Second Session, 42nd Parliament

(2021) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Morning Sitting

Issue No. 101

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Routine Business

Introduction and First Reading of Bills

Bill 17 — Protected Areas of British Columbia Amendment Act, 2021

Hon. G. Heyman

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

World Teachers Day and role of teachers

J. Tegart

M. Elmore

Fire Dragon Festival and Vancouver’s Chinatown

E. Ross

Mary Anne Cooper and Port Moody Film Project

R. Glumac

Peter Alder

J. Sturdy

TogetherBC report and COVID-19 response

B. Bailey

Oral Questions

Government response to heatwave

S. Bond

Hon. A. Dix

T. Stone

Isolation spaces for COVID-19 cases among unhoused people

S. Furstenau

Hon. A. Dix

Hon. D. Eby

Government response to heatwave

S. Cadieux

Hon. A. Dix

K. Kirkpatrick

Tabling Documents

Environmental Appeal Board, annual report, 2020-21

Reports from Committees

Children and Youth Committee, annual report,

2020-21

J. Sims

C. Oakes

Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders

and Private Bills Committee, report on Bill Pr401, September 2021

J. Sims

A. Wilkinson

Orders of the Day

Second Reading of Bills

Bill 14 — Early Childhood Educators Act (continued)

N. Sharma

A. Olsen

M. Dykeman

K. Paddon

Hon. B. Ma

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2021

The House met at 10:03 a.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers and reflections: S. Chant.

[10:05 a.m.]

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

BILL 17 — PROTECTED AREAS OF

BRITISH COLUMBIA AMENDMENT

ACT, 2021

Hon. G. Heyman presented a message from Her Honour the

Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Protected Areas of British Columbia

Amendment Act, 2021.

Hon. G. Heyman: I move that the bill be introduced and read a first time

now.

This bill contains amendments to the Protected Areas of British

Columbia Act. These amendments continue the legislative work needed to

maintain and improve the B.C. protected areas system. The bill will add

2,419 hectares to the protected areas system managed by B.C.

Parks.

These amendments will establish one new park on southern Vancouver

Island, make additions to nine existing parks and one conservancy,

modify the boundaries of five parks, improve boundary descriptions and

correct administrative errors.

This bill also contains important amendments to rename two parks

to include their Indigenous place names, from Newcastle Marine Park to

Saysutshun and from Chilliwack Lake Park to Sxótsaqel.

Copies of the official plans that depict the boundaries of most of

the parks and the conservancy in this bill will be posted on the B.C.

Parks website for public and member review.

Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is first reading of the bill.

Motion approved.

Hon. G. Heyman: I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second

reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 17, Protected Areas of British Columbia Amendment Act, 2021,

introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day

for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

WORLD TEACHERS DAY

AND ROLE OF

TEACHERS

J. Tegart: They are found in every community across the province and around

the world. They help shape our lives and are foundational in setting us

up for future successes. I think it’s safe to say that none of us would

be where we are today without one of them in our lives.

Today is World Teachers Day, a day marked by the United Nations to

celebrate all teachers and their incredible accomplishments every day.

It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 UNESCO

recommendation concerning the status of teachers, which set benchmarks

regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and helped to

create a global standard for recruitment, employment and teaching and

learning conditions.

Today is about more than celebrating the incredible achievements

of teachers and educators around the world. It’s a day for us to reflect

on the challenges they face every day and what steps we can take to

better support and invest in them, to ensure that every learner has

access to the quality education they deserve.

Even in the best of times, the work of a teacher is never easy.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges into our

schools and classrooms, challenges that teachers have and continue to

bravely face in the spirit of continuing our children’s growth and

education. Teachers also continue to face greater challenges in

countries around the world where social or gender barriers prevent

people from providing or accessing a good education.

Education is not a privilege; it’s a fundamental right for all

people. Today it is great that we celebrate World Teachers

Day.

[10:10 a.m.]

M. Elmore: To follow the remarks from my colleague, it’s World Teachers Day

and a day to celebrate the people in our communities who put children

first every day. There has never been a more poignant time to celebrate

and honour teachers as they continue to work on the front lines during

the pandemic.

There is no question: school is the best place for students, for

their social and emotional well-being, to ensure they are keeping up

with their learning, and for social supports, including meal programs

and mental health services. School has been a constant for kids in an

uncertain time, and a large part of that calm, caring consistency comes

from teachers and the education team in the classroom. Our government

sincerely thanks teachers and all school staff for showing up and making

sure our students continue to receive a world-class

education.

On World Teachers Day, we are launching the nomination period for

the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education. I encourage everyone

who knows a teacher or an education staff member who deserves

recognition to submit a nomination. The nomination period continues

until January, and the awards will be given out in the spring. More

information on the Premier’s awards can be found online at

www.gov.bc.ca/excellenceineducation.

To all of B.C.’s more than 45,000 teachers, I say: your work is

valued. Your work matters deeply. On World Teachers Day and every day,

we thank you.

FIRE DRAGON FESTIVAL

AND VANCOUVER’S

CHINATOWN

E. Ross: Over 100 years ago, Buddha appeared to an elderly villager in a

dream and told him to hold a Fire Dragon Dance to drive away a plague.

It succeeded, and people began to believe that the Fire Dragon Dance

could drive away bad luck and disease. Thus began the tradition of the

Fire Dragon.

After a 46-year absence from British Columbia, the Vancouver

Chinatown BIA brought the Fire Dragon Festival back to B.C. The rebirth

of the Fire Dance was an exciting event for the member for Nechako Lakes

and myself to witness, but we were also there to support the initiative

to designate Chinatown as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Watching the

ancient ceremony brought a sense of familiarity to me.

The desire and interest placed on reviving and preserving cultural

heritage is something that First Nations have been trying to address for

decades, but my biggest takeaways were the comments on racism. Ethnic

minorities understand that issues related to racism are driven by

ignorance and fear and that education and understanding are the best

tools to bring people together.

First Nations and the Asian community have a connection that goes

back to the building of Canada — in our case, the canneries and the

fisheries — and experienced much of the same racist treatment. That’s

why truth and reconciliation means more to me than just addressing First

Nations issues. It actually means addressing all the treatments that all

ethnic minorities have faced in the building of this country. We also

share a history of perseverance in honouring those who made that

difficult walk towards acceptance.

I fully support Chinatown’s designation as another step towards

not only recognizing our history but embracing our future together as

Canadians. I also want to thank the member for Vancouver-Fraserview, who

actually mentioned myself and the member for Nechako Lakes as being

members of the audience sitting out there in the crowd — on the ground,

I might add, which was actually interesting, to witness the whole

ceremony.

As well, I thank Vancouver councillor Lisa Dominato for explaining

to me the whole history of the Fire Dragon Festival in the first

place.

MARY ANNE COOPER AND

PORT MOODY FILM

PROJECT

R. Glumac: Mary Anne Cooper walked into a kindergarten class, she sat among

the children, and she asked them: “What do you see when you walk in a

forest?” They all put up their hands, and they said: “Oh, trees and

plants and squirrels.” The lesson that she was teaching is that a forest

is a community, and all the creatures in the forest needed to be

protected.

[10:15 a.m.]

All the children that were there were eager to put up their hands

and say: “I want to protect the forest.” That brought a smile to Mary

Anne’s face. One of the children asked: “How long ago was it since

you’ve been in kindergarten?” She said: “Oh, about 100

years.”

This was one of the scenes in a new documentary that I had the

opportunity to watch last weekend called The Spirit of Port

Moody . It’s a film about Mary Anne Cooper, who turns 107 this

month, and about the community and about the environment that she cares

so much about.

Mary Anne has been a fixture in the community and a champion of

local issues. You can often see her at city council meetings speaking

passionately about something. She attributes her long life to a positive

attitude and a constant quest for learning and adventure. She says: “I

think there’s so much to get excited about in life — so much to learn,

so much to understand, so much to solve. To me, life itself is a

wonderful adventure.”

I’d like to say congratulations to all the volunteers and the

filmmaker that put this amazing film together.

And congratulations to Mary Anne for all that you do. Happy

birthday and many more to come.

PETER ALDER

J. Sturdy: In many communities across this province, there are individuals

whose actions truly shape the landscape. Peter Alder was one of those

people, a man who helped turn Whistler and ski resorts across the

province into the mountain communities that we enjoy today.

He first arrived in B.C. from Switzerland in the 1950s, an

engineer by trade. As one would expect of a Swiss, his parents had

introduced him to the pleasures of skiing, and the mountains of British

Columbia were in many ways familiar.

Peter began his career working for Kemano on transmission lines

and then B.C. Electric installing power lines between the Bridge River

and Squamish. He began his ski industry career as general manager of Red

Mountain in Rossland largely as a result of his experience with hydro

towers and big cables, as well as “his great Swiss accent” — or so the

story goes. An anecdote from his memorial says that according to Peter,

the two best things about Switzerland were the cheese and the flight

back to B.C.

