British Columbia Hansard — 22 April 2021, p.m., Issue 56 (42nd Parliament, 2nd Session)

20210422pm-Hansard-n56

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Second Session, 42nd Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) Thursday, April 22, 2021 Afternoon Sitting Issue No. 56 THE HONOURABLE RAJ CHOUHAN, SPEAKER ISSN 1499-2175

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Her Honour the Honourable Janet Austin, OBC Second Session, 42nd Parliament SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Raj Chouhan EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council ............................................................................................................... Hon. John Horgan Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training...........................................................................................................Hon.

Anne Kang Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries......................................................................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing .............................................................................................Hon. David Eby, QC Minister of Children and Family Development ....................................................................................................................Hon.

Mitzi Dean Minister of State for Child Care...................................................................................................................................... Hon. Katrina Chen Minister of Citizens’ Services.....................................................................................................................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Minister of Education .................................................................................................................................................. Hon.

Jennifer Whiteside Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation ........................................................................................Hon. Bruce Ralston, QC Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy............................................................................................. Hon. George Heyman Minister of Finance .......................................................................................................................................................... Hon.

Selina Robinson Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development ................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations................................................................................. Hon. Nathan Cullen Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs.............................................................................Hon.

Adrian Dix Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation .......................................................................................... Hon. Murray Rankin, QC Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation....................................................................................................... Hon. Ravi Kahlon Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon.

George Chow Minister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Harry Bains Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.............................................................................................................. Hon. Sheila Malcolmson Minister of Municipal Affairs ............................................................................................................................................. Hon.

Josie Osborne Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ........................................................................................................... Hon. Mike Farnworth Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction........................................................................................... Hon. Nicholas Simons Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport .................................................................................................................. Hon.

Melanie Mark Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure................................................................................................................... Hon. Rob Fleming Minister of State for Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................... Hon.

Bowinn Ma LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Leader of the Official Opposition...................................................................................................................................................Shirley Bond Leader of the Third Party .......................................................................................................................................................... Sonia Furstenau Deputy Speaker..........................................................................................................................................................

Spencer Chandra Herbert Assistant Deputy Speaker..............................................................................................................................................................Norm Letnick Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole .......................................................................................................................... Ronna-Rae Leonard Clerk of the Legislative Assembly ...........................................................................................................................................

Kate Ryan-Lloyd Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.............................................................................................................................. Seunghee Suzie Seo Clerk Assistant, Parliamentary Services........................................................................................................................... Artour Sogomonian Clerk of Committees.......................................................................................................................................................................

Jennifer Arril Clerk Assistant, Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..............................................................................................Susan Sourial Senior Research Analyst ................................................................................................................................................................... Karan Riarh Acting Sergeant-at-Arms..................................................................................................................................................................Greg Nelson

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Alexis, Pam (BC NDP) ............................................................Abbotsford-Mission Anderson, Brittny (BC NDP) .........................................................Nelson-Creston Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal Party) ............................................................... Penticton Babchuk, Michele (BC NDP)...............................................................North Island Bailey, Brenda (BC NDP).................................................. Vancouver–False Creek Bains, Hon. Harry (BC NDP).........................................................

Surrey-Newton Banman, Bruce (BC Liberal Party) ............................................ Abbotsford South Beare, Hon. Lisa (BC NDP) .......................................

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

Surrey South Chandra Herbert, Spencer (BC NDP).................................Vancouver–West End Chant, Susie (BC NDP) ..............................................North Vancouver–Seymour Chen, Hon. Katrina (BC NDP) ............................................... Burnaby-Lougheed Chouhan, Hon. Raj (BC NDP).................................................Burnaby-Edmonds Chow, Hon. George (BC NDP) ..........................................Vancouver-Fraserview Clovechok, Doug (BC Liberal Party)........................Columbia River–Revelstoke Conroy, Hon.

Katrine (BC NDP) ....................................................Kootenay West Coulter, Dan (BC NDP) .......................................................................... Chilliwack Cullen, Hon. Nathan (BC NDP) ................................................................... Stikine Davies, Dan (BC Liberal Party)................................................. Peace River North de Jong, Michael, QC (BC Liberal Party)....................................Abbotsford West Dean, Hon. Mitzi (BC NDP) ...............................................

Esquimalt-Metchosin D’Eith, Bob (BC NDP) .........................................................Maple Ridge–Mission Dix, Hon. Adrian (BC NDP) ................................................ Vancouver-Kingsway Doerkson, Lorne (BC Liberal Party) ........................................Cariboo-Chilcotin Donnelly, Fin (BC NDP) .......................................... Coquitlam–Burke Mountain Dykeman, Megan (BC NDP)............................................................... Langley East Eby, Hon. David, QC (BC NDP).......................................

Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (BC NDP) ..................................................Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Hon. Mike (BC NDP) .................................................Port Coquitlam Fleming, Hon. Rob (BC NDP) ...............................................

Victoria–Swan Lake Furstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) .............................................Cowichan Valley Glumac, Rick (BC NDP) ..................................................Port Moody–Coquitlam Greene, Kelly (BC NDP) ........................................................Richmond-Steveston Halford, Trevor (BC Liberal Party) .........................................Surrey–White Rock Heyman, Hon. George (BC NDP) .........................................Vancouver-Fairview Horgan, Hon. John (BC NDP) ......................................... Langford–Juan de Fuca Kahlon, Hon.

Ravi (BC NDP) .............................................................. Delta North Kang, Hon. Anne (BC NDP) .................................................. Burnaby–Deer Lake Kirkpatrick, Karin (BC Liberal Party) ........................West Vancouver–Capilano Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal Party)....................................................................Shuswap Lee, Michael (BC Liberal Party) ..............................................Vancouver-Langara Leonard, Ronna-Rae (BC NDP)...............................................

Courtenay-Comox Letnick, Norm (BC Liberal Party) .................................. Kelowna–Lake Country Lore, Grace (BC NDP)........................................................... Victoria–Beacon Hill Ma, Hon. Bowinn (BC NDP).....................................North Vancouver–Lonsdale Malcolmson, Hon. Sheila (BC NDP)........................................................Nanaimo Mark, Hon. Melanie (BC NDP).................................Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Mercier, Andrew (BC NDP) ........................................................................

Langley Merrifield, Renee (BC Liberal Party)......................................... Kelowna-Mission Milobar, Peter (BC Liberal Party) .......................... Kamloops–North Thompson Morris, Mike (BC Liberal Party) ................................. Prince George–Mackenzie Oakes, Coralee (BC Liberal Party).................................................. Cariboo North Olsen, Adam (BC Green Party)............................ Saanich North and the Islands Osborne, Hon.

Josie (BC NDP)........................................Mid Island–Pacific Rim Paddon, Kelli (BC NDP) ................................................................Chilliwack-Kent Paton, Ian (BC Liberal Party) ............................................................... Delta South Popham, Hon. Lana (BC NDP)........................................................ Saanich South Ralston, Hon. Bruce, QC (BC NDP) .............................................Surrey-Whalley Rankin, Hon.

Murray, QC (BC NDP) .............................Oak Bay–Gordon Head Rice, Jennifer (BC NDP) ...................................................................... North Coast Robinson, Hon. Selina (BC NDP)...................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Ross, Ellis (BC Liberal Party)......................................................................... Skeena Routledge, Janet (BC NDP) .............................................................Burnaby North Routley, Doug (BC NDP)...........................................

Nanaimo–North Cowichan Russell, Roly (BC NDP).................................................... Boundary-Similkameen Rustad, John (BC Liberal Party)......................................................Nechako Lakes Sandhu, Harwinder (BC NDP) .................................................Vernon-Monashee Sharma, Niki (BC NDP)..........................................................Vancouver-Hastings Shypitka, Tom (BC Liberal Party) .................................................... Kootenay East Simons, Hon. Nicholas (BC NDP).........................

Powell River–Sunshine Coast Sims, Jinny (BC NDP) ................................................................. Surrey-Panorama Singh, Aman (BC NDP) .............................................Richmond-Queensborough Singh, Rachna (BC NDP)...................................................Surrey–Green Timbers Starchuk, Mike (BC NDP) ......................................................... Surrey-Cloverdale Stewart, Ben (BC Liberal Party) .......................................................

Kelowna West Stone, Todd (BC Liberal Party) ...............................Kamloops–South Thompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal Party) ............................. West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal Party)....................................................... Fraser-Nicola Walker, Adam (BC NDP) ....................................................... Parksville-Qualicum Wat, Teresa (BC Liberal Party) ....................................... Richmond North Centre Whiteside, Hon. Jennifer (BC NDP) .........................................

New Westminster Wilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal Party)......................Vancouver-Quilchena Y ao, Henry (BC NDP) ..................................................... Richmond South Centre LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission................................................................................. Pam Alexis Abbotsford South...............................................................................Bruce Banman Abbotsford West......................................................................

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

Janet Routledge Cariboo-Chilcotin ..........................................................................Lorne Doerkson Cariboo North.................................................................................... Coralee Oakes Chilliwack ...............................................................................................Dan Coulter Chilliwack-Kent .................................................................................... Kelli Paddon Columbia River–Revelstoke .........................................................

