Fourth Session, 41st Parliament

(2019) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Monday, February 25, 2019

Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 206

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

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

All-Native Basketball Tournament and Wild William Wesley

J. Rice

Worker Bee Honey operations and quality assurance technology

L. Throness

Aquaponics

J. Routledge

Small Business B.C. Awards and Long Table Grocery

C. Oakes

International adoption

M. Elmore

2019 World Para-Nordic Skiing Championships

S. Bond

Oral Questions

Government policies on oil transportation and trade issues

A. Wilkinson

Hon. D. Eby

Hon. J. Horgan

S. Bond

Hon. G. Heyman

Money laundering and real estate industry

A. Olsen

Hon. D. Eby

Hon. C. James

Trans Mountain pipeline and transport of oil

P. Milobar

Hon. G. Heyman

Trans Mountain pipeline and fuel supply and prices

M. Bernier

Hon. G. Heyman

Funding for search and rescue organizations

J. Thornthwaite

Hon. M. Farnworth

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate

(continued)

M. Stilwell

S. Malcolmson

S. Furstenau

C. Oakes

B. D’Eith

I. Paton

B. Ma

S. Cadieux

Hon. J. Darcy

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2019

The House met at 1:35 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

R. Chouhan: It’s my pleasure to welcome some special guests today. This week we

have the privilege of hosting four Clerks and officials from the National

Assembly of Kenya, who are here on a parliamentary staff attachment. Joining

us in the gallery are Samuel Kalama, Senior Clerk Assistant; Gertrude

Chebet, Clerk Assistant; Enock Bosire, infor­mation and communication

technologies officer; Josephat Motonu, fiscal analyst. Please join me in

welcoming them to British Columbia and to our Legislature.

T. Shypitka: Well, today is Mining Day here in British Columbia. As we all know,

mining is a cornerstone of the economy here in B.C. Today we’ve got

representatives in the House and throughout the precinct from several

organizations, including the Mining Association of British Columbia and the

Association for Mineral Exploration. I see some representatives from North

Coal and Teck Coal and a whole bunch of other places as well. Would the

House please join me in welcoming them to the Legislature.

T. Redies: We have a wonderful group of students and their teachers attending the

Legislature here from White Rock Christian Academy, an independent school in

my riding. This is a fantastic school that has many successful graduates,

including the three daughters of my constituency assistant, Anne Bonner. If

her daughters are any example of the types of students that White Rock

Christian Academy is graduating, then the school’s got a very, very

successful future. Would the House please join me in welcoming the students

and their teachers today.

Hon. J. Sims: It’s a real pleasure for me to introduce a young man who resides in my

riding. He’s a constituent in Surrey-Panorama. He’s a student at UBC,

studying geography, of all things. One of my passions, anyway. He has

co-chaired the 32nd Vancouver Youth Parliament. He is in one of those unique

positions, because I get to introduce him today as Premier-elect of the 91st

British Columbia Youth Parliament. Please help me welcome Ranil Prasard to

the precinct.

D. Routley: It gives me a real pleasure and it’s an honour to introduce, for the

first time in this House, Jean Crowder, who was MP in the Cowichan area that

I represented for the first three terms I was in this House.

Jean is an amazing person. She’s done so much work to champion and

lead women — young women, in particular — into politics and community

involvement. Her building of a relationship with Cowichan Tribes included

studying language and becoming part of a drumming troupe. She is cherished

and beloved by First Nations in the area, particularly Cowichan. She worked

hard on the abandoned vessels issue, and that work was continued by the

member for Nanaimo when she was an MP.

Jean is the picture of energy, drive and commitment. And that just

describes the commute she had back and forth to Ottawa. She’s an amazing

person. When she broke her ankle one time — I’ve said this many times, Jean;

sorry — the period after that was about the only time I could ever keep up

to Jean Crowder, when she was on crutches.

Welcome, Jean Crowder.

J. Martin: It’s a pleasure to welcome a good friend of mine to the gallery,

Matthew Hawkins. Matthew, by the way, was just a finalist in the young

entrepreneur category at the Chilliwack Chamber Business Excellence Awards.

He is a tireless promoter and advocate for the city of Chilliwack, through

his web page, aroundchilliwack.ca. I encourage you to check it out. Please

make him feel welcome.

Hon. L. Popham: Joining us in the gallery are some of my most favourite people in

British Columbia. Joining us today are Ministry of Agriculture industry

specialists, and I’ll tell you who they are.

[1:40 p.m.]

We have Carl Withler, who takes care of tree fruits; James Street, who

does food processing; Zac De Vries, who does food processing; Karina

Sakalauskas, who does hazelnuts and plant-based protein; Myron Roth, who is

aquaculture; Darah Gibson, who does marine fisheries; Susan Smith, who does

field vegetables; Tom Droppo, who does pork and dairy; Emma Holmes, who does

organics; Lisa Zabek, who does agroforestry; Carolyn Teasdale, who does

berries; Dave Woodske, who does greenhouse crops; and Geneve Jasper, who

does livestock. With them is our director of industry development, Georgina

Hodson.

They are incredible. They are the strength in our ministry, and I’m so

happy that they’ve joined us today.

B. D’Eith: I just wanted to welcome one of my CAs, Alison Copeland, to the

precinct. She, along with Sophia Kreuzkamp, keeps my constituency office

humming along. We really appreciate everything they do. She’s over here

because we’re having very important meetings with our mayor in Maple Ridge.

So I just wanted to make her very welcome.

Hon. K. Conroy: It gives me a great deal of pleasure to introduce today my

daughter-in-law Jayme Jones, who is here from Castlegar. Jayme is the wife

of our son Wyllie and mom to Moss and Sayge. She also has her master’s in

environmental sciences and has been at Royal Roads this weekend, upgrading

her communications skills, which are already excellent. She’ll be even

better at out-debating me.

Please join me in welcoming Jayme to the chamber.

Hon. M. Mungall: Well, it’s Mining Day today here in the Legislature, and we have

several people from the mining industry joining us. I’m going to point out

Mark Edwards, who’s from Teck Resources and the treasurer for MABC; Kendra

Johnston, who is the chair of the Association for Mineral Exploration; Sue

Craig, from Kutcho Copper; John Ritter, from New Gold; and Kevin Frame, from

Kal Tire. They’re all part of the delegation speaking with members

today.

I also want to just acknowledge that we had some really amazing public

servants joining me out on the front steps earlier today. We had Tania

Demchuk, who’s the deputy chief inspector of mines; Hermanus Henning, the

deputy chief inspector of mines, health and safety; and three inspectors of

mines — Mike Olsen, Haley Furtado and Caroline Nakatsuka, all of whom are

going to be seeing some new colleagues in a short time frame, as part of our

new division for health, safety and compliance.

May the House please make them all very welcome.

D. Davies: I’d like to do an introduction. I believe they’re here or certainly in

the precinct. The chair of the Peace River regional district, Brad Sperling,

is down here. He’s also joined by one of the regional district directors,

Karen Goodings. If anybody has ever had any meetings over the past 31 years

with the Peace River regional district, you certainly would have run across

Karen Goodings, as she is celebrating her 31st year. Please, would the House

make them both feel welcome.

S. Malcolmson: I’m very honoured to have today, in the chamber with us, my aunt and

uncle, Terry and Sue Guest, former members of Islands Trust Council, with

whom I served for many years; from North Pender, Ken Hancock and Gary

Steeves, both vice-chairs of Islands Trust Council; my comrades from

Saltspring Island — George Erring and Peter Lamm, both Saltspring Island

trustees; my friend Lisa Gordon, with whom I served. She’s a staff support,

very important to a lot of our environmental protection work at Islands

Trust Council.

Members will recall…. This is provincial legislation that asks these

locally elected members to represent the “preserve and protect” object on

behalf of all British Columbians.

Then a third group of friends and supporters — June Robinhood, Dawn

Gordon and Jean Gelwicks; and most importantly, my spouse, Howard Stiff. All

people that stand up for environment in communities and support those in

elected office.

A. Olsen: I, too, would like to stand and acknowledge some constituents that I

have. I actually didn’t see all of them up there — George Erring, Jean

Gelwicks, Peter Lamm, Ken Hancock. I’d just like to raise my hands. And Gary

Steeves — there he is; I see him — from Pender and Saltspring Islands. I

also would like to acknowledge the representation, when they come from the

Salish Sea. Welcome, my friends and constituents, to this House

today.

[1:45 p.m.]

Hon. D. Donaldson: Today we have a couple of visitors in the gallery from the beautiful

Driftwood area just outside of Smithers, Barry and Doreen Jones. They’re

here with their daughter-in-law, who happens to be my executive assistant as

well, Tristan Jones. Barry and Doreen came down to Victoria for five weeks

to get away from the snow, and it has worked out pretty well, except for a

couple of weeks ago. Would the House please join me in making them

welcome.

J. Rustad: It’s a pleasure today to get a chance to meet with some of the miners

as well — today, of course, being Mining Day in the Legislature. Mining is

such an important piece for my riding as well as for the whole

province.

I’d like to just mention Ed Beswick, a longtime friend, with Giga

Metals, one of the people I met with, as well as Tim Knoop from Lafarge,

Todd Sams with Wajax as well as Scott McCuaig with Johnson Controls. I’d ask

the House to please make them all welcome.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

ALL-NATIVE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

AND WILD WILLIAM

WESLEY

J. Rice: Recently Prince Rupert hotels and restaurants were bustling, and

the vibe in town was electric. It was the 60th anniversary of the

All-Native Basketball Tournament, a time for Indigenous communities from

Alaska and across B.C. to come together to compete, spectate, celebrate

and reunite with family and friends.

Now, anyone that knows basketball on the north coast knows the

voice of the tournament, Wild William Wesley from CFNR radio. He has

been broadcasting with Canada’s First Nations radio station since its

inception 30 years ago. Before broadcasting tournament games, William

Wesley was an athlete playing in the tournament from 1964 to 1976. He

used to shoot all his baskets from the three-point range, but they were

worth only two points back then. He quips: “Can you imagine the points

I’d get nowadays?” In his best game, he scored 48 points.

In 1989, just before the women’s and masters divisions were

created, he started providing commentary for the games and has done so

ever since. Always threatening to retire but never quite yet, the voice

of Wild William Wesley could be heard calling games again this year.

Between games, I spent a few minutes chatting with our local

personality, where Wesley reminisced about people coming together over

basketball over the years.

The tournament is held in February. That was the best time for

fishermen and for cannery workers because it was the off-season. Sitting

on a bench together with William, it was like hanging out with a

celebrity, a big family reunion, over and over again, with players,

spectators and friends from all over, getting his take on the latest

up-and-comers and the predicted winning teams.

This year, during its 60th year, Wild William Wesley joined family

members, former teammates and elite ball players when he was inducted

into the tournament’s hall of fame. Humbly, he dedicated his hall of

fame award to his wife, Marlene.

Wild William Wesley is cherished by players, fans and CFNR radio

listeners, and the All-Native Basketball Tournament is not complete

without his voice of the tournament.

WORKER BEE HONEY OPERATIONS

AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

TECHNOLOGY

L. Throness: On January 24, I attended the unveiling of an amazing piece of

technology at the home of B.C.’s largest honey producer, the Worker Bee

Honey Co. in Rosedale, in my riding. Peter and Jerry Awram, a

father-and-son team armed with PhDs, 6,000 hives and a lot of energy,

have purchased a cutting-edge nuclear magnetic resonance machine so they

can address a global problem in the honey industry.

You see, honey comes to Canada from many countries. But some

adulterate the honey they export with up to 40 percent of other sweet

substances like corn or rice syrup, which are very hard to detect. Only

a nuclear magnetic resonance machine can test these substances at a

molecular level, and this is the only such machine in Canada. The Awrams

now have the capacity to test for adulterants in honey — but not only in

honey. Wine and juices can be tested as well.

