green

caucus, has called campaign platforms “irrelevant” — that was the word that

was used — which shows where the priorities of the Green Party lie. But the

people expect us to live up to our word.

We gave the new government the benefit of the doubt during their

September update. They said: “Wait and see what we have in store for

February.” Here we are. With February here and the first full NDP budget now

presented, we see the continued trend of broken promises.

Just to remind everyone, the NDP promised $10-a-day daycare. Well, now

that’s just a slogan. The NDP promised more than 100,000 affordable housing

units. They are scraping by just to get a quarter of that. The NDP promised

a $400 renters rebate, which is nowhere to be seen. The NDP promised the

elimination of student loans. Well, not quite yet. The NDP promised

ride-sharing, another stalled-out endeavour. The NDP promised the creation

of transportation infrastructure, yet the government has blown their

spending on a single bridge, with no federal funding.

The government may finally be starting to realize that governing is a

lot harder than yelling out promises from the other side. They may even

begin to see that they’re going to need some substantial growth to maintain

their tax-and-spend budget plans. However, that is yet to be seen, because

their idea of growth is a bloated government, based solely on taxation — in

fact, with this budget, $5.5 billion worth of taxation, taxes that attack

the very economic growth needed to sustain our economy.

[2:20 p.m.]

Here’s some analysis by B.C. Chamber of Commerce president Val Litwin.

Mr. Litwin says: “This budget looks like it’s being balanced on the backs of

business through accumulating tax increases. This new tax will have a

negative affect on growth and investment.” Of course, Mr. Litwin is

referring to the new payroll tax that will be imposed, which will negatively

impact employers, workers and growth.

This is basic economics. The incentive to hire or give raises to

workers decreases with the added payroll tax on businesses. This will

especially affect small and medium-sized businesses, who are the drivers of

our provincial economy and who, I should note, will also fall victim to NDP

double-dipping, as we’ve heard in this House. We all know that the MSP

premiums are not being phased out before the new payroll tax comes in. The

new payroll tax will come into effect starting January 1, 2019, while the

MSP premiums won’t be eliminated until 2020. That means double taxation for

those businesses in 2019. We don’t hear the NDP acknowledging that fact at

all. They will, however, enjoy the tax windfall.

Here’s another thing that they’re not acknowledging. The Finance

Minister has been out there saying that only large businesses will pay this

payroll tax, that this tax is built to protect small business. Not so, says

Kris Sims, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. She notes

that the payroll cut-off point is actually quite deceiving. She says: “It’s

easy to get over that $500,000 threshold. Really, all they’re exempting is

microbusinesses. They are still catching small businesses here.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business also agrees.

Vice-president Richard Truscott says: “A payroll of $500,000 seems like a

lot, but that’s probably only eight to ten people.”

Meanwhile, this is what the Vancouver Board of Trade had to say about

the situation B.C. businesses now find themselves in: “We also note with

concern that the new small business payroll tax comes on top of a previously

announced minimum wage increase of 34 percent over four years, an increase

in the general corporate tax rate of 9.1 percent, a 14 percent increase to

the personal income tax rate of most skilled professionals and a previously

scheduled increase in the B.C. carbon tax of 16 percent, moving up a further

$5 to $35 per tonne of GHGs emitted.”

That’s a lot to take on. We’re talking about a lot of family-owned

businesses here. Many of them are entrepreneurs who work seven days a week,

who have sacrificed so much over the years to get where they are today.

Instead of celebrating that success and working with those business owners

to channel that momentum, to produce even more success and more benefits for

our economy, this government does everything in its power to work against

them, to punish them and perhaps, in turn, their employees or consumers.

While the government may think its taxation scheme will create more growth,

it’s worth noting that their rate of spending is at twice the rate of

revenue being brought in.

As they continue to claim to make life more affordable, the

inconvenient fact that contradicts the slogan is the $1 billion increase to

the income tax revenue each year. Well, guess who is paying for

that.

Along with this government’s tax increases, this budget is

anticipating stagnant and declining revenues in many of our vital resource

sectors. The stubbornness of the Premier also put our wine and tourism

business industries at risk through his misguided pipeline war with Alberta,

which thankfully has come to an end for now. Small, family-owned wineries as

well as grape growers had their livelihoods threatened.

In addition, this government has created so much uncertainty around

various projects in the province, from the Massey Tunnel to Kinder Morgan to

Site C. It’s nothing but redundant reviews, reviews after reviews. The good

member for West Vancouver–Capilano had estimated about 30 reviews, I believe

— delays and ditherings while jobs hang in the balance in our province. It

seems as though this government will only agree to capital projects if the

taxpayers are the ones fully paying for it.

[2:25 p.m.]

This has always been the fear of British Columbians. The residents of

our province voted for B.C. Liberals to remain in government for 16 years,

and again delivered us the most seats in this Legislature in the last

election. They did this not only due to a fiscal record and the strong

economic environment that was delivered, though it is the main reason, but

also, they feared — wait for it — an NDP government coming into power with

looming intentions to spend but no plan to spur our industries.

The 1990s are not that far from memory for British Columbians. We have

witnessed the tragedy of the 1990s, and this budget is paving the way for an

imitation. This budget is nothing but spending and tax, spending and tax. I

have to say I’m already hearing a lot of negative feedback from my

constituents and others who are going to suffer financial setbacks thanks to

this government.

Case in point, on the housing front. I recently met a couple that owns

a condo in Steveston. They reside here a total of six months a year and then

in the U.K. for the other six months. They are usually here two months at a

time and then in the U.K. for two months, so it’s very difficult to rent out

the condo.

Their children, who are adult professionals, live in London. They have

been coming here for ten years or so each time on a visitor visa. Their

condo is assessed at $750,000. They will be subject to this new 2 percent

speculation tax, which will cost them $15,000 per year.

These folks love Steveston, and I can understand why they love

Steveston. They want to continue to reside here for half of the year, of

each year. They have a car. They insure it through ICBC. They contribute to

our economy. They do not want to sell. They would argue — and I would agree

with them — they’re being unfairly penalized by this government.

Why are we discouraging well-intentioned people in their retirement

years from enjoying their time here? They’ve been coming here for a decade.

They’ve made a sizeable investment. They eat at our restaurants. They buy

from our local merchants. They’ve made friends and acquaintances. They’re

part of the community. Steveston is their second home.

They are not speculators. So why are we sticking it to them with this

huge tax bill and discouraging them from spending time here and spending

some of their money here, maybe even forcing them to sell their property

when they don’t want to, after they’ve contributed to our province in a

number of ways? To me, it doesn’t make sense.

I suspect we’re going to hear — and we are hearing — from many more

people with stories like this. The other odd thing about this tax is that it

won’t help anyone in B.C. buy a home. It doesn’t help with

affordability.

Speaking about the many Albertans who buy homes in B.C., especially in

the Okanagan area, Anne McMullin, the president of Urban Development

Institute, said: “I don’t think curbing the sale of vacation homes to people

in Alberta addresses the affordability issue in the Lower

Mainland.”

In the meantime, the Business Council of British Columbia noted that

our province’s housing sector, and the construction activity and retail

spending that go with it, has been a very significant factor driving our

recent strong economic growth. “Since the budget is predicting a significant

decline in housing starts in the years ahead, the council feels we need to

encourage growth in other sectors of the provincial economy.”

Greg D’Avignon, the B.C. Business Council president and CEO, had this

to say: “We also believe the province should be doing more to speed up and

reduce the cost of new residential development. Progress on affordability

requires strong action on housing supply, not just additional government

interventions to lessen housing demand.”

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Andrey Pavlov, who specializes in real estate finance at Simon Fraser

University, told the crowd at a recent Urban Development Institute

post-budget event that “the NDP budget, together with the mini-budget last

year, increases taxes or costs on just about everyone, including the locals.