But Peter later held GM positions at Silver Star and Big White

mountain resorts. In the late 1970s, Peter returned to the coast and was

hired as the general manager for Garibaldi Lift Co., returning to the

Sea to Sky just as Whistler Mountain was beginning its rivalry with Hugh

Smythe and the upstart Blackcomb Mountain. Peter later worked for

Whistler Resort Association, Ecosign Mountain Planners and then Al and

Nancy Raine on the Cahilty Lodge at Sun Peaks.

Peter was always involved in the community, whether as a Rotarian,

on the chamber of commerce or as a mentor and a good friend to many. He

received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Whistler Chamber of

Commerce Excellence Awards, and in 2019, Canada West Ski Areas

Association awarded Peter the Jimmie Spencer Lifetime Achievement Award

for outstanding contributions to the B.C. ski industry.

Peter died last July and will be sorely missed, but his impact on

the industry and the community will live on.

TOGETHERBC REPORT AND

COVID-19

RESPONSE

B. Bailey: Throughout the pandemic, people in our communities have faced

unparalleled need and have look­ed to government for increased

supports and services. The TogetherBC 2020 Annual Report , which

was tabled yesterday by the Minister of Social Development and Poverty

Reduction, shows how all levels of government, along with community

partners, have been working together to meet these needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted pre-existing inequalities and,

in particular, affected vulnerable and marginalized populations. That’s

why it’s crucial that we continue to address the root causes of poverty,

including income inequality, housing instability and lack of affordable

child care.

Despite the many challenges we face due to the pandemic, the 2020

annual report shows that measures such as the B.C. emergency benefit for

workers and temporary supplements to income and disability assistance

clients and low-income seniors have been helping.

[10:20 a.m.]

The report also highlights the work of some of our ama­zing

community partners who are making a huge difference in their

communities, organizations like South Oka­nagan Immigrant and

Community Services, who work with racialized populations

disproportionately impacted by the pandemic; RISE Community Health

Centre with their care model that addresses the social determinants of

health in addition to physical ailments; and BGC Kamloops, a child

centre that stayed open throughout the pandemic to ensure parents were

able to keep working.

Throughout the pandemic, there have been so many stories of

British Columbians pulling together to support friends, family and

neighbours in need — too many to be included in the report. But it is

that same spirit of resilience that’s gotten us through the challenge of

the past year and will help us build a secure future

together.

I encourage each of you to take the time to read the an­nual

poverty reduction report and learn more about the progress that’s been

made.

Oral Questions

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO HEATWAVE

S. Bond: This June a record-breaking heatwave saw blistering hot

temperatures throughout large parts of our province. But the Premier and

his government were not prepared to deal with the profound impact that

this would have on people and the services that they depend on. Instead,

unbelievably, the Premier said he was “giddy” about lifting COVID

restrictions.

While the Premier failed to act, 570 people died in British

Columbia from heat-related causes. Almost 80 percent of them were frail,

vulnerable seniors 65 years and older. The Premier’s response to these

heat-related deaths was nothing short of appalling. He said, “Fatalities

are a part of life” and that there’s a “level of personal

responsibility.”

Today can the Premier explain his government’s failure to respond

effectively to the deadliest weather situation in Canadian

history?

Hon. A. Dix: Thank you very much to the member for her question.

I want to say at the beginning of this period for me, this fall

sitting, how important it is that 100 percent of the people in this

House are vaccinated and that 100 percent of the people in this House

are advocates of vaccination. I appreciate it, and I’m grateful to the

Leader of the Opposition, to the Premier and to Leader of the Third

Party for their leadership in that regard. I’m appreciative of

that.

There are going to be important questions asked during question

period, and that takes away nothing of the respect and the appreciation

that I have for the Leader of the Opposition and our joint efforts to

work together to deal with COVID-19 pandemic.

It is the case that the heatwave that affected British Columbia

affected people in all communities of the province — in particular Metro

Vancouver but in other regions as well. As the Leader of the Opposition

has said, in her preliminary review, the coroner has attributed 570

deaths to that heatwave. I just want to put it in context. The previous

significant deadly heatwave in British Columbia was in 2009, and 110

deaths were attributed to that.

The temperatures on the weekend in question — on the June 28, June

29 weekend — were five degrees higher than that. This was, as Dr. Sarah

Henderson has said, a one-in-1,000-year event, but it’s happened. It’s

no longer one in a thousand years, and it requires action to deal with

resiliency and to support people.

Everyone in this House is gutted by the fact that people that we

know in our community passed away that weekend — gutted by it. We know

that health authorities responded in advance of the event with heat

warnings. We know that those efforts were made around British Columbia.

We know our ambulance service responded and was challenged with not just

more calls than they had ever received before but dramatically more

calls.

People acted appropriately, but we need to learn the lessons of

this. That’s why there’s a coroner’s review going on. That’s why the

BCCDC is doing a review, and its preliminary findings were delivered to

the UBCM. That’s why I’m committed to working with everyone for action

so that we have more resiliency.

[10:25 a.m.]

The fact of the matter is that this is attributed to climate

change. It’s no longer a one-in-1,000-year event. We have to take action

against climate change, and we have to take action collectively to make

our society more resilient.

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

question.

S. Bond: Well, thank you very much to the minister, but we should be

perfectly clear that one of the jobs of the Premier of British Columbia

is to make sure that when British Columbians are at risk, they

understand the seriousness of that risk. A Premier that suggests he was

giddy because he got to lift COVID restrictions and then basically says

that people had personal responsibility is simply unacceptable, and the

minister knows that.

This Premier should not have been surprised. In fact, he was he

was warned in multiple reports about the danger — not one, but two

reports. He knew that it would have consequences for people like Howard

Calpas.

Howard is 60 years old, and he lives next door to Oppenheimer Park

in Vancouver. Howard happened to be on Vancouver Island when the

heatwave hit, but his neighbours were at home. Three of Howard’s

neighbours died as a result of the heatwave. Here’s what Howard had to

say: “They died in their apartments, and they found them a day

later.”

It’s simply not good enough. A Premier who said he was giddy, a

Premier who, in essence, said people had a personal responsibility.

Well, so did the Premier and the government of British Columbia. So I

hope that today this government will stand up and take responsibility

for the lack of an effective response to one of the worst weather

situations in Canadian history.

Hon. A. Dix: The member is right, I think, to this extent: that those affected

most by the heatwave were the most vulnerable — lower income, people who

live in more socially isolated circumstances. We saw that in the report

presented by Dr. Sarah Henderson and Dr. Bonnie Henry at the UBCM. You

see that in the evidence that we’ve done, and in the case-by-case

analysis that will be coming from the coroner I think we’ll see the

evidence as well.

There are a number of things I think we need to do in response to

this. And this is not just a Ministry of Health question. This is a

broader question for all levels of government and for all

ministries.

One, we need to, of course, continue jointly to take action on the

issue of climate change, the central issue of our time.

Two, we understand that climate change nonetheless is happening,

and we have to become more resilient. This event was substantially worse

than any other event we have seen in the entire history of British

Columbia, and it presented challenges. The health care system responded

to an extraordinary extent.

But the member is right. There are 570 stories to tell of people

who passed away on that weekend. We want to give value to that, and we

want to respond to that with action. The government has already

responded with action. We need to do more, become more resilient, and we

obviously have to do our share in British Columbia to take action on the

issue of climate change.

T. Stone: People not understanding the severity of the heatwave that

descended upon our province and that descended upon them — that led to

dire consequences, tragic consequences. People not knowing what to do

when this was occurring led to tragic consequences.

Sadly, however, in 2019, the Premier commissioned and received a

climate risk assessment for British Columbia. On pages 69 and 70, it

details the significant risk that a heatwave poses, referencing a high

confidence of excessive mortalities.

But the Premier ignored these warnings. On June 27, it felt like

44 degrees Celsius in Chilliwack. Seventy-four-year-old Roberta “Bunny”

Lalonde, who lived alone in her condo, turned on fans and opened her

windows. But like many British Columbians, she probably didn’t know that

this would do more harm than good, because fans can actually cause

someone’s temperature to rise when the air is hotter than their

body.

[10:30 a.m.]

As Bunny’s daughter Christine Lalonde subsequently told the media:

“My mom was a bit stubborn. She probably thought it would be fine. I

don’t know if she really knew the effects that heat like that can have

on the body.”

On the afternoon of June 29, Christine, who lives in Ontario,

received a call from her uncle, whom she had asked to check on Bunny.

The uncle had let himself in, where he found Bunny lifeless on her

bed.