Doug Clovechok Coquitlam–Burke Mountain...............................................................Fin Donnelly Coquitlam-Maillardville ...................................................... Hon. Selina Robinson Courtenay-Comox................................................................... Ronna-Rae Leonard Cowichan Valley ............................................................................. Sonia Furstenau Delta North................................................................................... Hon.

Ravi Kahlon Delta South ..................................................................................................Ian Paton Esquimalt-Metchosin .................................................................... Hon. Mitzi Dean Fraser-Nicola .........................................................................................

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

Renee Merrifield Kelowna West ..........................................................................................Ben Stewart Kootenay East.......................................................................................Tom Shypitka Kootenay West........................................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy Langford–Juan de Fuca .............................................................. Hon.

John Horgan Langley .............................................................................................Andrew Mercier Langley East....................................................................................Megan Dykeman Maple Ridge–Mission.............................................................................. Bob D’Eith Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows............................................................Hon. Lisa Beare Mid Island–Pacific Rim............................................................ Hon.

Josie Osborne Nanaimo.............................................................................Hon. Sheila Malcolmson Nanaimo–North Cowichan............................................................... Doug Routley Nechako Lakes........................................................................................ John Rustad Nelson-Creston ............................................................................. Brittny Anderson New Westminster.............................................................. Hon.

Jennifer Whiteside North Coast ........................................................................................... Jennifer Rice North Island................................................................................... Michele Babchuk North Vancouver–Lonsdale......................................................... Hon. Bowinn Ma North Vancouver–Seymour...................................................................Susie Chant Oak Bay–Gordon Head..................................................Hon.

Murray Rankin, QC Parksville-Qualicum........................................................................... Adam Walker Peace River North ................................................................................... Dan Davies Peace River South ................................................................................ Mike Bernier Penticton ................................................................................................. Dan Ashton Port Coquitlam...................................................................... Hon.

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

Shirley Bond Richmond North Centre..........................................................................Teresa Wat Richmond-Queensborough..................................................................Aman Singh Richmond South Centre .......................................................................... Henry Y ao Richmond-Steveston ............................................................................

Kelly Greene Saanich North and the Islands .............................................................Adam Olsen Saanich South .............................................................................Hon. Lana Popham Shuswap...................................................................................................... Greg Kyllo Skeena........................................................................................................... Ellis Ross Stikine........................................................................................ Hon.

Nathan Cullen Surrey-Cloverdale .............................................................................. Mike Starchuk Surrey-Fleetwood.....................................................................................Jagrup Brar Surrey–Green Timbers........................................................................Rachna Singh Surrey-Guildford......................................................................................Garry Begg Surrey-Newton ..............................................................................Hon.

Harry Bains Surrey-Panorama ...................................................................................... Jinny Sims Surrey South ................................................................................ Stephanie Cadieux Surrey-Whalley ................................................................. Hon. Bruce Ralston, QC Surrey–White Rock .......................................................................... Trevor Halford Vancouver-Fairview.............................................................. Hon.

George Heyman Vancouver–False Creek...................................................................... Brenda Bailey Vancouver-Fraserview...............................................................Hon. George Chow Vancouver-Hastings ..............................................................................Niki Sharma Vancouver-Kensington....................................................................... Mable Elmore Vancouver-Kingsway..................................................................... Hon.

Adrian Dix Vancouver-Langara................................................................................ Michael Lee Vancouver–Mount Pleasant..................................................... Hon. Melanie Mark Vancouver–Point Grey ............................................................Hon. David Eby, QC Vancouver-Quilchena........................................................Andrew Wilkinson, QC Vancouver–West End .....................................................Spencer Chandra Herbert Vernon-Monashee .....................................................................

Harwinder Sandhu Victoria–Beacon Hill............................................................................... Grace Lore Victoria–Swan Lake.................................................................... Hon. Rob Fleming West Vancouver–Capilano...........................................................Karin Kirkpatrick West Vancouver–Sea to Sky................................................................Jordan Sturdy Party Standings: BC NDP 57; BC Liberal Party 28; BC Green Party 2

CONTENTS Thursday, April 22, 2021 Afternoon Sitting Page Orders of the Day Budget Debate (continued)..................................................................................................................................................... 1363 L. Doerkson M. Dykeman M. Morris D. Coulter A. Olsen Hon. N. Cullen D. Davies Committee of the Whole House............................................................................................................................................ 1385 Bill 3 — Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2021 (continued) G. Kyllo Hon. H. Bains

THURSDAY , APRIL 22, 2021 The House met at 1:33 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Orders of the Day Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued debate on the budget. Budget Debate (continued) L. Doerkson: Thank you for the opportunity to finish my speech. Like in most parts of British Columbia, our businesses have certainly struggled. It does appear that we will prob- ably watch as they struggle through another year or, cer- tainly, at least a summer of restrictions. [N.

Letnick in the chair.] The South Cariboo, parts of it known as the Fishing Highway, has struggled, obviously, but the West Chilcotin, which is a little more off the beaten path, has really seen its challenges. This is an area often that sees very many overseas visitors, particularly guest ranches, guide-outfit- ters, skiing operations and, of course, lodges. I wanted to hear so much more about how we might best serve and support our businesses.

We have watched many programs roll out over the past year, seemingly pro- grams being introduced as new and, really, appearing to be coming from funding that has already been announced months ago. It needs to be deployed now. It would appear that of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, only about a third of it has actually been de- ployed. Any of the businesses that I just mentioned are in desperate need of help, and they could have used these dollars months ago.

These funds have been approved by everyone in this place and really ought to have been de- ployed a long time ago. [1:35 p.m.] I was very hopeful that new funding announcements that we’ve heard about here were actually new. We heard about another $800 million in potential business recovery. But with all due respect, it’s been months for past pro- grams to roll out, and they’re still not deployed. In my life as a small business person myself, I have ne- ver experienced a more trying time.

I sincerely hope and would certainly support most initiatives that would see our businesses get through these extremely challenging times. Desperate pleas have been made by the tourism sec- tor, and in the budget for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, we see only a $4 million increase in spending. The Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation lists less than $1 million in increased spending.

Along with gyms that have had to close under the pres- sure of these new orders, I watch with disappointment as we see our restaurants go to very limited hours, some of them trying desperately to create outdoor eating areas, while others try to figure out ways to change their menus to have different selections that may be more relevant for takeout than what they’re accustomed to preparing. I don’t have to tell you that the layoffs in these busi- nesses throughout our region have been absolutely stag- gering. Now they face even longer delays in getting back to business.

I know that I speak for all of the businesses in the Cariboo-Chilcotin when I say that we were hoping that this government would come through with the funding it continues to promise and that we don’t see a repeat of last year, with failed attempts to help so many deserving busi- nesses. I’m grateful to all of the communities that have recog- nized how difficult it has been for some of these small businesses and the residents that have stepped up by en- joying more than an occasional night out. It’s very en- couraging to see the support for all of these businesses at a local level.

One of the focuses of conversation over the past weeks has been with respect to agrifairs, rodeos and exhibitions. It is with great sadness that for a second year in a row, we have lost both our beloved Indoor Rodeo in Williams Lake and the Williams Lake Stampede as well. Last week the 100 Mile House Car Club announced the cancellation of the annual hot summer nights car show. These events create so much revenue for our region. Of course, without these events happening again this year, it will have an ill effect on very many people.

Indeed, this will have a dramatic effect throughout the entire province, with hundreds of events cancelled. Frankly, I was quite surprised and questioned the anti- cipated income of our province. The revenues appear in the budget to drop by only $2 billion. I’m pleased if that’s all it is and that’s all it will drop, but it does seem, with all of the lost commerce in this province and of course the lost taxation on that commerce, that that figure may be low. It’s further alarming how the plan shows such a brisk recov- ery, with our income growing by almost $5 billion in the following year.

It would seem to me that if things return to somewhat normal, we would fill the $2 billion gap. But for us to grow by that much, I fear what may be around the corner with respect to taxation. Certainly we have seen a variety of the many taxes added over the past year. The last thing any of these businesses or, for that matter, the people of British Columbia need as we recover is more tax burden.

With respect to the loss of these events — and it does appear as though we will lose another summer — which will be devastating to so many businesses, like guide-out- fitters, stock contractors, guest ranches, they have the add- 1363

ed pressure of feeding animals as part of their overhead as well as maintaining, heating and lighting their infrastruc- ture also. In the case of C+ Rodeos, those expenses are more than $100,000 per year. It would be impossible for many family-run operations to be able to pay that kind of expense without work. This situation is dire, and I have heard nothing in this budget speech that was specific to this kind of funding, even though we’ve had funding in the past, through the animal care initiatives program. It was recognized as an issue in 2020, and funding was created.

But in 2021, even with much lobbying, this has not been recognized as an issue, and there have been no funds directly linked to these situations. I know at least one contractor that will have to make very serious decisions with respect to his herd, the herd that they maintain for the rodeo circuit. I know at least one guide-outfitter that has had to sell all of their stock horses for lack of income from their business.

