British Columbia Hansard — 13 February 2020, p.m., Issue 306 (41st Parliament, 5th Session)

20200213pm-Hansard-n306

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Fifth Session, 41st Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) Thursday, February 13, 2020 Afternoon Sitting Issue No. 306 THE HONOURABLE DARRYL PLECAS, SPEAKER ISSN 1499-2175

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Her Honour the Honourable Janet Austin, OBC Fifth Session, 41st Parliament SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Darryl Plecas EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council ............................................................................................................... Hon. John Horgan Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance............................................................................................................................Hon.

Carole James Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training..................................................................................................... Hon. Melanie Mark Minister of Agriculture.........................................................................................................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Attorney General.................................................................................................................................................................Hon.

David Eby, QC Minister of Children and Family Development ............................................................................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Minister of State for Child Care...................................................................................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Minister of Citizens’ Services...................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Anne Kang Minister of Education ............................................................................................................................................................ Hon. Rob Fleming Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources ..................................................................................................... Hon. Bruce Ralston Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy............................................................................................. Hon.

George Heyman Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development ..............................................Hon. Doug Donaldson Minister of Health .....................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Adrian Dix Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation ......................................................................................................... Hon.

Scott Fraser Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness.............................................................................Hon. Michelle Mungall Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon. George Chow Minister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Harry Bains Minister of Mental Health and Addictions............................................................................................................................ Hon. Judy Darcy Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.................................................................................................................. Hon. Selina Robinson Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ........................................................................................................... Hon.

Mike Farnworth Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction..............................................................................................Hon. Shane Simpson Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.....................................................................................................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure................................................................................................................ Hon.

Claire Trevena LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Leader of the Official Opposition................................................................................................................................Andrew Wilkinson, QC Leader of the Third Party .................................................................................................................................................................Adam Olsen Deputy Speaker................................................................................................................................................................................

Raj Chouhan Assistant Deputy Speaker............................................................................................................................................................. Simon Gibson Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole ................................................................................................................ Spencer Chandra Herbert Acting Clerk of the Legislative Assembly...............................................................................................................................

Kate Ryan-Lloyd Clerk Assistant — Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..........................................................................................Susan Sourial Associate Law Clerk ..............................................................................................................................................Loredana Catalli-Sonier, QC Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel............................................................................................................................................ S.

Suzie Seo Acting Sergeant-at-Arms..................................................................................................................................................................Greg Nelson

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal) ......................................................................... Penticton Bains, Hon. Harry (NDP)................................................................ Surrey-Newton Barnett, Donna (BC Liberal) .....................................................Cariboo-Chilcotin Beare, Hon. Lisa (NDP)..............................................

Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Begg, Garry (NDP) .......................................................................Surrey-Guildford Bernier, Mike (BC Liberal) .........................................................Peace River South Bond, Shirley (BC Liberal)...........................................Prince George–Valemount Brar, Jagrup (NDP).......................................................................Surrey-Fleetwood Cadieux, Stephanie (BC Liberal)........................................................

Surrey South Chandra Herbert, Spencer (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–West End Chen, Hon. Katrina (NDP)...................................................... Burnaby-Lougheed Chouhan, Raj (NDP) .................................................................Burnaby-Edmonds Chow, Hon. George (NDP).................................................Vancouver-Fraserview Clovechok, Doug (BC Liberal) ..................................Columbia River–Revelstoke Coleman, Rich (BC Liberal) ................................................................ Langley East Conroy, Hon.

Katrine (NDP)...........................................................Kootenay West Darcy, Hon. Judy (NDP) ............................................................. New Westminster Davies, Dan (BC Liberal) ........................................................... Peace River North de Jong, Michael, QC (BC Liberal) ..............................................Abbotsford West Dean, Mitzi (NDP)................................................................ Esquimalt-Metchosin D’Eith, Bob (NDP) ................................................................Maple Ridge–Mission Dix, Hon.

Adrian (NDP)....................................................... Vancouver-Kingsway Donaldson, Hon. Doug (NDP)...................................................................... Stikine Eby, Hon. David, QC (NDP).............................................. Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (NDP).........................................................Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Hon. Mike (NDP) ........................................................Port Coquitlam Fleming, Hon. Rob (NDP) ......................................................

Victoria–Swan Lake Foster, Eric (BC Liberal).............................................................Vernon-Monashee Fraser, Hon. Scott (NDP) ..................................................Mid Island–Pacific Rim Furstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) .............................................Cowichan Valley Gibson, Simon (BC Liberal) ...................................................Abbotsford-Mission Glumac, Rick (NDP).........................................................Port Moody–Coquitlam Heyman, Hon. George (NDP) ................................................Vancouver-Fairview Horgan, Hon.

John (NDP) ................................................ Langford–Juan de Fuca Hunt, Marvin (BC Liberal) ........................................................ Surrey-Cloverdale Isaacs, Joan (BC Liberal) .......................................... Coquitlam–Burke Mountain James, Hon. Carole (NDP).................................................... Victoria–Beacon Hill Johal, Jas (BC Liberal).................................................Richmond-Queensborough Kahlon, Ravi (NDP)............................................................................... Delta North Kang, Hon.

Anne (NDP)......................................................... Burnaby–Deer Lake Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal)..............................................................................Shuswap Larson, Linda (BC Liberal) .............................................. Boundary-Similkameen Lee, Michael (BC Liberal) ........................................................Vancouver-Langara Leonard, Ronna-Rae (NDP) ..................................................... Courtenay-Comox Letnick, Norm (BC Liberal).............................................

Kelowna–Lake Country Ma, Bowinn (NDP) .....................................................North Vancouver–Lonsdale Malcolmson, Sheila (NDP) ........................................................................Nanaimo Mark, Hon. Melanie (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Martin, John (BC Liberal)....................................................................... Chilliwack Milobar, Peter (BC Liberal)..................................... Kamloops–North Thompson Morris, Mike (BC Liberal) ........................................... Prince George–Mackenzie Mungall, Hon.

Michelle (NDP)......................................................Nelson-Creston Oakes, Coralee (BC Liberal) ............................................................ Cariboo North Olsen, Adam (BC Green Party)............................ Saanich North and the Islands Paton, Ian (BC Liberal).......................................................................... Delta South Plecas, Hon. Darryl (Ind.) ........................................................... Abbotsford South Polak, Mary (BC Liberal) ............................................................................. Langley Popham, Hon.

Lana (NDP)............................................................... Saanich South Ralston, Hon. Bruce (NDP) ............................................................Surrey-Whalley Redies, Tracy (BC Liberal) .......................................................Surrey–White Rock Reid, Linda (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond South Centre Rice, Jennifer (NDP) ............................................................................. North Coast Robinson, Hon.

Selina (NDP) .........................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Ross, Ellis (BC Liberal)................................................................................... Skeena Routledge, Janet (NDP) ....................................................................Burnaby North Routley, Doug (NDP) ................................................. Nanaimo–North Cowichan Rustad, John (BC Liberal) ................................................................Nechako Lakes Shypitka, Tom (BC Liberal) ..............................................................

Kootenay East Simons, Nicholas (NDP) ......................................... Powell River–Sunshine Coast Simpson, Hon. Shane (NDP)..................................................Vancouver-Hastings Sims, Jinny (NDP) ........................................................................ Surrey-Panorama Singh, Rachna (NDP) .........................................................Surrey–Green Timbers Stewart, Ben (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Kelowna West Stilwell, Michelle (BC Liberal)...............................................

Parksville-Qualicum Stone, Todd (BC Liberal)..........................................Kamloops–South Thompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal)........................................ West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Sullivan, Sam (BC Liberal)................................................ Vancouver–False Creek Sultan, Ralph (BC Liberal) ...........................................West Vancouver–Capilano Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Fraser-Nicola Thomson, Steve (BC Liberal)......................................................

Kelowna-Mission Thornthwaite, Jane (BC Liberal) ...............................North Vancouver–Seymour Throness, Laurie (BC Liberal) .......................................................Chilliwack-Kent Trevena, Hon. Claire (NDP) ................................................................North Island Wat, Teresa (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond North Centre Weaver, Dr.

Andrew (Ind.)................................................Oak Bay–Gordon Head Wilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal) ................................Vancouver-Quilchena Y ap, John (BC Liberal)............................................................Richmond-Steveston LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission............................................................................Simon Gibson Abbotsford South....................................................................... Hon. Darryl Plecas Abbotsford West......................................................................

Michael de Jong, QC Boundary-Similkameen...................................................................... Linda Larson Burnaby–Deer Lake....................................................................... Hon. Anne Kang Burnaby-Edmonds................................................................................Raj Chouhan Burnaby-Lougheed .................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Burnaby North .................................................................................

Janet Routledge Cariboo-Chilcotin .............................................................................Donna Barnett Cariboo North.................................................................................... Coralee Oakes Chilliwack ............................................................................................... John Martin Chilliwack-Kent ...............................................................................Laurie Throness Columbia River–Revelstoke .........................................................

Doug Clovechok Coquitlam–Burke Mountain.................................................................. Joan Isaacs Coquitlam-Maillardville ...................................................... Hon. Selina Robinson Courtenay-Comox................................................................... Ronna-Rae Leonard Cowichan Valley .............................................................................

Sonia Furstenau Delta North.............................................................................................Ravi Kahlon Delta South ..................................................................................................Ian Paton Esquimalt-Metchosin ..............................................................................Mitzi Dean Fraser-Nicola .........................................................................................

Jackie Tegart Kamloops–North Thompson .............................................................Peter Milobar Kamloops–South Thompson..................................................................Todd Stone Kelowna–Lake Country .....................................................................Norm Letnick Kelowna-Mission ..............................................................................

Steve Thomson Kelowna West ..........................................................................................Ben Stewart Kootenay East.......................................................................................Tom Shypitka Kootenay West........................................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Langford–Juan de Fuca .............................................................. Hon. John Horgan Langley .....................................................................................................

Mary Polak Langley East.........................................................................................Rich Coleman Maple Ridge–Mission.............................................................................. Bob D’Eith Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows............................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Mid Island–Pacific Rim................................................................ Hon. Scott Fraser Nanaimo......................................................................................

Sheila Malcolmson Nanaimo–North Cowichan............................................................... Doug Routley Nechako Lakes........................................................................................ John Rustad Nelson-Creston ................................................................... Hon. Michelle Mungall New Westminster........................................................................... Hon. Judy Darcy North Coast ...........................................................................................

Jennifer Rice North Island.............................................................................. Hon. Claire Trevena North Vancouver–Lonsdale................................................................... Bowinn Ma North Vancouver–Seymour........................................................Jane Thornthwaite Oak Bay–Gordon Head............................................................Dr.