I think British Columbians rightfully want the Premier to answer

this question. Can the Premier explain, can the government explain, why

they failed to heed the warnings contained within a report that they

commissioned in 2019, which would have ensured vulnerable British

Columbians had a fighting chance to survive the heatwave? Can the

Premier explain why, instead of heeding the warnings in this report, he

responded to the tragedy by saying: “Fatalities are a part of

life”?

Hon. A. Dix: I would say to the member that the story that he told is one,

obviously, that affected people in my constituency, people I know, and

affected the whole pro-vince. This is, as Dr. Henderson said, a

one-in-a-thousand-year event, but an event that we now have to respond

to. It is the new reality of our times, and we have to respond. We have

already taken action to do that.

That response will be broader than the Ministry of Health. We have

responded with more changes in our ongoing efforts to improve and

improve resources to the ambulance service everywhere in the province.

We have responded with changes in long-term care, in facilities —

particularly facilities that hadn’t had air conditioning — to add air

conditioning and air-conditioning capacity in those

facilities.

The primary place where mortality happened, where people passed

away, was alone at home. Steps have to be taken. I will take the member

through the steps that were taken by Dr. Henry, by health authorities,

by others, by the Solicitor General to warn people of the situation in

the heat dome.

But I think it is fair to say, living as I do in an apartment — an

un–air conditioned apartment — in East Vancouver, that none of us had

felt the actual effects of what happened that weekend ever before,

living in British Columbia, living in Metro Vancouver. Simply put, we

have to respond by becoming more resilient as a society. I intend to

work with everyone to see that that happens.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Kamloops–South Thompson on a

supplemental.

T. Stone: Well, the fact of the matter is this. The Premier and the

government ignored their own reports, which they had commissioned

several years in advance of this tragic situation. As a result,

thousands of British Columbians were not truly and fully aware of just

how serious the risk was. As a result, emergency systems were

overwhelmed. As a result, first responders were swamped, and they were

overcome. They were overcome with tragedy.

The government’s actions, simply put, were too little too late for

almost 600 families who lost their loved ones and were too late for

vulnerable British Columbians like Bunny Lalonde. This fall, Bunny…. She

was going to go and visit her daughter in Ontario for the first time in

12 years. Instead, like so many others, she died from the heat, alone in

her condo.

This is how Christine remembers the phone call from her uncle: “He

said, ‘She’s dead, Christine. She’s dead.’ It was devastating.” On June

29, the same day as that fateful phone call, the Premier called such

fatalities a part of life.

We’re talking about vulnerable British Columbians. We’re talking

about British Columbians who deserved so much better than

this.

[10:35 a.m.]

Will the Premier admit today that he was wrong to say that

vulnerable British Columbians like Bunny had a level of personal

responsibility? Will the Premier admit today that his ignoring his own

advice, the advice in his climate assessment report, in fact had deadly

consequences for hundreds of vulnerable British Columbians?

Hon. A. Dix: The government, as the member will know, is pursuing an

exceptional leading climate action plan, led by the Minister of the

Environment. The government has been addressing issues of inequality —

because this is fundamentally a question of inequality — by increasing

income assistance rates, increasing disability rates, supporting

vulnerable people in community.

The government raised the level — 85 percent of care homes were

below the provincial standard in terms of long-term care staffing. We

raised those levels. That helps us prepare, and there’s more needed to

be done. There is more that’s going to be done.

This was an exceptional event. Even with the extra­ordinary

actions to address climate change, to address inequality, the largest

increase in the history of the B.C. Ambulance Service, which went from

$424 million when I became Minister of Health to $559 million in advance

of that…. Now we’ve seen, since then, significant action

taken.

All of these actions make us more resilient, but we need to do

more. That is evident. This is a period of climate change that is going

to affect us now, next year, the year after. We need to take action on

climate change, and we need to take action to ensure British Columbia

becomes more resilient to the effects of climate change.

ISOLATION SPACES FOR COVID-19 CASES

AMONG UNHOUSED

PEOPLE

S. Furstenau: It’s astonishing to hear this conversation back and forth between

the two parties — to be discussing climate change and to hear this

government talk about their climate change plan and ignore the fact that

they doubled the public subsidies to oil and gas that the previous

government had to $1.3 billion a year.

This government is funding climate change. It is funding these

outcomes with public money.

This province is facing overlapping crises. We had the heat dome.

We had the wildfires. And we are now in the fourth wave of this

pandemic. One of the communities, the hardest hit, is the

unhoused.

As this government touted an early and premature recovery from

COVID at the beginning of the summer, supportive housing options to

isolate safely were quietly rolled back. A September memo in Vancouver

Island Health referred to us being in the endemic phase of COVID and

stated that the official response to unhoused people with COVID-19 is to

give them a snack, a mask and education. In my riding, that meant a

66-year-old man with COVID and nowhere to go and COPD and a fractured

hip was given the advice to sleep in his vehicle.

Now the crisis has reignited after hundreds of cases of COVID-19

were diagnosed in Victoria’s unhoused population last month. The

government hastily promised 50 new beds for people to use to isolate and

recover, but the number of beds is inconsistent with the number of

cases, and people don’t have a month to wait. They’re sick. It’s getting

colder, and the virus is spreading.

My question is for the Minister of Health. All of the data this

summer showed that the pandemic wasn’t over. Why, in September, were

health authorities rolling back supports for unhoused people when the

data pointed very clearly to a rising fourth wave?

Hon. A. Dix: Some of that question is for the Minister of Housing, so he may

respond on the second supplementary to the member’s question. But what I

would say is this. We are in the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s the position of every health authority, and that’s my

position.

That’s why, in our step-by-step reopening plan, we are still at

step 3. It’s why we did more tests in the month of September than at any

time. Our focus, from the beginning of this pandemic, has been to focus

on those who are most vulnerable in every way, whether in long-term care

or in assisted living or the most vulnerable in the

community.

I am very proud of the work of health authorities in

com­munities around the province — that we started in congregate

living circumstances to vaccinate people and continued that effort while

we provided unprecedented housing options and isolation options for

people.

[10:40 a.m.]

There are challenges now because, as the member will know, some of

the facilities where we did some of that cohorting of people who were

sick are now being used for guests and visitors and so on. Nonetheless,

it is an unprecedented, continuing effort to support, to vaccinate our

most vulnerable people.

I think the fact that we did it early and the fact that that

effort created, maybe, a false impression that we were ahead in those

areas of everywhere else…. The Downtown Eastside, for example, of

Vancouver, has over 80 percent of people vaccinated, about 82 percent.

Nonetheless, that is below other community health service areas in

Vancouver. We started there soon, but they were overtaken when it was

offered to everybody.

The efforts to vaccinate, the efforts to support and the efforts

to house continue unabated and will continue unabated as we deal with

this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Third Party on a supplemental

question.

S. Furstenau: Thank you to the minister for his response. However, there is an

online memo in Island Health that clearly states that we’re in the

endemic phase and that there won’t be supports provided to unhoused

people — September 21.

COVID isn’t just impacting unhoused people in Victoria. Across the

province, unhoused people are getting sick and have nowhere to go. In

Kelowna, 130 cases in the unhoused population weren’t even recorded on

Interior Health’s list of public exposure because it wasn’t “a risk to

the public.” But unhoused British Columbians are the public, and they

are at risk.

These are people with lives and loved ones, people who deserve the

supports they need to keep themselves and their communities healthy. The

similarities between this and the lack of action on the drug poisoning

crisis are striking. Unhoused people do not receive the same level of

care or investment.

My question is to the Attorney General and Minister for Housing.

Yesterday the minister said that his government is working to find

isolation spaces for unhoused people in Duncan, Nanaimo and Prince

George. When can unhoused people in these and other communities across

the province expect to have their needs met urgently?

Hon. D. Eby: Thank you to the member for the question. There are a number of

assertions that the member made in her question and that are not

accurate.

People who are COVID-positive in Victoria and who are unhoused

can come inside if they choose to. We have space. The same is true in

Vancouver; the same is true in Kelowna. But it is not the case across

the province, and I accept that. We have a very serious situation in

Trail.

B.C. Housing is working overtime with health authorities and with

our non-profit partners to make sure, if people are COVID-positive and

want to come inside — because, frankly, not everybody does — that

they’re able to do that.

I would just underline the fact that the member’s question starts

at a certain point in time, omitting all of the work that was done by

health authorities, by B.C. Housing and by non-profit organizations to

get people inside. Three hundred people were living in an encampment in

Strathcona Park and 250 people in parks in Victoria. All of those people

are housed now. They’re inside.

It was a heroic effort by B.C. Housing and by non-profit

organizations, and that work continues. The system is stretched. It is

strained. People are working overtime. Staffing is stretched to the

limits. Even so, 50 additional spaces were opened in Victoria to respond

in time to make sure people could get inside if they wanted

to.