I am very surprised that there has been no focus on funding for businesses like these, because they are unique. [1:40 p.m.] I am very surprised and disappointed, because nothing that I have said here in this address should come as a shock. It’s not like these issues have not been anticipated. It’s not like we haven’t discussed all of these things I have mentioned here at length in this place. Not just myself either. Other people have addressed this chamber, discuss- ing the economy, connectivity, floods and roads. In some cases, problems in my riding have been there and ignored for the past four years.

It’s not just this year that issues began on Highway 20, not the first issues we have heard on Dog Creek. I think that the people in my riding are weary and not just from COVID. I wonder how many times one’s house has to be flooded, thanks to a culvert placed by the province, to actually get the attention of our provincial government, how long before the government realizes that the topography of our region has changed since 2017 and ’18. In the case of Dog Creek Road, this damage has continued for years, and in some cases, these flooding events happened three times last year alone.

When constituents get to the point that they can no longer sell their homes, no longer fix their homes, and in some cases, no longer insure their homes, you can imagine the level of frustration for people that are caught in this situation. The sad

part is that I don’t think it has to be this way at all. It has to be recognized as a problem and fixed by the province, with the help of local governments. I just want to take a moment to pause to reflect on the losses that so many have endured. I’m referring, of course, to the deaths over the past year from the pandemic, and the losses of life from the opioid crisis. The personal loss and the pain really is immeasurable. For that, I wish to off- er my most sincere condolences to the families that have endured these very sad times.

I also wanted to take a moment to thank so many volun- teer groups that have risen to the challenges of these times by continuing to keep food programs rolling, by making sure that our food banks are never empty. To all of our front-line workers, who never have stopped providing safety or care, in spite of many of them not re- ceiving vaccines. I want to thank the grocers that allow us to resupply often, the shipping companies, the truck drivers that make sure that the supply never stops coming, and to the vets and the vet techs who have never stopped caring for our pets and our livestock.

To our teachers, our school bus drivers…. It is truly amazing what these individuals have done to keep our province moving. I and my family are extremely grateful for that. M. Dykeman: It is an honour today to rise in the House virtually from the traditional, ancestral and unceded ter- ritories of the Matsqui, Kwantlen, Katzie and Semiahmoo First Nations. It’s an honour to speak in response to the budget. It’s a privilege truly to speak favourably of the positive and meaningful impact that this budget will have on my con- stituents of Langley East.

I’m pleased to see that the budget continues to maintain its focus on the things that matter for the people of British Columbia: protecting the health and safety of British Col- umbians, supporting people and businesses as we continue to manage the effects of the pandemic, and to undertake the important preparation work that will allow us to be ready to seize the opportunities that recovery will hold. The pandemic and recovery contingencies included will support those very time-limited COVID-19 measures that will ensure that we’re ready to navigate the changing land- scape of the pandemic.

Our province has faced many chal- lenges this past year, and we’re still navigating these chal- lenges. This pandemic really has shone a light on inequal- ity. Although the pandemic has affected everyone, the effects have not been felt in an equal way. Some groups have been affected more than others. The last year really has highlighted the importance of strong health and mental health services. As more and more people receive their vaccinations, with our province sitting at approximately 30 percent vaccinated with their first shot, we can see light at the end of the tunnel. But there is much work to do.

There is a lot that needs to be addressed. and this budget really does so. I’m thrilled to see that Budget 2021 is providing more than $4 billion in funding for health care and mental health to continue to protect people from COVID-19 and expand the services that people rely on. This is so vital. [1:45 p.m.] Health care truly is a wise investment. Lowering wait times, supporting seniors and investing in mental health 1364 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

services — areas that suffered from significant underfund- ing through the years. Building a network of mental health supports for youth through schools, new Foundry centres and integrated child and youth supports in more than 15 school districts makes sense. We need to ensure that there are supports in place for our most vulnerable.

This budget is addressing something that has been sys- temically underfunded through past governments: im- proving access to and quality of mental health services through British Columbia and providing First Nations health authorities with more funding to deliver mental health and addictions services to Indigenous peoples. Increasing access on a full spectrum of substance use treatment and recovery services, including much-needed funding for opioid treatment, which we’ve seen, through this pandemic and prior, has been a crisis.

It’s one that needs to be addressed, which this budget is working hard to address in a way that makes sense — helping more people get on a path to recovery, with new substance-use treatment and recovery beds. People who are ready to make that step to go into recov- ery need access to spaces. It’s a very time-contingent thing. So having those spaces ready to help people move through the challenges of recovery is vital. Helping more people, through the $7.8 billion in capital investments.

I’m very pleased to see this building new, crit- ical health care infrastructure and supporting major con- struction projects, like new and upgraded hospitals. The Langleys recently benefited from our government’s focus on ensuring that we have a strong health care system. Myself and my colleague and friend the MLA for Lang- ley announced the substantial completion of the new emergency room at Langley Memorial Hospital. We have also seen the construction of a new hospice and new MRI suite, which directly, positively affects my community and surrounding communities.

In conversations with those that live in my riding, they were so pleased to see that the focus on health care is there. We are one of the fastest-growing communities, and hav- ing spaces in hospitals and facilities that can manage com- plex health needs is essential. Our government has been addressing those, and they’ve been addressing them at a rapid rate. Our community is so grateful for that. I’m very excited to see such a substantial increase in funding, with $500 million to expand mental health and addiction services. We have seen these areas grow, unfor- tunately.

As our community grows in Langley East, the needs of our community become more complex. This type of funding will make a meaningful impact on people who are experiencing mental health and addiction challenges, and that’s something that is a wise investment for our entire community. It affects our economy. It affects our social structures. It affects everything. Those are areas, as I’ve said previously, that have been chronically under- funded and that our government is now coming in and addressing in a way that will make a difference in the lives of people.

In terms of schools, I know that my riding, as well as my colleague the MLA for Langley, is very excited to see the construction and opening of the new southwest Y ork- son elementary school, which was recently named, by the Langley board of education, Donna Gabriel Robins Ele- mentary. Donna Gabriel Robins is a member of Kwantlen First Nation and, now, a retired teacher. Donna has been instru- mental in leading the Langley school district’s journey of truth and reconciliation, always advocating and ensuring that the students were kept at the centre of all decisions related to their educational journey.

So I was very thrilled to see the name choice. It is just wonderful. This school is currently under construction, slated to open in September 2021. It will provide 555 new spaces for students in grades K to 5. The new school has a total budget of $32.2 million and is designed to meet LEED gold standards. It is scheduled, as mentioned, to open in September and will also feature a neighbourhood learning centre with space for childcare programming. [1:50 p.m.] As I said earlier, the Langleys are a rapidly growing area, one of the fastest ones in British Columbia.

As many will know, I started my political journey on the Langley board of education in 2011, before I left my role as chair of the board this past year to serve my community as MLA. What an honour and privilege that was. In each of the three elections in the years in between, the focus, really, never changed: “We need more facilities. We need more schools, more space, to address our rapidly growing communities. ” In my time on the board, I was known for literally chasing ministers down hallways to bend their ear about the need for more space.

So to say, I am absolutely ecstatic to see that over the three years of this fiscal plan, approximately $3.5 billion will be invested to maintain, replace or renovate and ex- pand K-to-12 facilities, including continued investments in new school space to accommodate increasing enrol- ment in growth districts, as well as in a program to seis- mically upgrade or replace schools. This was just a devast- ating period of time — watching our communities grow and very little investment in capital for schools. Seeing this being put on the forefront of the agenda for the government is so important for our students.

They need spaces. They need modern spaces to learn. They need spaces that address the needs for the numbers of students that are simply just enrolling. We are growing our economy. We are bringing more people to British Columbia, but for 15 years there was just no focus on schools and the expansion of schools, or very little. Seeing this, I can say, coming from my educa- tion background, it is much needed and much appreci- ated. People of Langley…. As I mentioned, we’re a grow- ing community. Our parents are thrilled to see invest- Thursday, April 22, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1365

ments going into spaces so that our students have places to go to school. One of the areas I also was really excited to read about in the budget was our key capital investments.

Over the three years of this fiscal plan, transportation and capital invest- ments totalling $7.5 billion are allowing our province to maintain a flow of people and goods to support B.C. ’s eco- nomy — widening ten kilometres of Highway 1 through Langley from 216 Street to 264 Street, which will accom- modate high-occupancy vehicles; reconfiguring the 232 Street interchange; looking at new underpasses at Glover Road and the CP Rail crossing; and truck parking for Highways 1 and 17 for up to 150 commercial trucks and 45 passenger vehicles.

That allows our people of Langley to keep goods and services moving and allows people to spend more time at home, not sitting in traffic. That is something our community is so thrilled to see — that this is moving along and that it’s moving at a pace that will allow my riding, and beyond, to be able to get out of their cars and get home faster, and to get goods and services moving around our riding. Also, though not directly in my riding, I was ecstatic to see the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge with a new four-lane bridge, which can be expanded to six.