There are several things I appreciate about this initiative.

First, it is a high-tech venture led by the private sector rather than

by government. A private company is taking the risk and literally

leading our nation in innovation. Second, the machine has a legitimate

commercial purpose. Worker Bee Honey Co. will be able to guarantee

buyers in Canada and around the world that its own honey is certifiably

pure, and I hope they’ll be able to command premium prices for their

product.

[1:50 p.m.]

There is also a strong public interest application. The Awrams

have a big heart for the entire industry, not just their own business,

so producers and consumers all over B.C. stand to benefit from the

knowledge this machine will provide. They intend to build a database

containing the organic fingerprint of every honey producer in the

province so they can all protect their brand and make B.C. the go-to

region from which to source honey.

I’m proud of what the Awrams have done, proud of the agricultural

innovation which I find everywhere in my riding and proud that Canada

will play a leadership role in detecting fake honey.

AQUAPONICS

J. Routledge: People often ask me: what do I like best about being an MLA? Well,

one favourite of mine is when constituents seek me out to share their

great ideas. Sometimes they want to talk about how to save the planet.

Sometimes they bring ideas for making life more affordable, and

sometimes they have ideas for improving our shared experiences in our

community.

Jack Rowand, who lives in Burnaby North and works in the film

industry, is one such visionary. Jack came to talk to me about

aquaponics. Now, maybe, like me before I met Jack, you’re not sure what

aquaponics is all about. Aquaponics grows fish and plants together in an

integrated system in a greenhouse. The fish waste provides an organic

food source for the plants, and the plants naturally filter the water

for the fish.

Jack shared his vision of aquaponics greenhouses in school yards

throughout the region, sized to feed the student population and their

families. Why school yards? Because aquaponics greenhouses teach

hands-on STEM skills. In fact, I’ve since done a bit of research myself

and discovered that that is exactly what is happening in a number of

schools in the United States. It’s called Aquaponics STEM

Class­rooms in Action.

Aquaponics is intense. It yields six times more produce than

conventional farming and uses 90 percent less water and no pesticides. A

system of aquaponics can feed the community in which it is located and

thus contribute massively to local food security and affordability —

something we all need to think about as the effects of climate change

intensify.

There are some projects already in existence, part of which is

consultation with the community about which fruits, vegetables and fish

they would prefer to consume. There’s been an aquaponics project in

Mississauga since 2016 that supplies the local food bank.

I’m grateful I had this opportunity to amplify the great ideas

that come my way from my constituents. Together, we can make a

difference.

SMALL BUSINESS B.C. AWARDS

AND LONG TABLE

GROCERY

C. Oakes: On February 21, at a packed Vancouver Convention Centre, our

province’s best small business owners and the top communities supporting

entrepreneurship were announced at the Small Business B.C. Awards gala,

which celebrates excellence in business and contributions to the local,

national and global economies.

Nearly 600 small businesses from 58 British Columbia communities

were nominated in ten unique award categories as part of the annual

awards. I was incredibly proud to be on hand for the recognition of the

Best Community Impact Award winner, Long Table Grocery from my

riding.

Long Table Grocery has created a local food hub that supports over

40 Cariboo region small vegetable farms, cattle ranches and food

processors. Their business values are based on the permaculture ethics

of earth care, people care and fair share, and they strive to

incorporate principles of sustainability in all of their business

practices. They employ a diverse team and offer progressive benefits and

a healthy, inclusive work environment.

They have an ongoing commitment to reduce food waste. All surplus

food is processed into frozen meals or preserved or donated to

charitable organizations feeding local families. They have established a

pay-it-forward program in which customers can purchase local food for

families in need. They partner with social enterprises to supply

products and services.

Owners Amy Quarry and Jenny Moroni are dedicated to building the

capacity of local food systems through a fair and sustainable business

that serves all members of our community.

[1:55 p.m.]

In Amy’s words, let us all work to build a longer

table.

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

M. Elmore: The Inter-Country Adoptive Families Association of B.C., or

ICAFABC, is a new organization in our province working to support

international adoption. There are many families in B.C. who have chosen

to grow through adoption. It involves a rigorous process of training and

home assessments, along with emotional and financial

commitments.

Likewise, there are millions of children all over the world who,

for many different reasons, cannot be raised by their birth parents or

birth families. International adoption brings these children into safe,

loving and supportive B.C. families. The provincial, federal and

international hurdles these families face are immense. It’s a testament

to their genuine love for the children that these families submit

themselves to this arduous process.

Their mission statement reads as follows: “The Inter-Country

Adoptive Families Association of B.C. was formed to share the positive

aspects of intercountry adoption, to advocate for safe and legal

intercountry adoption and to provide support to both waiting families

who are beginning their journey and adoptive families who are parenting

their internationally adopted children.” The organization’s key values

are fairness, inclusiveness, respect, the right of all children to have

families and, above all, that the best interests of the child should be

at the heart of everything surrounding adoption.

I’ve met a number of these families, have heard and learnt about

their hopes and struggles and am so appreciative of their efforts to

provide children with forever families here in B.C. I ask for all

members of the Legislature to please join me to recognize and thank the

ICAFABC for their dedication, commitment and advocacy for children,

families and international adoption.

2019 WORLD PARA-NORDIC

SKIING

CHAMPIONSHIPS

S. Bond: It’s not every day that Prince George gets to host the world, but

that is exactly what happened from February 15 to February 24. We were

thrilled to be able to host the 2019 World Para-Nordic Skiing

Championships at the Otway Nordic Ski Centre. Approximately 120 athletes

from 20 countries came to compete and demonstrate their incredible

skill.

I was so honoured to be part of the first victory ceremony and

presented medals to a group of athletes, including those that had earned

the title of world champion. It was inspiring to watch the athletes

compete, and there are so many stories to share, but perhaps the most

memorable for me was watching the faces of those who had earned their

place on the podium. It didn’t matter the colour of the medal or the

anthem that was played. All of us were moved to be able to share in that

celebration of excellence and the recognition of relentless effort and

dedication that led to that moment.

Congratulations to all of the competitors. You truly inspired

us.

None of this would have been possible without the exceptional bid

team; the organizing committee chair, Kevin Pettersen, and his

hard-working team; the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club; an army of volunteers;

and, of course, generous sponsors and funding partners.

As always, our city rolled out the welcome mat for the athletes,

the coaches, officials and guests that spent time in Prince George for

the championships. It is actually difficult to express how proud I am of

the hard work that was done to ensure our community could shine on the

world stage.

Thank you so much to everyone who was involved. Be sure to get a

little rest, because in just over a year, Prince George will be the host

city for the 2020 World Women’s Curling Championship, and we will

welcome the best women curlers in the world. I have absolutely no doubt

that it too will be a first-class event.

Oral Questions

GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON

OIL TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE

ISSUES

A. Wilkinson: This government has repeatedly turned to the courts to support

their political agenda, and they’ve been repeatedly slapped down. We

just think about the Trans Mountain intervention two years ago. We think

about the ICBC decision in January.

[2:00 p.m.]

On Friday, of course, we had another example, with the Alberta

Court of Queen’s Bench, after hearing that the Trans Mountain pipeline,

according to this government, was essential to avoid “increased prices,

lack of supply and civil unrest….” That’s a quote from the British

Columbia affidavit.

On Friday, the claim was completely struck out. The court relied

upon the test which says that the claim cannot proceed if it discloses

no reasonable claim, where it is frivolous, irrelevant or improper or

where it constitutes an abuse of process.

So congratulations, government of British Columbia. The entire

claim being struck out, and this government saying that the pipeline is

essential — in its own affidavit — for fuel supplies, to avoid increased

prices and to avoid civil unrest.

We turn to the Environment Minister and say: does he support the

position taken by this government that the Trans Mountain pipeline is

essential to avoid civil unrest, boosts in fuel prices and lack of

supply?

Hon. D. Eby: Now, I do understand that there’s a difference between our side

and the other side on this issue. But that’s really no excuse for

fundamentally misstating some key facts in the question.

For example, the entire claim was not struck out. It was an

application that our claim was too early. The court said: “You’re here

too soon, trying to protect the interests of British Columbians. Come

back once Alberta has proclaimed the legislation, if you want to make

this argument.” That is fair. But we thought we had a principled

argument to make when Alberta brought forward legislation that they were

going to turn off oil and gas supplies to British Columbia.

We thought we had good reason to go to the court as early as we

could to raise this issue and say that that would have devastating

consequences, certainly, for British Columbia, and we believed the

action was illegal. To go to court too early to argue that is I don’t

think a flaw. To be enthusias­tic about protecting the interests

of British Columbians is I don’t think a flaw. But perhaps in the mind

of the Leader of the Opposition, it is.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader the Official Opposition on a supplemental.

A. Wilkinson: The Attorney General conveniently leaves out the point made by the

Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday, February 22 that the statement

of claim is hereby struck. The action is done, because it had no basis

in law. They knew that, and they used it as a political

stunt.

The question goes back to the Minister of the Environment. We

have, with this litigation and the approach of this government to the

pipeline, picked a fight with Alberta and lost in the courts. The

federal government stepped in to buy the pipeline, and what do we have

at the end of this? The threat that this government has sworn an

affidavit to — of higher gasoline prices. We paid $4.5 billion for a

pipeline we don’t know how to operate and we don’t want to run because

of this government. We have an increase in oil by rail, with the Alberta

government threatening to buy thousands of railcars to send oil down the

Fraser Canyon.

If this Environment Minister is prepared to defend that record….

Is this what the goal was of obstructing the Trans Mountain expansion —

to get more oil by rail, drive up gasoline prices and pick

fights?

Hon. D. Eby: I think that we’re going to have a difficult time in question

period if we can’t agree on the basic facts — like, for example, what

the judgment said. The judgment said: “You’re here too early. The

legislation hasn’t been proclaimed yet by the Legislature, so as a

result, you’re here in court too early.”

They did not say that it was legal to shut off oil and gas

supplies to British Columbia. If that is what the Leader of the

Opposition is suggesting — that if he received that judgment, he would

say, “Well, we have nothing else to say on this” — then there are a lot

more differences between us than simply the interests of British

Columbians on the Trans Mountain pipeline project.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition on a second

supplemental.

A. Wilkinson: Once again, the Attorney General takes a very convenient view.

He’s forgetting that his claim was struck out completely. This

government has sworn in an affidavit that the Trans Mountain pipeline is

essential to our supplies, to keep prices manageable and to avoid civil

unrest. What do we get in return? The Premier goes to meet with the

governor of Washington state.

Well, let’s look at this for a second. British Columbia imports

most of its petroleum and refined products. We refine about 67,000

barrels a day. Guess what happens in Washington state. They refine nine

times as much as we do and sell it to us.

[2:05 p.m.]

Isn’t this a great state of affairs? We have tankers going through

the Strait of Juan de Fuca, two kilometres from this building, 500 of

them a year for the last 45 years. And this government says it’s going

to solve the world’s problems by blocking the Trans Mountain pipeline so

that we can buy all our fuel from Washington state. This is

ridiculous.

On top of that, the Premier decides to put a little bit of icing

on the governor’s cake by giving him $400,000 of B.C. taxpayer money for

this pipedream of high-speed rail when we’re trying to pay for transit

in greater Vancouver.

Can the Premier explain why he’s in Washington defending their

refining industry, why he’s handing out B.C. cash to Washington state

for pipedreams and why he isn’t standing up for British

Columbia?

Hon. J. Horgan: I know there is a question, because the member said: “Why?” He

said it about five or six times at the end of his question. I’ll try and

just condense the three questions we’ve had from him to start our

question period today on this beautiful sunny day in

Victoria.