Andrew Weaver Parksville-Qualicum.......................................................................Michelle Stilwell Peace River North ................................................................................... Dan Davies Peace River South ................................................................................ Mike Bernier Penticton ................................................................................................. Dan Ashton Port Coquitlam...................................................................... Hon.

Mike Farnworth Port Moody–Coquitlam.......................................................................Rick Glumac Powell River–Sunshine Coast....................................................... Nicholas Simons Prince George–Mackenzie....................................................................Mike Morris Prince George–Valemount ..................................................................

Shirley Bond Richmond North Centre..........................................................................Teresa Wat Richmond-Queensborough.........................................................................Jas Johal Richmond South Centre ......................................................................... Linda Reid Richmond-Steveston ...................................................................................

John Y ap Saanich North and the Islands .............................................................Adam Olsen Saanich South .............................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Shuswap...................................................................................................... Greg Kyllo Skeena........................................................................................................... Ellis Ross Stikine....................................................................................Hon.

Doug Donaldson Surrey-Cloverdale ................................................................................ Marvin Hunt Surrey-Fleetwood.....................................................................................Jagrup Brar Surrey–Green Timbers........................................................................Rachna Singh Surrey-Guildford......................................................................................Garry Begg Surrey-Newton ..............................................................................Hon.

Harry Bains Surrey-Panorama ...................................................................................... Jinny Sims Surrey South ................................................................................ Stephanie Cadieux Surrey-Whalley ......................................................................... Hon. Bruce Ralston Surrey–White Rock .............................................................................. Tracy Redies Vancouver-Fairview.............................................................. Hon.

George Heyman Vancouver–False Creek........................................................................ Sam Sullivan Vancouver-Fraserview...............................................................Hon. George Chow Vancouver-Hastings ............................................................... Hon. Shane Simpson Vancouver-Kensington....................................................................... Mable Elmore Vancouver-Kingsway..................................................................... Hon.

Adrian Dix Vancouver-Langara................................................................................ Michael Lee Vancouver–Mount Pleasant..................................................... Hon. Melanie Mark Vancouver–Point Grey ............................................................Hon.

David Eby, QC Vancouver-Quilchena........................................................Andrew Wilkinson, QC Vancouver–West End .....................................................Spencer Chandra Herbert Vernon-Monashee ....................................................................................Eric Foster Victoria–Beacon Hill.................................................................. Hon. Carole James Victoria–Swan Lake.................................................................... Hon. Rob Fleming West Vancouver–Capilano...................................................................

Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky................................................................Jordan Sturdy Party Standings: BC Liberal 42; NDP 41; Independent 2; BC Green Party 2

CONTENTS Thursday, February 13, 2020 Afternoon Sitting Page Routine Business Introductions by Members................................................................................................................................................... 10949 Orders of the Day Throne Speech Debate(continued) .................................................................................................................................... 10949 Hon. H. Bains D. Davies J. Sims L. Throness Hon. D. Donaldson R. Coleman Hon. G. Heyman S. Furstenau B. D’Eith J. Y ap

THURSDAY , FEBRUARY 13, 2020 The House met at 1:33 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Introductions by Members S. Chandra Herbert:In my short statement earlier today about love, I neglected to mention my love for my good friend Amanda, without whom we would not have the birthday of my son Dev tomorrow, and for my staff, who do incredible work. I want to send my love to them, and a happy Valentine’s to you as well, hon. Speaker, and, of course, the table and all staff here too. Interjection. S. Chandra Herbert:Well, I already wished you a happy Valentine’s.

I know the member for Chilliwack-Kent wanted a special valentine from me. I’ll send one to him. Of course, every member in this House is deserving of some love. I see and I choo-choo-choose you, Member. Happy Valentine’s Day. Orders of the Day Hon. M. Farnworth:I call continued Address in Reply to the throne speech. Throne Speech Debate (continued) Hon. H. Bains:It is, once again — after the break — to get back into my throne speech, which I’m speaking in favour of. I know before the break, I managed to draw their attention.

At least they listened, and I think that’s one of the very few times that they actually paid attention to what’s being said sensibly here in this House. So I will con- tinue. I talked about, overall, the goals of the government, what we have achieved and where we want to go. That is listed in the throne speech. But I want to come back to the comments that were being made a little bit about forestry and my own ministry. [1:35 p.m.] [S.

Gibson in the chair.] It’s no secret that there was a time, when I was actively working in the forest industry in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, that United States companies would come and invest in British Columbia — the Weyerhaeusers of the world, the Rayoniers of the world. They came and invested. They saw a future in the forestry industry in British Columbia. So what had happened…. Since 2001, that trend changed. The member from Nechako knows very well, because he was the minister, that our B.C. companies…. Never mind the United States companies coming and investing.

They’re not looking at B.C. anymore — for the last 16 years. In fact, our B.C. companies — Canfor, West Fraser, Interfor, Teal-Jones and a number of others — are invest- ing in the United States. These are B.C. companies. That started in the early 2000s. Now, can I blame everything on the B.C. Liberal govern- ment? I think the tendency is there, but I would say that the reality is that the softwood lumber dispute, shrinking fibre supply in British Columbia and, yes, the policies, the so-called Forest (Revitalization) Amendment Act that they brought in….

They delinked the social contract that exis- ted between the public of this province and these compan- ies. They basically delinked it. Now there’s no requirement for B.C. companies to process timber here in their own mills or in British Columbia, to create jobs in British Col- umbia. For that matter, the record amount of the export of raw logs took place during their time, since 2000. At one time, 7.5 million cubic metres were shipped out. Not only that; there is a surplus test that they must go through in order to export timber.

The Minister of Forests appointed that committee, called TEAC, the timber export advisory com- mittee. Y ou know what? So 112 times that committee decided that certain applications for export did not meet the access test. What happened? These companies…. They had friends in government. They supported them. They donated big money to the B.C. Liberals to put them in power. What happened? They went to the minister. The minister overruled each and every one of those application times and allowed those applications to proceed. That tim- ber got exported.

In the meantime, our mills in British Columbia were left running under capacity or not running at all. That is reality. That’s what happened under their watch. Anyway, we’re working hard to make sure that the forest industry is back on its feet. Once again, it has become the engine of our economy that will drive our economy.

I think people of those regions and those communities that depend on forestry deserve that from their own govern- ment — that the logs and the raw material that is extrac- ted from their communities, in their neighbourhoods, is used to create jobs for them in their communities so that those members can benefit and their communities where they live benefit. Coming back to the throne speech again, I would say that every word delivered Tuesday by Her Honour was the foundation — that our work to date and our work going forward is focused on making life better for British Col- 10949

umbians, lifting people up, helping people get ahead, sup- porting families, businesses and, yes, workers. As the Minister of Labour, I’m particularly delighted that this year’s throne speech offered a distinct lens on actions we have taken to support the working people in B.C. and on actions ahead. To echo the Lieutenant-Gov- ernor’s words: “British Columbia is a province with limit- less potential. ” But for a long time, many people felt stuck. Wages didn’t grow. Opportunities seemed increasingly out of reach. Despite how hard they worked, people still felt left behind.

For me, a fundamental example of that is when the eco- nomy soared, the cost of living grew, but the wages for the lowest-paid workers remained stagnant. How did that happen? They froze the minimum wage for the lowest- paid workers for ten years. [1:40 p.m.] At the same time, they gave tax breaks to the highest- paid workers, the highest 1 percent of paid workers in British Columbia. Those were their priorities. We’re fixing that, bringing balance back.

For me, and particularly for those struggling to make ends meet, that is hard to reconcile when in Canada, one of the most affluent countries in the world, and in B.C., one of the healthiest economies in Canada, there still are far too many working poor, far too many choosing rent over groceries because they couldn’t afford both or couldn’t afford a lunch to send their kids to school with. To help lift people out of poverty, we set a fair and pre- dictable path towards a minimum wage of at least $15.20 an hour by 2021. We will have one of the highest minimum wages in Canada at that point.

While the minimum wage inches up, we’re also eliminating the lower, discriminatory liquor server wages in a similar fair, predictable and incre- mental way by 2021. Growing out of this work is a further study on how to close the gap between the minimum wage and the living wage through the Fair Wages Commission and how to address the status of piece rates paid to those who harvest certain crops by hand in the agriculture industry.

People felt stuck because they worked hard but couldn’t get ahead; stuck because they didn’t feel heard, like they were shouting into the wind while crying out for gov- ernment support; stuck between a rock and a hard place, because government had not kept pace with modernized labour laws amidst a changing work environment. They knew, for instance, that they had rights under the Employment Standards Act that weren’t being upheld. Employer obligations with respect to employment stand- ards were being circumvented because there were too many barriers placed by the previous government.

That is why we introduced new rules for wage recovery, proactive audit and investigations and eliminated the self-help kit. Their rules protecting the integrity of the union certific- ation process and collective bargaining under the labour relations code were not balanced or contributing to labour stability. I must say this: that every worker in this country has a constitutional right to join a union association of their choice without any interference by their boss. That’s what we are trying to do, which wasn’t available to them. That fairness wasn’t there under the previous government.

In addition, we are providing direct support to the Interior forestry workers whose lives and livelihood are being impacted by an industry in crisis. We opened five job placement offices to connect displaced forestry workers with new jobs and training opportunities. Over 350 workers have accessed our placement offices so far for services. We also established an early retirement bridging pro- gram to help older workers retire early, creating more job vacancies for others.

To date, I’m proud to say that $5 mil- lion has been committed to 132 impacted workers who have lost their jobs to a permanent closure, and more are filing every day. The circumstances this industry is facing are difficult, and we want to support all displaced forestry workers affected by mill closures in the best way possible. So while some criticize the throne speech, reflecting — and I’ve heard this in this room too much — on our past track record and not enough on our path forward, the throne speech speaks to how far we have come, as a benchmark, and as a springboard to how much further we still have to go.

For instance, we have done much to help protect some of the province’s most vulnerable workers. For example, we introduced new laws requiring recruiters of foreign work- ers to be licensed. Building on that, we have introduced a registry for employers wishing to hire temporary for- eign workers. Another example: we introduced new laws limiting unsafe work for children and youth and now will bring in regulations that define dangerous jobs.

Another example is longer, more flexible job-protected leaves for people caring for terminally ill loved ones or a parent caring for a new child or coping with the death or disap- pearance of a child. [1:45 p.m.] The Lieutenant-Governor, in her speech, reminded us that last year we introduced a new unpaid job-protected leave for people fleeing domestic or sexual violence.

We are using that as a springboard this session to provide added support for people experiencing violence, because we heard in large numbers during an expansive public engagement process that people experiencing domestic or sexual violence felt that they were stuck between seek- ing help and retaining their jobs or self-reliance. We heard that assurance of a paycheque while getting help is critical. Seeking help shouldn’t be a choice of your life or livelihood.