It’s going to meet the current seismic and road design standards — the removal of the existing bridge — and provide a safe and reliable crossing for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, allowing neighbouring ridings to mine, in Surrey and New Westminster, to be able to move people and goods through faster and in a safer way. Budget 2021 also is building on community infrastruc- ture investments, providing $147 million in new funding over this fiscal plan and supporting further meaningful things like broadband and cellular access in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

This is allowing people to access essential services and work and is making the place safer for everyone. These investments are vital to communities. Our pro- vince is diverse. There are strong agricultural areas, rural communities and fast-growing urban areas, and seeing this balanced investment is vital for our communities to address the diverse needs within our province. [1:55 p.m.] What I think we don’t get a lot of time to talk about is how important capital investments are, also, in the cre- ation of jobs. These capital investments are anticipated to create over 85,000 jobs in this fiscal plan period.

These are direct construction jobs, as well as indirect jobs — like off-site employment at suppliers, material manufac- turing, food services — and the benefits just ripple out into the broader economy, with additional income being spent right in our communities and supporting recovery. Those types of investments are what is needed during challen- ging times like this pandemic. An austerity budget doesn’t help the economy grow. The economy growing, more people being able to go to work, people being able to have money to spend and in- vest back in our communities is vital.

Our ridings, both myself and my colleague at Langley, are very, very busi- ness-oriented — small businesses, really entrepreneuri- al, people who have opened businesses that have been significantly affected during this pandemic. The invest- ments, such as our circuit breaker business relief grants, are helping our businesses. Through the time of this past little while, I’ve been reaching out to businesses and seeing how they feel they’ve been supported throughout the pandemic. Especially for our hospitality industry, it has been a challenge.

What I do hear time and time again, though, is how grateful our community is for the very balanced and sensible approach that our government has taken to ensuring that businesses receive the support that they need. Our restaurants, bars, breweries, wineries really have been hit hard, and the recent public health orders were exceptionally difficult for many. So the 14,000 businesses that have been further impacted by recent restrictions…. Our government has put a $50 million circuit breaker business relief grant in place.

I’m grateful to see that our government was able to move so quickly and recognize the needs that our small businesses had during these diffi- cult times. This grant will provide businesses up to $10,000 in one-time funding to help with expenses such as rent, employee wages, maintenance and utilities. I met recently with a local brewery in my riding. We were talking about how grateful they were for the ability to access funding to help them. They’re a new brewery.

They just opened up, so they were facing the challenges of growing and starting a business during a pandemic, and they really have done so much for our community, despite all the challenges. This brewery recently, actually, offered a place for people who were displaced from a fire to come and have a coffee and work. They were talking about those challenges and how vital and important it was for the government to ensure that they had funding and had supports in place.

Our government has been responding to that, providing the ability for businesses to access the funding that they need to continue going and to be as careful and mindful as possible, with the changing landscape, to ensure that the public health orders allow businesses to continue. Our provincial government has worked hard to make life easier with things like patio access — you know, getting patios quickly approved and getting liquor licences to be able to respond and pivot so that they can continue to work. Those were the things that we covered.

Those are the things that we need to continue to focus on: ensuring that we’re being careful, that we keep people and small businesses that are the engine of our economy at the forefront. I believe that our budget does an excellent job of that — being mindful to look at all the different ways the businesses are impacted and respond accordingly. That 1366 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

really was a very important thing to say — that there was a strong focus on the economy. As I said earlier, this budget is about helping people now and creating the conditions of a strong economic recovery. Part of that is child care, ensuring that we have a focus on child care so that those that need to go to work, both men and women, can access child care in their community. [2:00 p.m.] Our community of Langley East recently benefited from 140 new child care spaces. In fact, it was actually Langley East and Langley, both ridings, that benefited from these child care spaces.

Seeing that announcement, as a single mother myself, made me so happy to know that we were having more spaces for our growing community. In turn, that helps the economy. Having the ability to choose child care close to home for those that would like to work outside the home is really essential. We saw this pandemic, which has disproportionately affected women, was sort of viewed by economists as a pandemic that really had a hard effect. Although on everyone, it did hit harder on some.

Having access to child care and ensuring child care spaces could stay open to service those that needed it, who were keeping our economy going during the pandemic, was vital. Seeing a continued focus on ensuring child care stays at the forefront of this government’s budget is some- thing that I was very excited to see, because that is, once again, a very wise investment in our economy and ensures that we’re supporting people through the pandemic. I wanted to touch, very quickly, on training.

My coll- eague the MLA for Langley, who is also Parliamentary Sec- retary for Skills Training, I know has been working very hard and ensuring that there is training for our students and those who want to re-skill to be able to offer their services and find meaningful, well-paying jobs when they come out through this pandemic. Investing in people with new training and employment opportunities is another wise investment as we’re dealing with this pandemic eco- nomy and what it will look like as we come out on the oth- er side. I was really excited to see a focus on this in the budget.

Once again: $96 million over three years for new training spaces to continue to build a workforce that will increase, for instance, the health sector capacity; $17 million to partner with hundreds of Indigenous communities and organizations to expand access to programs through the Indigenous skills training program. Another example: $6 million to support work-integrat- ed learning placements for nearly 3,000 students in B.C. post-secondary institutions, helping one of the hardest- hit demographics find meaningful employment.

And just a last example: $4 million to continue short-term skills- training programs for unemployed or underemployed people to train in high-demand sectors. It was something that we talked about a lot when I was on school board — the need to invest in trade programs and opportunities for people to gain skills as they come out. Y ou know, my son is looking forward to — he gradu- ates this year; he’s in grade 12 — training to become a heavy-duty mechanic.

He is so excited to come out of grade 12 and know that there’s training in place because of the hard work of people like our minister and our parliamentary secretary, who have put so much into ensuring that people have oppor- tunities to train. That is something that I think is a very wise investment in our economy — ensuring that people have that opportunity.

In conclusion, just to wrap up, it is just wonderful to see a focus on people, families, vulnerable individuals who have suffered so much through this pandemic — ensuring that we have a balanced economic recovery and capital plan, that we have training, that we have education for our youth and those who need to re-skill, community infra- structure.

I believe that throughout this province, this budget will make a meaningful impact on the lives of people as we come through this pandemic in a way that we will ensure that people are supported in all the social ways that we need to support people through these challenging times, focusing on those vulnerable communities, focusing on people’s mental health, focusing on families having options, as well as balancing the need for an economy so that we can continue to grow with British Columbia. We can continue to have opportunities for people to work in meaningful employment.

That, in turn, will allow people to reinvest back into their economies. [2:05 p.m.] I know that as the MLA for Langley East, I look at this budget and see how my riding can benefit from this and the regions around us. I’m very excited to see how things like agritech will be benefiting my community, which has a fast-growing urban core and a strong agricultural history and economy. I am excited to see how we will be able to support our youth, those with mental health needs through this pan- demic. We are not on the other side of it yet.

We still have much work to do, but what I do know is that I feel strongly that this budget is looking with a forward-looking lens to ensure that we’re supporting those, as we move through this. I feel confident it’s been done in a safe and in a very empathetic and forward-looking way. With that, I’ d just like to say that I’m thrilled with this budget. I’m looking forward to seeing these excellent pro- grams and supports roll out over the next little while. We’ll be excited to talk about that in the House at every oppor- tunity. So with that, I will conclude my remarks and take my seat here virtually.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak favourably about this budget in this House today. M. Morris: As I’ve watched the performance of this gov- ernment over the last…. We’re in the second term now. Thursday, April 22, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1367

I go back to the credo that they hung their hats on in their campaigns, leading up to the elections, about mak- ing life more affordable. All I see, particularly after reading this budget and going through the documents, is that it’s not going to be affordable for decades. There is such a debt burden that our children and our grandchildren are going to be bearing for decades to come that it’s really not going to be affordable for anybody to pay for the lifestyle that this government wants to put in place over the next fiscal plan that they have here. It’s a huge deficit with no end in sight for a decade.

No end in sight for a decade. Ten years. Y ou know, to plan…. I wish I had the ability to just spend money willy-nilly for the next ten years and not have to worry about it. Everybody sitting on that side of the House, on the gov- ernment side — well, probably a lot of them — will be gone and will be enjoying their pension as the folks that are coming up in the ranks and through the world will be paying the debt off. So $9 billion coming up for this fiscal year — $9 billion — but that’s less than what it was projec- ted to be, at around, I believe, $13 billion.

It’s less because of the rising house prices that we see and the windfall that this government has reaped as a result of the taxes that are paid on these resale transactions. Y et they campaigned continually, right from 2017, on making life more affordable for people. But keeping the price of hous- ing down…. It hasn’t dropped down a bit. Even in my community of Prince George–Mackenzie, I have young people coming in, phoning my office, wonder- ing what they’re going to do.