So even if real estate prices fall, as they likely will, this will not

improve affordability, since everyone is poorer.”

[2:30 p.m.]

Here we have what some people are calling a real dog pile of taxes,

courtesy of the NDP, that will punish people with vacation homes; damage the

tourism industry, as we’ve heard, and further jeopardize our relationship

with Alberta; fail to resolve the housing affordability issue; and

potentially cause small and medium-sized businesses to lay off staff or

increase prices for consumers. Indeed, everyone will be hurt by this suite

of taxes being brought forward by the NDP, in one way or another.

For a government that preached and continues to preach affordability

at every turn, it doesn’t add up. They are dismantling the competitive tax

regime that helped business and our economy thrive, and the tax pressure

they’re putting on businesses will no doubt trickle down in some ways to

workers and to consumers. I believe that it was the Vancouver Board of Trade

again that astutely reminded us that 60 percent of B.C. residents are

employed by small and medium-sized businesses.

I guess the NDP hasn’t thought about any of these implications, just

like they haven’t thought about a strategy for increasing revenues and

growing our economy. Instead, the focus is on taxing people to the hilt.

That’s their only plan. That’s all they could come up with. They promised

the world to British Columbians, and now, because the NDP doesn’t have the

foresight or the creativity to bring in money any other way but through

taxation, British Columbians will pay for it one way or another.

It’s the same old NDP. They can argue all they want that the 1990s

were a long time ago and we should stop bringing it up, but it’s up to them

to prove they’re going to do things differently. So far, all signs point to

a repeat of that troubling time for B.C.’s economy.

Hon. B. Ralston: It is, indeed, a pleasure to rise in the House to address the budget.

This is our government’s first full budget, and it puts people at the centre

with the focus on making life more affordable for everyone in British

Columbia.

I was fortunate enough to be born here in British Columbia, and I’ve

lived in British Columbia, aside from a few years in other countries for

study, for most of my life. As I’ve worked and raised my family, I realize

how very proud I am of British Columbia and proud to call British Columbia

my home.

Unfortunately, many other British Columbians are struggling to call

this place home simply because they can’t afford to live here. People have

been frustrated for many years. I’ve listened to their stories, particularly

in my duties as an MLA in Surrey-Whalley, in the north of Surrey. I hear

from families who rely on two incomes, dual incomes, to pay the rent or the

mortgage and hope to have some money left over for groceries.

For some parents, the struggle to find safe and affordable daycare is

a real challenge. It sometimes feels like the only way it could be done is

equivalent to winning the lottery. For those who can’t find child care, it’s

cheaper sometimes just to stay at home, when people wish to work. But then,

in that case, you risk losing your skills, being out of the job market, and

you find it increasingly hard to get back in when the opportunity

arises.

Young people on their chosen career paths are often forced to live in

their parents’ houses because they simply can’t scrape together enough money

to buy a home, or they couch-surf or live in intolerable

conditions.

My family and I live in Surrey, with a population of over half a

million in the 2016 census. It’s expected to surpass the population of

Vancouver between 2020 and 2030. I think it’ll be closer to 2020, when it

does that, than 2030.

Many of Surrey’s citizens are newcomers to our country. They are

moving here, many of those people, for a better life. For many, this journey

has been challenging. They are struggling with learning a new language,

getting access to services they need and finding a job somewhat similar to

what they were doing, and with the required qualifications. Newcomers have

also struggled with how much it costs to live here, particularly in the last

decade.

I think everyone recognizes, in the labour force needs, the challenges

of a growing British Columbia. We need to better serve people coming here

for a new life and joining our workforce. We’ve heard these stories for far

too long, and now is the time to make a change, and for the

better.

[2:35 p.m.]

This budget, Budget 2018, will work for all British Columbians,

meeting the government’s goals to (1) make life more affordable; (2) provide

people with the quality services they rely on; and (3) build a strong,

sustainable economy that supports job growth all over British

Columbia.

While British Columbia’s economic outlook is positive, one would not

know that, hearing of the doom and gloom on the other side. They seem to not

want to advocate for British Columbia. They seem to have lost hope in

British Columbia, mistaking, perhaps, their political fortunes for the

bright prospects of British Columbia overall.

We need to take steps to make sure our economy stays strong and keeps

growing. This budget balances people’s needs with the fiscal prudence that

makes B.C. an economic leader in Canada. It puts people first because people

are our greatest resource. It takes bold action by making smart investments

to keep the economy strong because a strong economy is one where everyone is

doing better, not just the top 2 percent but everyone.

To make sure British Columbia remains an economic leader, we’re taking

action on two of the most critical economic issues in our province: child

care and housing. For far too long, B.C.’s housing crisis was ignored. The

other side had 16 years of neglect, made a few desultory and half-hearted

efforts to deal with the housing crisis but ultimately did

nothing.

Through Budget 2018, we’re tackling speculation, curbing demand,

increasing housing supply and improving security for renters. We’re

introducing a new tax to help deter speculators that use the housing market,

our housing market, as a stock market. We are increasing and expanding the

foreign buyers tax so that foreign buyers pay for the quality of life they

enjoy in our province and contribute their fair share to the services they

use.

We’re supporting renters by building more market rental housing and

boosting rental assistance programs for low-income people and seniors. And

we’re making the biggest investment in housing in British Columbia history:

$6.6 billion over ten years to build and maintain affordable

housing.

Let me talk a little bit about child care. A few years ago, David

Dodge, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, gave a lecture about the

importance of early childhood education and child care generally, not so

much as a social justice issue — although that is very important, to help

every child realize their potential — but as an economic investment and

advantage.

In a population where the demography is such that the upcoming

generation is much smaller than the retiring boomer generation, it is very

important in economic terms that every child realize their full potential in

order that they can enter into the labour market and contribute.

Early childhood education, quality child care, enables children to

have their learning disabilities identified, realize their potential and

then take full advantage of the public education system in order to become

trained, fully responsible, autonomous adults who can help create a better

life for everyone here in British Columbia. An investment in child care is

an important economic investment and has real value. Indeed, businesses and

business associations throughout the province recognize that. The Surrey

Board of Trade has advocated for an expansion of the child care program and

has issued some comments supporting the recent initiative in the

budget.

Years ago, when I was making tours around the province with the

Finance Committee pre-budget, representatives of the board of trade in

Prince George said in their submission to the committee that an affordable

child care program was essential for business in Prince George in order to

have access to workers — typically women, but not always — who, using child

care, would be able to enter the labour force and help work in businesses in

Prince George. They were strong advocates for that program.

I think it’s clear that business recognizes the value of a child care

program, and it is an important economic investment, contrary to what we’ve

heard on the other side of the House in the way of some recent attacks on

this investment.

[2:40 p.m.]

We are investing over $1 billion in child care over three years to

lower costs to parents — and that’s important — to increase the number of

child care spaces and to ensure that those spaces are safe. This is the

biggest single investment in child care in B.C. history, marking the

beginning, and only the beginning — there’s more to do; that’s acknowledged

— of a made-in-B.C. universal child care plan.

It includes the following attributes: a new, affordable child care

benefit that will offer up to 86,000 families across British Columbia up to

$1,250 per month in child care cost relief by 2020; a new child care fee

reduction program that will benefit up to 50,000 families in licensed care,

with fee reductions of up to $350 a month; and the creation of more than

22,000 new licensed child care spaces throughout the province.

When we spend money on quality child care, children will be in a safe

and nurturing environment where they’re already starting to learn and to

grow. Parents can re-enter the workforce, pay their bills and plan for the

future, all while contributing to the economy.