It’s not lost on us that a person who has experienced violence may need to be seen by a physician or therapist, may need to visit a financial institution to establish a per- sonal bank account and redirect a paycheque and may need to find safe housing for themselves and their chil- 10950 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

dren. These things can’t be slotted in after work. These sup- ports can’t wait until the weekend or vacations. These vic- tims need help immediately, but without the safety net of job-protected leave, getting help can come at a cost of los- ing their job or being unable to afford help. As you heard Tuesday, our government intends to aug- ment the ten-day unpaid job leave protection with up to five days of paid leave for people fleeing domestic or sexual violence to help ensure that workers remain safe and that their jobs and paycheques are safe too. I know my time has run out.

I just want to say that I’m so fortunate to stand here once again to speak about the direction that the government is going through — the throne speech. I want to thank the Speaker for the oppor- tunity for me to make my points known. D. Davies:It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the constituents of Peace River North to provide some feed- back on the throne speech this afternoon. First, though, I just want to express again how extremely proud I am to represent my riding of Peace River North, from residents from Taylor, Fort St.

John, Hudson’s Hope and Fort Nelson to the many hamlets and First Nations communities that are scattered amongst the approximately 170,000 square kilometres. I’ d like to thank my hard-working constituency staff — Kim, Tamara, Jamie and Julie; and my legislative staff here — Nick, Dion and Stephanie. As we can all attest to, these folks do such incredible work. Finally, I’ d like to thank my family and my inspiration — my wife, Erin, and my children, Hana and Noel — that have sacrificed so much, as everybody in this room, I’m sure, can attest to within their own families.

I’ve been searching for the right words to describe this throne speech, just like itself. I’m sure it spent a great deal of time trying to find a new idea. If I had to choose one word to describe this throne speech, it would be: “empty. ” If I could choose more, they would be: “vague, void, lack- ing substance and showing little regard for rural British Columbia and the average resident of this fine province. ” But I’ll use the word “empty. ” The throne speech from this government sounds, in my opinion, more like an apology than anything else.

What British Columbians have been given is nothing more than a laundry list of what happened yesterday. We are witness- ing before us today a rudderless government, a govern- ment that has no real idea of what the heck they are doing or where they are going. They have made so many promises over the past couple of years — just to get elected, I might add — and they have hardly delivered on any of these. From $10-a-day daycare, the $400 renter rebate, the elimination of Surrey port- ables…. Of these, they have accomplished zero in nearly three years.

All of us in this House know, here on the floor and up in the gallery, that the Speech from the Throne from any government is the cornerstone of what we do here. It gives us direction. It maps out our vision. It outlines the vision of what we are going to be doing here. The throne speech maps out what the government is standing for. I think I’ d probably have better results from Google Maps, myself. [1:50 p.m.] Throne speech day was one of the most interesting, though, as well as one of the most boring days I’ve had in my role as MLA.

Outside there was chaos, and I’ll refrain from that discussion for a little bit later. Inside this cham- ber, during the throne speech, was a cricket party. There was zero energy in the room as we sat and listened to back-patting and self-congratulations that sounded really no different from last year’s speech. I looked at my last year’s throne speech, which unfor- tunately I didn’t get a chance to read because government only talked about it for a couple days. But I looked at the notes in that.

And today I’ll be talking about almost the same stuff that was in last year’s throne speech and the throne speech the year before that as well. In fact, it kind of reminds me of Bill Murray’sGroundhog Day, coming over and over and over. We listened to this government tout the record and claim that all is well. But, again, the energy in the room was absent — absent. A truly inspiring throne speech should harness this energy. We would’ve all felt it. What is most concerning, though, is the fact that there was no vision for stimulating the economy.

No real talk of job creation, encouraging connections to new markets. No vision for the future of British Columbia’s resource sector. Most certainly, no real vision for my riding of Peace River North. Many of my constituents — and I can talk for many rural constituents in B.C. — have never felt more discon- nected from this government than they are feeling right now.

From the government attacks on our industries to the botched handling of the caribou, and most recently, gov- ernment dealing with the treaty land entitlement, which has been completely botched in the North Peace and has caused so much division — a complete failure on the part of this government. Where are the solutions to the woes that our caucus has been raising and rallying against for months? There was no plan to offset the damage of this government’s misman- agement of key files that they have inflicted over the past year. There was no plan, which is the problem.

Add to this list of broken election promises, and what I see is a gov- ernment that is clamouring for things that they feel proud about, while not laying out a plan that British Columbians feel confident in. What is most clear is that this government seems to have no idea how to make life more affordable, which is really funny because it’s the exact opposite of what they’ve been saying all along, to “make life more affordable. ” Come to the north and talk to my constituents. They will give you a very different answer. Thursday, February 13, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10951

In fact, life has never been more expensive for British Columbians right now — 19 new increased taxes. Everything that this government has seen as a win, such as the elimination of the MSP , has been severely tainted by their reality. The employers health tax is crushing small businesses with this supposed win of eliminating the MSP , which is really just rebranded into a new tax. That’s part of the issue. Everything that this government seems to claim as a victory has a dark side that they shy away from. Jobs are another matter. That is proving to be a losing battle with this government.

I’m sorry, but they cannot be trusted for a strong economy. In fact, B.C. has registered, in seven months out of the last eight months, job losses. That’s not a record to be proud of. This is the reality of Brit- ish Columbians this week while they probably embarrass- ingly listened to the throne speech. Y ou can’t paper over the fact that some of these old promises are wrapped in new words. Again, looking through my throne speech last year and the year before that, this is just a regurgitation of the same stuff over and over again. It equals British Columbians not getting ahead.

People in the Peace country, people in rural B.C., are fall- ing behind. As I mentioned a moment ago, job losses are very con- cerning. The actual latest job numbers show another 6,000 full-time jobs gone last month. [1:55 p.m.] That means that over the past eight months, we’ve lost a total of 32,800 jobs. How is that a sustainable mod- el? Prices and taxes are going up. Jobs are going down. Everybody in the province loses. No plans for mining. No plans for forestry. No vision for the oil and gas sector, for the service economy. No ideas for economic develop- ment of any kind. Shocking.

Scary for my riding and other rural ridings across the province to see something that we have embraced, something that has sustained our families and, indeed, sustained this province starting to go down the toi- let. There are no ideas for growing the sectors that build our communities and generate our shared opportunities — just burdensome taxes, layers of red tape and limited foresight. I wish I could be more positive, but I cannot find any- thing positive in this throne speech. Where are the plans to open new global markets? Oh, wait, they’re closing our trade offices, I understand.

I guess that one’s not a priority. The vision for creating opportunities? Well, not in this throne speech. The ideas to spark new investment in our province, to bring capital money to our province, to bring job creation? Not in this throne speech. Competitiveness. We are now dead last on the continent when it comes to competitiveness. I’ve spoken with many folks in the resource sector, and I represent a lot of resource companies — forestry, mining. We have oil and gas, agriculture all up in Peace River North. I’ve had these conversations with many people. Farming, for crying out loud.

We’ve even lost our competitive edge in farming. This government has completely killed our competitive edge, and there’s nothing in this throne speech that points to that returning anytime soon. Y ou know, it’s lovely. Recently they had…. Well, they called it a cabinet shuffle. I’m not too sure if I would call it a cabinet shuffle. They swapped a couple of min- isters out, renamed a ministry to the Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness. I actually laughed when I read that. I found it quite funny, because just adding the word “competitiveness” does not make British Columbia competitive.

We need action. We need the government to do something to get us back on track and get our resources to market. We’re not seeing our government do this, and we certainly are not seeing this in the throne speech. I hope that we do see something in the budget next week. Y ou know, there’s more to ticketing scalpers and redu- cing our cell phone bills. But people need jobs. People need to provide for their families. They need to provide for themselves. I don’t think that is too much to ask for. Forestry communities are still in complete destitute….

Y et our hands-off Premier has pretty much general disreg- ard for this, it seems. It’s a sector that is in crisis. I’ve used the word multiple times. It is in crisis. Layoffs, shutdowns announced consistently throughout the NDP’s term in government. There are now more than 100 mill curtail- ments — ten of them indefinitely or permanently closed down, including one mill in my community, the OSB plant. It’s a horrific statistic, if this continues, and it’s going to continue to haunt these communities until something is done. Y et most of what we seem to have heard from this government is mocking this.

Our Premier, the Premier of the largest softwood pro- ducer in the country, could not be bothered to join other Premiers from Canada when they visited Washington to try and fight for a better deal for their provinces. Where was our Premier to fight for a better softwood deal? I used the crickets analogy earlier on. There it is again — the Forest Minister claiming that it’s not a crisis. The parliamentary secretary saying, “Oh, there are too many mills anyways, ” right here in this House. It’s an abysmal response. [2:00 p.m.] Attempts to alleviate this pressure have not fared that much better.

The petty handout packages that we’ve seen don’t provide real support. These are not solutions to the problem. We proposed a five-point action plan that would’ve provided tax relief and assistance, but the NDP chose to ignore this. In fact, one of my colleagues was talk- ing about this, and the Premier referred to her constituents as “spoiled children” in this House — horrible. To add to this fact, the government then pilfered the rural dividend fund, which is already a lifeline for many rural communities across the province to help them get ahead.

Again, no real regard for rural British Columbia. 10952 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

Back to the land of unaffordability, housing costs in much of the Lower Mainland are still beyond comprehen- sion. Vancouver has the second least affordable housing in the world, with the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver being just over $2,000. Where’s the promised $400 annual renters rebate? A false election promise vaporized. Dealing with gas prices that continue to soar, and a bogus review with parameters that would never have dealt with the real problem or looked for the real cause. That’s taxation. We know that. Let’s look at a few things. Education.

Well, let me start, first of all, by thanking all of our teachers for their incred- ible work. Education does lay the foundation for our soci- ety and provides our young graduates with the skills to communicate, cooperate, build an economy and just be successful in life. B.C. ’s education system is consistently ranked as one of the best in the world, but we can always do better. I’m particularly impressed with the fact of the Indigen- ous high school graduation rate that has reached 70 per- cent in B.C., but work still remains to be done to close that gap.

Indigenous and non-Indigenous graduates — we need to ensure that our education system benefits everybody. Teachers do deserve the most credit for this improvement. Without their dedication to achieving better outcomes for students, regardless of their background, we would not have the high success rates that we see today. As a teacher myself, I saw so many incredible teachers that make an unbelievable difference in many of our students’ lives.