They can’t save up enough money for a home, even in Prince George, where the aver- age price I think is getting up close to the mid-$400,000 bracket. That’s in the interior of the province. Moody’s. I just have to read the comment Moody’s made recently about this: “The province’s credit rating could face downward pressure if…direct and indirect debt were to materially exceed our current projections, coinciding with a loss in the financial management of the province. ” That was on the 24th of March, 2021. I think that’s a warning flag. We hear from the credit rating agencies on a routine basis.

I know that when we were in government, we took a lot of credence in what they had to say. I think that’s a warning shot across the bow, saying: “Guess what. We’re going to have another look in a little bit and just see what that really shows. ” [2:10 p.m.] Under the cover of COVID, our public sector has blos- somed, has ballooned. Just in the last year, the public sec- tor has grown by 60,000 people.

I don’t have a problem with hiring people to deal with our COVID issues — to hire the contact tracers, to hire the resources we need to protect the people of British Columbia — but I believe 60,000 is a significant num- ber of people that have been hired in the last year to add to the public sector that we have already in place in this great province of ours. Ten percent of B.C. ’s population works for the provincial government — about 500,000 people. That’s a lot of people. This has happened while the private sector has still lost 40,000 jobs. I’ll talk about that in a minute here as well.

The other thing that I found interesting in this partic- ular budget document…. It goes back to page 4 of their fiscal plan — notional allocations. Y ou know, we’ve had notional things before, but these are notional allocations for upcoming fiscal years: “Notional allocations of $1.5 billion for ’22-23 and $2 billion for ’23-24. ” It says: “For caseload pressures and priority initiatives that may require funding in future budgets. ” Notional. A $2 billion notional amount of money avail- able during an election year in 2024. Now, is it notional that we have got an election coming up in 2024?

A person could do a lot of things with $2 billion to shovel out the back of a truck in the few months leading up to an election during that particular year. I worked in the public sector pretty much my whole life in the RCMP , a senior manager looking after budgets for the province and for my own district. If I went to my boss and said: “Boss, you know, things are kind of humming along here, but I’ d like to throw another $500 million into my budget for the next fiscal year and the fiscal year after that because we might need it.

Maybe we need to buy a new airplane or a couple of new boats for my district, or maybe I want to add a bunch more manpower to it or build some more infrastructure. ” That’s primarily what this is. To me, this is poor fiscal management when you have to budget $1½ billion in one year and $2 billion in another year for unseen things that might happen in the future. That’s a lot of money. And that’s in addition to all of the forecast allowances and contingency allocations that they’ve already put into the budgets moving forward. The other obvious gap that I saw looking through the budget….

It’s a ledger sheet that omits the revenue side of that ledger sheet. It doesn’t show where we have the money coming in to pay for all of these notional budgetary items and some of the changes that they want here. There’s no plan in place to get the private sector going. Like I said, we’ve added 60,000 people to public sector in the last year alone. There’s lots of talk about child care spaces, there’s lots of talk about health care, which is all great as long as it’s not disrupting the private sector opera- tions and jobs that we have in the province as well. There’s no vision in this document.

We’ve got three fiscal years ahead of us with this fiscal plan with no real vision other than to spend money like it’s going out of style. There’s no mention on how this government is going to create an investment climate that will attract people to this province again and attract business investments that will get things up and running. Now, I’m going to talk about mining shortly, as mining is a big, big issue in my riding. It was 2015. I used to put on the Natural Resources Forum in Prince George. I was 1368 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

talking to a gentleman from the States. His role was to find money for mining investments and getting mining off the ground around the world. [2:15 p.m.] He was telling me that British Columbia had one of the best investment climates in Canada when it came to devel- oping mines, back in 2015. We sure don’t have that any more. We’ve got some of the highest tax structures — the carbon tax, the employer health tax. There are a number of taxes there that have taken that title away from us. There’s no mention on how to address the pending decrease in our forest sector. They talked about reallocat- ing volume.

They talked about value-added industry. But we have a lack of fibre right across the province that is going to cause the forest sector to rationalize their opera- tions throughout the province. I think we’re going to see a significant decrease there. There’s no mention of the value of our resource sector as an economic driver in our recovery in the province. They talk about a green economy — the electrification of vehicles, reducing our use of fossil fuels. But they’re blind to the fact that fossil fuels will continue to play a role in our province for decades to come.

This transition is going to take us decades in order to get to become fossil fuel free. What obviously is missing, as well, is a clear under- standing of this symbiotic relationship between a green economy — electrification of our vehicles and our infra- structure — and our current resource sector. We can’t have electric vehicles without our copper mines and our gold mines. We have some of the richest copper and gold deposits in the world right here in our province in the cor- ridor between the Rocky Mountains and the Coast range. We have some magnificent opportunities up there.

There’s a little triangle up there they call the Golden Triangle. Copper and gold are generally found in the same areas. We have opportunities there. We have infrastructure available to be upgraded and modified with the Dease Lake rail extension that can get into that area and connect our beautiful province to Alaska and the southern states and take advantage of the 350 mil- lion people that live in the southern U.S.A. that would love to come through British Columbia. I think the residual tourism we would see here would be enormous. But there’s no mention of that.

Our mines will be critical in moving any kind of a green economy forward. The copper in an electric vehicle…. There is anywhere from three to ten times more copper in an electric vehicle than there is in a vehicle with a com- bustion engine. That’s only the copper. There is also gold in there, and there are other rare minerals that help that. Technology runs on copper and gold and silver and plat- inum and other rare earth minerals that we have around the province here. There are opportunities for thousands of well-paying jobs in British Columbia in the mining industry.

The other part of this symbiotic relationship between a green economy and our resource sector is oil and gas. We don’t have a petrochemical industry in British Colum- bia, yet everything that we do in the world operates off of petrochemicals. We have some of the richest liquid natur- al gas in the world. Just north of us in British Columbia here — my colleagues from Peace River North and Peace River South — in the Montney gas play, some of the richest liquid natural gas in the world is sitting there. That natural gas contains propane. The derivative, of course, is a fuel for barbecues and for other things.

We’ve got a propane export terminal now in Prince Rupert. But also, one of the by-products of propane is polypropylene. That’s the hard plastic that is used in our vehicle man- ufacturing. Most of the electric cars can operate in an efficient manner today because they are lightweight due to polypropylene and plastics built into that vehicle. The technology sector runs on polypropylene. The cases for our computers, the cases for our medical supplies and a lot of the medical instruments themselves are polypropylene. [2:20 p.m.] We have polyethylene.

We have millions of kilometres of water pipes servicing all our communities right across this province. The little plastic pipes that are in the ground that bring the water from our reservoirs to every house- hold in the province — polyethylene. Millions of kilo- metres of those. Then we also have millions of kilometres of bigger pipe that take the wastewater from our com- munities and from our households into water treatment plants throughout the communities as well. How could we replace that?

Whether we run on a green economy and we reduce our use of fossil fuels in our vehicles and our trucks, we still will see a need for this. We have those opportunities right here in this province. I was speaking to a proponent in my riding who was talk- ing about building a polyethylene plant in Prince George, employing 1,000 people — one plant. With that polyethyl- ene plant, we could ship products from around the world.

We could take those liquids out of the natural gas with a straddle plant, as they call it — extract those liquids out of the gas before it gets shipped or burned in our households, so we’ll be burning cleaner gas. The GHG emissions will be significantly reduced around our province and around the world. LNG Canada is building the large liquefaction plant in Prince Rupert or Kitimat as we speak. Right through my community, we’ve got a 4-foot-diameter natural gas line that’s going to supply all this gas to LNG Canada.

The amount of money that we could make from the liquids in that natural gas before it gets loaded onto those ships and shipped over to Asia — where it will, no doubt, be turned into all these products that I’m talking about — is enormous. The polypropylene plant, scheduled for Prince George — or I anticipate it for Prince George — will be using the existing Enbridge supply line that supplies all of British Thursday, April 22, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1369

Columbia down to the northwest United States. The pro- ponent claimed that he could probably extract $1 mil- lion to $2 million worth of liquids out of the existing pipeline and turn it into these value-added products that we can ship. Then you look at the downstream opportunities from that that we could have in manufacturing. We could put thousands of people to work in this province to increase our tax base — people paying income tax, taxation from the corporations. We would soon dig out of the debt that this province has dug themselves into. Then, of course, we have butane, another by-product of the liquids.

Butane is used for synthetic rubber. A lot of our electric bikes have synthetic rubber tires and whatnot on there. Y ou can’t have a green economy without talking about the petrochemical industry and the resources that we have in the ground. If we look at a petrochemical industry in British Columbia, we will have thousands upon thousands of people employed in that industry alone. It would eclipse the 50,000 people that have lost their jobs in the forest sec- tor over the last ten years. The other area that I looked at, in going through the budget documents, is policing.

Of course, it’s my critic role: Public Safety. I was pleased to see that there is an increase to core policing operations, provincial core poli- cing. That’s a general duty cop that’s working in places like Vanderhoof — that have had caseloads that have been some of the record caseloads in the province — and other communities up there, and our provincial resources are investigating the homicides and the more serious crime that we have located throughout the province.