So a huge amount of work is done. I just want to thank everybody

who helped deliver those results and who is still working overtime to

respond to the fourth wave across the province.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO HEATWAVE

S. Cadieux: In 2019, government received a strategic climate risk assessment

that said: “Over 100 excess mortalities could occur in B.C.,” and “over

1,000 people could experience negative health impacts.” But instead of

acting on the warning, the Premier blamed those who died, saying: “It

was apparent to anyone who walked outside that we were in an

unprecedented heatwave. And again, there’s a level of personal

responsibility.”

Ignoring advice has consequences. It was government that was

unprepared, with ambulance response times taking up to 16 hours and

people dying, waiting for that help that never came. The Health

Minister, a minute ago, said a number of things need to be done in

response. The report was 2019. Government has had a couple of years to

put things in place.

So perhaps the Premier’s cleanup crew would like to explain why

the Premier blamed vulnerable seniors and people who couldn’t afford air

conditioning for their own deaths.

[10:45 a.m.]

Hon. A. Dix: I’ll simply just say I disagree with the assertion of the hon.

member. What I’ll say is this. What you see in terms of vulnerability is

the challenge of social isolation.

Prior to the pandemic, the member will note, we took unprecedented

action for adult day programs for seniors; to increase home support for

seniors — in fact, people with home support were less vulnerable in this

time; to increase respite care for families; to support seniors in

community and in care. These are unprecedented actions, actions that had

been recommended by the seniors advocate and others for a long time.

Action was taken in those areas.

With respect to the B.C. Ambulance Service, a dramatic increase,

in the hundreds, of new people hired and new ambulances put in place,

including air ambulances to support our ambulance system. In terms of

inequality, significant action for people with disabilities. Significant

action for income assistance. Extraordinary action in the area of

housing.

Yet let’s acknowledge this. On that weekend, we lost people. We

lost too many people. My responsibility as Minister of Health, and all

of our responsibilities, is to work with everyone we can to ensure that

we are prepared for what is coming, because this one-in-1,000-year event

will no longer be a one-in-1,000-year event. It has hap­pened, and

we have to take action accordingly.

Mr. Speaker: The member on a supplemental.

S. Cadieux: The minister is right. There were too many deaths. But the Premier

blamed people for their own deaths.

First responders in British Columbia thought the Premier’s

comments were out of line. Take the words of the president of the B.C.

Professional Firefighters Association: “It’s sickening to hear those

comments. We have a large percentage of our population that don’t have

access to pro­per cooling in the buildings that they live

in.”

Again, the Premier needs to explain why he chose to blame the

victims of this tragic heatwave for their own deaths.

Hon. A. Dix: Thanks to the member for her question. The Premier, I myself,

every member of the government and, I believe, every member of the

opposition, understands now, if understanding was needed — I think it’s

fair to say that all of the actions taken on the issue of climate change

demonstrate that commitment that has been there for years for people in

this Legislature — the need to take even more action to be more

resilient.

This was an unprecedented event. The member refers to the report.

We had, at an event in 2009, at that time, 110 excess deaths as a result

of a heat event that was mostly centred in the Fraser Health Authority.

But it took, I would say, till 2018 for the heat warning system that

applies everywhere else in the country to be applied by the federal

government to British Columbia.

These events are the result of climate change, and action is

needed to respond to them. Since 2017, the Premier has shown his

commitment by addressing inequality, by addressing climate change, by

supporting people where they need help. I think he is committed, as

every member of this House is committed, to supporting people and to

responding to the impact of this unprecedented heatwave.

We are going to receive soon, I believe, some time in the future,

the report of the coroner, which will be a case-by-case analysis of what

happened. That is the independent review, as required. The BCCDC and the

provincial health office is doing its own review. You saw the

preliminary findings at the UBCM, which were shared with the

opposition.

It’s our intention to continue to become more resilient as a

society but also to continue our efforts to deal with inequality,

continue our efforts to deal with social isolation and continue our

efforts to fight climate change.

K. Kirkpatrick: Now, 570 is a number, and on behalf of British Columbians, we have

to continue to put a face to that number and a face to that

tragedy.

[10:50 a.m.]

Brian Bertuzzi is the assistant fire chief at Fire Hall

No. 5 in Vancouver. On June 28, Brian describes the chaos at the

fire hall like it was a war zone. Every fire truck in the city was out,

and firefighters were stretched to their limits and unable to help

everyone who needed it. On the fire hall driveway, an elderly man was

dying as Chief Bertuzzi administered CPR.

The next day the Premier was giddy and dismissed the heatwave

deaths as a fact of life. This after ignoring his own climate report

assessment that warned that these kinds of things could

happen.

So why did the Premier describe a systemic failure as a matter of

personal responsibility?

Hon. A. Dix: First of all, as the member will know, since that weekend but

throughout my time as Minister of Health, I’ve done a lot of work with

firefighters, with ambulance paramedics, to improve emergency response

in B.C.

I think the work that firefighters and ambulance paramedics and

emergency room personnel and health authority staff and home support

workers and all those people in the health care system in the midst of

two public health emergencies who went above and beyond that weekend

deserves our thanks.

I believe….

Interjection.

Hon. A. Dix: I was agreeing. I think the Leader of the Opposition is

misunderstanding. I wanted to make the point that everybody who worked

that weekend and responded above and beyond the call deserves our

thanks. I know that the opposition agrees with that. That was not a

point to be made, or even a suggestion that anyone else thought

differently. This is just to be clear.

I think what’s required now, and what we’ve done with respect to

first responders, for example, is taken, in addition to the largest

increases…. Other than Mental Health and Addictions, the largest

Ministry of Health increases since I became the Minister of Health were

to the ambulance service. Number 1 has been Mental Health and

Addictions. That’s been dealing with the overdose crisis in particular.

Number 2 has been ambulance paramedics — which also, to a great extent,

we’d all agree, is addressing the overdose crisis. Ambulance paramedics

are frequently and firefighters are frequently on the front lines of

that.

What’s required, it seems to me, is continued investment in first

responders. When people call for an ambulance, they need to get an

ambulance. The fact that we went from $424 million to $559 million is

great, but when you need an ambulance and it doesn’t come, that’s not

good enough. So we add services.

What has that meant? Since then, we’re hiring 85 new ambulance

paramedics, 24 new ambulances, 30 more dispatchers, upgrading services

in 24 rural communities, upgrading services to 24-7 full-time staffing,

upgraded services in 26 other communities because that response is

needed as well. When people call for an ambulance, they need to get an

ambulance. That’s what we’re committed to seeing happen.

[End of question period.]

Tabling Documents

Hon. D. Eby: I have the honour to present the 2020-2021 Annual Report of

the Environmental Appeal Board.

Reports from Committees

CHILDREN AND YOUTH COMMITTEE

J. Sims: I have the honour to present the Select Standing Committee on

Children and Youth’s Annual Report 2020-​21 , a copy of

which has been deposited with the Office of the Clerk. The report

summarizes the committee’s activities from December 2020 to March

I move that the report be taken as read and received.

Motion approved.

J. Sims: I ask leave of the House to move a motion to adopt the

report.

Leave granted.

J. Sims: I move the report be adopted.

In doing so, I would like to make some brief comments. The report

covers the activities of the committee from December 9, 2020 to March

31, 2021. During this time, the committee reviewed five reports,

including an investigative report on rights of children and youth under

the Mental Health Act, an examination of the impacts of the pandemic on

children and youth with special needs, and the representative’s annual

report and service plan.

[10:55 a.m.]

The report also includes a

summary of the committee’s work in the

fifth session of the 41st parliament, from April 29, 2020, to September

17, 2020, in which three reports were reviewed. In light of the recent

discoveries at former Indian residential schools in B.C. and across

Canada, the committee acknowledges that the residential school system

and colonialism have had, and continue to have, a profound impact on

Indigenous children, youth, families and communities in B.C. and across

the country.

Reflecting on our work as a committee, we recognize that the

system of support must improve for Indigenous youth and youth in care.

We are committed to continuing to work with the representative to shine

a light on the challenges and needs of Indigenous children, youth,

families and communities in this province.

Additionally, the committee acknowledges the challenges that the

COVID-19 pandemic has had on children, youth, families and caregivers.

As we emerge from the pandemic, we as a committee will continue to

monitor and bring awareness to the new and ongoing challenges facing

British Columbia’s children, youth and families.

On behalf of all committee members, I would like to express our

appreciation to the Office of the Representative for Children and Youth

and the Ministry of Children and Family Development for their ongoing

work supporting children and youth in B.C. during these very difficult

times.

In closing, I also want to personally thank all committee members,

especially the Deputy Chair, the member for Cariboo North, for their

continued dedication and contributions to the committee. I appreciate

the adaptability and willingness of all members to work remotely and

meet virtually in recent months.

C. Oakes: First, I too want to acknowledge the incredible work of the

committee members. The reports are challenging to read. They’re

difficult. I want to start by acknowledging the work that Dr.