First and foremost, the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline

is not destined to set up refining capacity in British Columbia. It’s

set to be exported somewhere else, will go through some of the most

sensitive areas on the B.C. coast. We, on this side of the House, have

been abundantly clear. Our colleagues in the Green caucus have been

abundantly clear. The risk is too great. That’s why we stood up to the

suggestion that a twinning of the pipeline would be in the interest of

British Columbians, because it would not.

As my learned colleague the Attorney General just said, I seem to

recall that there was a threat from Alberta to stop sending oil and gas

products to British Columbia. We responded to that as any government

would, as the people on that side of the aisle, I’m assuming, would have

as well. I appreciate the member on the opposite side wants to find some

relevance in his job today. He’s not going to find it on this line of

questioning.

S. Bond: Well, here’s what the Prime Minister of Canada had to say last

year. “Unfortunately, B.C. has not specifically put forward proposals

for coastal protection.”

Apparently this government hasn’t proposed anything constructive

to Ottawa — not our words, the federal government’s words. On Friday,

they announced 2,700 more sailings. They obviously didn’t say a thing to

Governor Inslee about foreign tankers, despite the fact that those

tankers originate in Alaska and sail the entire coast of British

Columbia.

How exactly is the Environment Minister protecting our coast when

he chooses U.S. shipping over Canada’s interests?

Hon. G. Heyman: I’m trying to weave together some pretty gnarly threads in the

opposition member’s questions. What I can tell the opposition member and

all British Columbians is we’ve been clear from day one. We’ve been

clear that what will be shipped through an expanded Trans Mountain

pipeline is not in British Columbia’s interest. It is not diluted

bitumen that is meant to be refined to meet British Columbia’s energy

needs.

The threat from a tanker spill would be devastating to our

economy, to tens of thousands of jobs and to our coastline. There are

other threats. But as for the Prime Minister’s claim that we haven’t put

forward a single suggestion to improve ocean protection, that’s clearly

not the case. Perhaps the Prime Minister was not well informed, but it’s

clearly not the case.

We are in regular contact with the federal government around

measures to protect our coast, whether it’s from a threat from Trans

Mountain or a threat from any other vessel carrying petroleum products

up and down our coast.

Mr. Speaker: Prince George–Valemount on a supplemental.

S. Bond: Speaking of gnarly threads, did the Environment Minister even have

a conversation with the Premier before he went down and had a

conversation with a governor whose tankers sail the entire coast of

British Columbia? Was there any concern expressed about that?

[2:10 p.m.]

Let’s be clear. All marine traffic has an impact. The NEB

specifically identified ferry traffic. The government’s response? Let’s

just have 2,700 more sailings. On the weekend….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Thank you. The member for Prince George–Valemount has the

floor.

S. Bond: On the weekend, the Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans said:

“Those who say that this is about the pipeline fundamentally don’t

understand the killer whale issue.”

If the government is so willing to add 2,700 more sailings and it

doesn’t even have a conversation with the governor whose foreign tankers

sail the entire coast of British Columbia, why won’t they stand up for

B.C.’s interests and accept one more ship to move Canadian resources?

One ship.

Hon. G. Heyman: There are so many questions coming from the member opposite, but

the one that I really want to answer for British Columbians is: why did

a government that made a presentation to the National Energy Board when

they were government — they’re now in opposition — that said there had

not been adequate demonstration that B.C.’s interests would be protected

and that the company had not released information that was critical to

assure British Columbians that this could be built in

safety…?

Why does that party, which took that position when they were in

government, now seek to turn their back on the interests of British

Columbians who are concerned about our environment, our coast and our

economy? The answer is because they’re grasping at straws.

Of course I talk to the Premier on a regular basis. Of course the

Premier talks to the governor of Washington on a regular basis. Of

course we’re all concerned about the impact of tankers and the potential

for a spill, just as we’re concerned about noise from vessels. That’s

why our government is working with B.C. Hydro to minimize noise from

ferries. That’s why we made a detailed presentation to the National

Energy Board, which, regrettably, they failed to take into account in

their decision — a decision that turns its back on British Columbians in

favour of a project that does not benefit us one whit.

MONEY LAUNDERING

AND REAL ESTATE

INDUSTRY

A. Olsen: A mind-numbing line of questioning coming from the other side this

morning, almost as mind-numbing as the despicable rot that we’ve been

uncovering in British Columbia over the last couple of weeks.

Global’s reporting last fall estimates that as much as $5 billion

has been laundered through Vancouver’s real estate market since 2012.

This dirty cash is distorting housing prices, and it’s playing a large

role in the housing crisis gripping our province today. Add this to the

allegations of money laundering in our casinos, and this is painting an

ugly picture.

According to these reports, over $1 billion worth of Vancouver

property transactions in 2016 alone had links to Chinese organized

crime. Hidden ownership of B.C. real estate makes money laundering

harder to find and prosecute.

Ending the use of the bare trust loophole is one policy that my

colleague from Oak Bay–Gordon Head has been calling on government to act

on for years in this Legislature. The Attorney General himself has

flagged this as an issue that masks the source of money in real estate

transactions.

My question is to the Minister of Finance. How is this government

continuing to allow the laundering of billions of dollars through our

real estate sector?

Hon. D. Eby: Thank you to the member for the question. He will know that you

find a lot more when you have your eyes open than when you have your

eyes closed.

[2:15 p.m.]

When we asked Dr. German to have a look at what was happening in

the casinos, he came back and he said: “Wow. You know, the overwhelming

majority of people bringing bulk cash into casinos list their

occupations as being real estate-related. Maybe we should have a look at

whether this money is making its way into the real estate market as

well.” We sent him off to do that work.

Simultaneously, the Minister of Finance assembled a team of

experts on the issue of money laundering and real estate to identify

measures we could take right away. She’s got a white paper out on

beneficial ownership to move forward with legislation to establish a

beneficial ownership registry so we actually know who owns the real

estate. When Transparency International Canada looked at 100 of the most

valuable properties in Vancouver, for almost half, they couldn’t figure

out who owned them, because they were owned by offshore trusts, numbered

companies, students, if you could imagine — the most expensive

residential real estate in Vancouver.

That’s why we’re taking this really seriously. That’s why we’re

taking steps even in advance of the reports being brought in, because we

know we have gaps in the system. We have our eyes open on this, and

we’re taking action.

Mr. Speaker: Saanich North and the Islands on a supplemental.

A. Olsen: Eyes wide open.

Last year the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre

of Canada, FINTRAC — I talked about it last week — released the results

of 130 examinations done between 2015 and 2017 in the real estate sector

in British Columbia. They found that there were significant or very

significant deficiencies in the anti-money-laundering controls at

roughly 88 percent of the real estate entities that they examined — few

controls in the real estate sector and little enforcement.

Rampant money laundering left unchecked by the former B.C. Liberal

government helped fuel the housing crisis that is the cause of the

deepening sadness in this province. The reports commissioned by this

government, due next week, will no doubt daylight more issues, but what

is needed is immediate, concrete action to stem the tide of dirty cash

polluting our real estate market. We cannot afford to wait.

My question again is to the Minister of Finance. What is the

ministry going to do to further act on these issues that continue to

come to light?

Hon. C. James: Thank you to the member for the question.

I think all of us, when we see the housing crisis and know the

kinds of loopholes that were completely ignored in this province, know

that we need to get on with the action, and we’ve begun already. I’m

very proud to announce that, in fact, today we started Canada’s first

registry around condo flipping and strata flipping, again, to gather

information.

This will be a first across the country, and as the Attorney has

said, it’s critical to shine a light on the behaviour that’s going on.

That’s the first step. Then further action will be taken. We will be

looking at the beneficial trust. We will, in fact, be putting together a

registry, publicly searchable, that will disclose who’s behind

corporations, who’s behind partnerships, to ensure that there’s that

transparency there.

We’re already starting to see that having some action in the Lower

Mainland, in particular, when we look at housing prices. But we know

much more needs to be done. We’re looking at all the financial

institutions, all of the real estate areas. Our expert panel will be

reporting in March.

I look forward to further action, because housing should be there

for people, not for speculators and not for money launderers.

TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE

AND TRANSPORT OF

OIL

P. Milobar: It’s unfortunate that the Environment Minister seems to forget

that it was the B.C. Liberal government that actually worked with the

federal government and negotiated a $1.5 billion coastal spill

protection program that got put in jeopardy because of his actions. The

Trans Mountain expansion would result in about one tanker more a day

going through the Salish Sea than currently goes through.

Let’s look at what’s happening right now, today, in the Salish

Sea. Right now there are ten U.S. tankers travelling through the Salish

Sea carrying Alaskan crude. These foreign tankers operate with the

lowest safety standards and are not following any NEB requirements for

slower speeds. Trans Mountain would actually displace some of this

traffic.

To the Minister of Environment, why does this government prefer

foreign tankers and foreign jobs over Canadian resources and

Canadian-regulated shipping?

Hon. G. Heyman: The member opposite appears to confuse negotiating some form of

funding to mitigate a potential catastrophe as actually standing up for

British Columbians, but I can assure him that most British Columbians

don’t see it that way.

[2:20 p.m.]

We have been consistent on this side of the House. We are

consistent that we believe that this project is not in British

Columbia’s best interests. We’ve been consistent that we think that

whether it is southern resident killer whales or First Nations along the

coast or the tens of thousands of B.C. jobs in marine harvest or tourism

that would be at risk from a spill, it doesn’t matter where the tankers

come from. We want to work with other jurisdictions to minimize the

risk…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. G. Heyman: …and to keep the risk from being compounded sevenfold with diluted

bitumen.

Clearly, the member opposite may not be aware of this, because he

was not a member of the government caucus when the Liberals were in

government. But let me just give you one small quote from the then

government’s, now opposition’s final argument to the National Energy

Board on Kinder Morgan. “One particular challenge to the recovery of

diluted bitumen from water arises when the product becomes submerged or

sinks. The evidence shows that this may occur in fresh water and has

occurred.”

The members opposite might not think this is worth addressing on

behalf of British Columbians, but we certainly do.

Mr. Speaker: Kamloops–North Thompson on a supplemental.

P. Milobar: Let’s take a look at one of those ten tankers that are currently

in the Salish Sea — not along the whole coastline of B.C., just the

Salish Sea, the ten tankers. The T Rex is 183 metres.

It’s 50,548 tonnes, an oil tanker. It’s moving past the southern tip of

Vancouver Island right now, as we sit here and deliberate. In fact, it’s

just off the coast of Sidney. It’s the closest tanker to us right

now.

These tankers are moving more dangerous…. They are louder for our

southern resident killer whales. Meanwhile, the NDP thinks that more oil

by rail, travelling along all of our rivers, with salmon implications,

and putting that habitat at risk is preferable to a twin pipeline. As

the minister just said, it doesn’t matter where the tanker is moving.

But apparently, if it’s loaded in Burnaby, it’s a bigger problem for

him.

Can the Environment Minister explain how more foreign tankers and

increased oil-by-rail products are protecting B.C.’s coast?

Hon. G. Heyman: I’d be happy to explain to the member opposite, as well as to

British Columbians, why this government thinks that a sevenfold increase

in tanker traffic, in addition to everything else happening off our

coastline, is a significant threat to our economy, to our environment

and to tens of thousands of jobs.

I’m sure that if this government was to completely flip our

position and decide we were prepared to accept any additional risk to

our coast because we were asked to by the opposition or by the federal

government or by Alberta, they would not be raising this line of

questioning for one second.

The truth is that they see a cheap political opportunity rather

than the opportunity to stand with British Columbians, to defend our

environment, to defend our coast, to defend tens of thousands of jobs

and to support government regulations that were brought in by this

government — not by their government — to regulate and have some

response capacity to any threat of a spill from any transportation, not

to add new risks, new threats and new spills.

TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE

AND FUEL SUPPLY AND

PRICES

M. Bernier: The truth is that the U.S. producers want to stop Canadian

resource projects from happening. We know this. We know that Canada is

subsidizing American gasoline prices to the tune of almost $50 million a

day. The governor of Washington state has been very clear that he will

do anything he can to stop the expansion. I assume it’s because he has

50 million reasons why to do so.

Why is the Minister of Environment siding with U.S. interests

rather than looking out for Canadian jobs?

[2:25 p.m.]

Hon. G. Heyman: I could continue to repeat the points I’ve made. I’ve made them in

this House numerous times. We’re siding with British Columbians. We’re

siding with our environment and Indigenous nations up and down this

coast. We’re siding with tens of thousands of British Columbians whose

jobs depend on stopping a catastrophic oil spill.

We have done that thoughtfully. We have done that reasonably. We

have done that by referring disputed issues to the courts, despite the

provocation of a government to the east that brought in clearly unlawful

legislation. We’ll stay the course. We’ll stand up for British Columbia,

whether or not members opposite have any desire to join us.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Peace River South on a supplemental.

M. Bernier: It’s not exactly standing up for British Columbians when we’re

facing a 30,000-barrel-a-day shortfall in refined fuels and pay some of

the highest gasoline prices in North America. Worst of all, when we’re

paying for that gas…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

M. Bernier: …none of that money goes back into the pockets or is helping

Canadians and families here in British Columbia.

Whose side are you on? Obviously, every single one of the members

opposite want to stand up for interests in the United States. When will

the Minister of Environment actually stand up against these foreign

interests and the money that’s coming in to try to stop B.C. families

from working in jobs, investing here in Canada?

Hon. G. Heyman: Let me be clear. We understand that British Columbians are

concerned about protecting our economy, our jobs, our coastline and our

environment. That’s why we’re standing with them every step of the

way.

If the claims of the members opposite were subject to a

fact-check, this one would get a zero. You can’t have it both ways,

Members. The purpose of the expansion of Trans Mountain is apparently to

ship diluted bitumen far away from North American and British Columbian

and Albertan, if they had one, refineries. That’s the purpose of that

project. The price of oil and gas in British Columbia is not connected

in any way to the success or failure of this project.

We’re continuing to stand up for British Columbians’ interests.

We’ll do that whether the members opposite get it or not. We will do

that. We will continue to do that, and we will stand up for the issues

that we were elected to defend and protect.

FUNDING FOR

SEARCH AND RESCUE

ORGANIZATIONS

J. Thornthwaite: Last week search and rescue teams across the province were shocked

to learn that the B.C. NDP budget did not include any money for 80

search and rescue associations. The B.C. Search and Rescue Association

needs $6 million a year to adequately fund provincewide

operations.

We’d like to know: will the minister commit to that funding

today?

Hon. M. Farnworth: Search and rescue groups across the province do an amazing job on

behalf of all of us here in British Columbia. In fact, they search and

rescue and go out on more cases than, in fact, the rest of the country

combined.

As the member would know, that funding takes place each and every

year. It varies from year to year on the basis of the number of searches

and rescues that actually take place. Search and rescue funding is, in

fact, continuing throughout the coming year. What has ended was a

three-year program that was in place — not continuing funding — which

ends March 31 of this year.

What we are also doing is something which the government, when you

were in government, failed to do on this side. It was to put in place

long-term, stable funding which search and rescue can count on, which in

fact would be a line item. That is something that we are working on and

committed to getting to. But what’s really interesting is that they’re

asking us to do something that they failed to do for the entire 16 years

that they were in government.

[2:30 p.m.]

This side understands the importance of long-term, stable funding,

and we’re committed to doing just that.

[End of question period.]

Orders of the Day

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

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

M. Stilwell: It’s my pleasure to take my place, continuing on from Thursday before

we adjourned, where I made a few remarks thanking my incredible husband, my

wonderful son, the staff that supports me each and every day and, of course,

the people of Parksville-Qualicum who elected me and give me the opportunity

to speak in the House on their behalf.

I know that people were waiting in eager anticipation over the weekend

to hear my remarks on the budget, so I shall begin.

In the presentation of the budget, the Finance Minister talks about

opportunity and making life more affordable for British Columbians. It’s a

promising sentiment, no doubt, but that’s really all it is — just a

sentiment. It’s riddled with increased spending and no plans on how to pay

for things other than increased tax burdens. I mean, it took 20 minutes for

the Finance Minister to even mention the word “jobs.”

Like many of my colleagues, though, and other British Columbians, I

hoped that this year the NDP might deliver a budget that lays out feasible

plans for economic growth and sought to create opportunities for residents.

And there’s good news. It does offer some support, things that everyone can

support, like the rate increase for foster parents and home-share providers

and the $74 million invested in child and youth mental health care, which

are both very much needed in this province.

Increased child care spaces and eliminating interest on B.C. student

loans are worthy investments. They’re good ideas. But the means of

allocating the funding for these crucial initiatives is where the problem

arises. There needs to be consideration about how we generate the revenue in

order to provide these supports and services for British Columbians, and

that’s where this budget falls flat.

I believe that British Columbians will be concerned with the budget’s

overall emphasis on big taxes and even bigger spending with no regard for

how this will impact the growth of the economy or help to create private

sector jobs.

The Finance Minister is barely balancing her budget, despite the fact

that since taking power, she has increased taxes by billions on individuals,

homeowners and businesses. The healthy surplus that was created by the

former B.C. Liberal government has been spent by the NDP, and the NDP got

lucky with the lucrative transfer payment from the federal government. If it

weren’t for that federal transfer, B.C. would be facing an $800 million

deficit today.

Unfortunately, with this budget, the people of British Columbia will

be left to the devices of the NDP’s ongoing illusions of the last two years.

What we have seen is the government introduce bills and agreements that are

misnamed — most notably, the speculation tax, which actually fails to deal

with speculation.

[2:35 p.m.]

In Nanaimo alone, 40,885 residents fall under the speculation

umbrella. And these people aren’t speculators. They’re residents with legacy

properties that are either used for leisure, for family vacations, or are

being used for partial retirement with the intention of full

retirement.

The speculation tax forces 1.6 million British Columbians to prove

that they reside in their homes or that they rent them out. They’re forced

to sign a detailed information declaration stating that the homes that they

use their hard-earned money to pay for are being used in a manner that the

government approves of.

I’ve had so many calls and emails from constituents who are angry, who

are frustrated with the process required for them to prove their innocence.

It’s really unbelievable that the NDP is using a negative option billing to

implement the tax, which means if the homeowners don’t actually submit the

declaration on time, they’ll be charged the full amount of the

tax.

Just the other day I spoke with a constituent who was frustrated with

the exemption form. It took him more than 30 minutes to fill out, and then

he was concerned about the personal information that he was expected to

declare and that he was being asked for. He started wondering what other

purposes the government would maybe use that information for. Why should

residents be spending 30 minutes more, sometimes more on the phone waiting

for answers from government employees, to prove that their properties are

being used in a way that the government sees fit?

This tax does nothing to make housing more affordable. All it does is

delay housing projects and scare off prospective buyers from other

provinces.

What’s needed is an increase in supply, but the government’s 30-point

plan on housing is nothing but regulatory changes and tax implementations,

with relief to renters, which we still haven’t seen. There is nothing in the

supply.

Tax on these properties is a tax on assets used to fuel the NDP’s

spending spree. The NDP is spending money at an alarming rate, and the

residents of British Columbia will be forced to foot the bill.

Simply put, this budget is not sustainable, plain and simple. The

budget is irresponsible, and it squanders the surplus generated by the hard

work of the former B.C. Liberal government. The NDP’s spending has

skyrocketed a staggering 26 percent since they took power. That translates

into an alarming $13 billion.

It’s alarming considering that housing starts are set to drop a

whopping 25 percent, and the NDP are actually predicting that by 2021

housing starts will have dropped by about 30 percent from the time they took

office in 2017. That’s a loss of tens of thousands of units and untold jobs

and economic activity. Fewer homes being built does not improve

affordability.

While the government continues to highlight commitment to investing in

additional supportive housing projects across B.C., the NDP and their Green

Party partners seem to be among a small minority who don’t understand or

refuse to acknowledge how important the supply

part is to the housing

affordability solution.

The result of this government’s focus simply on demand measures, like

that so-called speculation tax I spoke about, has thrust the construction

and real estate sectors into the early stages of a serious downturn,

jeopardizing thousands of construction jobs and much-needed new market

housing supply. Regrettably, this budget makes no mention of supply-focused

actions that are to be pursued by the NDP as part of a more complete

strategy to drive housing affordability.

On top of that, resource revenues are set to drop 30 percent. Where’s

the NDP’s plan to address the crisis unfolding in B.C.’s forestry-dependent

communities? Where’s the NDP’s plan to assist B.C.’s mining communities,

given that there are no new mines coming on stream anytime soon in British

Columbia and that the private sector exploration activity is declining

rapidly? The NDP have no such plans.

[2:40 p.m.]

At the end of the day, taxes are up $10 billion. That represents

$1,200 in additional tax for every man, woman or child over the life of the

NDP’s fiscal plan. It’s going to cost you more to heat your home, to fuel

your car and to insure your truck — a lot more. How any of this makes life

more affordable for the people of B.C. is just not clear to me.

The Finance Minister talks about making life more affordable for

people in this province and putting money back in their pockets, but the

facts paint a very different picture. The government’s own throne speech

actually acknowledged this failure by saying: “Affordability remains the

biggest challenge facing B.C. families. Many people are working two or three

jobs, commuting farther for work and spending less time with their families,

just to make ends meet. But no matter how hard they work, they cannot seem

to get ahead.”

That’s not surprising, because the massive tax increases, the fees,

the insurance costs imposed on B.C. families under the NDP are staggering.

In fact, the carbon tax, which was previously revenue-neutral, will now be

generating $6 billion over the next three years, which will come directly

out of the pocket of British Columbians.

While investing $902 million of it back into its CleanBC plan and

related climate action plans and initiatives, the remaining $5 billion will

presumably disappear into the government’s general revenue, to be spent on a

number of other programs. Gone is the carbon tax revenue neutrality and

transparency. So much for the Finance Minister’s plans to give money back to

British Columbians.

We have to note, too, that the carbon tax will increase on April 1 by

another $5 a tonne, raising that additional $200 million from taxpayers.

That was in the fine print in the budget speech, at the bottom of page

The carbon tax is meant to fight climate change, yet only a small 15

percent is actually going towards those efforts. We have to wonder what will

come from the other 85 percent. Where will it go? What will be done with it?

We don’t have a clue, as it gets dumped into the general revenues. How can

we call this a carbon tax when so little of it is actually allocated to

reducing the province’s carbon footprint?

In addition to the speculation tax and the carbon tax, in 2019, we saw

the rollout of the employer health care tax. The NDP have made people

believe that they would be eliminating MSP, but in reality, they simply

replaced it with the employer health tax.

This will also be the year of the infamous double-dip, as the NDP

continue to charge MSP while simultaneously charging the higher replacement

of the employer health tax. By double-dipping and charging both the EHT and

the MSP, they are collecting even more dollars from people’s pockets and

penalizing business owners.

Just like the rest of the taxes imposed by the NDP, this one doesn’t

actually function as it should. Instead of targeting large corporations,

it’s penalizing entrepreneurs and small business owners. When faced with an

additional tax burden, the small and medium-sized business owners will have

to cut staffing or increase the prices to their products or

services.

I know that in my riding of Parksville-Qualicum, one of my business

owners reported that the EHT will cost him an additional $60,000, and that

money’s coming right directly from his bottom line. His choice is to

increase prices, which could result in a loss of customers. He can cut staff

hours or he can lay people off, meaning he’d have to run his business with

less support, and he’d have to spend more time at work. None of these

options is great for the business owner, for the employees or even for the

customers.

Sure, eliminating MSP is a noble task. But hiding it behind another

tax that penalizes business owners just means that consumers will be paying

the tax in another way.