The rural communities depend upon the RCMP or the provincial police in this community, not only to keep their communities safe from crime, but we have seen significant events over the years with wildfires, interface fires between our communities and our forests. We have seen massive flooding taking place in our communities across the province. The RCMP play an integral role in evacuations plan- ning. When I was a detachment commander, I had to update my evacuation plans for my community every year.

I had to count the number of station wagons and buses and trucks and heavy equipment and who had them and the phone numbers to who had them so that we could call if we had a provincial emergency like that. There are always new demands being placed on our po- lice resources. We heard the Premier talking about that the other day, where he demanded that the police get out and start stopping people on the road to make sure that they were not travelling unnecessarily, that they were stay- ing within their health district.

Of course, that puts added stress and strain on a system that is already overburdened with various things. [2:25 p.m.] One of the terrible things that has escalated in recent days and weeks is the gangland killings that we see taking place in the Lower Mainland. Where are the resources going into that? Back when we were in government — I was sitting in the Solicitor General’s chair — we put in an extra $25 million. We created two new gang task forces in the guns and gang area. It was making results.

The problem we don’t recognize, and this government has not recognized, is the fact that with all of the com- plexities associated with criminal investigations that we have today, the police actually get taken off the road at the end of an investigation, to a large extent. The investigation itself is only the tip of an iceberg. Once that investigation is concluded…. Because of the Jordan decision, once charge approval has been made, they have 18 months to get the individuals through the court system.

Oftentimes, because of the complexities of these invest- igations, there are thousands of pages of information to obtain: search warrants, judicial authorities for wiretap- ping, for vehicle tracking, a number of those technical things that they have there. The wiretaps themselves all have to be transcribed and translated, a full disclosure package provided to Crown counsel. Then Crown counsel will go through that material to see whether or not there’s enough material in there for a charge.

To put that whole package together, that team that was doing the investigation, doing the surveillance, doing all of the hard work to get these bad guys off the road…. They are the ones that are tasked with putting that package together. Maybe it’s only half their team, but they are still necessary to do that. It might take Crown counsel months to go through all the files, all the transcriptions and everything else in order to determine whether or not they will lay a charge.

The surveillance teams that are required for these in- vestigations are manpower-heavy because of the require- ments that have been placed on the police from the court decisions and from everything else. The manpower re- quirements for this are huge. We just simply…. We. I still talk like I’m a police officer once in a while. The police simply run out of resources at the end of the day. They’re also prohibited from releasing a lot of information on dif- ferent things. That prevents them from advising the public of what’s going on. I recall back in 2015, when I was the Solicitor General.

When they’re tapping somebody’s phone, and they hear a call come over the phone saying, “There’s a contract out on so and so, and we’re going to kill them, ” they have a duty to go and notify that guy and say: “Listen, there’s a contract out on you. ” They had to do that something like 250 times back in 2015. I think they’re just as active in that or even more so here in today’s world. The other concern I have here is that the government has mentioned that they’re looking at putting pressure on the federal government to decriminalize small amounts of drugs. I have been searching.

I have looked everywhere for some kind of a study or scientific reason for that recom- mendation to be made. The argument behind that is it’s 1370 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

because of the stigma attached to the criminality involved by that possession. I’ve never heard that. I’ve dealt with a lot of drug cases over the years. I think the stigma is more to the fact that the individual doesn’t want it to be found out that he or she might be an addict. I think that’s the stigma that nobody wants. They don’t want to be known as an addict. Small amounts of drugs. I’ve heard some organizations in this province criticize the police forces for seizing small amounts of drugs.

But it doesn’t take a big amount of drug to kill somebody with an overdose if you don’t know what is in that particular drug. I wonder how many of these small drug seizures have prevented somebody from over- dosing over the last five years. How many overdose deaths have been prevented by police? I know the RCMP …. I was talking to them the other day. I think they’ve administered close to 700 injections of naloxone in the last couple of years in this province, saving lives. There are a number of issues with policing. The Surrey police transition is another one that I didn’t see anything in the budget for.

This is going to have significant impacts on our province, on the Justice Institute. Surrey has a police force of about 850 men and women in today’s model, prob- ably more by the time this new transition takes place. [2:30 p.m.] How many will convert to the Surrey police department depends on a number of things. Number one, the inde- pendent police forces in British Columbia make, on aver- age, about 25 to 30 percent more than an RCMP officer. So there will be a lot of officers around the province that will look at this as an opportunity to get a 25 percent wage bump.

How are we going to fill those other vacancies in the province? That’s going to put pressure on every detach- ment in the province. It’s going to put pressure on our municipal detachments in the province. It’s going to put pressure on the Justice Institute. How many spaces do we allot for training purposes in the Justice Institute? How many green recruits are we going to have to train, in com- parison to who is coming in? We see these positions vacating the RCMP jurisdiction for Surrey PD. How is that going to impact our integrated homicide team?

How is that going to impact our Com- bined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which does the guns and gang work? How is that going to affect our full- time ERT, emergency response team, resources that we have throughout the Lower Mainland here? There are a number of things, which I see, that could be impacted by this, and there’s not much mention of that. The other thing…. I see I’ve only got about five minutes left, but I do want to talk a little bit about ICBC, which is also another area under my critic role. We heard about the dumpster fire.

We heard about all these different things and that now ICBC is in the black. But it was a shell game by the previous minister respons- ible. When the books were signed over to this government in 2017, ICBC was about $250 million in the hole. Recent documents that I’ve reviewed indicate that from 2017 until 2020, they incurred about $3½ billion in added costs because of accidents. There were a number of things there. They took just over $3 billion out of their equity fund to pay that off.

They have depleted their equity fund down to the point where it’s about 50 percent less than what is normally required by law for private insurance companies. Y ou’re supposed to have enough equity in there to cover off those issues. They’re back in the black, but their equity fund is down about $3 billion. It puts them further at risk because of that. They talk about the changes that are coming — the 20 percent savings that will be taking place here for every- body as of the first of May, when they go to this no-fault insurance process.

They don’t talk about the fact that when they came into government in 2017 and until this year, they raised rates 40 percent. So now they’re graciously giv- ing 20 percent back, but you’re still paying 20 percent more than you were back in 2016. It’s a shell game. They’ve been moving money around. The previous minister was very good at partisan politics and pointing the finger at the previous government. I think the dumpster fire was probably caused by the spon- taneous combustion of the political rhetoric that was spewing out of that office. There’s one last thing that I want to touch on.

There’s a capital plan in there. They talk about health care across the province here. No mention of a hospital for Prince George. It’s the largest health authority in the province. No cardi- ac services in the health authority area. We have to ship everybody down south. What I find fantastic about this is…. Back in the 1990 NDP regime, they said: “We are going to build a new hospital in Prince George. ” They put a budget together, and they started construction just before they left gov- ernment in 2000. They cut the construction budget.

We went from a 400 bed regional hospital down to a 200 bed regional hospital. It is now one of the main training centres for the northern medical program, yet we still have a 200 bed hospital. We have operating theatre rooms that are 1950s vin- tage and that are too small for today’s operating equip- ment. It’s caused a lot of concern for the doctors, for the staff, for everybody that’s up there. This government is well aware of the deficiencies in that particular area, yet they do nothing.

We can look at this term in government with no help for Northern Health when it comes to our hospital facilit- ies, which are, by the way, working beyond maximum with relation to ICU patients and other people with COVID. [2:35 p.m.] I want to say to our nurses, our doctors and our staff in Northern Health, right across the Northern Health re- gion: thank you so much for all the hard work that you do and the extra effort you put in. I know the stress that Thursday, April 22, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1371

you guys are under up there. We feel it for you, and we’ll do our best to try and make sure that we alleviate that in whatever way we can. With that, I will take my seat. Deputy Speaker: Recognizing the member for Chilli- wack. D. Coulter: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s, once again, a great pleasure and honour to be able to speak in front of you on behalf of my constituents here in Chilliwack. I’ d first like to begin by acknowledging that I’m speaking to you today from the traditional and unceded territory of the Stó:lō people — in particular, that of the Pilalt and Ts’ elxwéyeqw Tribes.

I’ d really like to take a moment here to thank the Minis- ter of Finance and her team. She and her team have come up with an exceptionally thoughtful budget that is going to help us get through and recover from this pandemic. There are all sorts of hard-working folks on the front lines of this pandemic — doctors, nurses, teachers, folks in the service industry. This is really tough on them, and I’ d like to take a moment, definitely, to thank each and every one of them. Even though we can see hope on the horizon right now, we are a way off.

During the pandemic, many people and families have experienced the stress of unexpected job loss, and not everyone has been affected in the same way. We often hear sometimes we’re all in the same storm but not the same boat. Budget 2021 includes new investments to support peo- ple by improving child care, making life more affordable, reducing poverty, advancing reconciliation and investing in the services that folks rely on.

