2011 Legislative Session: Fourth Session, 39th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 27, Number 2

CONTENTS

Page

Routine Business

Tributes

Luc Fortin

R. Howard

Introductions by Members

Introduction and First Reading of Bills

Bill 10 — Nurse Practitioners Statutes Amendment Act, 2011

Hon. M. de Jong

Bill 15 — Attorney General and Public Safety and Solicitor General Statutes Amendment Act, 2011

Hon. S. Bond

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

School expansion projects in Richmond

R. Howard

Delaware youth project in Campbell River

C. Trevena

Research activities at University of British Columbia

R. Sultan

Brian Hall and Smithers District Chamber of Commerce awards

D. Donaldson

Adoption Awareness Month

L. Reid

Work of hospital auxiliary societies in Kootenay area

M. Mungall

Oral Questions

Death of senior at care facility and Ombudsperson report recommendations for seniors care

A. Dix

Hon. M. de Jong

M. Farnworth

S. Hammell

Protection of agriculture and farmlands in Delta

V. Huntington

Hon. D. McRae

Investigation of election campaign for member for Vancouver-Fraserview

L. Krog

Hon. S. Bond

K. Corrigan

Auditor General report on financial reporting by B.C. Hydro

B. Ralston

Hon. R. Coleman

Government settlement with Boss Power Corp.

J. Horgan

Hon. R. Coleman

C. James

Petitions

B. Simpson

Orders of the Day

Second Reading of Bills

Bill 12 — Teachers Act (continued)

Hon. D. McRae

N. Simons

J. McIntyre

B. Simpson

H. Bains

R. Austin

Hon. G. Abbott

Bill 4 — Offence Amendment Act, 2011

Hon. S. Bond

L. Krog

M. Dalton

K. Corrigan

N. Letnick

Committee of the Whole House

Bill 6 — Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Statutes Amendment Act, 2011

N. Macdonald

Hon. S. Thomson

B. Simpson

B. Routley

C. Trevena

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2011

The House met at 1:32 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Tributes

LUC FORTIN

R. Howard: Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform this House of a tragedy that happened.

The pilot who died as a result of the plane crash at Vancouver International Airport last Thursday was Luc Fortin. Luc was the pilot who flew our Finance Committee all over the province on our first leg of the Finance Committee tour the week of September 19, so we got to know Luc. We were so impressed with Luc that we had actually asked him to try and make sure that he could fly us on the second leg of our tour.

On behalf of the Finance Committee and on behalf of this House, I express our heartfelt condolences to Luc's wife, Dagne, his daughter Katelyn, Luc's parents and their extended family.

Introductions by Members

D. Barnett: Today in the House I'd like to introduce you to an old friend and colleague of mine who, for many, many years, lived and helped bring the spirit to the district of 100 Mile House and who now lives in Victoria, Mr. Norm Smookler. Will the House please welcome him.

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

Bill 10 — Nurse Practitioners

Statutes Amendment Act, 2011

Hon. M. de Jong presented a message from His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Nurse Practitioners Statutes Amendment Act, 2011.

Hon. M. de Jong: Mr. Speaker, I move that Bill 10 be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. de Jong: Nurse practitioners, as members know, were introduced in B.C. in 2005 to fulfil additional roles in areas like primary care, chronic disease and health promotion. Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional education at the master's level. This entitles them to an expanded scope of practice over and above the traditional registered nurse role.

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Bill 10, this bill, contains amendments to a total of 12 acts. Those amendments will remove barriers and restrictions and allow nurse practitioners to work within their full scope of practice. An example would be the Employment Standards Act, where nurse practitioners will be able to provide certification for pregnancy leave.

I move that Bill 10 be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 10, Nurse Practitioners Statutes Amendment Act, 2011, 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.

bill 15 — attorney general and

public safety and solicitor general

statutes amendment act, 2011

Hon. S. Bond presented a message from His Honour the Administrator: a bill intituled Attorney General and Public Safety and Solicitor General Statutes Amendment Act, 2011.

Hon. S. Bond: I move that Bill 15 be introduced and read a first time now.

Motion approved.

Hon. S. Bond: I am very pleased to introduce Bill 15, the Attorney General and Public Safety and Solicitor General Statutes Amendment Act, 2011. This bill will amend the following statutes: the Armoured Vehicle and After-Market Compartment Control Act, the Body Armour Control Act, the Expropriation Act, the Fraudulent Conveyance Act, the Judicial Compensation Act, the Jury Act and the Security Services Act. The bill will also make a consequential amendment to the Coroners Act.

I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for a second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill 15, Attorney General and Public Safety and Solicitor General Statutes Amendment Act, 2011, 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)

SCHOOL EXPANSION PROJECTS

IN RICHMOND

R. Howard: Having just attended last Friday the official opening of Samuel Brighouse School in my riding,

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which is a phenomenal facility, I'm very pleased to rise today to extend congratulations to the staff and students of Henry Anderson Elementary School in Richmond.

The school is located in the riding of my colleague from Richmond East, but it also serves students from my own riding of Richmond Centre. Henry Anderson Elementary is one of the 19 projects under the $353 million capital plan announced today. This capital plan focuses on high-priority projects in the province's fastest-growing school districts.

The projects approved today are expansion projects that will deal with the need for new school spaces in communities which are experiencing increasing enrolment. These six new elementary schools, one new middle school, two new secondary schools, four school additions and six site purchases all announced today will see thousands of new classroom spaces added throughout the province.

I'm very proud of this investment in the education of our children, which will ensure that they have the environment they need in order to learn. I'm also very proud of the jobs which this investment in our schools will create — an estimated 1,850 good jobs for B.C. families during construction.

Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to Donna Sargent, chair of the Richmond board of education, and the rest of the trustees. I would also like to thank them for their ongoing support and cooperative attitude. Their constructive efforts are one reason that Henry Anderson School will see millions of dollars of capital funding and hundreds of new spaces created. This is a great day for the education system in British Columbia and in Richmond.

DELAWARE YOUTH PROJECT

IN CAMPBELL RIVER

C. Trevena: When the Delaware project started in Campbell River in May, its youth council set down one central rule: the kids and youth who attend cannot be under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they're there. The council meets every Monday morning and provides some of the structure for this exceptional project, which is run by the John Howard Society of North Island.

It's a youth drop-in for young people, from ages 13 to 24, who often aren't welcome anywhere else. These are the kids with addictions, with fetal alcohol, with mental health issues. They're involved with the youth justice system or have been in care and aged out — the so-called street-entrenched youth who would, without Delaware, fall through the cracks. But Delaware, named by the young people who use it, has given them self-respect and stability. It opens at nine in the morning, five days a week, although some who go there say they would like to see a seven-day-a-week, all-day program.

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The kids want a safe, inclusive and respectful space. No one takes names of those who are there. There's no sign-in. It's a place where the youth can know that they're not being judged.

The self-confidence of the young people has grown over the last six months. They're responsible for making breakfast, including getting the groceries and budgeting. They participate in activities from hot yoga through to a climbing wall. There's Internet access and literacy support, and elders come to talk and share traditions.

At least 14 to 20 young people come by every day, some from Campbell River, others who pass through town going to or from west coast or north Island communities. It's a proven success in harm reduction for some of our most vulnerable youth, but it could close at the end of the year because it doesn't have long-term funding.

John Howard Society of North Island largely pulled together donations from the community to get it going. It has been looking to the Ministry of Children and Families for ongoing stable financing. It needs $80,000 a year — not much in the greater scheme of things. It's not much for providing positive adult connections and for these young people's problems to be treated seriously. It's not much to keep youth safe and give them respect. As one of the youth who goes there said: "It's safer here than outside."

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

R. Sultan: We should celebrate this day the fact that the University of British Columbia has joined a global fraternity of excellence in advanced education and research. I refer to the fact that UBC now ranks 22nd among thousands of world universities according to the 2011-2012 Times Higher Education report released in London, England, earlier this month. To illustrate the calibre of our competition, the top five are Caltech, Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and Princeton.

This is no casual enumeration of how students feel about the warmth of their campus pub. It entails months of comparison in five categories: learning environment, research quantity and quality, global influence, international orientation and industry innovation. UBC is home to 53,000 students, 14,000 faculty and over a quarter million alumni. About one half of its $1 billion operating budget is provided by this House. It is money well spent.

For example, Genome B.C., co-founded by UBC's Nobel laureate Michael Smith, has in the past decade invested almost half a billion dollars and captured almost one-third of all federal moneys directed to help fisheries and environmental research. Dr. Michael Hayden's world-class research has led to the formation of several B.C. companies, such as Xenon Pharma and Aspreva.

TRIUMF, home of Canada's particle research endeavour, is helping us understand the creation of the

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universe while also producing much-needed isotopes for nuclear medicine. In an era when Octum Est de Me or "it's all about me" is too often the tacit institutional motto, UBC's Tuum Est or "it's up to you" is a refreshing reminder of the philosophy which is obviously working well at UBC.

BRIAN HALL AND SMITHERS DISTRICT

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AWARDS

D. Donaldson: The Smithers Chamber of Commerce annual awards event was held October 22. We all know that small businesses are the backbone of the economy, but especially so in rural communities like the ones in Stikine. Small businesses are extremely important for the local jobs they provide. They are also critical contributors to the social and cultural fabric of our communities through volunteer activities, sponsorship and donations, and promotion of the local economy.

With this impact — economic, social and cultural — small businesses assist rural communities to be resilient when external decisions are made that run counter to the interests of community stability. That is why I was very pleased to witness a long-time friend of mine receive the Citizen of the Year award at the chamber event.

Brian Hall, who is owner, with his wife, of the Stork Nest Inn, was honoured for his volunteer work in establishing the Hankin-Evelyn back-country recreation area near Smithers. It is a non-motorized-use zone that offers attractive hiking trails to alpine, and it's especially good for back-country skiing.

Brian saw a gap in local infrastructure for the non-motorized back-country access for skiing, and he used his entrepreneurial skills to pull together a coalition of local business and community groups to bring the project to reality. Now the Hankin-Evelyn recreation area provides local business opportunities, increases active living among residents and is an attractive feature for those considering a move to our area.

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Brian related a story to me of successful efforts by others to attract a new physician to town that were influenced by the existence of a dedicated back-country ski area. It shows the interweaving of small business, community interests and local control that is so important for stability.

In this example, it wasn't a case of the government getting out of way that created the economic opportunities. In fact, government lending a helping hand was critical for the success of the project through the support of local ministry staff and through funding program resources.

So congratulations to Brian Hall, all of the business award-winners and the Smithers Chamber of Commerce for a very uplifting evening.

ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH

L. Reid: I am pleased to rise in the House today to recognize November as Adoption Awareness Month in British Columbia. Adoption Awareness Month provides us the opportunity to thank adoptive families for opening their hearts and committing their lives to the love and care of a child. It gives us time to recognize the invaluable impact adoptive families have on the lives of children.

Every child deserves to have a family to call their own and a permanent place to call home. Every child deserves the support a family brings, whether it's someone to help with homework, someone to tuck them in at night, someone to cheer them on at a sporting event or attend their school play or someone to listen to their stories, be proud of them or be a shoulder to cry on when life seems hard.

Every child deserves a glorious childhood. What I wish for my children is what I wish for every child in the province of British Columbia. Every child and teenager deserves the nurturing affection of a family environment, and more than 1,200 children in government care are still looking for a place to call home, with more than 500 children ready to be adopted today.

I encourage anyone who's interested in the joy that a child can bring to call 1-877-ADOPT-07 or visit the Ministry of Children and Family Development website. I ask the people of British Columbia to join me in recognizing and celebrating Adoption Awareness Month, the families that adoption creates and how adoption embodies the meaning of putting families first.

WORK OF HOSPITAL AUXILIARY

SOCIETIES IN KOOTENAY AREA

M. Mungall: Well, a woman's work is never done, so they say. Take, for example, Jane Tyerman from Erickson. When she retired from her work at the lab in the Creston Valley Hospital in her 60s, she began volunteering with the Erickson Ladies Hospital Auxiliary. For the next 20 years Jean joined other women to make gifts for patients and raise funds for the hospital needs.

Heading north along Kootenay Lake, women there have been active since 1902, as the Victorian Hospital of Kaslo Auxiliary Society. Since then women on the auxiliary have baked, knitted and pulled raffle tickets out of their purses to sell in the community. Husbands help too, you'll read on their website, taking the lead from their wives.

After 2001, though, they faced some big changes — not only at the hospital, which was demoted to a health clinic, but they also began a new social enterprise, the local thrift store. As savvy businesswomen, the auxiliary has increased its fundraising and makes major contributions, like the $26,000 to the palliative care room.

In Nelson, Salmo and south Slocan the Kootenay Lake hospital also has had an auxiliary, dating back to

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1898. Talking to young parents, they are all smiles when dressing their bundles of joy in hand-knitted toques and booties from the auxiliary.

And Nelson's Fraternal Order of Eagles Ladies Auxiliary has been working for communities since 1947. On November 19, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., they are inviting everyone to join them for a bowl of famous West Kootenay Russian borscht to raise funds for services that empower women and help us create equality in our society. For only $7, Mr. Speaker, you can get in on this great food for a great cause.

A woman's work is never done. Whether it's knitting for newborns, raising money for hospital equipment or the movement for equality, ladies auxiliaries have fearlessly stepped up and gotten the job done. [Applause.]

Mr. Speaker: The true spirit of a private member's statement.

Oral Questions

DEATH OF SENIOR AT CARE FACILITY

AND OMBUDSPERSON REPORT

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SENIORS CARE

A. Dix: In January Eldon Mooney, a senior, choked to death at a privately run care home which is licensed by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. The care home in question, Sunrise, said at the time that he died of natural causes. His daughter had set up a camera in his room, and it showed that in fact he'd choked to death.

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Now, Ms. Nelson, his daughter, is one person, and Sunrise is run by a very powerful multinational corporation. I think the minister will understand that there's a real power imbalance in these cases. So will he not agree with me that this case is an example of why we need an independent seniors representative in B.C.?

Hon. M. de Jong: The circumstances of Mr. Mooney's passing are troubling, to say the least. The information as set out in the coroner's report chronicles what took place, and that is troubling enough. But it is the part of the report where the coroner confirms that staff present at the death of the resident were not truthful with regards to the circumstances….

Patients, residents and their families are entitled to expect truthfulness and honesty and to know the circumstances that surround the passing of a loved one. That did not occur here, and for that I have a tremendous amount of regret and express the apologies of all concerned to the family.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a supplemental.

A. Dix: Well, as the minister will know, it is a serious case. I think what it shows in these cases, particularly in seniors care, is why seniors sometimes need an independent place to go. The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority had responsibility as the licensing agency in this case, and in fact, what you had is a case where a daughter, grieving, had to fight this case, in effect, on her own.

So I just want to ask, since the minister talked about people having access to information…. The Ombudsperson produced a report in 2010 and made a series of recommendations to improve seniors care. One was to set up a central registry. The minister will know that. The minister will know that the government really hasn't followed through on that report.

On those recommendations from the report, that particular one, will the Health Minister then agree that full disclosure is essential and set up a central registry today or move to set up a central registry today consistent with the Ombudsperson's report?

Hon. M. de Jong: As the member knows, the Ombudsperson is working on

part 2 of the report, and he will also know that the government has moved with respect to a series of the recommendations made in

part 1 of the report.

If, however, I can return to the issue that has given rise to the discussion in the first place. I think that it is also important to point out two things. The coroner has recognized that in response to the evidence that arose — most particularly, I think, in this case video evidence — that Vancouver Coastal Health and the licensing branch conducted an exhaustive recommendation, identified a whole series of areas where the facility was found to be lacking and prepared a series of recommendations.

And in fairness, the coroner completes the report by saying: "Given the improvements that have been implemented at the care facility and the heightened monitoring being carried out by Vancouver Coastal Health community care facilities licensing branch, I make no further recommendations."

As serious as this is, and it is serious, I would not want the suggestion or impression left that Vancouver Coastal didn't take it seriously, and in fact, in response, that the facility itself hasn't taken it seriously.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.

A. Dix: Here's the problem. You go on to the minister's website — I invite him to do this after question period — about Sunrise…. The minister referred to a report which found 23 breaches of care. You go on the minister's website, where people are supposed to go to find out information before, perhaps, they take their loved one into care, and there's no evidence of that. In fact, there's nothing on the website in reference to these 23 breaches of

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care that were found in April by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

Surely the minister will agree that's not good enough — to go on a website that's supposed to inform people, that's supposed to give them confidence that they have all the information, and the minister's website doesn't have any of this.

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Doesn't the minister agree with me that that has to change — that the minister has to, I think, move to in fact implement the recommendations of the Ombudsperson's report in full, and that it's not acceptable for those very things that the minister refers to in this House as examples of the licensing agency doing its job? Doesn't the minister agree with me that the public should have the same right as he has to access to that information before enrolling or bringing their loved one into care?

Hon. M. de Jong: The member will know that over the past number of years the government has taken significant steps to ensure that the public and individuals and family members of individuals have a far broader source of information to consult with respect to the facilities that might provide care to an individual.

It is now possible for members of the public, family members of seniors looking for a place to house them, to access reports and summaries of reports that refer to inspections that have taken place on a regular basis of housing facilities in British Columbia. There is now a formal framework in place for complaints to be followed up on through the patient care quality review panel.

I'm not suggesting, particularly on a day when we are confronted by the information contained in the coroner's report, that the system is perfect, but every single day thousands upon thousands of caregivers report to work and diligently and passionately and professionally provide care to seniors and vulnerable British Columbians. We have a system in place that where something goes wrong, there is a formal mechanism in place to follow up on that, and that's what's happened here.

M. Farnworth: Well, the ministry has had this information since April, and it's still not on the government's website. It's still not on the minister's website. There were 23 breaches of care in this particular case. No appropriate monitoring system, inadequate training for assisted feeding, improper restraint — those are pretty serious.

The minister just said families deserve the truth, and they do deserve the truth. One of the ways of ensuring that was through the recommendations in the Ombudsman's report. Will the minister not recognize that families deserve the truth, and will he not commit to fully implementing the recommendations of the Ombudsperson's report?

Hon. M. de Jong: We are working, and in fact, part of the answer to the member's question is revealed in the steps that have already been taken to provide centralized and coordinated access to the broad suite of services that are available to seniors. That work has begun. It is ongoing.

I am in contact with the Ombudsperson's office in anticipation of

part 2 of her report. Those discussions include, I might add, a discussion around the kind of seniors advocate that might be available to advance the interests of seniors in British Columbia. So the work is ongoing, and I look forward to it continuing.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

M. Farnworth: Well, it's nice to hear that work is ongoing, but I don't expect that stage 2 is going to be different than stage 1 and say that we shouldn't have transparency and access to information for the families of seniors in the province of British Columbia.

So while that is taking place, does the minister not recognize that families deserve truth in cases like this? There were 23 breaches in this one case alone, never mind other cases. It took a family that had to put a nanny cam in place to get the truth. The information has been on the minister's desk or in the ministry since April.

Again, to the minister — the question is clear: will he implement the Ombudsman's recommendations, particularly with regards to information and the ability to access information to the families of seniors in British Columbia, and stop the delay?

Hon. M. de Jong: Well, again, I suppose there are times in this chamber where members of government ask members of opposition to have faith and be patient. We're working on it.

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In fact, the member will know, as a former Minister of Health, the tremendous progress we have made in precisely that direction in ensuring that individuals, seniors and in many cases their families, have much better and broader access to information that will allow them to make informed decisions about where they want to live and the care they are receiving in those facilities. That work is continuing.

I haven't in any way tried to shy away from the information contained within the coroner's report, which is not a flattering description of what took place. But I've also tried to be fair in pointing out the coroner's finding in the report of July, where credit is given for the improvements that have taken place, for the quality of the report completed by Vancouver Coastal Health and for the improvements that have taken place at the facility.

S. Hammell: The minister needs to move the talk into action. Ms. Nelson is one person. Sunrise of Lynn Valley

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is owned by a huge U.S. corporation worth millions of dollars. Surely the minister can recognize that dramatic imbalance.

Sunrise told Ms. Nelson that her father died in his sleep. That was not true. British Columbians expect the government to be on their side in a terrible situation like this. When a large corporation violates the trust of the people in their care, government should be on the side of the seniors and their families.

Will the minister do the right thing? Will the minister stand up for seniors and their families? Will the minister announce today that B.C. seniors will have a seniors advocate?

Hon. M. de Jong: Well, it may be of significance to the member opposite, but let me tell you this. I believe, and the government believes, that a senior deserves to be receiving high-quality, dignified care in their place of residence whether that residence is owned by a larger corporation or by a society, is public or is private. Those expectations do not change depending on who owns the facility.

That's why we have standards in place, and that's why we have a residents bill of rights. That's why we created a patient care quality review panel — so that there is a mechanism in place that provided residents and their families with the tools necessary to investigate and seek redress when those high-quality standards aren't being met.

PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURE

AND FARMLANDS IN DELTA

V. Huntington: The Premier recently encouraged Delta South to take pride in a new identity, not as the agricultural jewel of the Lower Mainland but as the face of Canada to Asia. Just this month Port Metro Vancouver CEO Robin Silvester declared that while agriculture is emotionally important, it is of relatively low importance economically and almost meaningless in terms of food security.