Charlesworth, her office and her team have done on highlighting and

bringing forward incredibly important reports for all of us to be

reviewing in this Legislature.

When we talk about truth and reconciliation as legislators, we

should be ensuring that the recommendations that have been put forward

in these reports get moved forward, that the reports that have been

identified do not sit on a shelf. For all of us as committee members, I

know that it is something that we’re all committed to doing, to ensuring

that the recommendations are moving forward.

Finally, I want to thank all of the children, the youth and the

families that told their impactful stories. It’s difficult to read. I

encourage all members to read the reports. They’re important work. As we

look at truth and reconciliation, we need to ensure that these reports

do not get lost.

Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is the adoption of the report.

Motion approved.

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, ETHICAL

CONDUCT, STANDING ORDERS

AND

PRIVATE BILLS COMMITTEE

J. Sims: I have the honour to present the report of the Select Standing

Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and

Private Bills on Bill Pr401.

I move that the report be taken as read and received.

Motion approved.

J. Sims: I ask leave of the House to move a motion to adopt the

report.

Leave granted.

J. Sims: I move adoption of the report, and in so doing, I would like to

make some brief comments.

Bill Pr401, intituled United Church of Canada Amendment Act, 2021,

concerns the United Church of Canada. The United Church of Canada was

incorporated by

an act of the federal parliament in 1924, and certain

rights and powers, specifically with respect to property of the United

Church of Canada and United Church congregations in B.C., are governed

by the United Church of Canada Act, which was enacted in 1924 and

amended once in 1927.

[11:00 a.m.]

The United Church of Canada has recently restructured its

governance structure and, having petitioned the federal parliament to

amend its act of incorporation, it now re­quires amendments to its

provincial act in British Columbia.

Bill Pr401 was introduced and read a first time on June 17, 2021.

It then stood referred to the Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct,

Standing Orders and Private Bills Committee.

On September 20, 2021, the committee met and considered the

proposed private bill and asked questions of the United Church of

Canada’s general secretary and the church’s solicitor and certified

parliamentary agent. I’m pleased to note that the recommendation for the

private bill to proceed was unanimously supported by the

committee.

A. Wilkinson: One of the often overlooked functions of this chamber, as with

chambers across the country, is to facilitate the civil society aspects

that are governed by legislation.

This private bill requires legislation that has already been

passed in a number of Canadian provinces, so I think it’s a moment to

celebrate our ability to facilitate the activities of churches, of civil

society organizations across the country, and we wish the United Church

well.

Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is the adoption of the report.

Motion approved.

Hon. R. Kahlon: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. R. Kahlon: I’d like the House to join me in welcoming Karen Choe-Fichte, who is

the Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, embassy of the United States of

America. I know many of my colleagues look forward to meeting with her in

the next couple of hours.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued second reading debate on Bill 14.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

Second Reading of Bills

BILL 14 — EARLY CHILDHOOD

EDUCATORS

ACT

(continued)

Deputy Speaker: All right, Members. I’d like to get this debate underway. If you

have conversations, you can take them outside so we can allow the member

her place to share her remarks on this bill. Thank you,

Members.

N. Sharma: It’s really an honour to continue my words of support for Bill 14

today.

I want to start by acknowledging that I’m coming to you from the

traditional territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking people, where we

operate for this Legislative Assembly. I’m so honoured to be

here.

I talked a little bit yesterday about how amazing it was, this

commitment to building a new social program in B.C. and child care, and

how much it’s impacting so many families across B.C. I want to start

today talking about the leadership that it took to get here

today.

Some of that leadership is in the room with the Minister of State

for Child Care, who I know has been tirelessly advocating for child care

across this province, meeting with child care providers and

understanding what their needs are and really understanding how to build

a system. I want to thank and acknowledge all of her team over the years

that have been also hard at work to build child care in B.C.

[11:05 a.m.]

I want to take a step back to thank and acknowledge the $10-a-day

child care advocates, one of whom is probably well known to many people

here, Sharon Gregson, who is a constituent of mine, who is tireless in

her efforts to get $10-a-day on the agenda across the province and now

across the country.

I know this. She went across B.C. speaking to city councils,

organizing stroller brigades. I remember, be­fore I was elected,

being asked and pushing a stroller in one of those brigades. She just

has been, along with a lot of the other women that have been advocating

for child care, so tireless.

I asked her once how she kept hope for so many years that child

care was actually going to come, and she told me that to be a child care

advocate is to be an eternal optimist. I take those words here, and I

think about that and the progress that we’re making, and I just think

about all of those women in all of those decades and those women that

were actually left out of the workforce and left out of those spaces and

those rooms for decades because of inadequate child care.

I’m so grateful for the progress we’ve made and also grateful that

I know that those $10-a-day advocates will continue to hold us to

account for the work that we do as we unroll our ten-year child care

plan and build a new universal program in B.C.

I want to talk a little bit about the impacts that we’ve seen

already. The Minister of State for Childcare spoke very eloquently

yesterday about real-life stories, about what these investments mean. So

$2.3 billion into our child care programs so far, and because of the

efforts of building the groundwork for a universal child care program

and the advocacy of our government, the federal government has now come

to the table.

I was actually so grateful to hear our federal government talk

about $10-a-day child care, and I guess we all, as MLAs of this

province, should be so honoured that that movement was a grassroots

movement that started here in B.C. and will change lives across this

country.

I want to talk a little bit about our affordability measures,

because I think a lot of MLAs hear all the time in their community about

the affordability of child care and how that impacts everybody’s daily

lives. As a mother with a two-year-old in child care, I know firsthand

some of those struggles. That is something that was a key priority in

our child care plan.

The number of $411 million back into parents’ pockets. I just want

us to all think about that in terms of what that means for our economy,

what that means for affordability for those parents that have that money

and what it means for the families and the stresses that they had and

helping them overcome that challenge. It’s pretty huge. It comes down to

real-life stories about people telling us that they now have more money

to put their kids into extracurricular activities or save money for

once, instead of it going into child care. It’s pretty huge.

We often hear also about the availability of child care spaces.

I’m just…. You know, it is one of, I think, the hardest things of our

child care plan but also one of the things that I think we should all be

really proud of — 26,000 new licensed child care spaces across the

province, and that number is growing every day. We have announcements

huge. I remember it took me, with my daughter, years ago, years to find

a child care spot, and obviously that’s not acceptable.

We inherited this government child care chaos, which is a term

that I think came from $10-a-day. But over the 3½ years or four years

that we’ve been chipping away at it, it’s getting better. I couldn’t be

prouder of the work of all of the strong women that we have, including

our Finance Minister, for advocating so much for child care and doing

the work to get it done.

I want to talk a little bit about early childhood educa­tors

as well. I know that we all have at some point trusted our kids, if we

have them, in the hands of early childhood educators. Many studies have

shown that it’s the years between zero and five that are the most

important for a child’s brain development, and who do we trust with that

work? We trust these early childhood educators to do that every

day.

Bill 14 really is about elevating our respect not only for the

profession and those mostly women that spend their time working with our

kids, but also helping to support them and the important work they’re

doing for so many kids across B.C.

[11:10 a.m.]

I want to say a little bit more about the respect and the trust

that we put in early childhood educators. If you travel the province and

hear about early childhood educators and their experiences with kids,

they often talk about how they love their job, how they’re around those

kids because they love that time period in their lives, and they love

the idea that they could influence these kids’ futures. But for far too

long, they were paid really, really minimum wage or below.

It’s mostly women of colour in a lot of places, especially in my

riding, that are doing the work. It’s one of the most undervalued

professions, I think I would say, in this province. That is

unacceptable. So the pillar of our child care plan — which dedicates the

time, resources and effort to early childhood educators — really can’t

be, basically, held up enough, because it’s one of the important things

that we can do not only for women working in our province but also for

the kids that they serve.

I know that the Childcare B.C. plan has many pillars, and Bill 15,

which was in its second reading yesterday, had some of those components

that will be enshrined, along with the piece of legislation today, into

law in this province. That is to uphold Indigenous child care and to

listen to Indigenous leaders about their particular needs of child care

in their communities and how to serve Indigenous children.

Accountability. We can only build this child care plan with

constant communication with child care providers and understanding how

it’s impacted, but also built-in accountability. I know the minister of

state is open to this accountability. She works so hard every day. There

will be a way for people to tell us how we’re doing in building this

plan and to keep pressure on us to make sure that we keep on making it

more affordable, keep on building spaces and keep on supporting the

workforce. I think that’s a very vital component of the plan.

I’m really grateful for what this legislation — dual legislation

that will be passed, hopefully today, with the support of the House —

will do. Child care really — I think the advocates will say this a lot —

was kind of a patchwork within our ministries. That meant that there was

no focused attention given to child care. That really changed with the

Minister of State for Child Care and key investments. These legislations

still have to bring that together so that we can actually have what we

need — the scaffolding to implement a universal social program in

B.C.