The budget continues to protect the mental health and the health and safety of all British Columbians and expands the services people rely on, with $4 billion in health care funding over the next three years, including funding to continue to deliver COV- ID-19–related health services and COVID-19 health sup- ports to keep people safe. While more people are being vaccinated each day, gov- ernment continues working hard to keep people safe, and the budget allocates $900 million in 2021 and 2022 to sup- port the province’s continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Obviously, this includes funding for the provin- cial vaccination program so that every British Columbian can receive their COVID-19 vaccine. I just received mine. I got a shot of the AstraZeneca vac- cine. As they changed the age requirements on Monday, I was able to get a vaccine on Tuesday. I’m so very grateful for that. I alluded last time that I would be able to register last Friday. I was able to register last Friday. Then, luckily, the AstraZeneca age was lowered, and I was able to get a shot of that. I’m very thankful for that.

Definitely I encourage everyone in this House, if you are 40-plus, to go out and get that vaccine. The best vaccine is the vaccine that you are first offered. Testing and contact tracing will also be in the budget, as well as expanded flu immunization, increased capa- city at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, and the rural and remote collaborative framework to improve access to health services for rural, remote and Indigenous com- munities.

Also included in the budget will be ongoing supports to ensure the safety of long-term care and assisted-living facilities, including screening staff and providing additional personal protective equipment to help keep seniors safe. [2:40 p.m.] As you can see here, this budget definitely includes the kind of investment, the kind of spending we need to get through the pandemic and keep people healthy and safe during it. This is only one part of the budget speech that I see a lot of hope in and that I must commend the Finance Minister and her team for being so thoughtful about. So I fully support this budget. [Mr.

Speaker in the chair.] I would like to maybe talk about child care. It’s a huge investment, so important for families and will help people get back to work. It can’t be said enough how great our child care program is, and it’s in the budget. So far, over 35,000 B.C. families now have access to low-cost child care through historic investments over the last four years. Budget 2021 more than doubles the number of $10-a-day child care spaces, which means 75 more child care centres and the thousands of families who rely on them will bene- fit from the program.

We will continue to create new spaces every year, and more families will have access to child care on school grounds with the expansion of the seamless day pilot program. The current early childhood educator wage enhancement will be doubled to $4 an hour, benefitting approximately 11,000 early childhood educators. And 2,000 more families will have access to programs that improve inclusion and day-to-day activities for children with support needs.

Also, $20 million will provide addi- tional health and safety grants to child care providers to ensure centres remain safe through increased clean- ing supplies, personal protective equipment or space improvements. Families in the Fraser Valley will now have access to almost 400 new licensed child care spaces as part of the province’s ongoing commitment to increasing access to child care through the COVID-19 pandemic and bey- ond. These new child care spaces will be a wonderful resource for families, as the Fraser Valley’s population continues to grow.

We know having accessible and affordable child care is a top priority for British Columbians, and that’s why it’s important that we’re seeing new spaces open up in 1372 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

communities across the province. The Childcare B.C. new spaces fund is supporting six projects that will create a total of 380 new licensed child care spaces in the Fraser Valley — in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Maple Ridge. These spaces are part of the fastest creation of child care spaces in B.C. ’s history, and we’re making a milestone here. These are just going to be wonderful for my community. I’m so happy that of the 380 new spaces, 138 will be here in Chilliwack. Since July 2018, more than 20,000 new licensed child care spaces have been funded in British Columbia, 422 right here in Chilliwack.

Throughout the province, the Childcare B.C. plan has helped parents save up to $1,600 a month per child through the affordable child care benefit and child care fee reduction initiative. As a result of these investments, parents in the Fraser Valley have saved nearly $60 million on child care — $60 million. That’s amazing. Early childhood educators in these communities have received over $3.2 million in wage enhancements.

With B.C. ’s combined affordability initiatives, more than 36,000 children have received child care for $10 a day or less since the beginning of the Childcare B.C. plan. [2:45 p.m.] Maybe I’ d like to stop here. Child care is such a won- derful thing, and it’s such a great thing that we’re doing for families, yet I hear the opposition get up and complain about it during question period. They wonder why we talk about their 16 years of mismanagement of our province. They talk about a fudge-it budget.

I myself think that their budgets are fudge-it budgets, where they did things such as loot ICBC to balance their budgets. Instead of asking questions about great things like affordable child care, affordable rental housing and social assistance rates, they should be asking questions…. They shouldn’t be asking questions about what they didn’t do and then complaining about why we are doing them. They should ask questions about what they did.

Instead of maybe asking about affordable rental housing and having the AG dunk on you in question period, per- haps you should ask a question like: “Why aren’t you selling public assets off for pennies on the dollar?” That would be a question that would be more with their brand. Or instead of asking questions about social insurance rates, which weren’t raised for ten years under a B.C. Liber- al government yet have been raised by $325 since the B.C. NDP took over….

Instead of asking questions about that and having the Premier skate circles around you in ques- tion period, perhaps you should ask, “Why aren’t you loot- ing ICBC?” or a question such as that. They can take my advice or leave it, but I’ll just put it there. That’s why when we are asked about things that we are doing that they didn’t do, they’re going to hear about why we are doing them and how they didn’t do them. I’ d like to talk about the B.C. recovery benefit. It’s helped approximately 2.5 million British Columbians with more than $1.2 billion to date, while stimulating local econom- ies.

When folks — working people or poor people — get money, they spend it in their local communities. So it really is economic stimulus for local communities. The benefit provides a one-time tax-free payment of up to $1,000 for eligible families and single parents and up to $500 for eligible individuals. I don’t think I’m telling any- one anything new here. Budget 2021 includes $100 million to continue to fund the B.C. recovery benefit. I can tell you that for my constituents, the B.C. recovery benefit has meant a lot.

I have one constituent, who’s a senior and is on a fixed income of about $13,000 a year, and $500, to this man, was life-changing around Christ- mas and was so important and so impactful. That’s the power of a B.C. NDP government. It makes positive mater- ial changes in folks’ lives. I would like to turn here and talk about education briefly. As the members of the House know, I used to be a school trustee. I’ve said it before, but under the B.C. Lib- eral government, we didn’t get much investment in edu- cation, especially here in Chilliwack.

We had our budgets cut back, but even more important is that we didn’t get any capital projects or capital spending in Chilliwack. We ballooned our portable population. We know kids learn better when they’re in a brick-and-mortar school and not out in a portable. Worse than that, portables are something that we shouldn’t strive for. School districts have to purchase portables and pay for their upkeep out of their operating capital. [2:50 p.m.] Instead of building capital projects and building class- room spaces in Chilliwack, the B.C.

Liberal government was downloading its costs onto the backs of the kids in Chilliwack. That’s what it was doing. There’s a whole gen- eration of kids who were robbed of everything that they deserve in education. I will just speak about a couple of the capital projects that are in Budget 2021. Our government has made it a top priority to address urgent enrolment needs for schools throughout B.C., and the expansion of capital projects in Chilliwack will move students out of portables and into modern new learning spaces while helping them get the most of their education.

We’re proud to see multiple school projects currently under construction in Chilliwack. I can’t wait to visit students and staff in their new learning spaces, once it’s safe to do so, myself. We are getting a ten-classroom addition to Vedder Ele- mentary School in our community, which will provide over 240 new student spaces. This is an $11.8 million investment from the provincial government to education in Chilliwack. We are going to get an addition to a sec- ondary school, which will provide 450 new student spaces. That’s a $23.9 million project — very exciting and entirely in the provincial budget.

I remember the B.C. Liberal government had a rule where if you wanted a capital project built, for them to Thursday, April 22, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1373

okay it, you had to pony up money out of your operating capital — once again, stealing from the per-student fund- ing, basically… Mr. Speaker: Member. D. Coulter: …forcing us to use our operating capital. Mr. Speaker: Member, be careful with your language, please, with your words. D. Coulter: Okay. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. In the previous budget, Chilliwack was also funded for an integrated arts and technology school. It’s going to be called Imagine High. That’s a $15.4 million provincial in- vestment. We’ve got a new elementary school that’s already in construction — Stitó:s elementary-middle school.

That’s a $48.6 million provincial investment. Another thing I’m really excited about is the widening of Highway 1. While it doesn’t reach all the way out to Chilliwack, it will benefit my constituents greatly. It will eventually come past the Watkins Road exit, which is almost to Chilliwack, but that will ease traffic congestion from that point into the city. Many of my constituents will undoubtedly benefit from that and be able to make it to and from work quicker. Folks will have a lot more time to spend with their families and stuff.

What’s great about these large infrastructure projects — not the school capital projects but the large infrastructure projects, like highway widening or other large infrastruc- ture projects like that — is that they’ll be built under com- munity benefit agreements. Community benefit agree- ments are terrific. Nearly 20 percent of our construction workers are cur- rently 55 or over, and only 12 percent are under the age of 25.

Women only represent 14 percent of the total work- force and only 6 percent of the on-site employment, while Indigenous peoples represent just 8 percent of total em- ployment. [2:55 p.m.] Community benefits agreements look to change that dynamic. They will help youth. They will help Indigenous people. They will help women all find meaningful employ- ment in the construction industry. It will help to train the new generation of workers. It increases apprenticeship opportunities, with a target of 25 percent participation rate on community benefit agreements.