I’ d be remiss, though, if I also didn’t recognize our school districts — the great deal of work that they do to make sure that our students have what they need to attain these goals. They have a very challenging job themselves. As critic for Education, it is also my responsibility to hold the government accountable to their promises, whether that’s child care spaces, hospitals or portables. The NDP have made grand, grand election promises and have not delivered on any of them — vaporized. Unfortunately, the government continues to fail Surrey parents and students who were promised the elimination of portables.

In fact, at the start of the school year, there were 361 portables in the school district of Surrey alone. That’s a 32 percent increase from the time that they prom- ised to eliminate the portables in just four years. We knew all along that that promise was unattainable. Again, a false election promise was made. B.C. families are currently facing increased uncertainty about their futures, as this government has yet to reach a deal with B.C. teachers. Only sporadic meetings have taken place since the summer of 2019.

Each month without meaningful contract talks brings B.C. students closer to the prospect of another teacher job action. We do need the minister to take action sooner than later to relieve the mounting anxiety among parents, teachers and, of course, our students. [2:05 p.m.] In talking with school districts around the province, we are still critically short of teachers. The minister, though, seems to downplay this often and counts teachers that are teaching on a letter of permission. This is not how we solve the teacher shortage. This isn’t the fix. We need a real plan to train, recruit and retain teachers.

I know the government knows this, but we need to see something in the throne speech, and we need to see something in the budget next week that will directly deal with this. This is an issue. This isn’t just a rural issue, but it’s an issue across the province. I’ d also be remiss if I didn’t include the shortage of French immersion teachers. We’ll be closely watching the budget next week to make sure that there is something in there to deal with this. Housing. Some prices are going back up after a very modest decline, but prices still aren’t remotely affordable. Housing starts are down 40 percent in B.C.

The NDP has only built 2,400 new affordable housing units versus the election promise of 114,000. Vaporized — another election promise gone. At this rate — and we’ve heard this number used here before — it would take the NDP government over 100 years to fulfil this promise to build 114,000 new housing units. Nothing, though, there. Nothing talked about in the throne speech to deal with the supply issue. There’s noth- ing to encourage building. Instead, NDP taxes, red tape, yadda, yadda, yadda, are causing project after project to be cancelled. This is not dealing with the housing crisis.

Our caucus staff, in their diligent work, have routinely demonstrated that the figures shared by this government tend to look good but hide the reality. Reannouncements of previously announced projects seem to be a new pas- time of this government. The $10-a-day child care election promise seems to be a slow-burning failure, as only 2,055 child care spaces have been created, versus the election promise of 24,000. Vapor- ized. I don’t know, but you can maybe see a trend here about election promises and the reality that we’re seeing here today, almost three years after the fact.

And I’m only touching on a few things. I’m sure the rest of my col- leagues, as we talk about the throne speech, will come up with many of their own examples as well. Promised numbers, photo ops that seem empty — when you peek your head behind the curtain, that’s where we see the reality. This is not making things affordable for British Columbians. Quite the opposite. As I move to conclude my remarks, what is clear is that this government is the same old NDP of the past, addicted to taxes with no idea on how to deliver a vision for a better future for everyone that lives in British Columbia.

I hear groans across the way. The reality, and we can see it over and over, is the gov- ernment failing to deliver what British Columbians need. It’s clear that the NDP have no real vision — no real vision for making life better for people, for helping families get Thursday, February 13, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10953

ahead and for making sure that we, as a province, are ready to move forward together. [2:10 p.m.] That’s what my constituents in Peace River North want. They want an opportunity. They want the opportunity to provide for their families. We need this government to give this opportunity for everyone in British Columbia. J. Sims: It is my pleasure today to rise and speak on a throne speech that encapsulates the values and our com- mitments that we made to the public when we ran for office — values and commitments that we are delivering on.

Let me remind my colleague across the way that our province still has, and we’re very proud of this, a triple- A credit rating. It has the best economic growth forecasts across the country. It has the lowest unemployment rate. What we’re so proud of is the fact that we have been able to address some of the major concerns of British Colum- bians. One of them was affordability. Y ou know what this government was able to deliver? The largest tax break Brit- ish Columbians have known since 1948 — the largest tax break. That is the elimination of the MSP .

That, for the very first time, puts British Columbians on par with the rest of the country, because nobody else in Canada was paying medical service premiums. Only British Columbia was. Now, as my colleagues across the way say, yes, there is a health tax, as it exists in other provinces as well. A very small percentage of our businesses actually pay that health tax. But you know, that is the cost of doing business. We are also trying to, I would say, fix a dumpster fire left to us by the previous government. Y ou’ve seen that there are major reforms coming to ICBC, and we’re very proud of that.

Some of those reforms have already taken place, but others were hinted at. I know that when British Col- umbians see those, they will see the benefit to their pock- etbook, and they will see that it is good for them. Here I’m just trying to give you an overview, and then I’ll get into things in more detail. Unfair bridge tolls. It always irked me — maybe because I have family that lives south of Fraser, and I live south of Fraser, and I have family that lives north of Fraser as well — that there were only two bridges that had tolls on them. They both impacted people south of Fraser the most.

There were other bridges built at that time, notably one in Kelowna that — surprise, surprise — had no toll on it. But for people south of Fraser, who have been starved of investments in public transit and infrastruc- ture, they had to pay the tolls. I’m so proud of the fact that we eliminated those tolls. That saved families about $1,500 per year. I’m hearing from many families in my constituency office that the savings are far greater for many who have kids going to school or who happen to have to travel across those bridges.

I’m also pleased to announce, as the hard-working Min- ister of Labour talked about earlier, that the minimum wage is also being addressed. Unlike the previous govern- ment that really condoned child labour and wages that were just absolutely outrageous, we have implemented, in a graduated way, a minimum wage to make sure that people who do a full day’s work have the right to go home and have some stability. Not enough, but more to be done. When it comes to the housing crisis, I was surprised to hear my friend across the way saying that we haven’t done enough. I agree with him.

We need to do a lot more, but we have done far, far more than they did in 16 years. [2:15 p.m.] When you look at the money laundering that was allowed to explode during the previous government’s reign, so to speak, and how it impacted our housing mar- ket…. When I saw families, including my own family members and many of my constituents, seeing buying a house get out of their reach…. They just could not see how a house within a year could go up by $400,000, by $350,000. Y ou know, those were the amounts that people thought were outrageous for a house price, never mind the way they went up.

So yes, we’re very proud of the steps we’ve taken so far. They seem to be working. I’m glad my colleague acknow- ledged that — that there has been some moderation. We are encouraging more development — more rental development, more strata buildings, high density. That’s what governments do. Y ou know what? When I looked at the permits that are being issued by cities, they haven’t gone down, not in the Lower Mainland. They have actually gone up. The building trade is doing well. More houses will be built. That is all good. Now, let’s talk about child care a little bit.

This is a topic that’s close and dear to my heart. I keep hearing my col- league across the way saying: “Y ou know, this government hasn’t done anything. It’s been about photo ops. ” I want to remind them. That’s their specialty. When they were in government, it was to do photo ops. There were lots done in the city of Surrey. Many, many were done. “We’re going to build a hospital here. We’re going to build a hospital here. ” “Oh, yes, this is where we’re going to build a hospital. ” And then — surprise, surprise — not even a concept plan, not even a business plan, noth- ing in the books for a hospital for Surrey.

So I know they used the photo ops, and I know they think that everything can happen just like that. But it does take time to build, and we’re doing that. That’s why this throne speech reflects the continuation of the good work we’ve been doing and building on that foundation so that if we had child care spaces that we’ve developed over the last three years, what we’re going to be focusing on the next year is to develop more. This is where I want to talk about Surrey a little bit. All of us always want to know: “Okay.

So what’s happening in my own riding?” I think this is when it comes home to you, when your own constituents come and tell you what a difference the child care is making. I really want to thank 10954 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

both Minister Conroy and Minister of State Chen for the amazing work they have done in this area. Let me tell you, in Surrey-Panorama alone, $8,155,749 has been spent on child care. That’s right in Surrey-Panor- ama. Just to let you know, the parents in Surrey-Panorama alone have benefitted in close to $6 million being returned to them in the way of reduced fees and benefits. That is good news, because that is money that immediately goes back into the pockets of families that live there. So that is a good thing.

When it comes to child care and when it comes to housing, once again, I’m very proud of the work that has been done in Surrey. As always, education. I cannot stand up here and talk about education…. I do want to thank the Minister of Education, who is here — I’m not supposed to say that — for the amazing tenacity he has shown in building new schools in Surrey. I want to say to him, a big, big thank- you. Over 7,500 students were in portables when we became government, and we made a commitment that we would be building schools.

Now Surrey has experienced growth. [2:20 p.m.] Let me just read out a list of some of the new schools that have just gone up in Surrey or are in the process: Salish Secondary School; Woodward Hill elementary school with an addition; Panorama Park in my riding, an elementary school with an addition; Pacific Heights Elementary School, addition; Coyote Creek Elementary with an addition; Frost Road Elementary; Sullivan Ele- mentary with an addition; Douglas area elementary, new school; Edgewood Drive elementary, new school; Grand- view Heights secondary, new school; Maddaugh element- ary, new school; Regent Road Elementary, new school; Sullivan Heights Secondary, a new addition.

That doesn’t even count in the properties that have been bought, for the first time in a very long time, for future growth so that we are not always catching up. We are plan- ning for the future. Not only that, but the seismic upgrades that have gone on. At this stage, I do want to take a moment to say a very special thank-you to the B.C. Teachers Federa- tion, because the B.C. Teachers Federation did some- thing that, to me, is iconic. When they lost major pro- tections for students’ learning conditions from their col- lective agreements, they took that to the Supreme Court of Canada.

And when they took that to the Supreme Court of Canada, they won. That has put close to 4,000 additional teachers in the classrooms, providing care for students who need it. I want to say that we are also pleased at the latest round — the announcement that was made on the funding for- mula — that for the first time there is going to be money allocated to address the special needs of those students who are living in care and who are in the public care sys- tem. So much is happening in this area, and I know that there is a lot more work to be done.

I am not going to make a comment on collective bar- gaining, because that happens in a different arena, but I can tell you that when I see the commitment that this min- ister has, this Premier has and this government has for public education, I am always, always impressed. Now let me talk about health care a little bit. Being from Surrey, once again, that is so, so important for us, because we did feel like the neglected child. For a fast-growing city like Surrey, we had one hospital, one emergency room that was jam-packed. Unfortunately, I’ve had to spend many a night in that emergency room with my aging mom.

Some- times you were in the corridor for three days and three nights before any other space could be found for you. I’m very, very pleased — after, I would say, photo-op promises by the previous government — that our gov- ernment has announced that a hospital will be built. A concept plan has been completed, and now the business plan is in process. Because the previous property had been sold by the outgoing government, a piece of property has been bought. We know where the hospital is going to be, and we cannot wait for that hospital to start being built.