Agriculture in Delta delivers among the highest farm-gate receipts in this province and accounts for over 25 percent of Delta's GDP. That's in spite of the fact that Delta also has the Lower Mainland's largest industrial parks.

Will the Minister of Agriculture repudiate Mr. Silvester's attack on B.C.'s most productive land and defend agriculture in B.C., and is he prepared to tell the port that preserving farmland in Delta is not just emotional but is crucial for both the well-being of our farmers and the survival of the Pacific migratory bird flyway?

Hon. D. McRae: I'm very pleased to say to the member opposite that there are few groups that I have met geographically more often than members from Delta. Just last week I had in my office in Victoria here members from the Delta Farmers Institute. I've also had the opportunity to go to Delta and meet with them there. They have raised the concerns and the importance of agriculture every single time. The great thing here is I agree with them.

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I will continue to advocate for agriculture in Delta. I'll continue to advocate for agriculture in British Columbia. It is hugely important, and I think everybody gets it.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.

V. Huntington: It isn't a repudiation of Mr. Silvester's comments, however. Delta understands the value of the Pacific Gateway to this country's economy, perhaps better than any other community in British Columbia. But this obsession to turn the ALR into an industrial park has to stop.

It is not the will of B.C. residents to use jobs as an excuse to abuse either the province's agricultural assets or its environmental responsibilities. Will the Minister of Transportation pledge that the province will commit to the current industrial-agricultural balance in Delta? Will he halt the industrial creep, proclaim the value of farmland not only to B.C.'s future but also to B.C.'s role in meeting Canada's obligation under the migratory bird treaty?

Hon. D. McRae: I'm sure the member opposite does know, because I know she's very well versed, that migratory birds are an issue to do with the federal government. But at the same time, it is very important to make sure that if there's an issue we can help advocate for as a province, we do so.

I'm also pleased to say I forgot to mention some of the people from Delta that I have met. At the UBCM Mayor Lois Jackson was very forward about the importance of agriculture and the importance to Delta. I want to make sure that was very well spoken to the members opposite. I also want to make sure that the member opposite knows I have toured greenhouses in Delta — in fact, with the member opposite.

There is no doubt that it is hugely important that we continue to advocate for agriculture. As the member opposite also knows, the Agricultural Land Commission is independent from government. One of the things I want to see in the very near future is some enhancements to this organization that allow them to be the proactive organization that they should be, because their job is to preserve farmland and quality farmland in this province and protect the farmer. I am very excited for the near future, member opposite.

INVESTIGATION OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN

FOR MEMBER FOR VANCOUVER-FRASERVIEW

L. Krog: This weekend we heard yet more disturbing allegations from the 2009 campaign manager for the member for Vancouver-Fraserview. These allegations

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centre around 40,000 initial dollars in campaign expenses that have gone unreported to Elections B.C.

My question is to the Attorney General. Can she advise this House if a special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate these serious allegations?

Hon. S. Bond: As the member opposite would well know, there's been a lengthy police investigation, and a special prosecutor was appointed. That is done — and the member knows this — independent of government by the head of the province's criminal justice branch. So there was a lengthy police investigation, a special prosecutor was appointed, and that work has been completed.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.

L. Krog: As all the members of this House are aware, Elections B.C. conducted an investigation into spending irregularities in that election. This concerned $6,000 of misappropriated funds. Now we hear allegations of $40,000 in undeclared spending which, again, calls into question the legitimacy of the result of the 2009 election in Vancouver-Fraserview.

My question is to the Attorney General. Will she join this side of the House in calling for the Chief Electoral Officer to investigate these new allegations of election overspending?

Hon. S. Bond: Again, a special prosecutor was appointed, and as the member opposite should well know, that is done independent of government. What I would actually encourage the member opposite to do is that if the member opposite has additional information and would like to pursue that, that's precisely what he should proceed to do.

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K. Corrigan: We are dealing with new information. Mr. Sall is now alleging that the member for Vancouver-Fraserview failed to report thousands more in election expenses but that he, Barinder Sall, destroyed the evidence and kept his mouth shut to minimize the legal consequences. He also said that the member for Vancouver-Fraserview misled the public about the closeness of their relationship.

Given this new information, does the minister agree that these serious new allegations warrant a reappointment of a special prosecutor and the reopening of the investigation of the 2009 election campaign of the member for Vancouver-Fraserview?

Hon. S. Bond: Once again, the fact of the matter is that government does not determine whether or not a special prosecutor is appointed. In fact, there has been a lengthy police investigation. A special prosecutor was appointed, independent of government, and in fact, that work has been completed.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

K. Corrigan: Well, this minister and the Premier were both willing to stick their noses in and say what should happen with the justice system when it came to riot TV.

Mr. Sall said that the person who wrote the brochure was given a cheque for $2,000 from the MLA account, which was never claimed. He said: "We paid another $1,500 for a cell phone bill; $7,500 in illegal flyers that were never claimed; $6,000 in radio advertising; another $6,000 in other radio advertising; and then there was some miscellaneous — maybe $1,500 to $2,000."

Given these very specific new allegations, will the minister agree that this investigation needs to be reopened?

Hon. S. Bond: At the risk of being repetitive, the fact of the matter is that special prosecutors are not appointed by the government. What I would encourage both members opposite to do…. If they believe they have additional information or they have allegations that they would like to pursue, they should contact the police and make that very clear to them.

AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT ON

FINANCIAL REPORTING BY B.C. HYDRO

B. Ralston: Last week the Auditor General's report strongly criticized B.C. Hydro's use of rate-regulated accounting and noted the result — the deferral of $2.2 billion in expenses.

Richard Stout, who's the executive director of the Association of Major Power Customers, reacted, and he warned — he's someone who knows something about it, because he represents the major industrial users — that if this policy wasn't fixed, it would be a barrier to major and new industrial investment in the province of British Columbia, particularly metal mines, because if you don't know what your power is going to cost, it's very difficult to make that kind of major investment. So does the minister agree with the very well-informed opinion of Mr. Stout?

Hon. R. Coleman: We're committed to ensuring that electricity rates remain affordable for B.C. families and businesses. It also makes us an attractive place to invest, actually, and live. But one of the ways we do that is with the deferral accountings.

The B.C. Utilities Commission has deferred these deferral accounts to cover a range of purposes, which I outlined in my answer last week. The intention is you actually smooth it so you don't get spikes in rates for people, so you could actually have what the member opposite describes, and that would be a steady flow that the amount of rates would be so people could make long-term and short-term investments in British Columbia with confidence.

[ Page 8518 ]

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

B. Ralston: Well, the same well-informed Mr. Stout also warned that there's a danger in the future of large increases in rates for retail customers. So not only is this policy damaging…

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member.

B. Ralston: …the future investment climate here in British Columbia; it poses a risk of major rate increases for retail customers. Will the minister not give his head a shake and investigate this policy?

Hon. R. Coleman: You know, with the transition from Canadian generally accepted accounting principles to principles of international financial reporting standards, we have made the policy decision to continue the use of deferral accounts to promote rate stability. The policy decision has been implemented through amendments to the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act in 2010 and a Treasury Board regulation in 2011. It's accepted by the B.C. Utilities Commission. It's for us to be able to shape rates to keep them affordable for families.

[1415]

If the members opposite don't want that and want spikes of rates for people so that they'll never know what their household budget would be from year to year, they can go that way. We think that we have a plan with this. We will be taking the Auditor General's recommendation, in combination with the Hydro review, and working through that as we prepare Hydro's presentation on budget this year to government.

GOVERNMENT SETTLEMENT

WITH BOSS POWER CORP.

J. Horgan: For a week now we've been putting questions to the B.C. Liberal government about the Boss Power boondoggle and the $30 million settlement on the courthouse steps. Last week we asked the government to release the independent evaluations of the true costs of the lease. Last week we asked the government to release the legal opinion that suggested to government that a settlement for $30 million was appropriate. Both of those questions remain outstanding.

Today you will know that we sought to bring that question to the Legislature so that we could answer some of those questions, so that the Auditor General could have a look at this information and pass judgment on the government, and see if we can protect people into the future.

My question to the Minister of Energy is this. You didn't want to talk about it this morning. Will you talk about it now? Will you support the opposition's position and refer this matter to the Auditor General so that we can get to the bottom of the $30 million boondoggle?

Hon. R. Coleman: We canvassed this extensively last week. We came to a settlement with Boss Power for $30 million to buy back a tenure, which was the appropriate thing to do. We settled with our legal counsel's recommendation, and that matter was settled with regards to the courts.

To the member opposite: we are actually proud of the fact that we finally put to bed the issue around uranium, which they failed to do in the 1990s. It hadn't been settled in B.C. for a long time. The fact of the matter is that we proceeded with the process. We knew we'd set aside some dollars with regards to the possibility of settlements and with regards to having to take back tenures for the decision of 2008. We made the decision to not proceed with uranium in British Columbia. We did that. We settled the lawsuit, and the lawsuit has been settled.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

J. Horgan: It's interesting. My colleague from Swan Lake points out that the government wants to impose a municipal auditor on lower levels of government, but they're not prepared to use the Auditor that we have in place to clear the air on a $30 million boondoggle.

We did canvass this thoroughly last week. We asked questions, and all we got from the Minister of Energy is notes off of a piece of paper saying: "Everything is done. Nothing to see here. Go back to your homes." Not good enough for the people of B.C.

Again, my question. Perhaps he'd like to follow the lead of the member from Kamloops so this does not happen again. He sent his thoughts to you, I'm told.

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member.

Continue, Member.

J. Horgan: The member from Kamloops has said he has sent his thoughts to you. Well, let me give you the thoughts of the official opposition. Shine some light on this; let the Auditor General take a look. While you're at it, how about an apology directly to Doug Sweeney?

Hon. R. Coleman: Thanks to the member opposite for his question. The fact of the matter is the Auditor General can make his own choice on what he looks at within government. That's why he's an independent officer of the Legislature.

C. James: It's typical of this government. The minister says the matter is settled. Well, it's not settled for the

[ Page 8519 ]

public in British Columbia who have $30 million of their tax dollars put out by this minister. It's not settled.

What have we heard from this minister and this government? Qualifications on the government's books three years in a row: "No big deal." Warnings that deferral accounts have grown to more than $2 billion at B.C. Hydro, set to rise to $5 billion: "No worries. Nothing to see here."

Order a full airing of the $30 million of taxpayers' money in the Boss Power boondoggle? "No, we don't want to talk about that."

[1420]

Well it's very clear that the Liberals are stumbling along, making a worse mess of British Columbia's finances and books. It's time for this government to show some accountability to taxpayers. Will the minister today stand up, make a small step in that direction and order the Auditor General to take a look at the Boss Power mess today?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.