These are really exciting developments that I know will just

support more of our work when it comes to building child care in B.C. I

know we’ll hear from more and more families every year about the impacts

that we’re having in communities. These have real impacts for gender

equality, for our economy and for early years for our

children.

I know that there’s much more work to do, but I’m so grateful for

the progress and honoured to be part of a government that’s committed to

child care. I look forward to the passing of this legislation so we

continue on our journey for universal child care for B.C.

A. Olsen: Thank you for the opportunity to rise in support of Bill 14, the

Early Childhood Educators Act. It’s an honour to be having this

conversation here in British Columbia.

I think that it’s important to first acknowledge the importance of

our children in our families and the importance that they get a safe

education and a safe place to be when parents need their children to be

looked after while they’re at work and are taking care of the other

parts of life. I raise my hands in gratitude for all of the early

childhood educators in Saanich North and the Islands and across the

province for providing that safe space for our children.

Safe, regulated, early childhood education is a critical component

to lifelong learning. It’s where our kids will get introduced to each

other, in many ways, where they will first learn how to forge

friendships and establish the skills that they need in order to be able

to communicate and to succeed in life.

Along with my colleague, I’m thrilled that child care will become

a part of that education system — which, I think, we’re proud of here in

this province and which we need to continue to advocate for — and that

it’s not being deemed as part of the Ministry of Children and Family

Development but rather a part of our education system.

[11:15 a.m.]

It’s something that we’ve long advocated for in the B.C. Green

caucus: that early childhood education absolutely must be founded on

good principles, with a sustainable model and supporting professionals

that meet the needs of our children today and for the future.

Frankly, aspects of the debate that I have listened to for this

bill have been mystifying to me. One of the things that I’ve heard from

my peer group is that they need and want accessible child care today,

right now — they need it immediately — and that their lives are

incredibly challenged without access to this early childhood

education.

Very few of my friends have complained to me about what’s happened

in the past, whether it be 30 years ago or 20 years ago or even 10 years

ago. What they’re really focused on, and I think what the debate in this

Legislature needs to be absolutely focused on, is what we are doing

today and going forward. The debate of 30 years, the debate of 16

years…. “They did this.” “This happened.” “They didn’t do this.” “This

was neglected for….” To me, it needs to be focused on what we’re

doing.

The debate around this bill about regulating early childhood

educators needs to be about what we’re doing right now, which is setting

up a system that is going to support parents, our peers, to be able to

take

part in life as they need to be able to, a life that’s becoming

increasingly unaffordable. Unfortunately, the debate in this place often

focuses on what didn’t happen in the past. Let’s focus on what we’ve got

immediately in front of us and going forward.

We must, I think, move forward with this process that is outlined

in this bill — essentially, professionalizing early childhood education.

That’s not to say that there are not professionals working as early

childhood educators. I want to be very clear on that. I don’t want

anybody to hear that if you’re working in this field, you’re not a

professional. But there are aspects that we do in this House that allow

for an industry to be regulated and for standards to be put in place.

That’s what this bill is laying the groundwork for.

Creating a registry that allows for a designation, for example, is

really important. Creating a system to review and investigate complaints

from early childhood educators is a very important step that needs to be

taken, and then, also, facilitating the recognized post-secondary

institutions and programs, which would then lead to being able to be

designated as a registered early childhood educator.

These are all really important steps we do in this place to ensure

that wages will actually continue to improve for early childhood

educators, which has been one of the criticisms that I have heard from

people working in this field in my constituency, and will attract more

people to work in the field.

One of the things that I think is acceptable to be talking about

from the past, that has been inherited, is that when you’re trying to

ramp up a program from where it was, having the people working in the

field is one of the challenges — having enough people working in the

field. So we definitely need to attract more people into wanting to

become early childhood educators. One of the ways that’s going to happen

is by ensuring that there are standards and there are regulations and

that there is registration and that people can carry that

designation.

Again, I think I’m a little bit challenged with some of the

arguments that we’re making. Perhaps I’ll be corrected if I’m wrong in

this, but I was hearing, I think, some of the messages from my

colleagues in the official opposition arguing against this creation of

standards and regulations, talking about it as if it’s like red tape and

that there are obstacles to this.

I think that’s really an unfortunate way to characterize the

situation. Because I think that…. From my peers and the people that I

talk to that need to have early childhood education and child care for

their kids, they’re desperate. The desperation creates a vulnerability,

and without standards and without regulations and without registered

professionals working in the field, that is a very, very challenging

situation for our families and for our children.

[11:20 a.m.]

Just any person walking in off the street should not be able to

call themselves an early childhood educator. I recognize that there

might be some more obstacles than that. However, let’s not call this red

tape. Let’s not suggest that these are unnecessary obstacles. I can’t

imagine us arguing that with many, many other professional industries in

this province.

You just can’t walk in off the street and become a nurse. There’s

a reason why there are registered nurses. It’s because they have to

achieve a certain level of education from a specific program that’s been

regulated and identified as being one that is able, then, to carry that

designation. Then they’re actually able to work in the field

professionally and achieve a livable wage and all of the things that

come with that.

So as we are creating these standards and this registry, let’s not

suggest these are unnecessary obstacles. There are obstacles. I

certainly agree that we shouldn’t be creating obstacles unnecessarily,

but registering and regulating the standards for this, in my opinion

anyways, is not one of those.

Initially it felt like, back in 2017 when the government started

on this work, that there was no plan. I recognize that there was no plan

until there is a plan. There were a lot of investments that were made in

trying to increase the number of spaces. It was very focused on the

number of spaces that were being created.

There was also a real challenge with the number of peo­ple

working in the field and available to be employed in order to create

more spaces. So there was this real kind of tug-of-war that was

happening, I guess, in this field. I want to raise my hands to the

minister of state for the work, the dedicated work, that she has done in

order to try to focus this into more of a planned approach.

With that, though, I would like to say that one of the things that

I’ve heard, especially from providers that are in…. I’m going to honour

the comments that they said to me when I met with them. They’re a

for-profit business, but as was suggested, there might not be a lot of

profits in the business.

Nonetheless, they’re quite concerned that the supports that they

have and the encouragement that they have been given from this

government…. They’re concerned that that might end, specifically with

the relationship with the federal government and the parameters that the

federal government puts in place for the funding. They’re very much

wanting to ensure that the preference from our perspective is that

government is investing public money into the not-for-profit area, but

the…. Sorry, I should say this is for the for-profit. I’m getting myself

turned around.

The preference would be to be investing in the not-for-profit

child care providers, but those for-profit child care providers that

have had investments and encouragement to build and to invest in those

spaces…. They’re quite concerned that those investments might stop. I

just encourage the minister of state and the government to continue to

support those businesses in our riding that have been providing quality

child care for our youth and work with them, especially if there are

some conditions that are put in place by the federal government and the

money that’s flowing.

The other thing that I think is a concern that’s been raised is

around the $4 wage increase. This isn’t a concern that people don’t like

it. People are concerned that it might end and that the support for the

workers might. So there needs to be some, I think, discussion with some

of those child care providers to ensure that they’re able to continue to

pay proper wages for regulated and registered early childhood educators.

There needs to be some certainty in that.

Overall, I just want to end by saying that we need to really move

away from scarcity in our education system. As we’re creating this early

childhood education system that’s going to be connected to education, I

really hope that the government of British Columbia continues to invest

in our public education system, that we can get past the chronic

underfunding that we’ve seen and that we move towards a scenario where

we view education as the best investment that we can make in our

society.

[11:25 a.m.]

I’ve often had these conversations with constituents who are

encouraging me to encourage the government by saying what I just said.

They will kind of put a caveat around it and say: “Well, I recognize

that the government doesn’t see immediate return on the investments in

education, because it’s a 12-year process for our children.”

But I can tell you, as a parent myself, an investment in my

child’s classroom is an immediate investment in the quality of life of

our family, in the quality of life of our children, in the quality of

the education that they get today, tomorrow and every day that they’re

in the education system. It’s a good investment for the long term, but

it’s also a really good investment today. We’ll see the benefits

today.

If our kids have got up-to-date materials, if our kids and their

teachers have the resources, if there’s space in their classroom and

they’re not overcrowded — those are all really important aspects of the

quality of education. We’ve advocated for this through the Ministry of

Education for our public education system. We’ll continue to advocate

this for our early childhood education component to that.

I just want to end today by saying that we support this work the

government’s doing to create this program, this service that so many of

our peers have articulated desire to have and the need to make their

life work. We look forward to being a champion for more investments in

this service and in this system.

I’ll just leave it at that. Thank you to the minister. We look

forward to seeing a well-funded early childhood education, child care

system for British Columbia families.

HÍSW̱ḴE

SIÁM.