Also in Surrey, we invested $4.6 million to open B.C. ’s first Mental Health and Substance Use Urgent Care Response Centre at the hospital and invested $3.1 million for an urgent primary care centre in Surrey on top of that, in November last year, which serves 5,000 patients. In partnership with the First Nations Health Authority, we have also opened up Fraser Health’s first Indigenous Primary Health and Wellness Home in Surrey — all very, very critical. We’ve invested $8 million to expand the acute care unit chemotherapy area of the Fraser Valley Cancer Centre in Surrey.

We’ve increased hip and knee replacement surger- ies by 23 percent. We’ve increased MRI exams, and we have purchased a private MRI clinic in Surrey, which has added a capacity of 5,000 additional MRI scans per year. We’ve invested another $5.5 million to open a new 3T MRI suite at the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care Centre. Age-friendly grants are being awarded to seniors to help them with their mobility. We’ve also expanded the Peace Arch Hospital, and we’ve increased staffing levels in seni- ors long-term care. As you can see, in Surrey, we are feeling that a lot has been happening.

I want to talk a little bit about jobs right now, because I heard a lot about that from my colleague across the way earlier. I am very proud of the work we’ve done in this area to grow a diverse economy — a sustainable economy that keeps in mind our duty to look after Mother Earth but at the same time to make sure we use our resources wisely and also that we develop those resources. [2:25 p.m.] I’m proud to say that B.C. — Vancouver — is a magnet for the tech sector.

We have organizations like Microsoft coming here now with their cybersecurity centre and many other tech companies that are coming and bringing with them well-paying jobs — not just into the Lower Thursday, February 13, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10955

Mainland but when you go to Rossland, to Trail, to Nelson, to Campbell River. Y ou can go to many, and wherever you go, the tech industry is alive. They have become aware that with our investments in fibre optics, we are actually increasing and opening opportunities and doors for the tech sector to absolutely expand here, and it is growing. The other thing is that we’re a government that doesn’t just think about the top 1 percent. We’re a government that does long-term planning. We’ve often made ten-year announcements, and we are a government that is investing in B.C.

We are investing in infrastructure, in roads, in bridges — a new Pattullo Bridge for Surrey. Once again, a $1.37 billion investment, creating thousands of local jobs. Planning for the Massey Tunnel or bridge is well under- way. We’re very, very pleased at the progress that is mak- ing, because for the first time, you have a unanimous agreement from the mayors as to the kind of crossing they would like to see there. I see all the work that is being done on the roads and on the highways. Schools are being built. Hospitals are being built. Bridges are being built. Child care centres are being built.

When all this is happening, that means there are jobs. We have made a determined effort, through the efforts of our hard-working minister for post-secondary and skill development, that we are investing in British Columbians. We are investing to make sure that we give the training and develop the red seal skills that are needed so that we have a strong and diverse workforce, so much so that we have even invested in people who are 55-plus — I went to do the announcement for that — who are going through career transitions because there are many things happen- ing in the career industry. Things are changing.

So we’re assisting with career transitions as well. When I look at Surrey, just when we look at the pri- oritizing of local jobs, 1,200 to 1,400 local people will be employed as the Pattullo Bridge gets built. That is quite an economic boost to south of the Fraser and to the Lower Mainland and attracts lots of jobs. On top of that, just in the Surrey area alone, we have awarded $21 million in con- tracts to Surrey-based companies to complete road pro- jects in communities. That is investing. Good governance is about making sure that people have jobs. Good governance is about making sure that people have services.

Good governance is about making sure that you invest in infrastructure, which we do. I think…. I know I’m very proud of the work that this government is doing to make sure that we are investing in our economy. We’re growing our economy, growing decent-paying jobs. How are we doing it? We are doing it by investing in child care. We are doing it by investing in our kids through building schools. We are doing it through building hospit- als. We are going to carry on doing those things.

I just do want to acknowledge at this time, talking about children, my two wonderful kids, Kiran and Michael Sims, who have been there for me constantly as I came on this journey of life in the political arena and who are my inspiration. On the days that some of the work looks challenging, as it did on Tuesday, they phone you up, and they lift you up. [2:30 p.m.] I also want to say how much I love my grandchildren, of course, three of them, and now my great-granddaugh- ter, and how proud I am to be one of the living five women who are first-borns in my family. It is such a delight.

I would be remiss if today I did not thank the hard- working staff I have here in the Legislature and also in my own riding, who, when I’m not there, make sure that they are serving the constituents in a way that meets their needs. [R. Chouhan in the chair.] The work that we have done in the area of mental health and addressing the opioid crisis — which every one of us in this room agrees upon, by the way; there is no disagree- ment there — is work that desperately needs to be done.

Once again, our hard-working minister has done an amaz- ing job of taking a look at this systematically and mak- ing decisions that are not always gut-driven, but driven by data and by evidence to make sure that we have the kind of policies that get us where we want to go. I have heard some criticism that this throne speech doesn’t have too much new in it. I would say that it has a lot of new stuff in it. But also, a throne speech is about the ongoing work, as well.

When we took on the gargantuan tasks of trying to repair the 16-year deficit in child care, in housing, in health care and many other aspects, we knew that we were taking on a long-term commitment. Those are the commitments we’ve made. With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, may I ask you how much longer I have? Deputy Speaker:Nine minutes. J. Sims: Nine minutes? Oh, thank you so much. So I do want to take a moment. Interjections. J. Sims: Oh, I do. I do want to, at this time, also acknowledge the work that has been done by our Minister of Agriculture.

She took on a very challenging task of addressing saving our prime farmland for our food security. She came through with some legislation, which I know was controversial. But she made a commitment to the people at the time: that she was listening, and that for farmers, for people who were actually farming, there were opportunities to build larger homes to accommodate their families. But she also was very, very firm that our farmland is there for us to grow our food. It is there for our children 10956 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

and for our children’s children. Once we lose our farm- land, reclaiming it is not that easy. It’s not like just going in there and saying: “Oh, today we’re going to farm on it. ” I’m really proud of the minister. She went into a con- sultation process and listened, and when she came out with the recent regulations, those regulations reflected what she had heard through her consultations. The previous legislation is still in place and is working, but really, she made accommodations for a family that may want to have elderly parents living with them — maybe not in the house, but in a separate unit.

She’s made accommod- ations for a family that may have a service care provider like a nanny or long-term care, who they may not want to have living in the house but on site. Those accommoda- tions have been made. What really excites me is when I see this minister travel around the province, and she is, like the Eveready bunny, everywhere. She goes around, and she gets so excited about not only the food we grow but the use of it — you know, eating local food.

It’s under her watch and the watch of Minister Dix that we have seen two health authorities now — I think three, maybe — that are going to be using local food in the hos- pitals. That is a big, big step. I spent a lot of time, as I said previously, both in the emergency room and in the hospital. And really, some of the food I saw there….

I’m glad that we are introducing more local food that is healthy and all of those things. [2:35 p.m.] I have a lot of chance to talk about all of the amazing things we are doing in Surrey, but I didn’t really get a chance to say that not only is Surrey getting a new hospital, but Burnaby is getting one. Vancouver is getting one. I see hospitals being announced in the north and in the Interi- or, irrespective of who that MLA represents — because they represent their constituents — or which party they are from.

I have been so proud of the work done by the Health Minister as he has grown urgent care centres, primary care centres and hospitals in every corner of this province. That says a lot. So it isn’t just…. When I look at some of the schools that have opened up in Surrey, they have opened up where many of the members who are sitting across the road from me…. We are very, very delighted about that. In a similar way, as we all know, the Minister of Envir- onment has been busy working. As we have said, we have to look for that balance.

I hear about that from my children and grandchildren all the time — about the need for us to be cognizant about the impact of glob- al warming and what we’re doing to Mother Planet and that we must leave something behind for them. So I’m very, very proud of the work we’ve done around elec- trification, around promoting electric cars and looking at alternate energies, but also, through retrofits, making sure that we can meet our goals. The investments we’re attracting…. Y ou would think, from across the way, that we were not attracting invest- ment. When I look at the companies that are moving in here….

I just mentioned Microsoft, and Amazon just moved in. There are others who are looking to come here. I also have to say that it took an NDP government and an NDP premier to sign on the LNG and to bring that to fruition. I know work was done on that by the previous government as well, but at the end of the day, it’s who can bring the deal home. I’m very, very proud of the work that was done by the Premier and the minister to make sure that was addressed.

In the light of everything that’s going on, I do want to say I am very proud of the work we have done in the area of truth and reconciliation — very, very proud of our work. I have no regrets. I’m very proud of the way my Premier has responded and reacted to what is going on. Not one of us in this House endorses any kind of violence. But we also know that we’re privileged to live in a coun- try where we do have the right to peaceful protest.

Those protests are going on right now, but despite that, we cannot let that be a distraction from the ongoing work, which, as the Premier often says, is the hard, hard work of truth and reconciliation. I want to remind each and every one of us that we all committed to that. We all voted for that. So let us all, each and every one of us, do our

part in lifting the move towards truth and reconciliation in a meaningful way. I knew when we were voting on it and discussing it — it was very emotional in this House — that that was the begin- ning. The hard work was ahead. I think Tuesday showed us that the hard work is ahead, and we have a lot of work to do in that area.

But let me end now by saying that I couldn’t be prouder of a government that has a throne speech that is not about photo ops and that is actually about deliv- erables and about addressing the serious issue of child care, which is both an economic investment as well as good for children and families.

It is about addressing the housing crisis that is real in a meaningful way, a tough road ahead for us; addressing the infrastructure that we need for hospitals, schools, child care centres, roads and highways; making sure that we have a clean B.C. — well, we do know that we have a very forward-looking plan, maybe cutting edge in the country; making sure that we do the work on truth and reconcili- ation; making sure we’re looking after our resources and using them in a way that will benefit generations to come, but at the same time, being cognizant of the impact on Mother Earth; and making sure that we have respectful relationships with people who share this beautiful province with us. [2:40 p.m.] It’s not always easy, nor will it be, but I think we, collect- ively, are up to the work.

I am so, so happy that this throne speech puts people first and is building on the foundation that was laid in the first throne speech. Y ou cannot undo Thursday, February 13, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10957

16 years in one or two years. This is ongoing work, and we’re committed to it. L. Throness:It gives me real pleasure to respond to the Speech from the Throne on behalf of my constituents today. I want to begin by thanking my constituents. It is a great privilege to serve in this place. I always enter this chamber with a sense of awe and thankfulness that I’m able to work hard on their behalf. I also want to thank my staff. I think of Wendy King, my legislative assistant here in Victoria, who does a terrific job. Coletta Holmes; Sheila Denis; and Kathy Miki — they are foundational to my work.