The child opportunity fund. That was announced in the budget. It

alleges to give back money to parents of this province. But we won’t

actually know until 2020, because that’s when it will actually roll out — in

20 months from now, almost two years from now. So what are parents who are

struggling today supposed to do until then? Just stick it out until 2020? I

thought this was Budget 2019, not Budget 2020.

[2:45 p.m.]

A lot can and a lot will happen between now and October 2020, so I

think parents shouldn’t quite hold their breath and depend on what may

happen in the future. Is this government just selling more promises to the

people of British Columbia — promises that they clearly don’t intend to

keep? But they sure do sound good. Sound bites are great.

Just look at the fact that the NDP still hasn’t delivered on their

$400 renters rebate. You don’t hear about it anymore. The $10-a-day daycare

remains a talking point. The NDP promised 22,000 new daycare spaces in over

three years, but they’ve only created 3,000 spaces. The NDP promise is just

14 percent fulfilled. They promised British Columbians an affordable child

care benefit, but after being in power for two years, there are only 700

more families who have actually received the benefit.

The only implementations in this budget that we’re seeing in regard to

a poverty reduction plan include a minimum-wage increase and increasing

disability assistance rates another $50. I’m not sure how those things are

actually going to break the cycle of poverty, especially when goods and

services are bound to get more expensive as a result of things like the

carbon tax. We need a budget that is truly balanced and supports the people

of British Columbia.

This budget overly emphasizes spending, and it lacks a plan of growing

the economy. A healthy economy is not going to come from a tax-spend model.

A healthy economy benefits everyone, encouraging entrepreneurship and

investments that are good for the economy and good for the

people.

I think it’s important to note that small business and job creators

were not even mentioned in this budget. They are the backbone of this

province. Unfortunately, the heavy-handed taxation hardly encourages the

entrepreneurship and investment that are so vitally important to a healthy

economy, that generate that revenue and build the economy.

If people are working, then they are able to contribute to the economy

and to be self-sufficient, and they’re able to rely even less on government

supports. Yet this budget does nothing to address the diversification of the

job market — except for maybe the LNG pipeline, which has gotten to where it

is today because of the hard work done by the B.C. Liberals

prior.

It does nothing to make British Columbia a province of unique

resources and industry, competitive on a global scale. British Columbia has

the capacity to be competitive in the global economy because it is a desired

destination for tourists all over Canada and the rest of the world. It’s

home of some of the most sought-after mountains and ocean views in the

entire world. How many other places do you know of that can offer skiing,

snowboarding, surfing and hiking all in the same place? Not many.

The tourism industry is a great resource for jobs, and it generates

that important revenue in our province. But it seems like the NDP have

forgotten about this crucial industry, because they have, unsurprisingly,

not introduced any new resources to make sure that that sector remains

profitable. The Finance Minister addressed the industry with one word in the

budget: “tourism.” It was very informative.

British Columbia needs to remain competitive during a time where there

is threat of economic downturn. The tourism industry is one that enables our

province to stand out among the rest of the world.

The 2019 budget leaves no wiggle room. There is no rainy-day fund.

There is more money allocated for spending than there is for saving. The

irresponsible spending by the NDP is setting us up for failure. They are

baking in so much spending — $13 billion in spending to the end of their

term, a 26 percent increase over the level of spending when the NDP assumed

office, or power, only 19 months ago. And who will be left to pay the bill?

The taxpayer. British Columbians.

[2:50 p.m.]

This excessive spending eliminates any sort of rainy-day fund should

the province face tougher times. It creates huge risk should the province

find itself faced with an economic downturn. We all know that growth is

slowing. Spending at this rate is setting us up for a potential structural

deficit.

It’s plain to see that the NDP budget fails to address the

affordability crisis in this province. The budget is reminiscent of a

government stuck in the 1970s era of thinking, where they believe that you

can tax your way to prosperity and spend your way to growth, that big

government knows best and that good-paying private sector jobs will just —

poof! — magically appear out of nowhere. That’s simply not how you create a

growing, vibrant, diverse economy where taxpayers are respected, where

people have family-supporting jobs and where governments have the resources

that they need to sustainably invest in their people.

The people of British Columbia, I can tell you, are starting to feel

cheated. This government’s actions have raised the cost of living. They’ve

jeopardized economic growth, on which the NDP has pinned all hopes of paying

for their spending spree going forward. You’ll have less money to spend, and

it’ll be harder than ever, for those struggling with affordability, to

secure their futures.

British Columbians deserve a budget that creates opportunity for

everyone, not one that presents an opportunity for the government to take

their hard-earned money. We deserve a government that grows the economy and

focuses on real opportunities for all of us. Simply, we deserve

better.

I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to speak on the budget on

behalf of the people of Parksville, Qualicum, Nanaimo, Lantzville, and

Nanoose Bay. I think it’s safe to say that I will not be supporting this

budget.

Deputy Speaker: The member for Nanaimo, making her maiden speech.

[Applause.]

S. Malcolmson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s very good to be here on the territory of

the Songhees and Esquimalt people. I come to you from Snuneymuxw territory.

I’m drawing back to a time ten years ago when I had just become elected as

Islands Trust council chair. I was part of a movement to sign, with the

Snuneymuxw First Nation, a protocol agreement. This was initiated by Chief

Viola Wyse.

We had spent some years, as my colleague the member from Courtenay,

north Nanaimo….

That’s not even the right name of your riding.

With my friend here, my MLA, we’ve been through a lot of years of

treaty negotiation where local governments and the people that actually

lived in Nanaimo were thrown around by treaty negotiators, both the federal

and provincial negotiators. There was a lot of racism expressed in a lot of

our community halls. We had the feeling — once the treaty process fell apart

and the treaty negotiators, the feds and the province, left town — that it

was just up to us as local people to carry on that relationship, and some

damage had been done.

Chief Wyse just said, so beautifully and so firmly: “Never again.

We’re not going to talk to each other that way again.” I was so honoured to

sign with her a protocol committing us to mutual respect and cooperation, a

recognition of each other’s responsibilities. Of course, as a country and as

settlers in British Columbia, our inherent responsibility is to recognize

the treaty rights and the Snuneymuxw ownership, and unceded ownership, of

the land.

A year later Chief Wyse died at her desk. It was a total shock and a

heartbreaker. Her funeral was huge. The recreation centre must have had

1,000 people there — the Grand Chief, the AFN Chief, the Premier and all of

us. She had formed these relationships which had never been committed to

before.

[2:55 p.m.]

On our way leaving the rec centre and heading down the Nanaimo

Parkway, down to the little tiny Snuneymuxw cemetery on reserve, just right

down at the waterfront, we were all loaded onto RDN transit buses for that

funeral procession, and the parkway was closed down. We were the only ones

travelling on it, the hearse, Chief Wyse’s family and all these city buses.

There we were, all holding the strap, bumping along the parkway

together.

I was with Mayor Ruttan, who hadn’t been, particularly, an advocate

for treaty rights before, but he had signed a protocol with Chief Wyse, and

there he was. I’m pretty sure he had his mayoral regalia on, and I’m there

with former RDN chair Joe Stanhope. He’s about six feet tall and — I don’t

know — 90 years old, and he’s bumping along on the bus too. Then there are

kids in sweatpants. We were all there together.

Every off-ramp from the parkway was shut down, blocked by an RCMP

vehicle, and there were the Mounties in serge, saluting her funeral when the

buses and the hearse drove by. It was a moment for us and especially for a

city like Nanaimo that doesn’t always have, at that time anyway, such a

lightened reputation. It really felt like one of those transformational

times.

We were committed. She had made us commit to work together, and we

were on the same bus. We were literally on the same bus and pulling in the

same direction.

A day like today feels…. It reminds me of that energy. I am on the bus

with some new friends. I’m thinking of my federal friends in the NDP today.

They are pulling together to get our leader, Jagmeet Singh, elected. He’s a

friend, and I’m just wishing him so well. We’re hoping that the voters make

the right choice in Burnaby South.

I’m surrounded by new colleagues in the NDP, and the Premier is here.

Thanks for inviting me in. I’m supported today by family and a lot of former

colleagues that I worked with for 12 years on Islands Trust Council — us

carrying out the mandate and the responsibility given to us by the

provincial government and the people: the “preserve and protect” for the

benefit of everyone.

And my amazing love, Howie, and some of my family. My aunt and uncle

are here. We are together. You represent for me coastal communities working

together, pulling together, and us being here represents that we have a

government that is pulling together with local communities, with coastal

communities, for the first time in a very long time.

We paddled hard together. We worked hard together, locally, to protect

and reform B.C. Ferries service, for example. The B.C. Liberals had doubled

the fares over the 16 years that they were in power. They had slashed

services. In my own community, Gabriola, people had to leave, had to quit

jobs that they had had at the hospital for decades, because there was always

that 5:30 in the morning ferry that could get you to your shift.

They had the mean-spirited approach to saying that ferries are a

service that should pay for themselves. It’s not an approach that was taken

with any other public service. You don’t do that for hospitals or roads or

universities. But the impact of that ideology hit communities hard, and we

rose up. Islands Trust Council fought hard on this. Union of B.C.

Municipalities did. People did. We protested in every imaginable way.

Islanders are very good at that. We’ve got a bit more practice than we

want.

The NDP took action. We had already reduced fares on minor routes by

15 percent. We’d already frozen major route fares. We’d already returned

free passage for seniors, midweek. All very sensible. But right away, as

soon as this government was in power, that’s what you did right

away.

Just on Friday, my colleague from North Island, who lives on Quadra

Island — now a fantastic choice that she’s the Transport Minister, because

she really gets ferries — announced that we are restoring all of those

service cuts that were made in 2014.

[3:00 p.m.]

We’re also returning to the model that used to be in place of a

coastal council, so that people that are reliant, ferry-dependent

communities that are relying on the ferry service, don’t have to fight their

way in and protest in front of the Legislature, like we’ve done many times

while the Liberals were in power. Instead, this government is going to bring

those interests back in and form that coastal council again that did just

such good work. We are a province that is connected by ferries, and this

government recognizes that, and I’m proud of that.

We pulled together. A lot of my friends in the gallery, too, and

around the province — we pulled together really hard on marine conflicts.

Question period was full of this today. It was Islands Trust Council that

rang the alarm on the impact of bitumen spills in the marine environment.

Nobody else was talking about it. We started writing polite letters to the

federal government, saying: “Do you know how you would clean this up? Like,

really? Show us your studies.”

We were very kind at the beginning and then increasingly anxious that

no one was sending us the reassuring words. We were asking the Environment

Minister and…. Well, they weren’t called “environment,” though, at that

time. They’d removed “environment.” The Liberals had removed it from the

name of the ministry, right? So it was Water, Land and Air Protection or

something. Anyway, they weren’t helping us out either.

Our staff at Islands Trust revealed that the number of people and the

size of the budget that B.C. had to address an oil spill in the ocean —

because as soon as it hits the beach, it’s ours, right? — had just been

slashed and burned during the decade of mean-spirited cuts on the B.C.

Liberal side. Then we couldn’t get the feds, either, to bolster the safety

net. So we’re so relieved that this government is the one that’s doing that

work.

Standing up against Kinder Morgan and now Trans Mountain pipeline —

same story. Islands Trust Council — we tried to do the work. I really

thought all we needed to do in Ottawa was defeat the Conservatives, so I

went and got elected there. But whoever would have thought that the

pro-Indigenous, pro–climate change leadership Prime Minister would buy the

pipeline and ram the extra oil tanker traffic through faster than anybody?

So this is the place. This is the place to fight this.

Abandoned vessels, which I worked on for so long…. One of the times I

was at Trust Council, we led 17 different local governments in to meet with

the Liberal Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources to say:

“There’s a hole in jurisdiction. No one is fixing this problem, and it’s

creating a huge pollution problem, a hazard to navigation and an oil spill

risk. And it’s just getting worse.”