M. Dykeman: It’s an honour to rise and speak to the ECE Act brought forward by

the minister of state. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to talk

about how this act benefits my riding of Langley East and how excited I

am that it’ll benefit our future generations.

I recall the first time I met the minister, actually. She had come

to my riding to talk to…. We had a round table on child care. We talked

about the challenges. Langley East is a very fast-growing riding. We

have so many young families moving in with young children.

As school board chair, one of the things that I probably

received…. I’d say probably over half of my emails had something to do

with child care, which, as school board chair, was really difficult,

because we don’t necessarily create child care spaces. We, in the

Langley school district, have a great relationship with the ministry and

have been able to create child care spaces within our schools, but we

didn’t have the direct ability to create more spaces.

I, myself, recall the first time I took my son to preschool when

he was three. Walking your child in the very first time is one of the

most exciting, but also difficult, moments of your life. Your stomach is

turning. Your heart’s racing, and you’re leaving your child — your whole

life — with someone. You know, sort of anecdotally, about the benefits,

but it’s still a difficult moment for a parent to take their child to

leave them.

I was really excited to read about the changes coming forward with

the ECE Act, including creating a stand-alone statute for registration

oversight of the ECE workforce, creating a public registry for ECEs,

assistants and approved post-secondary early childhood education

programs, giving the registrar authority to get information needed to

review complaints, requiring criminal records checks for all registered

ECEs.

These are important changes, as the member opposite prior spoke.

These are positive, positive changes. I know I was a little dismayed to

hear that it was being viewed as, perhaps, a barrier, especially since

June of 2018 we’ve invested $1.5 million in the start-up grant program,

which supports individuals and unlicensed child care providers to become

licensed. This wasn’t a situation where this was a surprise. There was

funding provided to facilitate this excellent change.

[11:30 a.m.]

As a parent, we want to know that our children are going to a safe

place, a place where they’re going to benefit from the incredible

opportunities that exist for socialization and other excitement. My son

always came home excited after. He talked about all the things he

learned, about all the friendships he made, about all of the people he

cares about in there.

In the first few years of life, there are more than one million

neural connections that are formed with a child each second. It’s a pace

that’s never repeated again. These are formative years, where

experiences that children have shape their future. We know that it’s a

wise investment to invest in children.

Actually, education is one of the greatest indicators of a robust

democracy. So the opportunities that we provide for young people early

on come back threefold at least. For instance, in Langley East, we

received 818 new licensed spaces, with total child care investments of

over $57 million, which saved families over $25 million through fee

reductions.

That $25 million goes right back into the economy in many ways,

through purchases, through other investments and also through people

being available to work in places. It often benefits women who are then

able to return to the workforce. I know, myself, as a single mom,

opportunities to have child care were so important for me —

opportunities for my children to be able to go to good places with

qualified people who then provided exciting opportunities for them to

learn and be around people.

I’m thrilled with this act and what it means for our future

generations. I’m thrilled to see such support within the House for child

care, recognizing how important it is to make these investments. With

that, I know that there are others that would like to speak on this act,

so I will take my seat. I’d like to thank the minister for all of her

work on this.

K. Paddon: I am thrilled to rise in support. I want to thank the minister of

state as well as the ministers who came before and who are there now for

all of the work here.

I became a mom in 2005. What I didn’t know when I became a mom is

that I’d have to make a very hard deci­sion a couple of years

later. I became a mom at a time when this government was not in power,

and the decisions that I had to make in order to make sure my children

were taken care of were substantial.

My husband and I — I’m very lucky to have a very supportive

partner — are a two-income family, and we have had to be since the

children came. The choice that we made is we looked around at the spots.

We looked around at what was available. We looked around at: how would

we know the quality of the care providers available to us? There are so

many quality care providers available in Chilliwack and Chilliwack-Kent

and across the province.

Ultimately, we couldn’t afford it, so we made the choice that I

would work nights and weekends and my partner would work Monday to

Friday. He would build his career. Now, this is a choice that women need

to make, that families need to make together about whose career can go

forward. This is a child care issue. Child care is an equity issue, and

it doesn’t only impact women.

But I do need to talk about the impact it had here. I was an

educated, independent, career-oriented woman. I made the choice to work

evenings and weekends because somebody needed to care for our children.

That was the environment that was present.

Now, I do know that members opposite have mentioned that if I had

been single, I would have had more options. Had I chosen to leave my

husband, there would have been, under the previous government’s plan,

options for me. I would have been able to work during the day. I would

have been able to pursue the field that I was educated in.

[11:35 a.m.]

At the end of the day, I have no complaints, because I stand in

this House, and I’m very privileged to do so, and it was my path that

led me here. But this was part of my path, the path where I had to

choose how we were going to move forward as a family. The irony is that

because we chose to move forward as a family, it almost cost me my

marriage. It almost cost my children their family and that unit, because

I didn’t see my husband, essentially, for four years while we worked

that schedule.

Child care spaces weren’t available, and the ones that were,

weren’t affordable, because I didn’t qualify, we didn’t qualify, for any

supports. It wasn’t affordable because we were both starting our

careers.

Another thing that I saw were my friends who were entering their

careers as early childhood educators and the uncertainty about what that

job looked like, where they would work, who their colleagues were to be

when they got there, what credentials were needed. All ECE spots at that

time were not created equal. The training was not created equal. As a

parent, it was difficult, but for my friends who were entering the

field, it was difficult — again, a field that is hugely made up of

women.

So the decision to professionalize early childhood education, to

recognize a profession as a profession, even though it’s only women…. I

say “only” not out of any sense of contempt myself but because

traditionally we do not see women’s professions recognized. We have our

nurses, and I’m so grateful for them. Their field is professionalized.

But how many others can we think of?

I worked as a community support worker, residential support

worker, mental health support worker. It wasn’t professionalized. Again,

predominantly woman. Now, when I was working in these roles, my wage…. I

could not afford child care, and as I just mentioned, in the previous

reality, I didn’t qualify for the programs because I was still part of a

marriage.

What I want to say is thank you. Thank you for adding this

professionalization. Thank you for adding a standard so that people know

what to count on. I am so excited, because I know….

In my world, I have a Miss Lana. I’m just going to leave it at

that — no last name. She’s an ECE worker, and she’s amazing. My kids

loved her. I had a Mrs. Knelson. Both of my children benefited from her.

It’s only because I had these women in our lives that I was able to take

steps and pursue my career, pursue my education and continue on my

path.

Now, this might not…. You know, it seems far away. When we’re far

away from the hard times, they feel far away, which is good. It’s a

blessing. I’m grateful for it. But I remember how close we came just

because there weren’t opportunities, just because the programs weren’t

available, just because the policies and the decisions being made were

not supportive of my family.

I come from a place where the idea is that 24-hour universal child

care is available because every child is born with two parents and one

really could stay home, couldn’t they? That’s a hard lesson to try to

internalize. That message came from a member of this House — that as a

mother, I should be making a better decision for my children.

Now, the work I get to do here, the work that my friends get to do

here on both sides of the House, whether they are women or men, whether

they have children or not, is a privilege, and it is one that for many

of us, we can only do because of ECE workers, because of child care. Our

position here comes with a paycheque, so maybe we can afford

differently, but the path to get here didn’t start here.

I am happy that in this House now, we are no longer saying and we

are no longer accepting the idea that I am my child’s universal 24-hour

child care and that there ought not to be any government program that

would cost the taxpayer money.

[11:40 a.m.]

I am proud to be part of a team that recognizes the value that we

have by creating equality, by creating access and by allowing full

participation. Whether you have a two-year-old or you have a

32-year-old, there’s something to be gained there.

I am proud that I’m part of a family that recognizes female-driven

professions deserve professionalization. They deserve the respect and

the notoriety — maybe notoriety is not the right word — the recognition,

the achievement that comes with being part of a profession that is

recognized as its own thing with its own regulations, that training is

identified as what is and isn’t part of that profession.

Now, I’ve heard some suggest that this means we’ll lose that more

holistic approach. I don’t understand that argument. The people who are

coming into this field…. More people can come into this field now,

because they’ll be able to earn a living wage, because they know for

sure what training they need to enter.

These people bring this range of experience and life experiences

and knowledge and come from different kinds of communities, different

kinds of families, different cultures. So that holistic nature is still

very much a part of it. Nobody is saying that we have a minimum standard

now, and that’s all that should be done. Do you know what? I have yet to

meet an early childhood educator who would ever accept the minimum

anyway.

The early childhood educators I know have hugged my children and

wiped their tears. They’ve taught them how to be autonomous human beings

in the world. They’ve given them things that I can’t. I have two

teenagers now, and I’m telling you right now that the advice I give is

never going to be as well-received as that of an expert. So let’s

recognize that they’re experts.