They do a really great job with my constituents. They’re great and capable individu- als, and I appreciate them very much. A couple of weeks ago, we had an incredible storm throughout my riding. There were several places where there were floods, and roads were washed out in Columbia Valley. There was a flood in Hemlock Valley. So 1.5 kilo- metres of road were washed away, and 500 people were trapped up in the Sasquatch Mountain Resort. Here, I want to thank Brian Murphy. He is president of the Hemlock Valley residents association.

Also Shelby Lim and the other staff of Sasquatch Mountain Resort who made sure that the community was pulled together and everyone was fed and housed and safe. I want to thank Emil Anderson Maintenance, who really deserve a shout-out for repairing that road and bringing it back to passable condition within 2½ or three days, which is really quite an engineering feat. What we really need and I will continue to press for is a proper refit of that road. It’s not completely paved, and it’s in poor condition because it’s just an old logging road.

It needs rebuilding, and I want to call on the government once again to do that. Finally, Rockwell Drive, in the district of Kent just north of Harrison Hot Springs, was flooded as well. I went up there, and it was an enormous amount of dam- age that was done in a very short time. But again, Emil Anderson Maintenance is working hard to repair it with- in a few days. I met with constituents there, and they were coping very well. It was kind of an historic weekend. As disasters go, we got off lightly. No one was hurt. We’re grateful that we’re evacuating people, fixing things and that people are taken care of.

We are a resilient community out in Chilliwack- Kent, and things are going to be okay. Now, I want to speak to the throne speech. One thing that I want to point out — a phrase in the throne speech that we’re interested in, the phrase that British Columbians can look forward to more options like “commuter rail out to the Fraser Valley. ” Well, I mean, that would be great. We’re looking for a widening in the No. 1 out to Whatcom Road at least, and if that could be done, we’ d be happy for the meantime.

I guess my cynical nature would say: “In what decade might commuter rail come to the Fraser Val- ley?” But we’re going to give the government the benefit of the doubt for today, and we’re going to be seeking more details on that in short order. Now, I must say that I was disappointed with the Speech from the Throne and what it said about children and families. I looked at it through the lens of children and families because of my role as critic in that area.

Mostly, the throne speech had a lot of partisan talk in it, more than a usual throne speech does, and a regurgit- ation of promises from one or two budgets ago. This is particularly true of about child care, with one exception. I want to point this out, because the throne speech did signal an important and very significant change in dir- ection in the government’s child care program. In fact, I regard it as an about-face, a reversal, a full-on back-ped- al, even an astonishing turnaround.

I want to set the stage for those remarks by quoting from the 2017 election campaign of the NDP , which said this when they promised universal health care, and I quote right from their platform: “The $10-a-day plan will build a child care system that provides safe care for every child whose family wants or needs it. ” Here’s what they said in their first budget of 2018 in a document called — and I brought it with me —The Path to Universal Child Care.

Here’s what it says on page 6 ofThe Path to Universal Child Care: “The province’s plan for early care and learning is to move…towards universal child care that is affordable and available for any family that wants or needs it. ” That’s quite telling. [2:45 p.m.] In the Canada–B.C. early learning and child care agree- ment, which is a federal-provincial document — it’s a legal document signed by ministers — the NDP government echoed this exact same language on child care.

Here’s what it said: “British Columbia committed to implementing a ten-year universal child care plan that provides affordable, accessible and high-quality care and early learning to every child whose family wants or needs it. ” They committed to this, to the federal government. But yesterday in the throne speech, they backed away from it. They reversed course. They abandoned the concept of uni- versal child care and broke a key election promise when they said this.

I’ll quote from the throne speech. “This gov- ernment brought forward…a universal child care plan, to provide affordable, quality care to every family that needs it. ” Not “needs or wants” — every family that “needs” it. It’s no longer about wanting; it’s only about need. And if it’s only about need, it’s no longer universal. Gone is the idea that any family that wants subsidized child care will be able to get subsidized child care. It’s similar to health care. If you want health care, you don’t get it. Y ou only get it if it’s medically necessary.

Social assistance, disability, autism funding — all of these pro- grams are need-based programs, and now child care is a need-based program too. Those programs are not univer- sal. Y ou can’t get health care if you want it; you can only 10958 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

get it if you need it. The government has thus backed away from one of its most important campaign promises. Many thousands of families voted for the government because of its promise of universal care for every family that wanted or needed it. It even made that commitment in writing to the federal government, in order to get mil- lions of dollars for child care, and now the NDP have broken faith with all of them — the federal govern- ment, parents, voters. Maybe they thought no one would notice, but we noticed here in the opposition, and par- ents will notice too. It’s not universal anymore.

I guess they found out that it will cost too much. But there are ramifications to this new direction in the throne speech. The first, for me, is to call upon the government to immediately stop giving fee reduction initiative subsidies to millionaires, because right now fee reductions are universal for everyone, whether they need them or not. In this way, the NDP are right now actually giving to the rich and taking from the poor, because those subsidies are not available to those who are of lower income. This needs to stop. If it’s now on the basis of need and they don’t need it, they shouldn’t get it.

I will look forward to this being in the budget next week. But I suspect that they knew all of this going in. They knew when they drafted their plan, when they drafted their 2018 budget and their platform that they would not be able to afford child care for everyone who wants or needs it, and now they’ve just slipped it in under the noses of the public. I want to continue by talking about the B.C. child opportunity benefit, which was a feature — the feature, really — in the last budget, in 2019. The throne speech just really reannounced it.

It talks about giving $380 million every year to families with children under the age of 18. We support more benefits to families. That’s not a problem with us. But with the NDP , you always have to look at the fine print. What’s in the fine print? The government says that a family with one child will get $1,600 a year. Add $1,000 a year to that for the second child, and add to that $800 a year for a third and subsequent child. So a three-child fam- ily can expect $3,400 a year. It works out to roughly $100 a month per child, or a little less. But you have to read the fine print.

This is the maximum that can be given. At a family income of just $25,000, the amount starts to be clawed back as the family earns more, and at just $55,000 in family earnings, there’s only half the benefit left. At an income of $80,000, it starts to fall again, disappear- ing at a family income of $120,000. But what’s the aver- age family income? The average family income in B.C. is $72,000, which means that only a very few B.C. families will get the maximum, and most will get about half, or 50 bucks a month per child, $1,700 a year for a family with three kids. I mean, it’s nice. We support that.

It’s not a bad thing. But let’s realize that in practice, it will not be nearly as gen- erous as what it’s billed to be. Families should not go and add new rooms to their house or take on other expendit- ures in anticipation of this smaller amount of money. [2:50 p.m.] Now, I want to go back in child care to the budget of 2018 and recall some of the enormous promises the gov- ernment made for the three-year period. We are now two years into that three-year period, and I want to evaluate a little bit of where we are, according to the promises that they made.

They were going to spend $1.3 billion over three years on child care. They were going to create 24,000 new incre- mental spaces and supply enough early childhood educat- ors to staff them. They would be a third of the way to our $10-a-day care for every family that needs or wants it. There would be fee reductions for 50,000 families. The affordable child care benefit was going to benefit 86,000 families at the end of that three-year period. And 27,000 families making under $45,000 a year would pay little or nothing for licensed care. Well, how are the NDP doing? Have they lived up to their grandiose promises?

Allow me to address these issues in turn. I want to begin by talking about $10-a-day care, which was arguably the centrepiece of the NDP campaign in 2017. The first point is that the NDP put together a pilot pro- ject, and they used all federal money to fund that pilot pro- ject through the B.C.-Canada early learning and child care agreement. A total of $156 million over three years but not a penny of provincial money was committed to $10-a-day care. And to date, not a penny has been spent by the gov- ernment on $10-a-day care. It’s all federal money.

Nor did they create a single new space in this pilot pro- ject. They merely converted 2,500 existing spaces in 53 lucky centres into $10-a-day spaces. Now, this pilot pro- gram is supposed to end on March 31, to be followed by an evaluation by Malatest that was supposed to be done at the end of June. But we heard lately that the federal govern- ment has renewed the funding anyway, and the pilot pro- ject will continue for another year after March 31.

Now, I really don’t think that the government is partic- ularly concerned about the evaluation, whether it’s good or bad, but it should care because the evaluation contract signed by the government is very costly: $2.9 million to evaluate 53 centres, including $462,000 in expenses like travel, meals, accommodation — oh, and gratuities provided to survey participants. Very important. The government has pledged to be driven by the data.

But without any data from the evaluation, the pilot will be renewed without a second thought because the par- ents who are lucky enough to receive $10-a-day care actually like it, and it would be politically impossible to stop it. Can you imagine the stories if $10-a-day care — what little there is — had ceased altogether on March 31 and a couple of thousand parents were suddenly out in Thursday, February 13, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10959

the cold, denied the $10-a-day care that they’ve become used to in the past year? It was a nightmare political scenario for the government. In this, the government, as usual, is driven by pure polit- ics rather than by the data, because the data may have sug- gested a change to $10-a-day care. Maybe it would have suggested $15-a-day care or some other parameter. But no. The same thing is being redone for another year for a bunch of lucky parents. The second year, the same pilot project will feature the same 53 centres, the same parents and the same children. They won the lottery for a second year in a row.

I use the word lottery advisedly. Let me read to you about Lexie’s Little Bears Child Care from a story in the Goldstream News Gazette from Victoria on February 4 of this year. “It’s such a cliché, but it’s like winning the lottery, ” said the owner of the daycare. “The families have been over the moon with this pilot project. Everyone wants a piece of it. ” And why wouldn’t they? That’s hardly a surprise. As in any lottery, we hear the shouts of joy from the few parents who win, but we don’t hear the sighs of the thou- sands and thousands of parents who lost.

Well, the government gave itself ten years to institute $10-a-day care. Two years in, how is the NDP progressing? Well, the pilot program funds 2,500 spaces. That repres- ents exactly 2 percent of existing child care spaces. That’s it. Rather than coming close to a third of all child care spaces being $10-a-day, the government has 98 percent to go. Well, let the bells ring out and the banners fly. The minister will argue that many more people than those in the pilot project are paying $200 a month or less.

This from a press release from MCFD, dated November 12, where it stated that more than 20,000 families are receiv- ing child care for $10-a-day or less. [2:55 p.m.] In question period in that same month, last November, the minister said more than 21,000. But theGlobe and Mail, in an editorial on January 12, claimed that there were 22,000 paying less than $200 a month when the B.C. Lib- erals left power. In other words, the NDP may not have moved the dial at all on that. They just slapped a differ- ent name on B.C. Liberal programs that accomplished the same thing. What was the cost of the pilot project?