Continued investment in young children means more training for early

childhood educators. We’re spending $16 million in federal funding for

bursaries and grants to support certification and professional development

opportunities for early childhood educators. Their critical work includes

flagging the issues that can be addressed in the early years, which I’ve

spoken to earlier — and Mr. David Dodge, the former governor of the Bank of

Canada — maximizing a child’s potential for success.

[L. Reid in the chair.]

That is critical. I think that, really, upon fair examination rather

than ideological rhetoric, most members in this chamber would come to

support it.

Budget 2018 sees $2 billion allocated to ensure schools across B.C.

are safe, well-maintained and modern. Indeed, we’re hiring more teachers in

this budget to create better learning conditions so students stay in school

and graduate, moving down a successful path to employment or

entrepreneurship.

This budget also includes supports for children who need it the most:

children in care, in government care. We can no longer fail them. As my

colleague the Minister for Advanced Education mentioned, we are investing

$30 million to enhance the agreements with young adults program, helping

youth formerly in care to attend post-secondary school or training so they,

too, can succeed and enjoy a good quality of life. That is something that we

are proud of and justifiably so, I would say.

When we give all children the best start in life, they will grow to be

active contributors to our economy and society and will, indeed, enjoy

better and more satisfying and full lives than they would

otherwise.

Now let me turn to the other issues in the budget. We’ve been hearing

some back and forth about the budget’s introduction of the employer health

tax. People clearly want a tax system that is fair. That is why we’ve cut

MSP premiums in half as of January 1 of this year, reduced the small

business tax by 20 percent and cut provincial sales tax and electricity for

business.

Budget 2018 includes another change to improve fairness. We are

eliminating all medical service premiums, effective January 1, 2020. This

will mean families will save $1,800 a year, and individuals will save $900 a

year, and it will help make our tax system more fair and

progressive.

Clearly, the medical service premiums, notwithstanding some of the

supports for those below $30,000 net income, was an unfair and regressive

system. People above that limit paid the same premiums as those who were

earning hundreds of thousands of dollars more. That’s the very definition of

a regressive tax. So it goes without saying that this elimination of MSP

premiums does make the tax system fairer.

Of course, it goes without saying that eliminating MSP also eliminates

a portion of government revenues. We’re making sure that we can continue to

deliver the services people count on and maintain fiscal responsibility.

That’s why the MSP revenue will be replaced with an employer health tax,

similar to other provinces.

[2:45 p.m.]

This is not a particularly politically divisive question other than

here. Across the country in other provinces, an employer health tax is

something that’s well-established. I’m thinking particularly of Ontario as

an example.

The tax will be levied on large businesses in B.C. that are benefiting

the most from the elimination of MSP, and it will be the lowest payroll tax

in the country. The revenue raised will be invested in people and services

that we count on.

Let me now talk a little bit about another responsibility that I have

— small business. That’s a part of my ministry. The previous Ministry of

Small Business was an independent ministry. It’s now a division, without any

diminution of programs or service, as part of the ministry that I have been

asked to head up.

We recognize that small businesses are the backbone of our economy,

and they continue to show strong signs of growth. Indeed, the business

confidence index of the CFIB for January set British Columbia’s small

business at the second-highest level of confidence in the country, and 27

percent of employers have plans to hire more employees. Given the low

unemployment rate here and the increase in retail sales, for example, small

businesses have every reason to be optimistic about the future in British

Columbia — notwithstanding the cries from the opposition, which seem to be

ill-founded and not based on reality.

We’re working to help B.C. businesses grow by implementing changes

that will make it easier for businesses to succeed and to improve the

competitiveness of B.C.’s business environment. That means lowering, as we

did, the small business corporate income tax rate by 20 percent, from 2.5

percent to 2 percent, retroactive to April 1, 2017.

We’re also lowering electricity costs for B.C. businesses and

industries by phasing out the PST on electricity. For a number of the

businesses that I’ve met recently — part of my duties, which I really enjoy,

leads me to meet with many businesses — that is acknowledged as a boon,

certainly for those companies that use a lot of electricity in their

manufacturing or production processes.

Following the 50 percent reduction that started on January 1, 2018,

government will completely eliminate the PST on non-residential electricity

on April 1, 2019. Residential use of electricity is, of course, already

PST-exempt. Eliminating the PST on electricity will translate into savings

of more than $150 million annually for B.C. businesses. Of course, those

proceeds will be invested in more jobs, expanding into new markets,

reinvestment in new technologies and more investment in growth for

companies.

We’re also helping and making it easier for businesses in smaller

regional communities to export their goods overseas and expand their reach.

The member for Prince George–Valemount mentioned that “we started it.” Yes,

indeed you did, and I acknowledge that.

That’s a program that I’m proud to continue. It’s a good program. That

demonstrates, I think, the willingness on this side of the House to

acknowledge good ideas, no matter where they come from, and to continue the

work — not of everything that the previous government did…. Frankly, there

were 16 years of neglect, and a lot of things needed to be fixed. But this

particular program is a good one.

It means that more B.C. regional businesses can get help accessing new

markets for their goods and services. Growing the market, growing

opportunities for business, creating new markets, creating new revenues and

creating more profits is something that we are interested in doing, that

we’re willing to support. This program helps small businesses stretch their

market opportunities outside the region, outside the province, even outside

the country. It looks abroad to markets where innovative small businesses

can capture new markets and grow their business in new and exciting

ways.

That’s why, with the help of the Small Business Roundtable, we’ll be

creating a small business task force to make sure we understand the needs of

small businesses so they can continue to thrive in a healthy business

environment. I look forward to sharing more details about the task force in

coming weeks.

[2:50 p.m.]

My ministry has a vital role to play in helping government meet its

top priorities, and the staff of my ministry work hard to meet these goals

every day.

Now, particularly, I want to talk about the booming technology sector

that creates a lot of jobs for British Columbians. The Premier himself has a

keen interest in this sector. When I talk about the technology sector,

sometimes people view, I think, wrongly that it is confined to growth or

businesses in the Lower Mainland or sometimes even the boundaries of the

city of Vancouver.

In fact, the technology sector is a vibrant one — whether it’s in

Kamloops; Kamloops won a national award for the start-up environment in

Kamloops — and works closely with the university there. That’s something

that I’m sure the member for Kamloops–South Thompson is justifiably proud

of, an achievement for Kamloops. I, too, share in that accomplishment of

this sector in Kamloops.

In Prince George, there is a cluster of excellence in wood technology,

whether it’s…. Certainly, the clean tech sector is growing related to

bioenergy and the forest industry, understandably. In fact, Western

Diversification just advanced a couple of hundred thousand dollars to assist

the growth of clean tech companies in Prince George. Here in Victoria,

there’s a cluster led by an organization called Techtoria, which has about

900 members. There’s a vibrant technology sector here on the lower Island,

which is creating jobs, opportunities and new markets abroad from their base

here in Victoria.

Kelowna has Accelerate Okanagan, a vital centre in the heart of

Kelowna where there is, again, an emerging technology cluster in Kelowna. So

this is not a sector that is confined to the Lower Mainland. This is a

sector that is provincewide and, indeed, changing very traditional

industries.

Let me give one example. Many members will have attended the mining

reception last night. There was a company there called LlamaZOO. LlamaZOO is

a company based here in Victoria which, using visualization technology

developed in the gaming industry, has invented and devised software which

enables mining companies when they set out to build or construct a mine to

describe in 3D virtual reality — and you can actually put on the googles,

which I did last night — and look at the minesite as it would look if it

were developed.

They integrate all the data, whether it’s previous drill holes, where

the roads are going to go, where the disposal of waste will go and where the

spillage dams are. It’s quite an impressive piece of software, and it’s an

example of how technology is revolutionizing the traditional resource

industries like mining. No one would…. We sometimes think, in a traditional

way, that mining was a very traditional, unadventurous industry. But in

fact, technology is changing that industry.