I feel like the idea that there’s more red tape, when what we’re

actually calling for is that there’s recognition, and the idea that

there are barriers when what we’re actually saying is: “Here’s a

definition; here’s an identity….” Public policy and being part of this

team…. The public policy produced here with regard to ECE and child care

and this movement of this social program will make it so that my

daughter hopefully does not have to leave her career, her profession or

her husband in order to get child care.

All of these things are identity statements. This is who we are.

This is who British Columbians are. We recognize and we’re taking the

action to make sure that families can stay together and that that

doesn’t come at the cost of women having to take a step back and sit

down.

I loved the time I got with my babies. I loved the time I got to

take care of them. Now that they’re teenagers, I remember it fondly,

because they slept a lot, and despite the crying, there was more silence

in my house. I love that I have my teenagers now. Most of all, I know

that my friends and my family who are making decisions to start families

right now are not doing so at the peril that was in place under the

government when I was making my little humans.

The proposed ECE act will help strengthen and support quality as

well. This will be able to lift everybody. The training and identifying

what training is necessary — what training is helpful, what training is

inclusive — will go a long way into a second part that’s been very

important to me, especially with regard to these bills, this bill

specifically but also the one discussed yesterday.

Inclusive child care is critical — child care that doesn’t leave

anyone out, child care where we know that the training provided and the

training available and the standards will create environments that can

include all of our children. Now we are, more than ever, recognizing the

diverse abilities of our children and adults, of ourselves, of our

colleagues. The diverse ability isn’t going to fit into that

cookie-​cutter model.

Focusing on inclusivity, focusing on this being for all children,

focusing on what can be gained by raising up all of our ECE workers,

which raises up all of our children, which opens up options in our

economy, which opens up options for families, which opens up options for

our entire communities….

[11:45 a.m.]

This is not only about recognizing a profession that it is long

overdue that we recognize. This is not only about standards and

regulations. This is not only about

definitions, and it’s not only about

babies and women. This is a way we can raise up our entire communities,

and we can move forward together. This is a way we can protect our

families. This is a way we can protect our health, our mental health. We

can have safeguards in place for our children.

I can’t think of enough things that are good to say about this. I

know in my community of Chilliwack-Kent and Chilliwack, because they’re

very intertwined, this government has invested over $31 million in child

care. That’s already saved $17 million for parents. Now, that doesn’t

speak to how many families that saved. That doesn’t speak to how many

people have better mental health because they’re able to have that

resource, because they’re not having to make those difficult,

life-changing choices.

It doesn’t speak to how many kids have that extra set of eyes on

them, or have access to those different ways of seeing the world, and

those people who will hug them and who will wipe their tears away. It

doesn’t say how much has been gained from any of that.

I think of 2006, when I was trying to put my first child into

daycare so I could continue my career, and 2006 was a long time ago. But

I know I’ve heard from constituents who are making that choice now. It

is a choice. It ought to be a choice. It wasn’t a choice for me in

Now, I know I also heard comments during around that same time

that it was harmful for kids, anyway, for me to put them in child care;

that they should really be with their parent, their mother; that maybe I

should make a better choice. I mean, ultimately, the result was the

same, but I would like to clarify that there wasn’t a choice.

Anything that raises ECEs, that supports them in their training,

that provides standards, that allows parents to understand who they’re

hiring, who they’re leaving their children with, who’s watching and

nurturing and teaching their babies — anything that does that, I’m a fan

of.

Hon. B. Ma: I could not turn away from my colleague as she was giving that

speech.

What an incredible story — thank you so much for shar­ing

your personal story.

In listening to her speak, it honestly felt as though I was

listening to the culmination of all the hopes and dreams of generations

of women who have graced these chambers on both sides of the House, who

have believed that better could be possible for women outside of the

House as well. This work towards universal child care is something that

I’ve become quite passionate about, which is perhaps a little bit

ironic, because I have no children of my own.

So I’m also very grateful to you for sharing your personal story,

because the only comparable story I could have offered from my personal

life would probably be the care of my cats, which, I have to admit, my

partner is extremely diligent about. I think he would be very much in

favour of a universal cat care–giving act. But we are not discussing

that today.

I also found that it was an incredible story to hear from somebody

representing Chilliwack-Kent, because of some of the comments that were

made from the predecessor that she defeated in the last

election.

[11:50 a.m.]

The change in tone in terms of how the communities of

Chilliwack-Kent are being represented on this file is like night and

day. We went from hearing comments about how women should make different

choices about….

You know, I really don’t want to rehash it. I’m just going to

leave it there. I think a lot of the members of the House know what came

out of the previous member for Chilliwack-Kent’s mouth on this topic,

and to hear the new member for Chilliwack-Kent speak this way about

child care is incredibly refreshing and, honestly, very heartwarming in

terms of the direction that we are going, collectively.

Now, just because I don’t have children of my own doesn’t mean

that I don’t understand, though perhaps not to the full extent that

somebody who does have their own child does, the importance of child

care. My community is a community where nearly one in five families is

led by a single parent. I cannot imagine the kinds of difficult choices

that these parents have to make day in and day out about how to support

their children, how to go to work and how to make money to feed their

child while ensuring their child is safe throughout the day.

The increased access to child care has been incredibly important

to my community. I hear stories all the time from families about how the

three affordability programs have changed their lives. That’s the child

care fee reduction initiative. There are the affordable child care

benefit and, of course, the $10-a-day child care pilot sites.

I have the incredible privilege, of course, to actually look at

the Minister of State for Child Care as I give this speech. It’s been

her incredible work that’s gotten us this far, and I know that we will

be able to continue that work.

I want to speak a moment about the pilot project. In the pilot

project, I met a number of families who have benefitted from the pilot

project. We have a pilot project in my home community of North

Vancouver, run by the North Shore Neighbourhood House. The pilot project

gives every family that is enrolled into their program access to

$10-a-day or less child care, and this is regardless of their family

status or their income level. It’s a pilot program for the universal

program.

I met a single mother who broke down in tears when she discovered

that her child would be enrolled into this program. She realized that

she could actually return to work full-time so that she could make

enough money to keep a roof over her head for more than one month at a

time.

I met a family that some people may consider to be better off. A

father, a mother, two children — twins. The father makes pretty decent

money, in the mid-$100,000s. But even with the $150,000 a year and a

family of four, these days, that’s pretty middle class. So the mother

had chosen, for a long time, to be a stay-at-home mom. They were able to

afford maybe about a day a week of child care.

When they discovered that they were enrolled in this program, they

were able to put their children into full-time care. She was able to

return to her profession that she was very passionate about, and it

happened to be a profession that we need a lot of people in. She was a

nurse. So she was actually able to return to full-time work as a nurse

in the months leading up to the global pandemic, during which we needed

a lot of nurses.

I also met a mother who was struggling in the few weeks ahead of

when I met her, before she found out about her child’s enrolment in the

pilot project, who was debating whether or not she was able to stay in

her line of work or whether she would have to take leave and become a

full-time mother as well.

The line of work she was in was…. She was an early childhood

educator. The number of children that she would have had to give up

caring for, because she was not able to afford her own care for her own

child, greatly outnumbered the…. It would have been many more children

than her own child.

[11:55 a.m.]

Because of this pilot program, what was really wonderful is she

not only was able to stay in her line of work, but she was actually able

to stay in her line of work at the pilot site itself. So she was able to

have her child enrolled in the pilot site that she was working at, which

enabled her to care for her own child and many more at the same

time.

It’s that last story that really, I think, is most relevant to

this particular bill, Bill 14, the Early Childhood Educators Act,

because the importance of the introduction of this bill is that we’re

taking care of the people who are taking care of our children. It

recognizes the value of early childhood educators, which is a profession

that has been grossly undervalued and underestimated in its importance

for a long, long time.

Having this act strengthens and supports the quality of care, the

quality of training, the importance and the quality of the

certification. It enshrines into law the importance of this field of

professions, not only to individual families and our communities but

also to our economy and our province as a whole.

I’m so grateful for the work that all of my colleagues have done

and that has led up to this point. I named specifically the Minister of

State for Child Care. I also want to acknowledge, of course, the work of

the Minister of Children and Family Development and of the member for

Vancouver-Hastings, who joins us now as an MLA herself but was actually

working with the Minister of State for Child Care, when the position was

first formed, as a ministerial adviser. She was also there to help build

up this program.

I’m really grateful for all of your work, so that I can stand here

and speak a little bit to it.

I can’t offer anything more eloquent than what the mem­ber

for Chilliwack-Kent has already offered. I just wanted to get on record

that I’m so grateful for this work. I’m very pleased to support it, and

I look forward to voting in favour of it as well.

Noting the hour, I will note that I live in fear of saying the

wrong words and accidentally closing down the House or something. So

please correct me if I’m wrong, but I move adjournment of the

debate.

Hon. B. Ma moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. S. Robinson moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Members. The House is now adjourned.

The House adjourned at 11:57 a.m.

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