We have the benefit of a progress report on year two of the B.C.-Canada early learning and child care agreement that was made public with little fanfare about a month ago. From this, we learned that $18.5 million in federal funds were spent in one year. That’s about $600 a space. Add to that the fee reductions, child care operating funds, affordable child care benefits, special grants to the pilot centres called qual- ity improvement grants to bring daycares up to the $10-a- day standards, whatever those standards are. It’s not been evaluated yet, but, apparently, we know what the standards are.

I have no doubt that the total is far above the average cost of a child care space in B.C., which is $1,088. In the end, we don’t know if $10-a-day care will be affordable, and indeed, because universal care was annulled in the throne speech, maybe we have found that it’s not. Maybe it will be $15-a-day or $20-a-day or more. Quebec, after all, started with $5-a-day daycare. Now it’s up to as much as $22 per day, per space. In brief, we are looking at a very costly program that the province has invested nothing in. The program has accom- plished nothing in the way of new spaces.

Just 2 percent of our child care spaces are $10-a-day spaces. It’s all politics, and it shows that the government will promise anything to get elected. If they fall flat later on those promises, well, too bad. “We’ll fix it after the election. ” Now I want to talk about a huge problem in child care and that is the supply of qualified early childhood edu- cators. This is the most pressing problem in child care today. I hear about it all the time. I’ve received quite a few emails on this topic. I want to quote from a few because they tear at the heart. Here’s one I received from the Interior.

After pointing out in the email that there are 35,000 qualified ECEs in B.C. who do not work in their field, one provider said this: “Daily we have panicked parents calling our office because they cannot find child care and have recently accepted a job in our com- munity. Many mothers call our office, and they cannot find child care to return back to work from their maternity leave.

I think it’s just a matter of time before we officially begin to call this situation a child care crisis, especially when the business community begins to see the effects of employee absenteeism and they begin to have difficulty recruiting employees to our community for work because parents cannot secure reliable and quality child care. ” How about another from the Interior last March? “It’s been a full year of these contracts and additions from the NDP , and nothing has changed regarding staffing levels. Here’s proof.

The daycare that paid the highest wage plus a $500 signing bonus is closing down, because they can’t find staff to work at the end of April. ” Wow. How about this one from the Lower Mainland in an urban centre. I received this just a few months ago, last November. “Hundreds of spaces are allegedly being rolled out and funding provided to build spaces. Y et, there is no staff to work in them!” The industry is in crisis. Every day I am hearing of centres closing down or desperately struggling, trying to keep their doors open because of the lack of qualified staff.

Owners and staff are working ten- to 12-hour days for weeks and months at a time with no break, because they can’t get staff. “ At my centre, we have increased wages by 20 percent over the past year. We have an amazing work environment, a great staff benefits package, including an employer-con- tributing RRSP program and medical, dental. Y et, we still have a great deal of difficulty finding qualified staff. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for smaller centres. ” The NDP virtually ignored this problem when they launched their program in 2018.

Instead, they rushed pay- ments into the hands of parents which created more 10960 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

demand, but they did virtually nothing about the work- force needed to staff the spaces that they were funding. Their plan is only rational when you see the political rationale to get cheques as fast as possible into the hands of parents. [3:00 p.m.] In an email I received, this is what a provider said: “What has happened is that the cart has been put before the horse. Spaces create votes. There are more parents than workers. But spaces don’t fix the underlying problems. ” This child care provider eloquently explained the situation.

The government created spaces for political reasons, without raising up a qualified workforce to staff them. The government does have a bursary program to help students, but that ran out of money in October. There were no more bursaries. They finally found some more money about a month ago, but in the meantime, some students had to drop out and lose their semester. How much has the government spent on the labour sup- ply? Y ou’ d think it would be a lot, since it’s the biggest problem in the child care field. The government, after all, is spending $1.3 billion over three years.

On January 17, here’s what an MCFD press release said: “To date, the province has invested more than $13 million to provide more than 10,000 early childhood educators with a $1-per-hour wage enhancement, with another $1-per-hour lift to come in April 2020. ” Well, whoop-de-do. The NDP is spending $1.3 billion on child care, and 1 percent of it — $13 million — goes to alleviate the biggest problem, the dire shortage of workers. It is a failure of public policy, a triumph of neglect and mis- management. Now, I want to move on to talk about the two main engines of new space creation for this government.

They’re called the new space child care fund and the start-up fund. Last fall, the government made a big splash. The Premier visited a child care centre, and there were all sorts of pic- tures taken. It came out with a major milestone announce- ment, boasting that it had created 10,400 spaces through these two programs alone. But then the Minister of State for Child Care quietly sent out a clarification to the press that after two years, only 2,055 of those spaces were actu- ally open and working. In other words, most of those spaces have one little problem.

There are no children in them, no workers staffing them. They aren’t open. It reminds me of aSeinfeld episode where Kramer says he’s going to build levels in his apartment, and Jerry bets that he’s not going to do it. It turns out that Jerry is right. The conversation goes like this. Jerry says: “We didn’t bet on if you wanted to. We bet on if it would be done. ” Kramer says: “Well, it could be done. ” And Jerry says: “Well, of course it could be done. Anything could be done, but it’s only done if it’s done. Show me the levels. ” To the Minister of State for Child Care, I would say it’s only done if it’s done.

Show us the child care spaces, the working child care spaces with children and staff in them. But they aren’t there, and the minister knows it. Let’s add something here. I want to add something here. We’ve received an email through freedom of information, an email to the minister’s office about the start-up fund, which is one of the two main engines, main programs, that grow child care spaces. This fund gives grants to previously unlicensed people to get licensed.

The email says this: “I think we can say that there’s a fairly even split of previously operating versus new start- up. ” So only half the spaces from the start-up fund being claimed by the government are actually new spaces. The others aren’t new at all. Because they were operating before as unlicensed spaces, they’re converted spaces, not created spaces. After two years of government doling out millions of dollars, instead of 2,055 operating spaces out of the 10,400 announced, the real number is about 1,500.

Just 14 percent of the 10,400 spaces claimed to have been created by the government are new spaces that actually have children in them. All of this after the government has spent $600 mil- lion on child care over the past two years. This is a record of failure that I think is unmatched even by the NDP government of the 1990s. Surely the minister should win some sort of prize. Now, I want to talk about another program that down- loads provincial responsibilities onto municipalities. This is a trap that the province is laying for municipalities around the province.

I’m talking about a program man- aged by the Union of B.C. Municipalities. It’s a provincial program called the community child care space creation program. It will spend $13.7 million to create 1,370 new spaces within municipal facilities. That’s $10,000 a space just to get them up and running. But the province will give up to $1 million in funding to municipalities to house child care centres within municipally owned facilities. [3:05 p.m.] The municipality doesn’t have to pay a dime. The province will pay the entire shot, up to $1 million, which I would say is very, very generous.

The parameters of the program are equally generous. Funding can be used to purchase or construct a building, buy any kind of equip- ment for it, including vehicles and office equipment and furniture and play structures. All the physical require- ments of a daycare will be in place. Then the provider in the building, which, by the way, has to be a non-profit pro- vider, will be, in addition, entitled to the full suite of exist- ing government programs. My question is simple. Child care is a provincial responsibility. Why wouldn’t the province do this directly instead of asking the municipalities to do it for them?

It’s because the province wants to download its responsibility for child care onto municipalities and municipal taxpay- ers. They want to push municipalities into providing social programs in addition to the traditional things like fixing roads, providing municipal functions like water and sewer. Thursday, February 13, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10961

Let me explain why this is downloading. It takes money to maintain a building and the land around it. The local town would be responsible for that. The municipal build- ing that houses child care won’t be paying property taxes or development cost charges because it’s a municipally owned building, although a commercial business operat- ing on that same property would have to pay all of those things, which is an opportunity cost to taxpayers over the long term. Municipalities will have to commit to running the facil- ity for up to 15 years.

And since it will be a municipally owned centre, if something goes wrong with it, the mayor will take the political hit — not the province. A thousand things can go wrong with a daycare. Maybe for some reas- on the staff don’t show up one day. If that happens, where will the finger of blame point to? Mayor and council. The mayor and council. I think it’s very crafty. It’s a very crafty scheme using $1 million at a time to entice municipalities to commit to running those child care centres for up to 15 years, and the minister can wash her hands of it. I hope that municipalit- ies will see through this.

Let’s look at a few other promises. The affordable child care benefit was going to benefit 86,000 families at the end of three years, a year from now. How far are we along? As of last July, which is the latest figure I could find, there were 37,000 families receiving some level of support. The promise is less than half achieved, but we’re two-thirds of the way through the mandate. The NDP promised fee reductions for 50,000 families. As of last July, about 38,000 families were getting it. There’s still a long ways to go.

And 27,000 families making under $45,000 a year would pay little or nothing for licensed care, and the government may actually achieve this one a year from now, although as I have mentioned, the B.C. Liber- als were almost there back in 2017 as well. The NDP have done little extra in this regard. I want to end my speech by comparing the B.C. Liberal record to the NDP record. I go back to government statist- ics in order to do that, to the MCFD reporting portal. Any- body watching on TV or reading inHansard can go right to that portal online, and they will find a graph that details space creation since 2004.

It shows that over a 13-year period until 2017, B.C. Liberals consistently — year over year, with no interruption — created 3,400 child care spaces or about 44,000 spaces in all. I call this a natural increase. As the population increases and the economy grows, some people want to go into child care, and they take advantage of the programs, and they open up new businesses. The NDP have continued this natural growth at a reduced rate slightly and little more. With all of their spending and emphasis, they have only accelerated that natural growth by 1,500 working spaces. That’s it.

At a massive total cost of $590 million over two years, an amazing amount of money spent to almost no extra incremental effect. Now, unfortunately, we know little about the govern- ment’s overall plan for $10-a-day care. How many spaces does the minister intend to create? How much has it all cost so far? How much will it cost when their plan is com- plete? How can we know that the program is affordable if we don’t know its parameters? The only figure we have is $1.5 billion a year, and that figure is ten years old. In closing, B.C. Liberals are proud of what we have accomplished.

We not only created 44,000 spaces. We cre- ated all-day free kindergarten for five-year-olds, the early learning framework, the child subsidy program, child care operating funds, StrongStart throughout B.C. We are very proud of our achievements, and we will produce our own superior plan in due course. In the meantime, we’ll be watching closely to ask the tough questions to demand change and improvement in NDP child care policy. [3:10 p.m.] Hon. D.

Donaldson:It’s a great pleasure to rise today and take my turn to respond to the throne speech — not only a pleasure but a privilege — as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Stikine. I want to thank the people of Stikine, which is the largest geographic constitu- ency in the province and overlays the traditional territor- ies of seven First Nations. I thank them for electing me as their representative here in the Legislature in Victoria for three straight terms.