There’s another company called MineSense — let me give one more

example — which, using the Internet of things, a much more precise array of

sensors, sorts ore from a mine in a way that is much more sophisticated and

much more efficient, therefore separating the tailings from the ore in a way

that enables…. It’s more efficient, and therefore, it’s more profitable.

Therefore, it’s better for the company’s bottom line and, ultimately, for

creating jobs and further investment.

Technology is a sector that has potential across the economy, and

those are just some examples. But I probably shouldn’t go on too long,

because I’m sure my time will run out.

While I’m talking about this topic, let me say that last month we

established B.C.’s first-ever innovation commissioner — an initiative with

our Green Party partners — Dr. Alan Winter, to support our growing tech

sector. He will advocate on behalf of the sector in British Columbia, in

Ottawa and beyond. This position will be starting with a budget of $600,000

this year and $1.2 million in the following year, therefore, to ensure a

level playing field with other provinces and to coordinate alignment with

federal funding programs in support of the tech innovation sector. That is

important.

[2:55 p.m.]

The federal government, in 2015, when they were elected — said they

were running — established an innovation focus in their

government.

There are federal resources. Mr. Winter was previously the CEO of

Genome B.C. Genome B.C. works with Genome Canada, a federally funded agency.

He has a web of contacts and relationships in Ottawa that will enable him to

work on behalf of British Columbia and British Columbia programs to make

sure that we are advancing British Columbia’s interests in alignment with

federal programs.

In addition, the tech sector is also poised to expand even further

with an announcement that the B.C.-based digital supercluster consortium has

been awarded some of the $950 million from the federal government’s

supercluster initiative. This exciting initiative is a consortium, and I

think the genius of the process was to force a number of companies to

collaborate in a major way.

It’s led by some of the big players in the B.C. economy — Telus,

Microsoft, Teck, Canfor, Shoppers Drug Mart, Providence Health Care and the

University of British Columbia. Most of the research institutions are

involved in some way, and there are a total of 200 companies, big and small,

who are part of this consortium. This initiative is also supported by the

B.C. Tech Association and other partners, as I’ve mentioned.

The supercluster here focuses on digital technology, taking the

advantages, some of which are evident in the example I gave of LlamaZOO and

the virtual reality, alternate reality, mixed reality sector. There are a

number of projects envisioned. A secretariat will be established and a CEO

hired within the next couple of weeks — apparently, the interviews are

underway — and that supercluster will be up and running.

This initiative, involving over 1,000 organizations, will create tens

of thousands of new, good-paying jobs that provide skills and long-term

employment opportunities for people across B.C. and Canada. Particularly,

given that it’s based here…. There will be collaborations across the

country, but it will be principally based in British Columbia in many of the

locations that I spoke to. This is a tremendous opportunity for British

Columbia to capitalize on the opportunity that innovation stands to bring to

our province and the good-paying, family-supporting jobs that our province

stands to benefit from as a result of this news.

That’s a good example of the promise of technology, and that is simply

one sector. There are opportunities in other sectors that are being

revolutionized by technology where British Columbia is a leader — sometimes,

an unacknowledged, below-the-radar leader, but certainly, when you come to

meet some of the great companies and the great talent that’s here in British

Columbia, you realize the potential.

Many of the companies that I meet with, or many of the boards of

directors, tell me that one of the reasons that they want to locate in

British Columbia is the talent. That’s a tribute to the success of our

education, both at the K-to-12 level and our post-secondary institutes,

colleges and universities. It’s one of the reasons why companies are lining

up to come to British Columbia. They continue to line up, and they are very

enthusiastic.

Well, there are doubters over on the other side. I get that they’ve

lost faith in British Columbia, but they should never mistake their

political fortunes for the promise…

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

Hon. B. Ralston: …the great promise of British Columbia.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members.

Hon. B. Ralston: British Columbia is doing well. British Columbia will continue to do

well….

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Please take your seat, Minister.

Hon. B. Ralston: They have failed, and they know it.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Minister, please take your seat for a moment.

Please continue.

[3:00 p.m.]

Hon. B. Ralston: Thank you, Madame Speaker.

Your government continues to wish to establish British Columbia as a

preferred location for new and emerging technology companies, to increase

the growth of local tech enterprises and remove the barriers to attracting

skilled workers provincewide. Clearly, the tech sector is already a major

driver for British Columbia’s economy. British Columbia companies, as I’ve

said, in this sector are gaining global recognition, creating jobs and

contributing to significant GDP growth.

We’ve strengthened our support for the Cascadia Innovation Corridor

between B.C. and Washington, which will help grow technology, life sciences,

clean tech and data analytics industries across borders. We will ensure that

that momentum continues. I’ve been touring the province to participate in

tech-focused regional round tables to better understand the sector’s needs,

and we will continue the commitments of the tech strategy with some

refinements.

The B.C. tech fund gives companies the capacity they need for research

and development, patent technologies and to scale their businesses to global

markets. The B.C. Innovation Council continues to have our support, and we

will be thrilled to co-host the third annual B.C. Tech Summit on May 14 to

Let me just, since my time is running out…. I do want to say that in

January, with the leadership of the Minister of Advanced Education, we

expanded technology and engineering post-secondary programs by adding 2,900

more seats by 2023 to provide B.C.’s robust tech sector with additional tech

talent to ensure a steady supply of skilled professionals meeting labour

demands.

The availability of good paying jobs will keep people in B.C. and

attract people to B.C. That’s why we believe investing in children, housing

or post-secondary opportunities is money well spent and is

worthwhile.

Let me, in the very brief time that remains, talk a little bit about

trade. I know that the member for Kamloops–South Thompson called our trade

mission traipsing around Asia — clearly out of sync even with members of his

own caucus who have spoken about trade over the years.

R. Coleman: I’m glad to stand up and respond to my 23rd or 24th budget in the last

22 years. This one’s rather interesting, though. I’m going to take a couple

walks down memory lane as I talk about difference and changes and ideas and

philosophies. This is the first time in 22 years that I’ve actually seen a

government tax itself twice and double-tax.

The NDP are removing 50 percent of the MSP on January 1. That was

already committed by all the parties that ran in the last provincial

election. The money was there for that. But the irony of this is that in

2019, they’ll put in a payroll tax. In 2020, they’ll eliminate the last $900

million of MSP.

For a year, they’re going to tax themselves twice, on the backs of

British Columbians. They’re going to take $900-plus million, probably $1

billion, in MSP next year and this year. That’s $1.8 billion. But they’ll

put in place a payroll tax in 2019, which also they will pay. They’ll pay it

on every school board, every school teacher, on every person that works in

health care, every person that works in the public service, everybody that

works for a Crown corporation. It’s going to be in the millions of

dollars.

Not only do they want to tax every British Columbian; they actually

want to tax themselves. They’re going to subsidize their own tax thing to

help reduce their costs to themselves but increasing their costs to

themselves at exactly the same time. Now, I’ve seen some strange things in

this place, but that is one of the strangest ones I’ve ever seen.

We shouldn’t kid ourselves about what the payroll tax is. The payroll

tax is a tax on small business. It’s a tax on family-owned operations. It’s

a tax on corporations. It’s a tax on the public service, on payroll taxes.

It’s a tax on every single person in the province of British Columbia that

owns any form of real estate. It’s a tax on any small business, whether

their payroll is over $500,000 or not. Now let me explain.

[3:05 p.m.]

After this budget came out, I got on the telephone. I know a lot of

people in local government, city administrators that run cities, and I

phoned a number of them. I’d say, “Have you done the calculation yet as to

what this means for you as a municipality or a city or a regional district?”

Some had, some had not, but they’ve started to come in.