I took that to Ottawa, too, and had some success following in the

footsteps of my colleague and friend Jean Crowder. She fought hard with and

for coastal communities in Ottawa for that.

I have been so honoured to follow in your footsteps and have some

success in Ottawa. But again, this is the place. This is the House where

we’re going to get this work done, and that’s going to be good for the

economy and environment. It’s something that coastal communities have been

calling on us to do for such a long time.

I got to sit here on this B.C. government bus because of the work of a

whole lot of volunteers — almost 1,000 volunteers — my fantastic, amazing

campaign manager, Karen Cooling, and all the beautiful young people that

work with her. So grateful. And almost 12,000 voters. We increased our

percentage and our vote count.

Thank you, Nanaimo. I’m so honoured to be here and so honoured to do

that work.

Because I am here to protect the marine environment, because I’m here

to fight for the coast, I have to say how sad I was in the election

campaign, knocking on doors. Did we hear people talking about the risk of a

bitumen oil spill, about the calamity of forest fires caused by climate

change, about the risk to our food security when drought hits California?

The real emergencies that lie ahead of us were very hard for anybody to

articulate — I’ve got to be honest — when they are still fighting to live

paycheque to paycheque, when they are still on the verge of homelessness.

They know how close it is for them.

Samaritan House women’s shelter, in Nanaimo…. Over the last year, 50

percent of the women that come to their homeless shelter are over the age of

50, and they are women who’ve worked all their lives. It just takes one bad

hit. A divorce. A terrible illness. A job loss. A landlord who doesn’t

exercise his rights…. And with the previous government, not enough recourse

— no Human Rights Tribunal. All sorts of protections that were taken away

just made vulnerable people that much more vulnerable.

[3:05 p.m.]

What I did hear on the campaign doorstep was homelessness, living

paycheque to paycheque, student debt — colossal student debt — and people

who lost family members to the opioid crisis with no fault of their own. So

I get that. Every election campaign I’m reminded there is no protection of

the environment without social justice, and it’s only New Democrats that are

going to do that work.

How are we making change for people right now? I did hear this on the

doorstep. The door opens. There’s a parent with a kid on one hip, and they

say: “I know who you are. I know why you’re here. You’re the NDP. I’m saving

$1,000 a month because of your child care offer. Thank you very

much.”

We know that’s good for business. Business asked us to invest in child

care, and we did. We know it gets women into the workforce who want to be

there — skilled, talented women. It is usually the women that get left

behind, that get forced out of the workplace when they can’t find affordable

child care. In some cases, child care has been more expensive than rent for

some families. So this is a huge offer. This is the next big social program

in the country that’s been offered. And it’s this government that did

that.

In Nanaimo specifically, 2,700 kids are getting the benefit of those

less-expensive spots. We’ve got 80 more brand-new licensed child care spaces

in Nanaimo and more to come — 22,000 more licensed spaces to be funded

across B.C. in this most recent budget. There is more to do. But there is a

lot of ground to make up.

Nanaimo got especially hard hit by the Liberal record of cutting

services and making life more expensive. Our health care workers, teachers,

our forest workers…. On Vancouver Island alone, over 6,000 value-added

forestry jobs were lost while the Liberals were in power. That used to be

the foundation of our economy. So we’ve got trust to rebuild, as well as

results to generate fast.

Here’s one really good one we heard about a lot in the campaign. In

2013, the Liberals got a report that said Nanaimo’s intensive care unit was

the most dangerous in the country, and they did nothing. The Health Minister

came to Nanaimo and said: “I’m going to do that work. It’s just in our first

year of government. We are going to get it done.” That’s been the change of

people’s lives.

I’m at the hockey game, and Alex Mattes, the head of the paramedic

union, says: “Your government brought 24 new paramedics. We haven’t had any

new resources for a decade. We thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” That is

changing lives. This government did that.

And 300 people in a tent city in downtown Nanaimo — a terrible

situation for anybody, for those living there and for those neighbours of

it. When our old city council could not get its act together and say yes to

anything, it was our Housing Minister who said: “Yes, we’re going to find

modular housing units. We’re going to get those people housed in a

dignified, fast way.” Thank you for it.

Now, the rollout hasn’t been perfect. It couldn’t have been. We were

totally under the gun with a court order that said: “You have to do it

fast.” We know that the neighbours have felt more impacts than anybody would

have wanted, and we are working on those wraparound services. Thank goodness

we have a Mental Health and Addictions Minister in B.C. for the first time

ever. We’ve got singular focus.

So we are working. In a year and a half, we’ve got a lot done. There

is more to do, but I’m so proud of what we have done.

I am going on. I never thought I would make such a long speech, but

there’s so much to say. I can….

Interjections.

S. Malcolmson: One of the very first things that happened after the

Lieutenant-Governor, in her wisdom, decided that it would be the Greens and

the NDP that would form government here, was the Premier came up to

Vancouver Island University. It was right around Labour Day. We all said:

“We hope it’s going to be the fulfilment of the tuition waiver

commitment.

Now, this is a great story. Nanaimo’s university, Vancouver Island

University, took up the challenge in 2013 of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the

children and family advocate, who said: “Kids in foster care should get

support if they want to go to university and college.”

[3:10 p.m.]

Then in the 2017 campaign, the Premier made that commitment: “I’m

going to get this done.” So here we are in the room. I must say there

weren’t a lot of New Democrats there, that I could tell. I was feeling a

little lonely, me and the Premier and my MLA. The Premier started to talk.

He said: “I don’t know about you, but when I was 18 and going to university,

I sure as heck didn’t get there on my own.” Then he kind of choked up a

little. Then his security detail, the RCMP, were wiping away tears in the

back of the room. Everybody is looking at each other like: “What kind of a

government is this? We’ve never heard a press conference quite like that

before.”

Two other ministers were there, but really, the space was taken by the

Premier saying that this is our commitment. These kids were taken away from

their families. Government took these kids away from their families, and we

are going to be the responsible parent. If they want to go to university or

college, we are going to get them there, and we are going to pay their

fare.

Then sidebar. Then the Premier passed the mike to two young women who

had experience living in foster care. They occupied the rest of the press

conference. That was perfect because they’re the ones that had been there.

Ruby and — I don’t remember her friend’s name — Selena? No.

So that changes lives, and it’s been hugely successful already. Across

the province, almost 700 went back to school in the year since the Premier

made that announcement. There are 83 at Vancouver Island University

alone.

When I was with the minister, we were visiting the new Nanaimo

Aboriginal Centre housing — beautiful affordable housing that was just built

last year on Bowen Road. B.C. Housing funded that: 24 units and the first

multifamily housing that’s been built in Nanaimo since the early

’90s.

We met Sandra, who said: “I lost my kids because my basement flooded,

but now I am here. My kids are back. My family is reunited. I’ve got this

beautiful, beautiful apartment. And oh, by the way, did I mention that I’m

at VIU? I used to be a foster child myself. I’m going to school. I’m getting

an education.” It was such a beautiful story.

Here’s another beautiful story that I loved in the budget

announcement. If you are family who wants to look after your own extended

family to prevent them from being, themselves, taken into foster care, you

can now get funding equivalent to what foster parents get. That is going to

change lives and keep families together. I thank the Finance Minister for

saying yes to that. That’s what New Democrats do.

Student debt: another huge one. Under the Liberals, the cost of

education was tripled. I just keep bumping into kids who have got a debt

load that is phenomenal. The Liberals did nothing while B.C. students

struggled with the highest interest loans in the country. Effective last

week, announced in the budget, interest is eliminated on B.C. student

loans.

We’ve got huge investments in mental health care, particularly focused

on youth, which I’ve heard about a lot from amazing, articulate young

advocates in Nanaimo. A $74 million investment in prevention and early

intervention for kids, youth and young adults — that’s going to change

lives.

Increasing support by another $30 million for a total of over $600

million to help tackle the overdose crisis. It’s hit Nanaimo hard. We need

it. We need to support those front-line groups who have been doing this

amazing, brave work. We are there to help.

Affordable housing in Nanaimo alone — 300 new affordable housing units

that have been announced just last year. We’ve got more work to do on

modular housing, but I’m especially excited about the rent banks in last

week’s budget announcement. Someone that’s on the verge of losing their

house because they can’t pay one month’s rent, say? They can go to the rent

bank, which will be operated by a non-profit, groups that are on the ground

and embedded in the grass roots. That’s going to keep people able to keep

their homes. That’s going to reduce homelessness. That is going to change

lives. Thank you.

Another one. This is a little bit less sexy, maybe: mobile home parks.

We have experienced this all over Vancouver Island. If you have what you

think is a mobile home but it’s been sitting there for 30 years, if a new

owner comes in and says, “We’re razing the park. We’re going to put up

condos,” you all of a sudden have zero asset.

[3:15 p.m.]

This especially hits elderly folks with, again, a crisis of

homelessness. So this government has brought in protections that give 12

months’ notice. Plus, if in fact, the mobile unit is no longer mobile,

you’ve got some recourse and some compensation. That is going to change

lives, and this government did that too.

My list goes on and on. Just trust me. There’s a lot more.

Climate action. Over $900 million to build the green jobs of the

future and create incentives right now to drive fossil-emission-free cars

and to renovate homes and, especially, to build that next wave of

jobs.

The fish farms announcement on the Broughton. That is a game-changing

decision for Canada — to have First Nations in the Broughton work together

with the provincial government, for them to trust each other enough to get

the work done, for them to agree to a path forward to remove fish farms from

the wild salmon migration routes after 30 years of conflict. I mean, I

thought if Alexandra Morton couldn’t get it done, nobody could.

It turned out that it needed a new government with a commitment to

doing things in a new way and First Nations that trusted that this

government was going to treat them well and work well with them. They got it

done. That’s a model for our next conflict. So thank you for that

too.

I started my first day of work here at the side of Chief Wyse from

Snuneymuxw First Nation, Paul Wyse-Seward and Councillor Erralyn Thomas.

They blanketed me on my way in the door. It was the son of the late Chief

Viola Wyse, who I started this journey with in some ways, arguably. They

gave me the honour of both that protection and also that ceremony. Not only

pledging an oath to the Queen, but that I was able to articulate my

commitment to Snuneymuxw and to local people was just the honour of my life.

I still can’t quite believe that it happened.

To Chief Wyse, if you’re watching, I’m thinking of your mom, and I’m

looking forward to working with you and your whole council on the next

steps.

We have a fantastic new council elected in Nanaimo. You may have met

the new mayor, Leonard Krog. He and I have worked really well together for a

really long time. The goodwill expressed towards him in the community is

extraordinary.

The powerhouse, I feel, is the opportunity of a government here that

is willing to invest in people and work with coastal communities, with the

strong leadership of Snuneymuxw First Nation, a really young dynamic,

well-educated and highly motivated council. With our strong friendship and

our promise to each other and a city council that is just so ready to do the

work…. It’s already doing it with heart and wisdom.

We’ve got so much to do. Coastal protection. Climate change.

Affordable housing. Working for people, working together. We are on the same

bus, and we are moving together.

Thank you, friends.

Deputy Speaker: Member for Cariboo North.

C. Oakes: I am pleased to have the….

Deputy Speaker: Member, hold it. Sorry. I missed….

Member for Cowichan Valley.

S. Furstenau: Thank you, hon. Speaker, and thank you to Cariboo North for

understanding. I had to wait for moving people out of my realm

here.

I actually want to start by acknowledging that we just had a group of

students come into the gallery. You look to be about grade 5 or 6, I’m

thinking. Yeah, I’m getting nods up there.

I’m going to say that much of my speech really does focus on the

responsibility that we have in this House to you. You should always be at

the front of our minds in the work that we’re doing here and the decisions

we are making here, because that work and those decisions are going to

impact you more than anybody else.