I’m going to start off this throne speech response by addressing what is on the minds of many Stikine constitu- ents, that being the relationship between the Wet’suwet’ en, the province and Canada. Specifically a few constituents have encouraged me to make more frequent public state- ments regarding Wet’suwet’ en circumstances. Although I don’t take up a lot of public space in this discourse on social media, it doesn’t mean that I am silent in the space I was elected to influence in the Legislature in Victoria.

One very recent example of that is the quick response in writing from the Premier yesterday afternoon to Simogyet Spookw, accepting the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs’ offer of removing the CN Rail blockade on his traditional territory after a commitment from the provincial and federal gov- ernments for a senior official to meet with the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs. This demonstrates cooperation towards finding peaceful resolutions before a CN injunction is enforced.

I was disappointed that the Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs and Minister Scott Fraser were unable to find res- olution last week after great effort regarding the Morice West Forest Service Road. I was disturbed, as were many constituents of Stikine, by the images of Matriarchs being removed by the RCMP from their traditional territory. Rightly, there is separation between the judicial and political branches in our system, and enforcement 10962 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

decisions are made by the RCMP , not government. Thankfully, no one was injured during the enforcement activities last week. I’m also hopeful, and that is in part because of the state- ment from the Wet’suwet’ en Chiefs last week that read: “The Wet’suwet’ en Hereditary Chiefs remain committed to the Wiggus development process and will continue discus- sions with the province of British Columbia. ” A forum for these discussions on Aboriginal rights and title through reconciliation has been taking place since the Baht’lats in Witset last February, led for the provincial side by former MP Murray Rankin.

I’m glad that work will continue. As the Supreme Court of Canada Justice Lamer wrote in the 1997 Gisday’wa-Delgamuukw decision, the case and the work ahead is “the reconciliation of the pre-existence of Aboriginal societies with the sovereignty of the Crown. ” That is what I worked on before becoming an MLA, what I am working on here as an MLA and what I’ll continue to work on long after I’m an MLA, as a member of my com- munity. Now some specifics from the throne speech that are of significance to those living in Stikine.

The action plan from the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act will be carried out and created in collaboration with First Nations leaders in the coming months. That will entail out- lining what legislation will be analyzed jointly, first using UNDRIP as a human rights framework. It’s going to be a step-by-step, methodical process and a tangible embodiment of Justice Lamer’s statement from the Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa case.

That would mean “the reconciliation of the pre-existence of Abori- ginal societies with the sovereignty of the Crown. ” That is important work, and as I said — as outlined in the throne speech — that action plan will be undertaken in the coming months. Health services are of very great importance to those living in the north and living in Stikine. I’m happy to say that as part of the government’s work under this throne speech, work will be advancing on a new Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace. That’s a hospital that’s used by many people in Stikine.

It’s the closest major hospital to many residents in Stikine and contains most of the diagnostic and other equipment that’s needed. A new Mills Memorial Hospital — work is advancing on that in the next year, as outlined as some of the highlights of the throne speech. [3:15 p.m.] I also want to point out the work that has been accom- plished in health services in the north — an 85 percent increase in MRIs in the Northern Health Authority. It brings us up to the rest of the provincial standards, pretty well. That is something that I know — and I’ve heard from constituents — has meant a lot.

The wait-lists have decreased in the north for MRIs, and of course, it’s a dia- gnostic tool to get people back into better health. That kind of work will be ongoing under the work outlined in the throne speech, under health services. Of course, under this year and under this throne speech, we will see the medical services premium no longer being applied. That can mean a savings to an individual of $900 per year and $1,800 per year per family, on average. That’s money directly into people’s pockets that they can use in their daily needs and in supporting small businesses in Stikine with their spending. Housing.

There’s an amazing amount of work being done on housing on and off reserve in Stikine. This year, under this throne speech, we’ll see the undertaking of housing projects — for example, 26 housing units in Wit- set, on reserve, and $5.2 million being expended from the provincial budget on that housing. We know that housing on reserve has often been just left up to the federal government. We as a government are stepping up, and I’m very proud of that, in acknowledging that people who have their housing needs met are able to better take control of their own future and be members of society in a healthy way.

That’s just one aspect that’ll be undertaken this year. We also know that there are affordable housing initiat- ives in Smithers that we’ll see work being done on, afford- able seniors housing in Telkwa and, of course, the hous- ing for homeless people in Smithers that was already com- pleted last year. So more to come on the housing front for the north and for Stikine, in particular. Education. We’ll see, under this throne speech and under this year, the breaking of ground of a new Walnut Park Elementary school in Smithers, a $28.5 million pro- ject. It’ll be able to accommodate up to 440 kids.

We know, with that kind of attendance at an elementary school, that the future is bright for the up-and-coming generation in Smithers. Also, I’m happy to note that provincewide — but of par- ticular interest in Stikine, considering the demographics — the curriculum, K to 12, will now include Indigenous culture and history. Of course, some schools and school districts have been working on this on their own. I know that in the school districts…. I have four school districts in the constituency I represent, many of them taking this work on.

Now we’ll see that that’ll be a provincewide cur- riculum, which will help immensely. Very importantly on the education front, we’ll see this year 24-7 mental health counselling for all post-secondary school students, a tremendous new improvement. We have a number of students from Stikine attending post-second- ary educational institutes in Stikine, with Northwest Com- munity College — which is now called, I believe, the north coast college — as well as those attending post-secondary institutions in faraway cities, whether it’s Prince George or down in the Lower Mainland.

The 24-7 counselling for those students is such a critical and important part of what’s going to be happening, as outlined in the throne speech. Driving. We know that ICBC was left in a mess. People do have to drive a lot more in the north, compared to Thursday, February 13, 2020 British Columbia Debates 10963

other places in B.C., especially more urban areas. The pub- lic transportation options aren’t as diverse. People need to drive to get to appointments, need to drive long distances, sometimes, to get to work and need to drive to get to post- secondary and other institutions. [3:20 p.m.] Generally speaking, we who are lucky enough to have vehicles in the north do tend to put a lot more kilometres on our vehicles, compared to other places.

To see that announcement in the throne speech and the work under this government of taking costly legal fees out of the ICBC system will lead to an average decrease of 20 percent in basic coverage…. That could be an average of $400 taken off people’s insurance at basic coverage. That is something that’s going to be very important to people living in the north. As I said, we depend on our vehicles a lot more frequently than others. That will be something that people will enjoy as they’re driving to work, as their rates are decreased, and as they drive to work.

Those working at minimum-wage jobs will be seeing, as outlined in the throne speech, their minimum-wage increase to $15.20 by 2021, up from $14.60 now. So not only will people who can afford a car be able to get less costly, at least, insurance, they’ll also be able to be making more at their minimum-wage jobs. I want to touch a little bit on the land base — the land base including the oceans. We reached an agreement last year, at least in 2018, on fish farms and the moving of and closing down of open-net salmon fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago.

Some people said that agreement could never have been achieved. We managed to achieve it between First Nations, between the government and with industry involvement. We’ll be seeing those fish farms being moved out of those migration routes and corridors in the Broughton Archipelago. And we will also see that any new fish farms will require not only the federal government to approve…. And provincial government approval will be dependent on those fish farms getting the consent of the First Nations where those fish farms will be located. So it brings more certainty to the industry.

We know that many people depend on those fish-farm- ing jobs in some communities. So this agreement will bring more certainty, but it’s also about protecting wild sal- mon. We know how important wild salmon is to the eco- nomy and also the culture in places like Stikine. Again, protecting the wild salmon economy is a priority for this government. By taking action on fish farms, we’ll ensure that not only commercial fish-farming operations remain viable into the future, creating that certainty, but that the wild salmon populations will be further protected. This is important to people in Stikine.

It’s not only important for food and social and ceremonial purposes with First Nations but important for the ecosystem, for the biomass that returns each year and important for people who have livelihoods depending on the sport-fishing industry. That is something that’s extremely important on the Bulkley, the Skeena systems and important for people who have this as a recreational outlet.

There have been a lot of restrictions on sport fishing and restrictions on the inland commercial fishery carried out by First Nations who have in successive years been willing to forego that activity in order to conserve salmon species. So salmon, as I said, is a priority for this government. Of course, speaking of the economy and environmental and ecological sustainability, I want to touch on forestry. It’s an important part of the ministry I represent, an important part of the economy still in Stikine and across the north. We are dealing with the situation that was left to us by the previous government.

I just want to outline some of those trends. We knew — on the coast, for instance — that between 2003 and 2017, the lumber production on the coast decreased by 45 per- cent. The employment in the forest sector decreased by 40 percent. The export of logs increased by 155 percent. [3:25 p.m.] Those are trajectories that communities, that workers, that people dependent on forestry found unacceptable, and we did as well. So we’ve taken action on that through our coast forest sector renewal process.

We’ve implemen- ted measures to drive more logs to domestic production and increase the amount of fibre being brought out of the forest that was previously left behind. That’ll create more jobs. It’ll create more certainty for communities, and it will address those negative trends over time. We also understand and know the situation that was left to us with the Interior forest sector. Everybody knew that there was an overcapacity in that sector. Mills’ capacity had increased due to the availability of the mountain pine beetle wood. That wood was predicted, long ago, to come to an end.

In fact, the previous government had a report on their hands, in 2015, that outlined that up to 13 mills would be closing. Unfortunately, no significant action was taken to prepare communities for that eventuality. So we have undertaken the Interior forest sector renew- al process. We have seen mill curtailments and closures, and it’s been extremely tough on workers and remote rural and rural communities in the north and in the Interior.

We introduced the Interior forestry worker support program in September — $69 million program — but we’re also soliciting and have finished a public engagement process with over 30 communities in the Interior and with experts in the field to come up with some policy initiatives. We’ll be publishing a “What we heard” document shortly on that as a next step for policy suggestions from the ground up in order to address the overcapacity issue and the future of milling in the Interior.

We’ve addressed stumpage concerns not by political intervention in the stumpage system but by the routine measures that we have to recalibrate stumpage that comes year to year. The political intervention in the 10964 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 13, 2020

stumpage system that some were advocating for would create more harm than good. That’s been borne out by previous situations with the softwood lumber disagree- ment with the States. We can’t be seen to be politically intervening in the stumpage system, but simply through our routine meas- ures and adjustments around the different factors that go into creating the stumpage, we have seen, on the coast, a 53 percent decrease in stumpage from January 2019 to this January 2020. So the average stumpage on

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20200213pm-Hansard-n306
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20200213pm Hansard n306
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	a04cf4139275a34d01d25345d3f7b8b4d577f67a

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (pdf).