One community that I live in estimates that they will have to raise

property taxes between 2.5 and 3 percent next year in order to deal with the

payroll tax. What does that mean to anybody? If you’re a small business

sitting at the corner of 200th Street and 64th Avenue in Langley and you run

a glass repair shop and your landlord gets his tax notice sometime this

year, he comes in and says: “Well, your rent is this much. Here’s your

triple-net.”

Every single business, no matter how small, that has a triple-net

lease in the province of British Columbia…. It’s probably about 90 percent

of all the leases that will go up. Every single one of those businesses is

going to be affected by this tax. Don’t kid yourself when you hear the

Finance Minister get up and say that it’s only 15 percent of companies that

get affected by this.

If you own a home in British Columbia, or a condo or a townhouse, your

municipality will raise your property taxes, and you’ll be paying it on your

taxes at your home, for every single person in B.C. That means money is

being taken out of the pocket of every single child that may want to play

sports in the province or take dancing, whatever.

The family is going to have their costs go up by 2 to 3 percent on

their property taxes. This comes out of their pockets. It’s after-tax

income. It’s very difficult for people to get ahead when you’re taxing them

at the front end and claiming you’re trying to save them at the back end.

That’s what’s going on here.

The reality is this. Because the federal government cut corporate

taxes, the NDP raised corporate taxes. They say they’ve cut small business

taxes, but a lot of small businesses are corporations.

They’ve actually started to tax us out of competitiveness. What we

know about competitiveness is that we have a very significant trading

partner to the south of us that is going to start to eat our lunch because

Canada is overtaxed. We are overtaxed, and if we continue to be overtaxed,

we won’t be competitive. Investment will go elsewhere, and it won’t be in

this province. That’s a big concern.

Interjections.

R. Coleman: I always love it when the member for Powell River–Sunshine Coast is in

the House when I speak. He can’t help himself but heckle me in any way

whatsoever. He should go to the pulp mill in Powell River and ask them: “How

much is the payroll tax going to hurt you?”

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members, through the Chair.

R. Coleman: This little double-tax fraud that’s going on here in this budget is a

payroll tax that affects a whole bunch of things. Today in question period,

I talked about the Jansen family, who have been farming in my community for

40 years, and that $100,000 just went out of their bottom line in payroll —

$100,000. You know what happened after that question was asked in question

period today? A bunch of other farmers in my community, across the Lower

Mainland and up the Fraser Valley — whether it be strawberry farmers,

blueberry farmers, people who do the packing or whatever it is — are saying:

“Me too.”

We just hit farming in B.C. — and we want to have a significant,

stable food supply for our future — with a tax on people whose margins are

so thin. They work ten, 12 or 14 hours a day, seven days a week. If they

have animals, they can’t go away. They have to be there for their farm.

We’re saying: “Oh, we don’t care how hard you work. We don’t care how much

you’ve got at risk. We’re just going to tax you and take more money out of

your pocket.”

That starts to affect everything. As you do these things to the

economy, you start to see some significant hits. There’s a second tax.

People haven’t even spent a lot of time on it, because everybody is pretty

shocked about the payroll tax.

Let’s talk about the carbon tax for a second. It was at $30. It’ll go

to $50 in a few years. Now, I sat through over 168 meetings, presentations

from people, back in 2008, from across this country, across all industries,

to get to a decision on how you could do a carbon tax that you could

actually use to reduce GHGs and enhance technology in order to get more

clean technology into the system while you’re actually making the existing

system work. That’s because the carbon tax was revenue-neutral. Now it’s

become a cash grab.

[3:10 p.m.]

When I sat through that, all that time, the leader of the Green Party

was in some of those meetings. I’ll never forget the conversation. I sat on

the side and listened to him, with others, extolling the virtues of the Site

C dam — not opposed to it but the virtues of it — because it was a way to

take clean power to shape future power, like wind and solar and those types

of power. He was very, very enthusiastic about it, so enthusiastic that he

actually went up to the announcement for Site C.

Now, I know there’s been a change. I respect that people change their

opinions. But 168 presentations…. It took everything from the life cycle of

an electric car or a hybrid and what it really meant and what you do with

the batteries and what the effect on the environment long term and short

term are.

What resources you needed to have in order to have the future economy

in the world, which includes every one of these laptops in here, or iPads or

whatever, that have things like copper and other forms of metals in them

that come from mining…. The outside of the iPad is made out of petroleum

products. In actual fact, you need the resources in order to do new

technology. You need to have the stuff coming out of the ground.

The disappointment on that is…. The carbon tax — which was supposed to

be revenue-neutral, could find solutions for a cleaner economy by

reinvesting it in new technologies and what have you — is a significant hit

to rural British Columbia, and it’s not fair.

Is it fair that you can live in downtown Vancouver and have your car

parked in an underground parking spot and leave it there for months on end,

because you can walk anywhere you need to go? You can get on a bus or

transit and go just about anywhere in the Lower Mainland and make your

connections. It’s fair for them.

In Quesnel or in Prince George…. Just take the member for Prince

George–Valemount…. It used to be Mount Robson, I think. Anyway, I do

remember, you see, the names of these ridings. But take a trip with that

member sometime to go to Valemount, round trip, and how many hours on the

road it takes. There is not, by the way, any other way to get there. Yet the

carbon tax will penalize those people that need to do that work.

Think of the logging truck operator who doesn’t have a replacement yet

for a diesel power truck that he goes into the bush with and brings the logs

down to a mill. Whether it be West Fraser or Tolko, Canfor or any of the

other companies in forestry, they’re all getting hit with a payroll tax. At

the same time, the very guy who was trying to deliver the logs to cut the

resource for export is getting carbon-taxed, in addition to the fact that

he’s trying to make a living for his family.

When you do this and you say, “Well, let’s ignore the rest of British

Columbia and just concentrate on one area,” you start to separate rural and

urban British Columbia, which, in my opinion, is wrong. I think it’s wrong

for a number of reasons, because I think we’re all British

Columbians.

I was born in Nelson. I was raised in Penticton. We live in the Lower

Mainland. I’ve never thought I was a Nelsoner or a Pentictonite or

Aldergrovian. I’ve always thought of myself as a British

Columbian.

Now, as we look at this, there are some other significant impacts.

This is a little memory lane thing I’m going to take you down. In 2001, I

was made the Solicitor General of this province. I went and looked at the

complement of the provincial police force in this province and how much

money it was getting. It was 40 percent underfunded to what it had to have

to actually have a provincial police force.

They were managing by vacancies, because the government would say in

April, “This is how much money you get,” and by June, they would claw it

back. We had no technology. We had no innovation. We had police cars that

were going 400,000 kilometres and having to be parked, because there was no

money to replace the police car.

We have a group of people out there — I’m going to talk specifically

about police for a minute — who do a job for us. We now have about 2,600

people on the provincial police force, not counting the support staff — just

that many people.

Having talked to the RCMP — some guys I know in and around it — and

looking at the number, the payroll tax will cost the RCMP in excess of $4

million. That is about 40 police officers. Think about that.

That side of the House — I’ve always contended, by the way they dealt

with policing in the 1990s — has always had this love affair with the

criminal, not with the people who are to be protected and not, certainly,

with the police organizations that need to protect us.

[3:15 p.m.]

If you can think about this for a second, $4 million is what it cost

to take down three Hells Angels clubhouses in about 2006: a special task

force, millions of dollars, a huge investment in actually going after

organized crime. And $100 million is what it cost us for the Pickton

investigation and its court case and the time to its completion — about 100

million bucks.

In 2001, it was obvious that we hadn’t bought a new radio in a long

time, or a new computer, or, for that matter, updated any of our old DOS

systems that police were being asked to work on, including the fact that

they couldn’t get on the radio in Langley and talk on the radio to

Vancouver. They had no way of sharing information that could go back and

forth. If somebody went missing in Vancouver and were checked in Coquitlam,

nobody would know that they were missing. There was no cross

connection.