In 2008 we made a decision. We knew there might be some tenures that would have to be bought back by government. We set aside $50 million to deal with those legal matters. We settled for $30 million. But you know, Mr. Speaker, we did it in fairness to the company who owned the tenure. What we didn't do is what they did on Carrier Lumber.

I just want to leave the members with one little quote. Just so you remember, because this is not what we did; it is what you did. This is from Mr. Justice Parrett. "It is difficult to conceive a more compelling and cynical example of duplicity and bad faith. The words 'managing perception' may have a gloss which seems to carry with it some high purpose. The reality is, at least in this case, little more than a process of altering reality by concealing the truth and presenting a fabricated cover story." That was a comment by the judge in the Carrier Lumber case.

We paid for a tenure because somebody should not have their rights expropriated in British Columbia. We came to a settlement, and we took the tenure back.

[End of question period.]

B. Simpson: I rise to present a petition.

Mr. Speaker: Proceed.

Petitions

B. Simpson: I present a petition with 485 signatures on it asking for the expansion of broadband Internet in the Big Lake, 150 Mile House, Beaver Valley and Likely areas of British Columbia.

Orders of the Day

Hon. R. Coleman: We will be continuing with second reading debate of Bill 12, intituled Teachers Act.

Second Reading of Bills

Bill 12 — TEACHERS ACT

(continued)

Hon. D. McRae: I'm pleased today to stand and rise and speak in support of Bill 12, intituled Teachers Act, presented to this House by the Minister of Education. I might also add that I'm in a rather unique perspective as a member of this House because I am probably one of the few members in this Legislature who have actually paid their B.C. College of Teachers dues. In fact, I phoned last week just to ensure they were up to date.

[L. Reid in the chair.]

As I begin my remarks, I want to quote from a website, the Education Law Blog, from July 7, 2010, with the title of "BCTF Sues Chair of B.C. College of Teachers for Defamation."

"CBC reported earlier today that the B.C. Federation of Teachers has commenced a defamation lawsuit against Richard Walker, the current chair of the B.C. College of Teachers, for comments he made in an opinion piece published in a May edition of the Vancouver Sun .

"In the opinion piece Mr. Walker noted that 270 complaints against teachers from members of the public, through the 'person complaint process,' have been filed with the college since 2003, but no teacher has been disciplined, a fact which he alleged raises serious questions about how the BCTF has been using the college illegitimately to protect certain teachers to the detriment of students.

"He also argued that changes should be made to the way the college functions in relation to the BCTF, specifically the endorsement by the BCTF of candidates for election to the governing body of the college.

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"Walker referred to a gentleman by the name of Tom Ellison, a teacher and convicted sex offender, to highlight the need for a procedure to identify and deal with troublesome teachers early on in their career."

I know Mr. Walker. I know him personally. I know him as a teaching colleague from the Comox Valley. I know him as president of the Comox District Teachers Association, who was my union president locally, and I also know him as our regional rep on the B.C. College of Teachers in his time there.

[ Page 8520 ]

I know a little bit about teaching. I won't claim to be a great expert, but I come from a long line of teachers, and I'd just like to bring up their names for Hansard . My grandfather, Gordon McRae, from the Agassiz area, was killed in World War II. He started the family tradition of teaching, and his wife, my grandmother, Gertrude McRae — and then remarried after his death and became Carey — was an elementary teacher in Surrey. My father, a teacher for 35 years in the Comox Valley, is now retired and gainfully on his way to Mexico to spend the next five months sitting on the beach.

And myself. I have been a teacher at G.P. Vanier high school in the Comox Valley, not only the school that I graduated from in 1988 and went to preschool at in 1974 but a school that is a great asset to our community. While at the school, I taught three subject areas. I taught psychology, social studies and, of course — near and dear to my heart but also to the Comox Valley because of our history — military history.

During my 15 years there, besides being a teacher I was also able to fill several roles. I was a rugby coach for many years and had the luxury of going to the B.C. championships, and the athletic director. I was also the staff rep for our staff and a department head and the staff leadership chair. During that time I also had the opportunity to attend the BCTF AGMs at least four times.

As this, I think I speak from a different perspective than many, because it affects so many individuals. I see this bill, Bill 12, as a win for many stakeholders in education. I see it as a win for parents, I see it as a win for teachers, and most of all I see it as a win for the students. I would like to comment a little bit on all three.

During my 15 years as a teacher, I worked with well over 100 teachers. The school I was at was very large, and there were several whom I call master teachers. Again, to raise my respect for them, I am going to name a couple. There was a gentleman by the name of Mr. Bob Argo; Mr. Frank Frickatich; and a math teacher who did his very best with me but maybe not as successfully as he would have liked, a man by the name of Mr. Butch Rivers, amongst many others.

These individuals were great teacher leaders. They were great influences on young individuals. I know this not only as their colleague, but they were also my teachers back in the 1980s. They were absolutely phenomenal, and like them, there have been many other master teachers to follow, but not as many as we would like.

Teaching is a very special profession. The job is long and arduous. It is easy to put in, in the classroom and beyond 40, 50 and sometimes 60 or 70 hours a week. These are the individuals who coach our teams. They travel on buses. They go far away from their own families. They spend a lot of time. They have a great impact as role models on young people. They are the individuals who direct a play or a choir. They're the cornerstone of an arts program in a school. They run clubs, whether it's the environmental club, an art club or a photography club, but they're always there for young men and women as great role models.

They teach, and teaching is not a job that's taken lightly. It is one of the jobs, much like being an MLA, where you can give as much as the job will take, and it can take a whole bunch. You can never be done.

I'm so pleased to have called the teachers who do the job my colleagues, because they are actually the ones who make a difference in our young men and women all the time. They're the ones who give up their lunch hour to teach math. They're the ones who stay after school. They're the ones who come early to assist with a practice at eight o'clock or 7:30 in the morning.

They are the heart and soul of the school. They volunteer at school dances, even though they often don't understand the music. They go to grad after grad after grad. Not one of those students are their children, often, but they're the ones that make sure an experience of a lifetime is enjoyed and that it seems fresh and inspiring every time the students do it.

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One bad teacher can wreck it for so many. Fortunately, we have a system where there are — and pardon the educational pun — very few bad apples. But sadly, when there is one, it makes it bad for all of us. The goodwill that a person can earn in their profession can be wiped out by a person who teaches far away, because that individual did not have the professionalism and ethics that they should have.

Now students. I'm also very lucky. There are 55,000-plus actively practising certificate holders in British Columbia but probably about 32,000 practising teachers on a full-time-equivalent basis. The importance of quality teachers is so essential to the educational well-being of a student. Those first four years are absolutely essential that we have the best teachers there doing the jobs they need to do.

I'm also very lucky. I had Mrs. Webber in kindergarten and Mrs. Evans, who put me at a table called the polka-dot plant table. I was very lucky that when she put me there, it was with three friends who remain lifelong friends to this day, and that's, I'd say, a good 37 years ago. My grade 2 teacher was Mrs. Jenkins, and grade 3 teachers, Mrs. Fields and Mrs. Rawlins.

Having good-quality teachers will make a young man or woman's life. My daughter Gracie, who goes to Ecole Puntledge Park, is in grade 3 right now. She has also had the good fortune of having amazing, powerful, strong-willed, great role-model teachers — from her music teacher to her classroom teacher to the school administrators. It is an absolutely great school, and the school is made great not because of the walls, necessarily, but because of the individuals within it.

We want to make sure as we move forward that the young men and women in the school system have the in-

[ Page 8521 ]

dividuals teaching them who are the best quality possible. As parents, we want accountability. We want to make sure we know that the individuals within our schools are doing the best possible job.

We want assurance that these individuals are held to a high standard, are constantly working to improve their craft and constantly working to make sure that our young men and women who are with them have the best possible care. As we all know, what is wanted by all is what is best for our children.

We are very, very fortunate in British Columbia to have a great educational system. The educational system is one that…. We should not rest on our laurels, though. There are always opportunities for improvement.

As I mentioned at the start, when I talked about the changes or the concerns raised by Richard Walker from the B.C. College of Teachers — you know what? — it's not just an individual. This is a person who is actually working within the B.C. College for a very long period of time. I'm sure his comments were not made lightly, because I know his character.

I want to make sure, as we move forward, that we have a system that is supported by all — one that people recognize as having strength. Recognizing that teachers in British Columbia do such great work, at the same time we need to make sure there is the oversight. And when you have the chair of the College of Teachers having concerns about the organization, this is cause for reflection, and reflection has resulted in action. The Minister of Education, I'm pleased to say, and the Ministers of Education before him recognized that there were some concerns or weaknesses and they should be addressed.

Under this new legislation, obviously, one of the major goals is to increase student safety. I'm pleased to say that the vast, vast majority of young men and women today in the school system will never have to deal with the stress of a teacher who is acting inappropriately. However, with 33,000 FTEs, or full-time-equivalent teachers, in British Columbia, statistically there will always be room for improvement.

The last thing we want is for people to be able to hide or be hidden. With these changes being brought forward in this act, I'm pleased to say as a teacher and as a parent — as a person who went through the system, like most of us in this room did, in British Columbia…. We know that we're going to get a system that is going to be reflective and responsive to the educational needs of our children. We want to establish a framework to advance teaching excellence.

It's funny. As a high school teacher, I taught, like I said earlier, for 15 years in a school. It is a very lonely position in many ways. In those 15 years the number of times I was able to watch a colleague teach was rather limited. Why was it limited? I was busy in my classroom, they were busy in theirs, and when best practice was going on, you often didn't have an opportunity to see it.

[1435]

Plus, because of the nature of the profession, people don't want to necessarily hear about how great the person is, teaching right across the hall from them. The person who's doing great work often is the last person to say it and doesn't want to impose their will on another.

But you need to have that level of professional development and expertise and sharing within the organization. Obviously, in 15 years I think I was able to visit colleagues and watch their teaching skills maybe seven or eight times. Professional development, which has great value in all organizations…. As a teacher, I think I would get professional development about five days a year. There'd be a day in September, a day in November, maybe February, and I think there was one in May. It was rather disjointed.

It was hard to figure out how, as we move forward, to have some continuity and some vision for these great opportunities for professional development. Because they weren't there, I think there's an opportunity here for improvement as well.

We're also looking for an opportunity to support and foster the growth of a more respectful and effective relationship among educational partners. For those, for the record, there will be seven educational partners under the new parameters.

They include the B.C. School Trustees Association — now, obviously, these are individuals from around the province in places like Kitwanga or Cranbrook or Nelson or Cumberland, individuals who represent a lot of educational issues in their community; B.C. School Superintendents Association — we've been very lucky in the Comox Valley to have many superintendents who, I think, are phenomenal; B.C. Principals and Vice-Principals Association; the Federation of Independent School Associations; the Association of B.C. Deans of Education.