[3:20 p.m.]

I want you to know that you are at the front of my mind in the work

I’m doing — and all young people and future generations. I’m glad you’re

here today. Welcome to the Legislature.

The members of this House know I originally got into politics because

I’d actually lost trust in government’s ability to manage our resources and

to keep my community safe. Contaminated soil had been dumped in my watershed

in Shawnigan Lake. It’s a watershed that my children and many other children

drink from every day. It’s the watershed that my children actually learned

to swim in, in Shawnigan Lake. It’s a watershed that nourishes wildlife and

our entire community. It keeps our local ecosystems, our children — all of

our families — alive and healthy.

Several years ago, in 2011, when I first moved to Shaw­nigan

Lake, we began to notice signs with skulls and crossbones dotting the sides

of the roads. We learned that the provincial government was considering

issuing a permit to a company operating a quarry at the south end of

Shawnigan Lake, halfway up a mountain that overlooks a lake that we draw our

drinking water from.

The site has Shawnigan Creek on its eastern edge, which feeds directly

into Shawnigan Lake, and a so-called ephemeral stream — although it runs

pretty much all year — on its western edge, which runs into Shawnigan Creek.

Despite immense public opposition, the draft permit was issued for the

contaminated landfill.

The materials that were approved to be deposited in our drinking

watershed included benzene, toluene, xylene, styrene, methyl tertiary butyl

ether, volatile petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,

chloride sodium glycols. We watched as truckload after truckload came into

our watershed and deposited soil that had these contaminants in them. It was

a threat to our health, and it still is.

The permit was indeed cancelled in February 2017, after immense work

on the part of our community, but not before tens of thousands of tonnes of

contaminated soil were deposited at the site, contaminated soil that sits

there to this day, two years after that permit was cancelled. As a mother, a

teacher and a community member, I could not sit back and allow this to

happen without getting involved.

My daughter turns 12 this year, much like many of you up there, I

expect. She will not be able to vote. You will not be able to vote until

2025, although if we lower the voting age, we could get that down a few

years. We’re working on that.

This is just a few years shy of the latest IPCC report that has warned

that we will hit 1.5 degrees of warming if we fail to change course in the

coming decade. By the time she’s able to vote, the frightening trends of

climate change will be worsening. She is, and you are, the ones who will

have to deal with those repercussions.

I think back to the words of 15-year-old Swedish girl and activist

Greta Thunberg. Greta has been skipping schools on Friday to protest for

climate action. When the British Prime Minister criticized her movement for

“wasting lesson time,” Greta responded: “That may well be the case. But then

again, political leaders have wasted 30 years of inaction” on climate, and

“that is slightly worse.”

Today I am pleased to rise to the first provincial budget that takes

substantive climate action. The $900 million that we see invested in CleanBC

is proof of the success of the collaboration of a minority government. It is

proof that we are setting a pathway towards fulfilling the debt that we owe

to future generations. But we have a long way to go.

I still look up at the scarred Shawnigan mountainside each day and see

that contaminated soil that sits there waiting to be removed. But I am

encouraged by this budget and the shift it marks in how we view our role in

government. In addition to the significant funding for CleanBC, there’s

funding for education, funding to address the failures of professional

reliance, increased affordability for students, for youth mental health,

PharmaCare, child care and First Nations.

[3:25 p.m.]

These investments, which we pushed for through the confidence and

supply agreement, show that we take our role seriously. Our role is not to

serve the interests of wealthy, multinational corporations that seek to

exploit our raw resources. Our role is to serve the interests of future

generations.

CleanBC is the culmination of years of work. As my colleague pointed

out last week, it is not just a climate plan; it is an economic plan. It

provides a pathway towards positioning British Columbia as a low-carbon

leader. It is an all-of-government approach to tackling the greatest

challenge that humankind has ever faced. Most of all, it is an investment in

our young people and their future.

To cover some of the numbers, the $902 million allo­cated to

CleanBC provides $354 million in operating funding, $299 million in

contingency for programs under development, $26 million in capital

investments to help people and businesses reduce their emissions and $58

million in additional capital funding to make buildings more efficient.

These are only some of the aspects funded under the CleanBC plan, which will

take us a long way towards meeting our target of 40 percent greenhouse gas

emissions reductions by 2030.

But if we really look at these numbers, we can see how they will

benefit the health and well-being of British Columbians. For example, $223

million will increase the climate action tax credit over three years. This

can save a family of four up to $400 this year. By taxing what we don’t want

— pollution — we can shift away from taxing things that we do, like good

earnings for regular people.

Budget 2019 is projecting $1.7 billion raised through taxing carbon

emissions, which reduces pressure on income tax and helps pay for the

elimination of MSP payments, all while reducing pollution. By making homes

and buildings more efficient and incentivizing the shift to electric

vehicles, families will have to pay less each month for utilities and

gas.

The research shows that climate change will and already is impacting

society’s most vulnerable people first. By addressing climate change, we are

heading off growing inequalities that put vulnerable people the most at

risk.

In our submission to the Budget 2019, we called for CleanBC to be

fully funded. Although there remains a great deal of work to be done, and it

is essential that these commitments are seen through, I’m pleased to see our

impacts, the impacts of our submission, in the provincial budget

summary

before us today.

The impacts of our submission are also demonstrated by the funding

provided to support the professional reliance oversight office. This

oversight office is a direct result of the organizations of communities just

like Shawnigan in response to the systemic shortcomings of resource

management in B.C. It was a failure of professional reliance that allowed

the contaminated soil to be dumped in Shawnigan. It has also impacted

countless other communities. I think of Mount Polley, Ymir, Hullcar,

Merville — to name a few.

We called for a review of the professional reliance model in our

confidence and supply agreement with government, and now following the

review, 121 recommendations and the Professional Governance Act, we see the

funding before us today.

The budget goes on to commit $7 million over three years for increased

monitoring and oversight under the Environmental Management Act and $9

million for implementation of the revitalized Environmental Assessment

Act.

An additional $20 million is going to fulfil government’s commitments

to improving permitting and oversight in the mining industry. This is taking

action to implement the recommendations of the Auditor General in her report

responding to the Mount Polley disaster.

It is important to our caucus and to British Columbians that our

public resources are managed with the public interest at the forefront.

People need to be able to trust that the government is looking after public

resources in a responsible, evidence-based manner, with environmental,

cultural and economic values taken into consideration. That is why these

values are entrenched in our confidence and supply agreement and why we

called for this funding in our budget submission.

Unfortunately, not all of our resources are being managed in this

essential way. I’m thinking first and foremost of our forests. Each year our

wildfires are getting worse, and 2017 was the worst fire season our province

has ever seen — until the summer of 2018.

[3:30 p.m.]

The budget is increasing base funding for wildfires by $37 million per

year, but we know that the fire seasons tend to be worse than we’ve

expected. We would have done more.

Last year more than 1.349 million hectares burned as wildfires spread

across the province. The previous record total was 1.216 million hectares,

in 2017. In 2017, we spent $560 million fighting forest fires. By August

last year, the province had already spent close to $274 million more in

direct firefighting costs, more than four times the budget of $63

million.

We know that climate change threatens every aspect of life in our

province. Government must recognize this threat and allocate funding to

address the unavoidable increase in natural disasters. From wildfires to

flooding, we must aggressively fund our emergency response network and plan

on emergency funding needs in the years to come.

We also know that our forest industry is suffering. I am glad to see a

three-year, $10 million investment in the coastal forest revitalization

initiative. I’m glad to see a three-year, $13 million investment in the

forest carbon initiative. But as the budget itself goes on to point out,

forest revenue is expected to fall 16.8 percent this year. That’s due to the

lowest lumber prices, stumpage rates, Crown harvest volumes and logging tax

revenue.

I’m going to take this opportunity to wave goodbye to the students who

are leaving right now. Thanks for coming.

The decline in logging tax revenue is expected to continue over the

coming years. At the same time as the revenue declines, our forests are also

declining. It’s not just wildfires or pine beetles; it’s also our own

logging practices. We are cutting down some of the last remaining old-growth

forests in the world. We are logging without considering the fact that we

are jeopardizing the water sources of communities. These forests are then

being exported as raw logs, meaning that we are not even benefiting from the

long-term jobs or profits associated with value-added products.

The B.C. Green caucus would have done this differently. In our budget

submission, we called for funding that prioritizes ecosystem resilience and

Indigenous leadership. If our forests are managed to be resilient and

biodiverse, and if we base our decisions in the best possible science and

Indigenous expertise, we can improve this.

We also called for funding for land acquisition and habitat

restoration. Protecting endangered habitat is more effective for both

outcomes and cost. We need a long-term strategy for managing our resources

so that we don’t see situations emerge like the logging of Vancouver

Island’s last old growth or the extirpation of caribou in the

Interior.

Although I’m encouraged by the funding that addresses our resource

management structures, I remain disappointed at the lack of initiative taken

to protect the water, forests and species that make up British Columbia.

It’s not enough, at this point, to tinker around the edges of forest

policies in B.C. We need an entirely new vision that takes into account that

the world we are in is very different from the 20th-century

world.

We cannot continue to engage in the same practices and expect

different outcomes. If we want better outcomes for communities in B.C., for

the watersheds that sustain those communities and for the animals that rely

on these ecosystems, we must develop a new vision. Ultimately, we need to

recognize that protecting biodiversity is not an optional outcome. It’s

essential to the well-being of life, including the well-being of human

life.

As we begin to implement CleanBC and reforms to resource

decision-making structures, our caucus is committed to ensuring that these

other aspects are not left behind.

A few months ago, inspired by the climate strikes of Greta Thunberg,

students left school and came to protest on the front steps of this

Legislature. One of those young leaders was Rebecca Wolf Gage, a local

student and activist. She had helped to organize the protest and led her

peers as they asked us to take action.

I’m inspired by the bold leadership of young people like Rebecca. It’s

our job to hear them and to responsibly manage the resources that they will

one day inherit. But the truth is that in British Columbia, some young

people face more challenges than others.

[3:35 p.m.]

The differences between the experiences of children is directly

related to their socioeconomic standing. It’s directly related to family

status, race, gender, ability and location.

Several years ago the former government applied an early childhood tax

benefit. This gives benefits to parents of children up to the age of six,

and it gave the same benefit to all, regardless of socioeconomic location

and despite the fact that some families need more support than

others.

This budget is introducing the B.C. child opportunity benefit.

Families with children under 18 will be provided up to $1,600 per year for

their first child, up to $2,600 per year for families with two children, and

up to $3,400 per year for families with three children. These amounts will

vary depending on family income. In other words, families who need more

support will be able to access more support. I’m excited to see this

initiative in the budget.

Government is building upon last year’s historic $1 billion investment

in child care by providing an additional $9 million annually to support the

child care fee reduction initiative and child care operating fund

program.

I have heard concerns that a lot of this funding is going towards

for-profit child care centres despite the fact that other child care centres

often face a greater need. I intend to follow this issue closely as we

approach estimates, but I would be remiss if I did not highlight the massive

benefits that subsidized child care has afforded to the families across

British Columbia. We believe in lifelong learning, and that starts at the

beginning of life. This is also allowing parents to go back to work sooner,

if they wish, which can help their families to thrive.

I am glad to see the commitment for $75 million over three years for

child, youth and young adult mental health and addictions initiatives. We

are facing an opioid crisis, one that has its roots in mental illness. There

is more than $30 million allocated for addressing this emergency as

well.

In order to set our province up for the future, we need to invest in

the health and well-being of our children. But the fact of the matter

remains: not all kids have the same experience. Not all kids are set up to

be healthy and well, or set up to succeed. For instance, until now, children

in the foster care system were ineligible for provincial child tax benefits.

Given the crisis-level numbers of Indigenous kids in care, this exclusion

disproportionately impacted Indigenous children and families.