We made the largest investment in technology in North America in

policing history, and we’re still the only jurisdiction — this is sad, by

the way — on the entire continent that is actually all on the same

information management system in real time, called PRIME. It’s been highly

successful. None of that was invested in, in the 1990s.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Now we see a budget. We have a gang task force that’s going to cost

you $4 million or $5 million. That’s the equivalent price of the payroll

tax, just on the provincial police force. Guess what it is if you take all

the municipalities together, all of them across the board, all the police

forces, just the police forces. There will be an increased cost on policing

alone in excess of $20 million. Who has to pay for that? Langley has to pay

for it for their RCMP complement. Vancouver has to pay for it for its city

police. Delta is the same. New Westminster for its city police and Burnaby

for its piece. They all have to pay the payroll tax.

It takes money out of what? Front-line policing, protection of the

public, or somebody has to go tax it. Why do I say the taxes will go up, the

property taxes, by 3 percent? That’s factored into the cost of the operation

of a municipality, and fire and police are the two most expensive things

that they contend with. All of it is payroll tax. All of it is tax to take

money away.

While we don’t believe anymore in clean technology that we invest the

carbon tax in to actually change to a cleaner economy — we just want it as a

cash grab into our pockets — we’re also taxing everybody in B.C. with a

payroll tax while we’re collecting MSP. What a sweetheart deal. Only a

government could think they could tax themselves and everybody else

twice.

As we go through this, I looked at the Solicitor General’s budget.

It’s down about $300 million. There’s no priority for things like an

integrated homicide team or an integrated sexual predator observation team,

which follows people to get the DNA of sexual predators when they’re

breaking their parole and they might hurt another child.

Money is going to get scarce because somebody has to pay. The

government is taxing policing. They’re taxing firemen. They’re taxing people

in public safety, sheriffs within their own system. All of this is going to

be caused by payroll tax.

On top of that, I’m concerned about the specialized groups and teams,

those that deal with organized crime, the gang task force, the ones that go

into communities and try and build undercover operations long term to stop

the guns and gangs issues that take place that you don’t see. We don’t talk

about who’s doing it where, because we don’t want to put our undercover

police officers’ lives at risk.

I do know this. I’ve never seen, to my knowledge, where you tax a

police force and say to somebody else: “Pay for it, because we want to take

that money into general revenue. You just go increase taxes to every one of

your citizens in your particular community.” I think it’s wrong.

At the same time, these guys are dealing with a very dangerous job

that has challenged us all. I think we all got that little message when we

lost Constable Davidson out in Abbotsford late last year — how dangerous the

job is and how, at any moment, somebody doesn’t get to go home at night to

their family.

[3:20 p.m.]

Those guys are out there doing their job, and we’re going to tax the

municipalities who provide those police officers. We also don’t talk about

what’s coming — the cost.

I looked at the mental health budget. If you take it and you cross the

dollars over, it pretty much came out of the health budget and was moved

around within government. There’s nothing new there. But you can’t tell me,

when police officers and firemen and ambulance and first responders and

other people are having to take a drug, inject it into somebody and give it

to somebody so they don’t die — and sometimes they do, and sometimes they

don’t — that you’re not going to have a huge expense of post-traumatic

stress for these people.

I’ve talked to these guys that have actually had to do it, and it is

shocking for them when they do it. It really does hit home for them. On top

of everything else, we’re taxing them, so their municipalities will probably

reduce or not hire additional officers because of the budget restrictions

and, at the same time, say: “Do more with less.” It’s wrong.

We have another little memory-lane thing I want to talk about here. I,

like everybody else, particularly because I knew what the numbers were, was

shocked at the number that came out in the NDP platform saying they’re going

to build 114,000 housing units in ten years.

I know how many units of housing are built in British Columbia every

year. I know how many are in the process in municipalities right now in this

province, and I knew that this was false. I knew it was false. It wasn’t

until the following estimates when the minister said, in estimates, to one

of my colleagues: “Well, it’s an aspirational goal.”

Now we have a new aspirational goal in this budget, telling us how

many units they’re going to build in the next ten years — dropped by about

75,000-ish units. But the irony of it all is that they’ve already counted

4,900 units that are in the construction process and previously funded by

the previous government.

They’re counting units they never did anything with, except continue

on the funding that was already in place. Imagine. Why don’t you just go

back to 2001 and take the other 10,000 units that were built and add them to

your list, if that’s what you’re going to try and do with your shell game on

housing?

Housing has some challenges in B.C., some that nobody wants to talk

about. For instance, we have 130,000 units on the Lower Mainland of British

Columbia alone that are in the chain to go through different types of

rezoning and development. Some of those units have been in the process for

in excess of five years and still don’t have their building

permit.

Somebody says: “Well, why don’t you do something about housing?” This

government has the same challenge any government will have. If you don’t

have supply but you’ve still got demand, prices don’t come down. If the

people that want to buy it have more buyers than the ones that are going to

sell it, the prices don’t change.

Now, there are some issues that we’re going to have to address.

There’s one community in the Lower Mainland that will give you bonus density

for community amenity charges, bonus density of a certain height of floor

because the higher, the better — the higher the value of the square footage.

That community charges, if you can imagine, the equivalent of $350 a square

foot for the community amenity charge.

You get a 1,000-square-foot condo. Before anything has gone in the

ground, it’s $350,000, and somebody from that council or that local

government says: “Oh, we’ve got to do something about the price of

housing.”

Look inside. My own community in Langley township has got way too high

of DCCs and off-site costs, from my opinion. That could go back into the

pockets of people.

The services and the costs they put on housing are unconscionable.

There are literally hundreds of millions of dollars sitting in accounts in

municipalities in the Lower Mainland from community amenity charges. They

just keep going up, and they keep adding things to them, and they put them

in their bank account. And then they complain about the affordability of

housing.

They won’t meet the schedule, either, so you can actually understand,

when you walk in with some plans on some zoned land, when you can get

through their process and get in the ground. And that’s time. If it takes

you four years…. I know one project took over five years in the city of

Vancouver. If it takes that long, somebody is paying interest on that

property. Somebody is accumulating costs. Who gets hit with it? The

consumer. That’s who gets hit with it.

[3:25 p.m.]

The interesting thing about the housing side that I found most

laughable, or interesting, in this budget is this. In 2006, I stood in this

House after a budget and did a debate not dissimilar to this and listened to

people rail at the Minister Responsible for Housing because he had the

temerity to put in place a rental assistance program for people of low

income in British Columbia to help them with a cheque — where they lived,

anywhere in British Columbia, today.

They called it a landlord subsidy. They said it was stupid. They said

it was ridiculous. “This is absolutely crazy. We should build, own and

operate all housing in British Columbia from the government’s

perspective.”

All of those things were said, either in this House or in media, about

a rent assistance program. Guess what’s in this budget. An increase in the

rent assistance program. They want to do more units in rent assistance,

something that they actually oppose. They’re going to go out there and say:

“Oh, we’re going to do this. This is great. We’re going to do this.” Well,

you’ve got 15,000 family households on it now and 20,000 seniors households

on it now. If you expand it, good for you.

Then they announced 2,000 modular units like it’s some big surprise,

never been done before. Three or five years later, 1,350 units of modular

housing were put in British Columbia, in small communities, for seniors to

be able to stay in their communities and live there. And they’re not

temporary. They’re permanent.

Don’t do what you think you’re going to do here — to members on the

opposite side. You do 2,000 units of temporary modular housing. You’re

letting down the modular housing industry, for No. 1. What they build is

good enough to last. Put together with the right structure — and they can do

it — you can build a four-storey apartment building modularly. You can build

a motel modularly.