I graduated in 1992, I believe it was, from UBC, and the dean of education and the educational leadership that came from that school, in my experience, was phenomenal. I know that my colleagues who went to UVic also experienced the same elements, as with those who now graduate from what we call VIU.

The First Nations Education Steering Committee is obviously essential. There's a challenge with First Nations in graduation rates around the province, and there is an opportunity, I think, for the First Nations to have some better input.

The B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils — again, parents will have a great role to play.

Under the new B.C. Teachers Council there'll be three BCTF nominees appointed by the minister, seven education partner nominees appointed by the minister, five members elected by the teachers in a democratic manner and one non-voting senior government appointee. This is a good representation on the board. It is important that teachers do have a say, and teachers have a say from regions around the province.

[ Page 8522 ]

Teaching in the Lower Mainland is far different, and the challenges that a man or woman will face there, than for a person who teaches in a rural community.

For example, as Ag Minister, I had an opportunity to visit Alexis Creek recently. In Alexis Creek there was a young woman I met who was teaching elementary school there. It is a special person who's willing to go and stay in a beautiful place like Alexis Creek, because it is so remote and the opportunity for colleagues' conversation and getting to see, perhaps, conferences in the Lower Mainland is just that much tougher. But the reality is that I think there is an opportunity here to actually have a better board, a better representation.

The disciplinary and professional conduct part of this bill will consist of a minority of BCTF members, so they will be a member. Each disciplinary hearing will be held by a three-member panel — two educational partners and one BCTF member. I am pleased that the Minister of Education fought long and hard to make sure that there was good representation for all members involved.

At the end of the day, there has been no one, I'm sure, in this House who would argue that we need to hide a bad teacher or one that's puts our young men and women at risk. We are looking for a system that is strong, with professional input, and one that has the needs of our children, our parents and the teachers themselves at heart.

The other thing that the B.C. council of teachers will be to do…. And I think as we go forward it's even more important. They need to look at the educational conduct of individuals. I know that right now there are many, many teachers in this province working on their master's degree. As schools and teachers basically expand their opportunities in on-line education, it's important that when teachers are getting their higher level of education, they do so from a school, an institution, which is of highest quality and meets competency standards.

[1440]

I know myself that when I did my master of education about ten years ago…. You want to make sure when you go down that path that you are actually not only getting the higher learning you so desire but that it's meeting the needs, as you go forward, of the college, in this case, or the council of teachers.

As a teacher, I am very pleased to stand up in this House today. I want to thank the Minister of Education for his good work. I want to thank the staff, and I want to thank the stakeholders who will take

part in this new council.

To the men and women — parents, teachers, educational leaders — who participate: you have a great task ahead of you. As a parent, I look forward to knowing that you are doing your job well, that you are strong in your position and that, at the end of the day, you make sure that we have the very best professionals in front of our children.

N. Simons: I'm pleased to be able to stand here and continue the debate on Bill 12. It doesn't seem like we have a lot of areas of differences. Maybe I can find a few. No, that's not actually my goal. My goal is to make sure that we do what we're elected to do, and that is to ensure that the interests of the public are protected in the legislation that we pass. As much as I would like to harangue the minister repeatedly and obsessively, that will not be what I do today.

In fact, I have to just start by paying tribute to my favourite teacher, my mother. My mother is a teacher, and she continues to teach in Montreal, and she has done so for 40-some years. I have to say that in knowing some of her students — most of them special needs students — and their families, she does get pretty rave reviews. I'm proud of her for what she does, and she inspires me in what she does.

That being said, I think the establishment of a new body that oversees much of what teachers do in terms of their standards and their measures of performance and monitoring…. Essentially, most professional bodies have such an organization, and many times they are right within the organization itself, like the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

In this case we have one that is somewhat arm's length, which I think does provide to the public the view that there is some distance — distance enough to ensure that oversight is founded on facts and is not influenced unduly in one direction or the other.

In that respect, I believe that Bill 12 is a good step. Obviously, it can't be perfect, but I think, in essence, it has reached the threshold at which the professionals involved feel it is satisfactory.

One thing that I think we need to remember, and it's been pointed out by my friends from the other side and my colleagues as well, is that in fact when we talk about discipline and when we talk about adjudications of misdeeds in a profession, we do tend to focus on the negative. I think it's important for us to all remember that teachers around this province — and there are thousands of them — for the most part do a remarkably good job.

What we are establishing with this legislation is not an attempt to homogenize the teaching profession. It's to set standards and to ensure standards are met in a way that the public can have confidence.

There are, I think, other pieces of legislation that need to be contemplated with respect to other professional bodies — like the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which do tend, as the public perception is, to protect one another legitimately in their profession and with their own unique understanding of the profession but without what the public might feel is the appropriate arm's length.

So complaints about teachers will be passed to a body that is composed of a cross-section of our community with representation from teachers. What I wanted to point out was that we are debating a bill that is addressing…. We don't know how big an issue it is. We don't know whether or not this is something that is going to

[ Page 8523 ]

have a direct and immediate impact, other than in our perception of the effect of the legislation.

[1445]

As we've heard, the college will have 15 voting members and a commissioner. I think that will be based on a number of representatives, including the B.C. School Trustees Association, the B.C. Principals and Vice Principals Association, the superintendents association, the independent schools association, First Nations Education Steering Committee, deans of education and the Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils. The non-voting member will be an assistant deputy minister from probably the Ministry of Education, I would imagine.

What I think is important to note is that this legislation may have originally been designed as an element in an ongoing dispute between government and the teaching profession. I hope that particular

chapter of our history is in the past, and I hope a new relationship of mutual respect and understanding will be one that we carry forward with this legislation and in our treatment of the profession in many of our other dealings.

In particular, this legislation serves to safeguard the health and safety of our children. I'd like to point out that for most children, when they are victims of mistreatment or abuse, it does not occur in schools. It does not occur in the public. It in fact occurs in our homes across this province.

In fact, it's an unfortunate statement, but most children, when they're victimized, are victimized in their own family. What we need to make sure we do is ensure that parent have the ability to stand up for their children. Perhaps this legislation gives them one more button to press, with which to do such thing.

In closing, my remarks are brief. I usually speak more if I disagree. But in this particular case, this legislation, despite the quick fluttering it took to land on our desk last week and the debate which followed quite quickly…. In essence, the major stakeholders have an opportunity to review it adequately. Their recommendations are to support it.

I am proud to stand here and say that in the future, should government ever accuse me of being negative and always voting against their initiatives…. Please note that this is an occasion where I will be pleased to vote with the government on this piece of legislation.

J. McIntyre: I'm rising today as the member for West Vancouver–Sea to Sky to speak to Bill 12, the Teachers Act. I speak today really as a legislator, of course, but mostly as a parent. My brother is a teacher and my sister-in-law, both in Ontario. But I don't have relatives who teach in the province.

Nevertheless, I think it's very important that we have a perspective. I'm the proud mother of two children who went through our public school system, and I think this act represents a very, very important step in moving forward for a number of reasons.

One, of course, is that I think it does strike a balance. I think this has been, it's fair to say, a thorny issue over a number of years in terms of how the college operates and the governance structures. There was a report that identified, actually, a number of problems — a report by Don Avison entitled A College Divided . I think there was no choice for government but to act on the recommendations and the issues that Mr. Avison so clearly laid out.

I think this act, after much consultation…. Compliments to the minister, because it was a lot of work that went into this from the minister and the ministry staff in terms of consulting with stakeholders and coming up with something that really would strike a balance. It's very important that teachers are involved, obviously, in regulating their profession.

That said, there are a number of educational partners in all of this. It isn't solely up to teachers, and it isn't only teachers that are involved when we're dealing with the education of our children, our most precious asset.

[1450]

I also want to say I appreciate that the NDP members have largely been supportive during the debate in the House — certainly the member before me from Powell River–Sunshine Coast, who wanted it acknowledged that he will be supporting the bill. He and I both serve on the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth and are very concerned. I always appreciate his passion for children and for the protection of children. I think he quite correctly recognizes, as we do, that the number one goal of this act is to increase student safety and protect our children.

If we do nothing else here in the Legislature in the province of British Columbia, if we are not protecting our children and the generation that comes behind us and making sure that they have the finest education — not only the finest but that they also feel safe in their environment — then we are probably not doing our job. As I say, I think this is a very important bill.

Some of the other goals of this legislation — again, noble goals, I think, all five of them — in addition to safety are that we build and restore or regain public confidence and transparency. The unfortunate issues that Mr. Avison laid out in the report, as I said earlier, did require addressing. We have to restore public confidence.

We have thousands of parents. I think it's just under 30 percent of families in British Columbia that have children in the public school system. It is very important that parents and then grandparents and relatives….

Those in the business world, actually, who are relying on our children coming out and taking the reins in the economy have to know that these children have gone through our education system in a safe manner — where we know that the teachers are regulated and that there is transparency; that we know how that system works; and that it is not, I hesitate to say, done behind closed doors; and where we all have an opportunity, as parents and

[ Page 8524 ]

those with vested interest, to make sure that any issues of confidence in teaching or of protection here are dealt with fairly for both sides of the issues, and dealt with transparently.

We also, obviously, want to make this system sustainable. We have had, as I said, a number of years where I think it is fair to say that the college, some will say, was dysfunctional. It was not really doing its job. We had issues, very unfortunate and tragic issues, where people were probably not called to account in the way they might have been and should have been — and the way we would, as British Columbians, expect they would.

Especially when it involves a partnership and all the partners in education having a role in this, I think that this is a much fairer and more open way of going forward that will lead to a sustainable…. If we can have all the participants recognize and appreciate all their various roles in this, I think it will lead to a much more sustainable system that people will then have confidence in.

I think the other thing that is very, very important…. One of the goals of the legislation is that we develop a more respectful and effective relationship between the partners in education. As much as we have had some thorny issues in my six years as an MLA, one of the things that came out of the whole issue about whether class size and composition should be in either legislation or in the contract, when we moved it into legislation, I think that the…. It was a former Minister of Education from Prince George.

When we moved to setting up the education round table, I think that was a very, very — I'm grasping for the word here — important part of what came out of that whole process.

I think that this legislation is another step forward, another tool where we can hopefully build constructive relationships. When we are talking with each other, communicating, making decisions together about our children, I think we're bound to have a much more fruitful relationship.

Then, of course, I think the fifth goal, which is pretty clear, is obviously a framework to advance teaching excellence. I think all of us, on both sides of the House, would support anything that is moving forward to make sure that our teachers have the best opportunity themselves to have professional development and to make sure that the standards are the highest and that they have an opportunity to professionally develop.