This government is changing that and making kids in the foster care

system eligible for these benefits, and I applaud them. I have concerns, for

example, those benefits may be going to the Ministry of Children and Family

Development for programming for those kids, and I will look at this in

estimates.

We know that a huge number of kids are in the foster system because

their families live in poverty. We also know that the outcomes for children

who stay with their families are exponentially better than outcomes for

children who are apprehended. Provincial child tax benefits should go to the

families that need them, to help relieve their situation.

This budget is taking steps to provide more funding for children who

have been apprehended but placed with extended family, which will increase

by 75 percent. This is an important increase in funding that will benefit

vulnerable kids, help their families and help communities.

That being said, this does not adequately address the crisis facing

Indigenous families in our province. The scale of apprehensions of

Indigenous children is heartbreaking and prolific, with wide-ranging

repercussions. As I’ve said before, we know that the outcomes for kids who

stay with their families are exponentially better than the outcomes for kids

who are removed from their families. Children who grow up in the foster care

system are less likely to graduate, more likely to struggle with mental

illness and addiction, and more likely to die.

There are solutions. We need to be proactive and preventative. Many

independent organizations are already doing this essential work. In our

budget submission, we called for enhanced investment in programs that

support parents and kids staying together. Programs like Sheway and FIR

Square, for example, should be available in all communities, with an

emphasis on the regions that currently have higher-than-average apprehension

rates of infants under six months.

To say that I’m disappointed that this budget does not fund an

explicit, proactive way of keeping families together would be an

understatement. I can assure you that I will continue to focus on this file

with the utmost dedication. All children deserve to be safe and healthy. All

children deserve a safe and healthy climate, whether it is the climate writ

large or the family climate that they grow up in. We need to be doing

absolutely everything to support families to stay together.

[3:40 p.m.]

This is, overall, a good budget. It doesn’t do everything as we would

have done it, but it’s clear that the submissions and perspectives of the

B.C. Green caucus were represented in it, and it’s clear that we found our

shared values between the two parties.

Almost two years in, I’m proud of how far we have come under our

confidence and supply agreement. I’m especially proud of CleanBC and the

reforms that will shape resource management decisions for the years to come.

Although, as I spoke to before, there is a long way to go, we have steered

British Columbia onto a pathway to respond to and mitigate the adverse

impacts that we are having on our climate and environment.

I think of the young people I spoke of earlier, the ones who were in

the gallery just now, of my daughter, who will not be able to vote until

2025, of Greta Thunberg, who bravely spoke to the world leaders in Poland

this December, and of Rebecca Wolf Gage, who brought that movement to the

steps of this very building.

The decisions we make today have lasting impacts. Improved funding for

child care, education and mental health will have lasting positive impacts

on the health and well-being of British Columbia. But there are still people

being left behind. There are still Indigenous children apprehended from

their mothers within days of birth. We have yet to guarantee the health and

well-being of many people today and of future generations tomorrow. We have

yet to restore, fully, British Columbians’ trust in government. We have a

long, long way to go.

To this end, I want to invoke the Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, who

recently garnered a lot of headlines for an interview he did with Fox News’s

Tucker Carlson. I’m more intrigued, actually, by Bregman’s 2016 book, called

Utopia for Realists , in which he makes the case for universal

basic income, for open borders and for a 15-hour work week. These proposals

may seem outlandish and far-reaching to many, but so were the proposals of

universal health care, public education and a five-day work week when they

were first championed.

What Bregman reminds us of, most importantly, is our need to never

stop dreaming big. Let’s be sure that we dream of the best possible world,

and then let’s work together to get there.

My caucus and I will be supporting this budget. But we will also

continue to dream big, to dream of a world that Greta and Rebecca and the

children that were just here and my daughter will thrive in, a world that we

can be proud of, that we build together in light of the extraordinary

challenges that we face today.

C. Oakes: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to rise today and respond to

Budget 2019 and the road map and vision that the NDP has outlined for the

province.

I believe that there should be opportunity for all British Columbians,

whether you live in a large community or a small one, whether you live in an

urban community or a rural community, whether you live in an incorporated

community or an unincorporated community.

I’m proud to represent the hard-working men and women of Cariboo

North. At 38,000 square kilometres, this is a geographical area larger than

Vancouver Island. It includes some fantastic, diverse communities, such as

Horsefly and Likely, Big Lake and Miocene, Wildwood and Fox Mountain,

McLeese Lake and Alexandria, Kersley and Buckridge, West Fraser, Bouchie and

Milburn Lake, the communities of Nazko and Moose Heights, Cinema, Ten Mile

Lake, Barlow Creek, Cottonwood House, Wells and Barkerville, with the

central service area being in Quesnel, and our First Nations’ communities,

including Lhoosk’uz Dené, Nazko, Lhtako, ?Esdilagh, Xatśūll and the Williams

Lake Indian Band.

Twenty minutes is not nearly enough of an opportunity for me to

express my pride of coming from Cariboo North and the thoughts that I have

toward this budget.

[3:45 p.m.]

For my constituents, who may or may not be watching at home, I know

that there will be specific areas in the budget that you would like to have

responses to. My commitment to you at home is that, as we go through the

estimates process this year, I will raise the concerns that you have brought

forward to me in my constituency office, to gain answers for you.

The NDP government was quick to say that they are standing up and

standing with communities. We all want to ensure that we are successful and

that communities are successful. I was hoping that the government’s vision

would include standing up for communities that British Columbia industries

support. The Premier’s false promises and the government’s lack of action on

traditional industry support is particularly troubling, considering that

when one looks at this budget, it’s forecasting a 15 percent drop in

resource revenues, the bread and butter of so many of our rural communities

across British Columbia.

The city of Quesnel, in my riding, is the most forest-dependent

community in British Columbia. Therefore, of course, it’s incredibly

alarming when you look through the budget and you see that revenue

projections being brought in by forestry are expected to fall by 16.8

percent in 2019, with an expected 4.1 percent decline over each of the next

following two years. How do this budget and the Premier’s words reconcile

such a substantial decrease in revenue from the natural resource sector with

its rosy economic-growth projections? For a province like British Columbia,

this simply does not make sense.

The ministry’s forecast for real GDP growth includes recent

developments, granted, regarding the Canadian-United States-Mexico agreement

but does nothing to address softwood lumber and other tariffs, making export

growth weaker and commodity prices more volatile. I would remind members in

this House that behind every one of these budget projections, behind every

single piece of numbers and line items, it represents communities and

families.

These decreases mean more family-supporting jobs are in decline. Life

will certainly become much less affordable in resource-based communities as

people lose their jobs, with no announcements in this budget around

community investments in skills and trades training, bridging programs, and

only a mention in my riding of a program that was announced several years

ago when the previous government was in office.

Where are the funds for the Agriculture Centre of Excellence — an

opportunity to help communities in the Cariboo to diversify their economic

base? Where are the funds for the workers to help them retrain and programs

to help them into fast-track programs, such as getting their grade 12 over a

short term instead of the several years it currently takes now under the

invested funds? Where are the funds to start a small business or the funds

to bridge into retirement? Those were the types of things in the budget that

I was hoping to see for our resource-based workers.

When the oil and gas sector was in trouble in Alberta, their Premier

went to Ottawa to demand support for their workers. How about the Ontario

Premier and his support for workers impacted by job loss in the auto sector?

Even the Premier himself, when he was in opposition, used to have a lot to

say on this topic, but since coming into government, he has not put his

money where his mouth is. He has not gone to Ottawa, he has not stood up for

B.C. workers, and he has not stood up for resource jobs.

[3:50 p.m.]

The 2017-2018 wildfire season saw a combined 2.55 million hectares of

forest burned, with each year setting on record the largest area burnt in

British Columbia history. The Plateau fire in my riding is the largest fire

ever recorded in British Columbia’s history, with the lives of the people

and animals in my area significantly impacted. Tens of thousands were forced

to evacuate their homes, and many suffered the destruction of property and

their homes, and in many cases, an inability to earn a living off the

land.

If we have learned anything from the last two record-setting wildfire

seasons, it is that our current approach to fighting and preventing

wildfires is not working. I looked through Budget 2019 to identify the

changes that have been recommended to government and to look for the

resources, particularly identified by ministers themselves during estimates,

to address these challenges.

The same applies to the manner, or lack thereof, of assisting people

and communities affected by the impact of wildfires and floods. Where in the

budget are the funds to ensure the resources are available to take action on

the very impacts that climate change is having on communities today? I feel

that, in so many respects, my riding is ground zero for the immediate

impacts of climate change. An Auditor General’s report has identified that

the Interior has certainly witnessed a significant shift in

climate.

When I look at the NDP climate plan, with their urban-centric plans

for the future, I wonder where some of the $6 billion being collected

through carbon tax over the next three years is being invested in these

communities that are ground zero.

For us, in the Cariboo…. We are heading into another spring freshet.

We are heading into another wildfire season, when it’s supposed to be record

hot. We were counting on this budget, counting on this government to take

action and invest in the necessary resources that we need to support our

communities.

We have a clear level of responsibility as legislators and

representatives to ensure that we look after all British Columbians. We have

a responsibility to voice the truth about what is happening in our

constituencies. If you live in remote or rural British Columbia, this is a

government void of taking action.

I have raised concerns, following the 2017 wildfire season, on

challenges witnessed firsthand — of the significant lack of resources and

the need to address the change in how we approach wildfires. Following

reports that came out from a variety of ministries in response to the 2017

wildfire season, I began raising concerns during the estimates process last

spring.

Hydrology reports completed for my area identified significant

challenges. It only makes sense that with significant areas scorched by

wildfires, compromised watersheds, debris and soil erosion, this, combined

with snowpack levels and hot summers, would have flooding issues.

I received assurances from the Minister of Transportation where she

recognized that there was a need to go in and fix up side roads, that they

have the riprap there to help protect roads against freshet and that as soon

as possible, they’d be assessing where they can work. This was said in March

of 2018.

Let us look at how the minister has met this challenge and what is

reflected in this budget. Well, we have safety improvements through the

Ministry of Transportation’s budget, which has dropped from $58 million down

to $27 million. Highway rehabilitation is decreasing from $229 million to

$214 million.

The only additional funds — and it is appreciated, most certainly —

are that the side road improvement budget is going from $108 million to $110

million. While this $2 million is certainly appreciated, one emergency

egress road alone in my riding — for example, one to support the Lhoosk’uz

Dené First Nation — is $3 million.

[3:55 p.m.]

This does nothing to acknowledge that with new hydrology challenges as

a result of the damage caused by fires in 2017 and 2018, we need to have a

serious look at our culvert infrastructure and our ditching. There are

40,000 culverts in my region. To put a dollar figure on a culvert, it can

range anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000. Where in the budget are the funds

to address these infrastructure challenges?

What happens if the government continues to practice this risk

assessment process and prioritization? You find yourself in situations faced

in communities in my riding, like Nazko and Buckridge and ?Esdilagh First

Nations, to name a few.

I have taken to the floor in the past to discuss the West Fraser Road.

The road and the surrounding Narcosli watershed underwent a post-hydraulic

risk assessment following the 2017 fire season. The findings were

concerning, with changes, of course, in hydrology and debris leading to six

landslides last spring, after I had raised the concerns with the minister in

estimates. And of course, now with our snowpacks currently above average,

the risk of more flooding and further damage is significant.

You may wonder, for people in the community of Buckridge and the

people of ?Esdilagh First Nations, how this affects them on a day-to-day

basis. Well, the damage to the road is devastating. Almost a year later the

West Fraser Road remains closed, and community members must travel on a

winding, unpaved alternate route used by industry just to get to work. These

people are a doctor, care aides, business people and others who provide

services and products that should not be delayed.

[J. Isaacs in the chair.]

This is to say nothing of the children who live in the comm