Don’t go out and put 2,000 units in there of low quality that you’re

going to have to move in ten or 15 years. Put the investment in the ground,

and make it permanent. All you’re doing is using a different form of

construction, using the capacity of our manufacturing plants to do

it.

Now, I read the section, a couple times, on the speculation tax. This

one disturbs me. I want to tell you why. It’s deciding that we’re not all

Canadians anymore. It says, “If you don’t pay income tax in British

Columbia, we’re going to tax you if you want to invest in British Columbia”

— as a Canadian.

I have a son that went overseas to Afghanistan. I know guys from

Calgary, Alberta, and places across the country who were mates of his over

there, who stood up for the peace of our country. I had a father on a ship

brother on the beaches of D-Day. They didn’t go over there to say we’re not

going to be a unified country. They didn’t go over to say we’re going to

actually prejudice against Canadians….

There are people that invested in homes in this province, which they

think they’re going to retire in someday. It’s maybe in Fairmont or the

Lower Mainland, but their work takes them somewhere else right now. And

we’ve decided that’s wrong? I understand the speculation tax that people

want to go for, but I don’t understand doing it to Canadians.

We all carry the same passport. We all come from the same country.

Some people in this province have a residence in Comox or Courtenay or

Nanaimo. They get on a plane and go into the oil patch or some mine in the

Northwest Territories, for three weeks in and two weeks out. And we want to

actually start to question whether they’re home long enough in order to

actually have the benefit as a Canadian of what we all have.

I don’t know who thought this one up, but you got the wrong people.

You’re telling me citizens of this….

You know, I actually pay and file my income tax every year, like

everybody else, and I’m pretty sure we all send it to the Canada Revenue

Agency. I don’t think we send a separate tax return for our income in this

country to a province. We are calculated on what we pay for taxes in this

province, and that’s why people make a decision where they want to live. But

certainly not to the point where you’re going to take away fundamental

rights of Canadians…. I’m not even sure this tax is constitutional. I

wonder.

[3:30 p.m.]

At the same time, we have this entire situation facing us with other

issues around homelessness, youth homelessness, shelters and all of that. I

can tell this House that I know the numbers that there were for homelessness

with no 24-7 shelter in the entire province of British Columbia in 2001. I

know it has been multiplied over five times for 24-7, with meals for people,

to help them. I know that there are 6,700 to 7,000 people a year that meet

up with outreach workers for success.

I think we need to continue this and build on the opportunities, the

resources and everything else for our province. You’re going to tax mining

out of business. You’re going to tax natural gas out of business. You’re

going to take away jobs from Indigenous people who are trying to build

economies for the areas across the province of British Columbia, and I could

give you another half-hour on just that subject alone.

When you decide that Canadians are not Canadians anymore, and when you

decide you’re going to tax every single person through the back door and not

be honest with them about where that tax is flowing to and how it’s going to

affect their family and their income, it makes it a pretty dishonest

budget.

For that reason alone, just on that little tweak, given all the other

things that I wish I had time to talk about, I think we should defeat this

budget.

Hon. H. Bains: It is always an honour to stand here but, especially today, to stand

in support of our government’s first full budget.

Before I get into this, let me…. I listened to the member from Langley

very, very carefully. I have a lot of respect for the guy. He’s been around,

and he’s had some good points over the years but mostly wrong. I must say

that: mostly wrong. I mean, there are times that he’s been right. I’ve

watched him for about 13 years, so I can say this.

Let’s talk about this. He talked about memory lane. We don’t need to

go back. I mean, he’s in the 1990s. Some of the members who have made this

House now recently probably were toddlers. We should be talking about what

happened just recently. All the things that the member has talked about…. He

was trying to poke holes in this budget. Of course, no matter what policy a

government brings in anywhere, you cannot please everyone. That’s

granted.

I think it is quite interesting for the member to talk about memory

lane, especially considering what we had in the last 16 years. On one hand,

we had the lowest-wage earners’ wages frozen for ten years. On the other

side, that is the government that gave a tax break to the highest-wage

earners. Any reasonable-minded person will tell you that is grossly unfair.

But did they care? They didn’t care.

Anyway, not only that, on top of that, MSP premiums doubled on them.

ICBC tripled; hydro more than doubled. Not only that, they left behind a

$1.3 billion deficit at ICBC for taxpayers and others to clean up the mess.

The member thought that everything was fine, what they did. He listed a

whole bunch of programs. Everything wasn’t fine, even on the crime side,

despite all the best effort. If you look at what’s going on today, it is a

very, very disappointing failure, and more needs to be done.

Take a look on the economic side. Forestry, the industry that built

this province for 150 years, has been brought to its knees, and 30,000 jobs

are gone. Over 150 mills got shut down over those 16 years. Sixteen years

ago, there was hardly a mill owned by B.C. companies that re-established

themselves on the south side of the 49th. Today there are over 50. It used

to be that American companies would come and invest in the forest industry

because they saw a future in here. Now our companies are going over to the

other side.

[3:35 p.m.]

Think about that. Everything isn’t right. Everything isn’t fine. There

are a number of reasons for that, but part of that reason is the

government’s failed policy that they brought in, in 2003, called the forest

revitalization program.

Take a look at other programs that they brought in: South Fraser

Perimeter Road, B.C. Place roof, Vancouver Convention Centre, Port Mann,

transmission lines. None of them is under 43 percent cost overrun. None of

them. You call yourself a very prudent government. That’s the result. That

is the result.

You take a look around the education side. In Surrey alone, 7,000

students are in portables right now — 7,000 in portables. They had 16 years

to fix that. What did they do? The portables continue to go up.

You know what? In this budget, for the first time, we are hiring 3,700

new teachers — 3,700. They spent 16 years fighting with the educators. The

reality is….

Interjections.

Hon. H. Bains: I know many of the members don’t like that. It was the member from

Langley who decided to talk about memory lane.

You know what? They spent 16 years fighting the educators. It took 14

years to go to the Supreme Court of Canada, only to be told: “You were

illegal. You need to go back and fix it.” For 14 years….

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: Members, please.

Hon. H. Bains: In those 14 years, what happened? A whole generation of students came

and left the education system. They were there for 12 years. They were in

there without the resources that they deserved, because they wanted to fight

with the educators. They wanted to fight with the education

system.

It was the Supreme Court who had to tell them their actions were

illegal. “Go fix it.” That’s the memory lane. That’s the legacy that is left

behind.

Public transportation. Let’s take a look at that. Surrey should have

something started now, had it not been pure politics to put this thing

through referendum. That is a pure and clear-cut abdication of government

responsibility. Rather than showing responsibility, they play politics.

Right now we have nothing to show for it in Surrey as far as the public

transportation expansion is concerned.

We are building the Pattullo Bridge. We are showing leadership. We

said that we would raise our portion from 33 percent to 40 percent. That’s

leadership. We’re doing that. Had they done that four years ago, instead of

playing politics, we would have construction going on and probably ready to

have that public transportation extension all the way to Newton, Guildford

and Langley. That’s the legacy.

I know it hurts, but they wanted to talk about memory lane. Anyway, we

have 16 years, and people know that.

Finally, we have a budget that is thoughtful, balanced, prudent and,

more importantly, puts people first. That’s what the government should be:

putting people first. People are those who elected us, and we should be

looking after their interest. We should be making policies — not just policy

that supports only your rich, wealthy, powerful friends — so that every

British Columbian can benefit from our economy. That’s what this budget

talks about.

Last summer our government created a stand-alone Ministry of Labour,

which clearly shows the importance we put on the welfare and success of the

working people of our province. I was very proud to be appointed Minister of

Labour, and I know our ministry plays a wider role in the economic health of

our province and its people.