[1455]

I think everyone has said, and the research clearly shows, that teaching is the most important, the most significant factor related to the outcome of student success. Every one of us knows the great stories of the wonderful teachers we had in our life that inspired us to do better and to carry on and understand how important lifelong learning is.

What will this council look like? I've alluded to different parts of this, but in brief, and I guess others have probably touched on this, it will be a shared responsibility. The council will set up a shared responsibility between government and the main educational partners that will be this new Teachers Council.

It will be this discipline board — the acronym is DPCB, and it will have to do with the discipline panel — and also the Ministry of Education.

The BCTC, this teachers college, will be made up of three BCTF nominees. The Teachers Federation will be able to nominate them, and they will be, in effect, appointed by the minister.

There will be seven education partners, the education partners that I named — like, the school trustees; the school superintendents; principals, vice-principals; deans of education; of course, FNESC, the First Nations; also the Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils — and five teachers that will be democratically elected from regions around the province. That will ensure a broad cross-section of perspectives. Of course, there's one non-voting senior government appointee.

I think the really important thing for teachers is that they will have…. Of 15 voting members, teachers will comprise eight of those, so they will have some control over this professional association. I think what's very important — and will, hopefully, add to our confidence in all of this — is that the disciplinary hearing will be three-member panels, and they will be two partners and one BCTF member. I think that will lend confidence in any of these issues being brought to the forefront in a fair way.

I think much has been said about the roles, but one of the things, I guess, from my perspective, is that we have a very good system. As I said, I had two children that went through the public school system and came out with very strong backgrounds. They have taken very different roles. Actually, one is academic with a business degree, working in London, England, in business, and my son is in the trades. He had an opportunity to get involved with the electrician apprenticeship. So very different roles. We have a province that does an excellent job in making sure our children are trained for jobs of the future.

There are other steps we can do to make sure that we modernize education, that we make sure our children have the best set of skills and that we also appreciate the way children learn. They learn differently now. It doesn't

[ Page 8525 ]

all have to be bricks and mortar. I think that this government is very much committed to making sure that we are not doing actually as Sir Ken Robinson talked about — not turning out widgets from the 1850s, where they are all the same and they are all expected to have the same learning and the same knowledge.

In fact, we can be much more adaptive and responsive to how our children need to learn, the kinds of skills they need, so that we actually work on the connection between making sure that our children do have the skills for jobs that don't even exist today. We know the vast majority of jobs ten or 15 years down the road…. The skills that we need for those don't exist yet.

I think we have to make sure that we connect the skills our children have with the demands. The steps we're taking in trying to modernize and address those issues and then make sure, most of all, that the teachers have an open, transparent, fair system in which they are judged and have opportunities for excellence and professional development…. It does strike this balance.

I will take my place now and just appreciate the opportunity to add my voice to support this very, very important bill that I hope will lead us forward and that I hope will take a number of steps toward building a much more respectful relationship.

I will end by complimenting the minister on the work that I think he has done in a very collaborative fashion to make sure that we do go forward in a more respectful relationship and find a path of common ground where we can show teachers all around British Columbia that we appreciate and value their work and their skills.

[1500]

B. Simpson: Madam Speaker, I stand to speak to Bill 12. I'll add my comments to those of others. I'm not going to get into the substance of the bill. That has been canvassed quite extensively. There are some things that I do want to say about the nature of the bill, the nature of the positioning of this council and the commissioner going forward.

But just in terms of context for me, in 1987, when the teachers were asked to choose between…. As this act was coming in and various other things, they were asked to choose between a professional association and a teachers union. I can remember it only too well. I think it's when my hair started to fall out, because as a young teacher…. I'd only been teaching for two years at the time. I wasn't that young, but I was in the profession only for a couple of years.

I can remember the heated debates that we had in lunchrooms and staff rooms about what course of action we ought to take, and I will admit for the public record that I was a major proponent of a professional association. I saw myself as a professional; I saw the students that we taught as not widgets.

I was very concerned about what would happen if we went into a union movement — that seniority and various other things would get in the way of merit. I expressed those concerns rather vociferously to the point of getting a letter put on my file by a colleague because I guess I overstated my case in one meeting, and an individual felt that I had been threatening. That was resolved.

But there was also an illegal strike at the same time, and it was one of the most difficult decisions in my life. I recall it only too well because I did not agree with the nature of the strike. I didn't agree with what was going on. I didn't agree with what the government was doing, but I also felt, as an individual and as a professional, that I wasn't demonstrating to the students at the time in our school the proper approach to citizenship, so I crossed that picket line. Members in here can imagine what that meant in terms of going back to work with some of my colleagues.

That all got worked out. I was able to work out professional relationships with everybody, and it was water under the bridge. But at one of the first doors I knocked on in my first campaign in 2002, just down from the school where I had taught, a woman came to the door and said: "I remember you."

I thought, "Okay," and she said: "I remember that you crossed my picket line back in '87." And I thought: "Uh-oh, this is not a good start." She said, "You know, as much as I absolutely disagreed with you at the time, at least we live in a society where we can recognize that people have different opinions and that you acted with integrity in the moment," and we had a great conversation about that.

So there's something personal in this for me, because the time that this was coming in — the time teachers chose to become a union and not a professional association — was a difficult time as I tried to make my way through this as an individual and a professional.

With that, I look at this bill, and I again would add what others have — my kudos to the minister and my congratulations to him, because I do think we have a reasonable compromise here. The minister will admit himself — not just himself, but his staff…. They worked through with the various stakeholders to try to come up with a bill that addressed some of the outstanding issues from the original act, some of the history that's occurred, some of the issues that the British Columbia Teachers Federation must take on as a union in their advocacy role for their members.

How do you take that advocacy role? How do you take that more protective role as a union and also manage yourself as a profession? That's the tension that I see trying to be addressed in this with a reconfiguration of the Teachers Act and a reconfiguration of the council and the addition of the commission.

[1505]

So I think, on balance — and I appreciate that the minister made it possible for the two independent MLAs

[ Page 8526 ]

to get a briefing on this — this has gone a long way to that. But I do want to point out a couple of things for the minister's consideration.

First and foremost, teachers…. I'm married to a teacher, and I know how much energy and effort goes into the teaching profession. But it's more. I think what we grapple with as a society is that teachers are not just professionals. It is a vocation. It is something that is the lifeblood of the vast majority of teachers. As a consequence of them pouring themselves into their students, it is also an art. It is not science.

So when you think about trying to address the issue of certification — of conduct and of competency with a profession that is, at its heart and soul, a vocation and something that's very hard to circumscribe — what makes a good teacher? What makes a good teacher actually depends on the makeup of their classroom, the social demographics of the school they're in, the relationship with parents. All kinds of things make it possible to have somebody in a classroom who changes the lives of children, and that's what teachers do. They change lives.

It's not just something where you can go to an engineer and say, "You didn't meet X specifications under the code" or "You did not meet these physics requirements in your building of this bridge" or this building or whatever, or to a doctor, where you're looking at malpractice where there's a set of procedures and routines and expectations.

Teachers are something different than that. The vocational aspect of what they do is sometimes hard to judge. Where that shows up most — and during the '80s when I was teaching — was the whole issue of even just the physical connection that teachers have with children. That's a tricky thing. There are teachers who meet their kids at the door and give them hugs on the way out the door. For some parents, that may be something they see as not a responsible act on the part of an adult.

That's where I think the BCTF and others have raised the issue of: how do you have an entity that looks at those kinds of activities through the right lens? That's why the B.C. Teachers Federation argues that practising teachers must play a large role in the college function and in the determination of competency and conduct on behalf of teachers as well as certification.

The other aspect of this, of course — the minister and others in the chamber are well aware of it — is that it's more than a teacher that makes the system work. I offer my thanks to everybody who stands for trustee. I think it's one of those real thankless jobs that you have to have a real passion for what it is that you want to do in your school district.

The school board and the trustees, the district staff, the principals and vice-principals, the parent advisory committees, the parents themselves and now, of course, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the RCMP in their community policing function — all of that is what makes a school successful and makes children successful. But I think we can agree that in all of that, teachers play a critical and central role.

So I was interested to see — and others have spoken to it — the role of the commissioner in this. I would see this as a work in progress. There is work that needs to be done to make this successful.

The first piece — and I know from the briefing this morning, the minister is very cognizant of this — is who this commissioner is. Who he or she is and the stamp that they put on this new approach is going to be critical to the success or failure of that.

The second thing is that I still think there are issues that remain unclear or still need to be addressed as an evolution through regulation of this current act or through other mechanisms. The first is the minister's appointee. I know that can be a constructive role, but it also has the potential to be a destructive role if the presence of that individual is seen as simply a tattletale or somebody who goes running to the minister and says that so-and-so said such-and-such, and the thing is off the rails.

So again, the minister's appointee, the non-voting member of the council, who's looking at that…. I think the council has to be convinced that that person is playing a constructive role in making sure this evolves into something that addresses the issues that it's attempting to address.

[1510]

Secondly, the clarity on duty to report still needs work. What that means is that in the act, by legislation, in

section 38, the certified teacher is required by the act to provide to the commissioner, by law, a written and signed report if the certified or authorized person has reason to believe that another authorized person has engaged in conduct that involves physical harm to students, sexual abuse or significant emotional harm to students.

Yet, as we know, one of the issues that we're trying resolve is that within the B.C. Teachers Federation, teachers have an obligation within their union and collective agreement to work through a due process in that organizational structure. So I think this is another area that needs attention and needs to be paid attention to, because the language of the current act is similar, if not the same as the language in this act, and so it remains an area of potential contention that still needs to be worked out.

What is a certified teacher's, an individual's, responsibility in the duty to report so that we don't get parallel processes or don't get the council waiting for the exhaustion of all of the other possible mechanisms in that?

The second thing I think there needs to be clarity on — and I understand the minister is doing work in this area, and it seems hopeful — is the role of the council in determining certification standards and the council's relationship with the schools of education, because that was also one that there was tension and some uncertainty and some back and forth. Again, from the briefing this morning, it seems as though the minister is highly

[ Page 8527 ]

cognizant of that, that some work is being done in that area.

I do think that this is an area that has huge potential, because part of the whole debate in here is around 21st-century learning, but I would say that schools of education have a long way to go to be preparing our future educators for 21st-century learning.

So I would hope that as this new council comes into existence, as the minister does work with the council and his appointees and the schools of education, that it's actually in the context of: what is it that are the standards that we need, and what is the kind of training that we need, pre-certification, to make sure teachers move into a 21st-century learning model that they can actually adapt and make sure that students coming out of the system are citizens for the 21st century?

The other unresolved issue in here — again, it's an area that has been a point of contention — is the issue of professional development. My understanding from the briefing and from looking at the act…. That's been removed so that that lack of clarity between council and BCTF is now outside of this act and remains to be negotiated, whether that's at the collective bargaining table or whether it's through the minister continuing to do work to address that issue.

I think it's critical and have always maintained it's critical that this issue is addressed. As educators, first and foremost, teachers must also make themselves open to education, and I think it is appropriate and most professional associations have it: mandatory ongoing education requirements. I think it would be healthy for the entire organization, for teachers, the BCTF and the minister and his staff and this council to resolve that issue. How do we provide meaningful, ongoing education? But also, how do we make it part of being a professional, so that there is a mandatory component to it?

I think that that's healthy for the organization, it's healthy for individual teachers, and I wish the minister luck in trying resolve that, either at the collective bargaining table or elsewhere.

For me, that gets to one of the issues that is sort of unclear, in how teachers conduct themselves relative to the B.C. Teachers Federation and the council, and that's the issue of competency. There's a difference between conduct and grievous conduct that gets addressed in the disciplinary process, as established here, and the idea of competency. What does it mean to be a competent teacher? What does it mean to be a teacher who has kept themselves abreast, in the heyday…?

[1515]

I really don't envy teachers. You know, that ten months of flat-out work and pouring yourself into your children in your classroom and then you have to peel back and still evolve and still get better in your profession.

So we need to resolve that issue to give teachers the space — both the emotional space, the intellectual space — as well as the physical time to be able to step back and continue their own education throughout the life and career that they have in teaching.

Finally, this bill, unlike some comments I've heard, does not address the issue of a 21st-century learning model for British Columbia. It is a portion of that. But there is still a debate that has to be had — a debate in this chamber, a debate in the Education Committee, a debate in the general public — about how we deliver education to children that are plugged into all of their toys and bells and whistles and all of the things that can distract, that have access to information in a manner that none of us had access to. How do we take advantage of that and at the same time ground our children in the very fundamentals that they need to be educated and aware citizens?

I think that's still a debate that we need to have. It's still a structure that needs to be examined. In particular, what does that look like in rural British Columbia, where we don't have the population base and, in some cases, as I raised today in question period, we don't have the Internet infrastructure to deliver distance learning?

So I would hope that people don't view this bill as addressing that issue of 21st-century learning. What it does address are some of the critical issues that were making the current version of the college unworkable. I think it goes a long way to addressing some of those issues, and I was glad to see the B.C. Teachers Federation tacitly sign off on this — other than feeling that they were undermined in representation. But I would hope that that proves itself not to be the case and that this is a successful venture.

So again, I'll add my congratulations to the minister and the government on moving forward on this, and I look forward to seeing it evolve over the next six to 18 months.

H. Bains: I, too, am delighted to speak on this Bill 12. I will not delve into the content of the bill either, as many speakers before us…. Especially our critic has laid out all of the contents of the bill and the concerns that he may have around those different sections.

I think, overall, I will also be supporting this bill, but there are a number of questions that remain. I believe those questions, hopefully, will be answered during the committee stage. There are certain concerns, certain questions, especially around the disciplinary part of the bill.

It is actually a bill that you can call a transformative change to the existing model that we have, especially when the college is being dismantled and the new council is created through this bill. Most of its task is now brought under the government function. I think it is a huge change, and largely speaking, it is for the better — those changes. I think that when we are talking about education, the changes need to occur. As we are moving so fast in this day and age, we need to continue to adapt

[ Page 8528 ]

to these changes, especially in the educational sector of our children.

[1520]

I want to stand here as a parent to speak about the benefit that I, as a parent, and many others who are parents — of course, teachers are also parents — and other members of society who have benefited from our education system…. Being a parent of two grown-up children now…. Both went through Surrey school board. My son Kulpreet is very successful in his own career, working now with a private organization. My daughter just finished her medical degree, and she now is a graduated doctor.

So I feel very proud to have those children. But I wouldn't take all of that credit as a parent. Certainly, the parents do play a major role in development of our children, but I think teachers are equally responsible for the success of my children.

I can actually compare our education system to the education system where I come from originally. I think people who came before us here in the western world rightly, in my view, designed our societies and structures so that the difference between haves and have-nots is kept to a minimum. I think those are some structural endeavours that they took, education being one of them.

I think if you go to a European society, you will see that not only the K-to-12 education is, of course, free, but in many instances the post-secondary education and skills training post school graduation is also free. I think they kept in mind that whether you are a CEO of a large corporation or you are a clerk in that organization, your children should have the opportunity to get a world-class education.

Education is considered to be the best tool to fill that gap and bring equality, I think, and that is recognized by those before us and especially in the western world. As such, in our societies, whether they are working people or people in business, relatively speaking, the gap is not what you see in the developing world.

In many of those developing worlds…. I come from one of the countries where I think sometimes profit becomes the determining factor in education, and many times it's the profit that drives our education system on the backs of our students. What happens? Those with means can get the best education, no different than our education, for their children. But the rest of the population, which is the large majority, 70 or 80 percent, do not enjoy that benefit.

Then that inequality in that society continues to grow. I think that's something that we don't see here, as such, and I think that's why both sides of this House and society in general have worked very hard to make sure that our education system is kept free of political interference by politicians. Also, it is not driven by profits on the backs of our students.

For that reason, I feel very, very fortunate to live in this country, in this province, to have the education system for our children that is there. They are competitive in the rest of the world — no doubt in my mind. Our children can stand against any jurisdiction in the world. But there are challenges we always have. I think you deal with those challenges by bringing certain changes, and I think this bill is moving in that direction.

I want to thank those teachers who day in, day out — I think many of the speakers have said this before — do not look at their job as an eight-to-five or nine-to-three or seven-to-3:30 job. They are there all day. They are there when they are needed. They are there anytime a student needs help. They are there not only for the intellectual or the in-class or the book-related education part but anything else that is related to education, to develop our children into better beings, whether sports after school or whether they are marking their papers at home.

I know because I have teachers in my family, and anytime you want to go and visit them, they are always busy doing something for school. And they don't get paid for that. So I developed so much respect for those teachers.

[1525]

I want to relate this to the Surrey Teachers Association — Denise Moffatt, who not only worked very hard for her members, but I can tell you that when it comes to talking about the learning of her students, she's front and centre to bring to the government's attention what is needed.

I want to thank that ad hoc committee that was put together by the parents, by students, by teachers and other concerned citizens along with the NDP MLAs from Surrey who attended those meetings on many of those occasions. They joined those students, actually, who had to walk out to drive a point to the minister and to this government, along with, in one of the schools, a member from the government side, from Surrey–White Rock. He stood with us as well.

I think the point is that the teachers are not only there to earn a living. I think they are there to shape our future by developing the children — that we place our trust in them — into better human beings when they come out of those schools and they are prepared for world challenges. I think that's what I say to those teachers: thank you so much. Thank you so much for developing and helping to develop this society, which is the envy of the world.

I think large credit goes to those teachers. Because of the political nature of the beast, I guess, the teachers are also placed under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress because they want nothing but the best for their students, the in-class learning for those students, whether it is ESL students, especially in my riding, or many of those with special needs. Those teachers deal with them on a day-to-day basis. I think that many times they don't get the resources that they need or that they deserve, or those students deserve, and as a result, they are made to do with less than they need to deal with those issues.

[ Page 8529 ]

Bill 12 talks about three things, in my view, largely speaking, dealing with the teachers college. It is the three functions that I notice out of the bill, the disciplinary functions of the teaching profession being one of them; secondly, certification of the teachers; and third, setting standards for the teachers and their profession.

I think those are key areas that the bill speaks about, and I think those are good things. I think teachers understand what those standards need to be when they are dealing with children in the classroom. They're advocates, I think — better than, sometimes, parents — on behalf of those students. I have met with many of those teachers in my office, and I have gone out and spoken to the students, especially class 5, when I'm invited into those schools.

I tell you, when I leave those schools, after taking those questions from grade 5, I feel proud coming out of those, because the level of knowledge that they have and the depth of their questions make me feel that our future is in the right hands. I give a lot of credit for that to the teachers that develop those and work with those students on a daily basis.

I think what this bill also does…. Damage that was caused previously…. I think other speakers have talked about the relationship, which I would say wasn't one of respect, back in 2001-2003. The current Premier happened to be the Education Minister at that time. I think the constant fight that the minister of the day picked with the teachers in those days did not help to develop the respect that the teachers and the government should have.

[1530]

I have heard that this current minister is a bit more respectful than previously. Hopefully, he will continue to build that relationship, and I think this bill is an attempt, in my view, that will work towards that.

But if you go back to those days, I can tell you that you don't want to be a teacher in that kind of environment. When your own government, who should be standing with you and working with you to help you to help our students who are going to run this country…. They are going to be counted on when they are in positions to make decisions.

That help is needed. That relationship is needed — a relationship that is one of respect, one that actually values teachers' input into our education system. That didn't happen in those five years.

I think that relationship continued on for a number of years. I sometimes felt…. When I listened to some of the ministers' comments in those days, it seems to me that they considered teachers their enemies. In fact, they should be considered partners in developing our future and shaping our future leaders.

[D. Horne in the chair.]

I think it was all done for political reasons. I don't see any other reasons why the minister would pick a fight with those people. I think that this bill, as many have said before, has gone a long way to rebuild that relationship. Hopefully, the minister will carry on and continue in that direction.

I want to talk about the community that I come from. So 79 percent of the population are visible minorities in Surrey-Newton. I think in Green Timbers it is close to that as well. My colleague from Green Timbers can tell you. That brings challenges to our school system that actually put a lot of pressure on our teachers.

If the help is not there to deal with those students who have ESL issues and those with special needs, I think we're not helping anybody. We're not helping our students. We're not helping teachers. We're not helping our society, and I think we are taking huge risks for shaping our future.

I think the area of these students, not only that this bill…. When you talk about those three things that we talked about — the disciplinary functions of the teaching profession, the certification of teachers and setting standards for teachers — that is an important part to deal with, and the bill is addressing that. But there are a number of other factors that help our students' education.

At the end of the day, as the minister has said before, it is about students. If it is about students, there are a number of other areas where our students do need help in Surrey that still is lacking.

The CommunityLINK program is another area. Our students in Surrey get one of the lowest per-student funding for students — in the Surrey school district. They are around $55 per student,

whereas some of the other districts get close to $200 per student. This is the program that pays for those students who come to school hungry and students who could not otherwise afford to go on field trips, etc.

Those are the types of areas where students need help. We don't have that issue dealt with, although the minister was brought up to date on many occasions by a school board and by us, the opposition MLAs. That issue still is there.

[1535]

Although the announcement is made today, as I understand, about capital funding in Surrey schools, I think I would say to that ad hoc committee, the parents, the students, that I think they should take this as a victory. They worked so hard trying to convince this government that their priorities should be education rather than those

[ Page 8530 ]

megaprojects — the pet projects that the minister and this government like to have.