The increase to my ministry’s budget in this budget is about $3

million of important funding over three years to the employment standards

branch for planning activities related to my mandate to update employment

standards to reflect the changing nature of workplaces and ensure that those

standards are applied evenly and enforced.

[3:40 p.m.]

It will put the branch in a better position to respond to upcoming

recommendations from the B.C. Law Institute, the B.C. Federation of Labour

and the B.C. Employment Standards Coalition. That’s what we will be doing —

updating B.C. labour legislation and bringing it into the 21st

century.

The funding will also be used to support the development of a

temporary foreign worker registry to help protect vulnerable workers from

exploitation and track use of temporary workers in our economy.

We’re also looking at reviewing workers compensation — the policy, the

regulation and the act — so that the workers’ and the employers’ needs are

addressed in the changing workplaces of British Columbia.

The Labour Relations Board is another area that we need to bring into

the 21st century and make sure that the employers and the unions have

confidence that they can go to the labour board and trust that they will

have their issues addressed in a timely fashion and in a fair and objective

manner.

That relates to my ministry. But the big picture with Budget 2018 is,

clearly, the fact of the frustration that the people of B.C. are feeling

after years of rising costs, reduced services and the neglect of working

people in favour of big business interests. It is time. It was very clear in

the election campaign, when we were told it was time for a change, that we

need strong, clear, fundamental change.

Our government ran on three key commitments to British Columbians:

(1) to make life more affordable, (2) to deliver services that people can count

on and (3) to build a strong, sustainable, innovative economy that works for

everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected. We have already started

to work on that. Last week’s budget described in detail how our government

is turning those commitments into reality.

The first piece in this budget is affordability. To deal with that

affordability issue…. I have said this many times that in this country, this

province, this day and age, nobody who works full-time should be struggling

in poverty, should be struggling to put food on their table, should be

struggling to pay rent. Nobody who’s working full-time in British Columbia

today, one of the richest provinces in the world, should be living in

poverty. They shouldn’t.

They shouldn’t be forced to work two or three jobs, longer hours, away

from their children, just to pay for the basic bills. Ninety-four thousand

British Columbians take home minimum wage. That isn’t enough to live on.

B.C.’s lowest-paid workers deserve a raise. So we established the

independent Fair Wages Commission that, after extensive consultation and

research, laid out recommendations for reaching, at least, a $15-an-hour

minimum wage by June 2021.

The pathway that the commission recommended, with regular incremental

increases, give businesses certainty and predictability. That’s exactly what

the businesses asked for. That’s what we are delivering. The increases each

June, to 2021, are measured, and they reflect B.C.’s strong economy. I look

forward to the commission’s next report, which will provide recommendations

on how to raise wages for those workers who are paid one of the alternative

minimum wages, such as liquor servers and farmworkers paid by piece

rate.

After that, the commission will turn its attention to looking at gaps

between the minimum wage and the living wage and how we address that. That

will be a bit more complex and will require a bit more work and research,

but they are the people who have what it takes to make sure that they will

bring us the right answers.

Affordability. Again, on the expenses side, affordability is about

paying bills that we all have to pay. In too many parts of this province,

the bills have become unmanageable. I’m not talking about costs for

nice-to-have things. I’m talking about things that we must have — expenses

like housing, child care, medical services, utilities and

transportation.

[3:45 p.m.]

For too many years now, the working people of this province have been

struggling to make ends meet and sometimes having to make decisions they

shouldn’t have to — like choosing between a roof over their head or food on

the table or choosing between work and a career or staying at home — because

affordable child care simply can’t be found. That’s why our government, in

this budget, is putting people first and making life more affordable for all

British Columbians.

On the housing side, which was a key component of unaffordability, the

gap between haves and have-nots in our province has become so wide that it’s

not enough to raise minimum wages and reduce bills. Not enough. Not only

that, but our government have taken a two-pronged approach. On one side, we

are lowering their financial burden by eliminating tolls on Port Mann and

Golden Ears bridges.

Eliminating MSP premiums, making tuition free for adult basic

that is to take the financial burden off of British Columbians. On the other

hand, we’re raising the minimum wage and also creating jobs that are

family-supporting jobs so that people can have a better life. At the same

time, they will be investing that extra money in businesses within their own

communities, so the businesses will benefit, and the workers and their

family will have a little better lifestyle.

In many parts of B.C., as you know, it takes more than full-time right

now at minimum wage to pay for basics, especially with the cost of housing.

In fact, many families who make what is considered a middle-class income

still cannot afford decent housing even if they can find it. For many, the

dreams of home ownership are gone, and it’s no wonder.

I can give you my own example. I started in a sawmill in South

Vancouver. Eburne Saw Mills is no longer there. Part of those 150 mills are

gone now. I was making $8.30 an hour when my wife, Rajvinder, and I bought

our first house in Whalley Surrey — $55,000. So you make the calculations.

That was $17,000 gross I made. Those were good wages in those days. Sawmill

wages were good wages — good, union-supporting jobs. A $55,000, six-year-old

house — really nice 1,200 square feet with a basement — was a little over

three times my gross, some of the top wages in the province at that

time.

Today, 41 years later, if my son was working on the same job, he would

be making about $30 an hour. That’s about $60,000 gross. To think the

41-year-old same house that we raised our family in is, like, 14 or 15 times

that gross today. It’s unaffordable. That dream of owning a home in British

Columbia, especially in the Lower Mainland, is gone. The only dream they

have today is: can they have an affordable rental place? There’s something

wrong with that.

What we enjoyed, my generation and previous generations, isn’t

available to our children. So I think it’s a responsibility that we have as

a government to do something. The member from Langley talked about what’s

wrong with these steps that we have taken, but they had the opportunity to

fix it, and they didn’t. So now he is saying: “Well, this is wrong, and that

is wrong in that plan.” At least we’re taking steps.

Many people have said that those are the right steps to take. Of

course, there are some people who will not like it. But at the end of the

day, at least we are taking steps to make sure that we bring affordability,

especially the housing piece, and give some stability to it.

I think the question that we have to ask ourselves, the situation I’ve

described — how is that reasonable in this day and age? Instead of doing

something, they actually opened up doors to speculators, house flippers and

tax fraud. They know that that happened and then did nothing. That, again,

is abdication of government responsibility.

[3:50 p.m.]

They’ll have to answer to people, not only today but generations to

come. You were there and had the opportunity, but you failed to act. Now we

have a true housing crisis that has put home ownership out of reach for

average Canadians. Like I said, the only thing they have now is a dream of a

clean, safe rental unit that they can afford and that is not two hours of

commute each way.

I have people coming to my constituency — I’m sure each one of you has

those people coming to your constituency — telling me and my staff about the

struggle to find decent housing. Surrey’s homeless rate has increased by 50

percent in just a few years. Food bank demand has grown drastically, with

more and more working families and seniors relying on them. People are

working two and three jobs just to make ends meet.

I was very pleased and proud, in fact, to listen to the budget speech

as it laid out the concrete, specific actions that our government is taking

on housing. We are making the largest investment in housing in B.C. history,

$6.6 billion over ten years, to build the affordable housing that is so

desperately needed.

For my own seat in Surrey, it will have a significant impact, with $13

million capital funding for 160,000 housing units for people who are

homeless or at risk of homelessness, almost $11 million in funding for 121

units of Aboriginal housing, and $15 million in capital funding for 50

transitional beds and 50 shelter beds for those who are homeless or at risk.

These are investments that will be life-changing for many of my city’s most

vulnerable residents.

All over B.C., people have clearly been hurt by the housing crisis,

and businesses have as well. The B.C. Chamber of Commerce 2017-18 survey

flagged housing affordability as the top issue hurting businesses in B.C.,

yet nothing got done. The CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade said on budget

day: “We have long recognized that if workers cannot afford to live near

their employment, then they will move to where they can. Employers know