I would say the funding that is announced today may not be enough, because when you look at the student growth in Surrey and continue to see that growth happening in the Surrey school district, I think you need about eight to ten schools today. I think the funding…. Even if you start to put shovels in the ground today, a school will take about four to five years to build. I think what we are expecting in the next four or five years is students still stuck in portables.

That's where the teachers also came in. The teachers were very, very front and centre in trying to convince the government that: "Look, we need funding to build schools so the students can get their education in real classrooms."

I want to say that it was a small victory for students and for students who actually had to walk out of their classrooms to make a point in Earl Marriott and Tweedsmuir. I think that just shows the seriousness of the issue when students have to walk out of the classrooms. That is unheard of in recent memory.

I think I just want to also talk about…. I think government needs to get on with dealing with class size and class composition. That is another serious factor in dealing with student education. This bill talks about how the college versus council is going to work and the rules around it, but I think the factors that determine the outcomes of students' education also are…. I think one of the keys is the class composition and class sizes, and I don't think that the government has taken huge steps to deal with those issues with the teachers.

You would know that just in this year, April 2011, the Supreme Court had to tell this government that what they did in 2001 and 2004 to Bill 27 and 28 was illegal and that they need to work with the teachers to deal with that issue. They gave them 12 months. That still hasn't happened. So that issue is still there. If you don't deal with class composition, you don't deal with the class sizes, then I think you're not doing any favour to the students or their education.

I just want to say that, although there's a lot of bad history that existed between this government — especially the current Premier who was Education Minister in her first time around here in 2001-2005…. That history actually caused a lot of problems for teachers, for students and for parents. I think anybody who can be blamed for that is that government and the current Premier. I think this bill does talk about changing that culture, and hopefully, the government is serious, and they will work with teachers, and they will respect the work that the teachers do. We could, then, in serious terms, look after the education of our students.

This is a very welcome change in my view. It will go a long ways to deal with those issues that I just laid out, but I think a big change is needed to bring real change. I think that change will come in May 2013, and people just can't wait.

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity, and those are my comments.

[1540]

R. Austin: I rise to conclude my remarks from last Thursday when I spoke quite extensively on Bill 12, the Teachers Act. I would like to conclude by saying this. Overall, we on this side — and I believe it's going to be unanimous, because I heard both independent members also speak — think that this is a very worthy bill. We think that the new structure of a council, which still has the teaching profession at the heart of it — in fact, having a majority of that council, eight out of 15 members, being from the teaching profession — is ideal.

I don't think that any professional body that's looking to look after the interests of and promote that profession can take place without direct input coming from that profession, so I think that's a good thing. We also are certainly in agreement with the notion that when it comes to the discipline side, the public interest side, protecting children and making sure they're safe, the teachers themselves do not have a majority in that regard, but it's taken care of by others with teacher input.

I think we will canvass it in greater detail in committee stage of this bill, when we go through item by item. We need to make sure, on the discipline side, that there is a fair process for teachers, to ensure that no one is going to have their career destroyed unnecessarily.

Obviously, if somebody is guilty of something, then clearly they need to pay for that and to be held accountable for that. But if somebody is accused of something and then found out to be innocent, it is very problematic because it is impossible to get one's reputation back.

So we will canvass the process and ensure that that is fair and that the point at which it becomes a public process is late enough in the proceedings that it is more or less a foregone conclusion that that person is indeed going to be found guilty of the things that they are being accused of.

We need to ensure that when the process, the investigation, takes place initially, all circumstances are looked at, so that if a teacher has acted out of place and is under medical stress, that is taken into consideration — and a whole series of other things, which we will canvass in committee stage.

We also need to make sure that this new council doesn't get bogged down in a whole bunch of disciplinary hearings that can take place at the local level, that issues of employment take place there and that, as much as possible, capacity is built at the local level, so that we are only seeing the most serious cases coming before the disciplinary council and the remainder of those cases taking place at the local level.

But clearly, this bill shows a change in attitude of this government, as other people have mentioned. The

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previous attempts by this government to solve the challenges of the teachers college resulted at one time, when the current Premier was the Minister of Education, in essentially blowing up the college, appointing government employees and trying to think that we could have a professional college looking after teachers that didn't have the input and the direction of teachers. That wasn't such a smart idea. This is a much better one.

Today while we're finishing second reading on this bill, we also see another change happening on the side of the government, where we have seen capital funding cut in half when this government first was elected. Today we see a major reinvestment back in for schools, long overdue. We can see some positive changes here. I hope that that attitude will continue as we continue to discuss educational matters.

Clearly, there's still a lot to be done on class size and composition. With the atmosphere that has been generated in the discussions around bringing all the partners together to create Bill 12, some of that goodwill can, hopefully, follow through. Hopefully, we will see something more on the table than, essentially, the first offer of $30 million on composition, when probably over $200 million was removed when the unconstitutional Bills 27 and 28 were brought in. Let's hope that we can see some movement.

I think, from the comments that have come from both sides of this House, that there is recognition that this is a piece of legislation that has had a lot of input from a lot of people. As I said the other day, you know, you don't get everything that you want when you're going to the table to try and bargain and negotiate things. But at the end of the day, I think that this will work well.

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We have to see now if the structure, once it comes back into government, is one that can function well. I think, in large part, that will depend on who the commissioners are, who the assistant deputy minister is — who is going to be appointed by this government — and who the overall sort of judicial person at the head of this discipline committee is — and their level of experience in ensuring that the process of disciplining is done fairly.

For my part, I'm looking forward to the exciting part, which is having reports that are delivered to the public about everything that takes place here. While we spent a lot of time discussing the discipline side of this bill, I'm hoping that the part of this new council that looks at teacher credentialing and qualifications and new training opportunities and what skills we want our teachers to have….

While we are discussing the Teachers Act, at the end of the day, what we're all here about is learners. We're here to help students. When we see the new bill around 21st-century learning come forward into this House, hopefully that will be called the learners act. At the end of the day, that's what we're here to do in this House — to support our teaching profession and to support our students to have better outcomes and to be all that they can be.

With that, I will conclude my remarks. I look forward to hearing what the minister has to say.

Deputy Speaker: Seeing no further speakers, I'll call on the Minister of Education to close debate.

Hon. G. Abbott: It's a pleasure for me to rise and provide a few concluding comments with respect to the second reading debate around Bill 12. I want to begin by thanking the Education critic for his very constructive comments in respect of the bill. Those are much appreciated, and I thank him for it.

I want to thank members on all sides of the House who have, I think, provided very thoughtful and constructive comments with respect to this bill. Based on my about 16 years in this assembly now, I think that this is certainly one of the most positive and constructive debates that I've seen in this Legislature. I appreciate that all of the members have stepped forward to present comments in that spirit.

It's certainly new ground for me, in the sense that I don't believe I've had a bill before the House before, as a member of executive council, which has enjoyed such wide support. I must say that it feels rather good. I may not make a habit of it, but we'll do our best to do that.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

I should also say that, as other members have suggested, I am also looking forward to committee stage debate. I'd say at the outset that we're plowing some new ground with this legislation, and that will invite, I suspect, many questions at committee stage. I look forward to that.

This is a complex bill. It's a fairly lengthy bill. The issues around portions of the bill are complex, and I know we will have a thorough ventilation of those issues as we move through the many questions that will be raised by members in that committee stage debate.

When we set out to look at reforms to the College of Teachers and to look at, potentially, a successor body to the College of Teachers, we looked not only at jurisdictions in Canada but we looked at jurisdictions like New Zealand and Australia, for example, and brought some pieces from their teachers councils into play.

I do want to say that not only do I appreciate the great contributions that the educational partner groups have made in respect of the development of this legislation, but I also wanted to say thank you to the very capable, very dedicated, very energetic and committed staff at the Ministry of Education for all of the great work they have done.

The executive and staff at the Ministry of Education are invariably patient when I bring wonderful new ideas

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to their attention that we hope will take root. I do thank them for their tireless efforts to try to get answers to all the many questions that I and others raised during the process of generating this legislation.

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Among the thoughtful comments that all members of the House made was that we have a good education system, and I agree and appreciate the comments that others have made. I think every member of this Legislature is dedicated to the notion, the ideal that we should take our good education system in British Columbia, make it a very good education system and, if we dare to dream, make it an excellent education system in this province.

When we benchmark British Columbia against elsewhere in Canada, yes; we're good. We're probably second in Canada. We're probably about fifth or sixth in the world, and we should be proud of that. But I want to acknowledge that there's a lot of room for improvement in our education system as well.

We continue to fall well short of what is acceptable in terms of achievement for aboriginal learners in British Columbia. There's a lot of work we have to do there. We've seen some improvement over the past decade — about an 8 percent improvement in graduation rates — but we've still got close to 30 percent improvement required to see aboriginal learners enjoy the same success at graduation as other learners in British Columbia. We've got a lot of work to do there, and it's not just work that the Ministry of Education has to do. It has to be work that embraces all of our partners, including the B.C.

Teachers Federation, School Trustees Association, Federation of Independent School Associations, FNESC. All of our partners need to be a part of building better outcomes for aboriginal learners.

The other area where I would readily acknowledge that we need to work in partnership and with, I hope, a better culture than has often existed in this province is around the area of special needs in school. One of the opportunities we have in the weeks and months ahead is to work at what we term the Bill 28 table with the B.C. Teachers Federation, not only to talk about the dollars which government has put forward to attempt to resolve the issues engaged by the B.C.

Supreme Court's decision on Bill 28 but also, and I think this is really the most important piece here — others may disagree, but I think it's the most important piece — I believe we can do a lot better around the allocation and management of special needs resources in the classroom.

Yes, we are bringing additional dollars, but we are already bringing something around $853 million annually into play on this. And I don't feel like we are working in the collaborative, cooperative way we should be with the Teachers Federation, with teachers, with principals and vice-principals, with superintendents, with parents, with students to try to make sure that we are managing those needs as well as we can. So again, I hope that what we are doing here in terms of the B.C. Teachers Council will help us with a foundation that can help us move forward with those.

Around the province now I have visited close to 80 schools and many, many districts over the months that I have enjoyed the opportunity to be Minister of Education for British Columbia. I am invariably impressed when I go into schools, and I'd have to say that in the well over 70 schools that I visited, I've never come away without being impressed by some aspect of the educational services that are being delivered there.

In some schools they're excellent across the board. In others they may be doing some very special things with special education students or with aboriginal students or reading remediation, reading recovery for elementary school students. There are so many great things that are happening in British Columbia.

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I think the challenge for me and, I think, the challenge for every member of this Legislature and the challenge for every educational partner is to find ways that we can take those success stories that exist in every school in the province, share them, try to identify from those success st