That is so good for young people who want to get into the building trades and make that their life and make that their living. So many people who work in the building trades go from job to job to job, and they don’t always have appren- ticeships on these jobs. That’s why the workforce is aging in the construction industry. Increasing apprenticeship opportunities will provide a more achievable path to red seal trade certifications for apprentices and achieve a more stable and more equitable labour relations environment.

I’m pretty excited about community benefits agreements, as well as very excited about the widening of the highway. What I would like to talk about here for a second as well, which has a great impact on my constituents here in Chilliwack, is mental health and addictions, and the investments that this budget is going to mean for my constituents. We have quite a bit of mental health and addiction issues here in Chilliwack. We have folks using drugs on the street often. We recently had a spate of overdoses. We had 15 in under an hour. It was because someone was mixing ben- zoids into the opioids.

People thought they were getting opiates, and they were getting benzoids instead. Narcan does not work on that type of overdose. Those people, unfortunately, lost their lives, and it was tragic. When we’re talking about mental health, this budget…. So $97 million to build a network of mental health sup- ports for youth, through increased mental health funding for schools; new Foundry centres that provide young people health and wellness resources in their community; and integrated child and youth support teams for 15 more school districts. That’s quite exciting stuff.

Also, there will be $61 million in funding over three years, to improve access and quality of mental health ser- vices, including expanding eating disorder care and better access to suicide prevention services, and early psychosis intervention. And $14 million for the First Nations Health Authority to deliver mental health and addiction services to Indigenous peoples. Substance use and overdose.

There will be a substance use and overdose emergency response, which will have $330 million over the fiscal plan to provide a full spec- trum of substance use treatment and recovery services, including $152 million for opioid treatment. And 195 new substance use treatment and recovery beds in com- munities throughout the province, to help more people on a path to recovery. That's really exciting stuff for the constituents of Chilliwack and really, the constituents around the province. [3:00 p.m.] We obviously have a crisis here.

Many people are calling it the other, or second, health crisis that we’re having in our province, as well as the pandemic. Resources and invest- ments in this area have been needed for…. Our govern- ment has been making them and continues to make them. This budget is focused on supporting people through the pandemic and after — to support people through the pandemic and to help insure people don’t fall further be- hind as B.C. moves towards recovery. The budget includes supports and services to make B.C. more affordable for everyone, creating a more affordable B.C. for everyone.

We are going to come out of this pandemic and recovery work stronger and more inclusive and make a more affordable and more equitable British Columbia. Another exciting thing coming out of this budget: free public transportation for children 12 and under. Over 1374 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

340,000 children 12 and under, around the province, will be able to ride public transportation for free in time for classes this September. The government is investing $26 million here, including $50 million from the federal-pro- vincial restart agreement, to help families get around more affordably. Families in the TransLink service area alone will save up to $672 a year for each child that uses a monthly pass. That’s amazing. That’s great stuff, and this budget delivers that. I talked a little bit about education capital funding, but we’re going to support education in other ways.

The pan- demic has been especially hard on B.C. ’s youth, teachers and support staff, and the budget continues to make in- vestments in B.C. ’s education system to improve access to mental health supports in schools and to develop a frame- work to address racism and reconciliation so that the next generation can continue to develop with the safety and support they need to thrive.

The budget invests $1.2 billion in operating funding, over the fiscal plan, to support the growing number of stu- dents in B.C. ’s K-to-12 system and to support wage in- creases negotiated under the sustainable services negotiat- ing mandate. Of course, I spoke about the capital invest- ments before, but there are going to be $3.5 billion in cap- ital investments in education, over the fiscal plan. It’s excit- ing. I spoke briefly about affordable housing. We have built 26,000 new homes or that are underway. This is exciting. This is all going to be affordable housing.

I’m just going to maybe start a bit of a conclusion there. This budget is forward-looking. It’s inspirational; it’s very thoughtful. I thank the minister and her team. They have done a great job here. This budget is going to help us to get through this pandemic healthy and safe and to come out the other side a stronger province. I urge all my colleagues to support this budget. A. Olsen: I am pleased today to stand and speak to Budget 2021. In the first few lines of the budget speech, the Minister of Finance offers the lens that the B.C.

NDP government wishes British Columbians to view their effort through: “They’ve got our backs. ” We should not be surprised, as this rhetoric has been framing everything that this govern- ment has been saying for the past four years. Even while they’ve been talking consistently about “making life more affordable, ” they have yet to show the courage to take the decisive and even unpopular actions to tackle systemic issues like inequality and affordability.

The same goes for Budget 2021. [3:05 p.m.] Even as we welcome investments sprinkled across dif- ferent program areas in this government, what is lacking is the ambition to set British Columbia up for a strong future. This is especially clear in how the B.C. NDP is tackling inequality and climate change. In Budget 2021, the B.C. NDP offer little in the way of a unified sense of what they are trying to achieve — a common agenda or a purpose.

At the beginning of the pandemic, people expressed their hope that their govern- ment would take the opportunity to transform the eco- nomy, through bold vision and audacious policy propos- als. However, while the B.C. NDP say they have our backs, they deliver a throne speech and a budget that takes a buckshot approach at spending billions of dollars while not clearly articulating the outcomes that they’re trying to achieve. Do the B.C. NDP have our backs? Let’s explore that. In Budget 2021, there is approximately $110 million invested in British Columbia’s reconciliation effort this fiscal year.

As I’ve previously noted, I appreciate the investments the government has made in housing for Indigenous people, both on reserve and off. I have been thrilled with the spending in earlier budget cycles on Indigenous language revitalization. However, I feel I must return to a common theme for me, and that is the disappointment I feel when parsing the signals from the noise. For the past few years, I have consistently highlighted an important signal that the B.C. NDP could send to Indigen- ous people about their commitment to decolonization and reconciliation.

The remains of our ancestors lie in base- ments of museums around the world. Along with our sac- red items of cultural importance, they stand for a time when it was acceptable to raid the graves of Indigenous people. The administrative work to repatriate our ancestors and items of cultural significance is expensive, time-consum- ing and traumatic.

Just as the government found a key action of reconciliation was to awaken our sleeping lan- guages, so too is the importance of the repatriation effort that need not take decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be better spent on other programs that the money was actually designated for. I will say it again, and I will continue to say it until this government puts in place a meaningful program that doesn’t rely entirely on Indigenous Nations but can sup- port those Indigenous Nations in these efforts. This would be excellent work for the Royal B.C.

Museum as they try to mend their relationships with Indigenous people in British Columbia. The B.C. NDP detailed several programs they are sup- porting this year: anti-racism initiatives in health care, skills training, increased administrative capacity in the provincial government to support the execution of the reconciliation and other agreements, child care, housing, tourism and environmental efforts.

The largest expense is $60 million which will provide “dedicated funding that supports Indigenous participation in land and resource activities…negotiations and engagement on legislation, policy and programs. ” There is no doubt that this money is necessary, especially considering the B.C. NDP govern- Thursday, April 22, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1375

ment remains committed to the 19th and 20th century extractive economy. What the B.C. NDP are going to wrap their heads around is that prosperity for Indigenous people must be more than being yoked to the priorities of the provin- cial government, which are focused on the destruction of ecosystems. We need to create the space for Indigen- ous people to bring their own initiatives for economic development and prosperity to the table. For instance, a Narwhal

article this week featured a Gitanyow project to set up an Indigenous protected area and, specifically, the response from our provincial government: “Well, industry doesn’t want to hear it. ” Well, I raise my hands up to the provincial government for the important contribution in a variety of useful pro- grams that will help Indigenous people.

They will prove that they “have our back” when their promises of self- determination are allowed to influence the discussion and outcomes at the table and when Indigenous people no longer have to plead to have the remains of our ancestors returned to the rightful place in our homelands. Until the latter happens, there will continue to be significant dis- turbance in our territories. [3:10 p.m.] I have mixed feelings about the B.C. NDP’S approach to housing in this 2021 budget. On one hand, they announce a $2 billion announcement to increase the lending capacity of the successful HousingHub program.

The Minister of Finance claims this novel financing program will lend the capital for the construction of 9,000 new housing units for middle-income families over the next three to five years. This is a good program. I know many organizations and non-profits in Saanich North and the Islands are looking to this program to support the construction of affordable housing in our communities, mostly on the southern Gulf Islands, where housing is desperately needed. However, despite this program on housing affordability, I don't believe the B.C. NDP has our back. In fact, this B.C.

NDP government is shying away from taking meaningful action on housing by trying to build our way out of a hous- ing crisis, and the B.C. NDP is not going to succeed at making housing any more affordable for British Columbi- ans than the B.C. Liberals before them by taking the same approach of that former government. In the 2018 budget, the B.C. NDP minority government set out what looked like it could be a promising path to begin tackling housing affordability with the 30-point housing plan, including some demand-side measures.

However, since that time, the market has continued to escalate, and it has become clear that earlier measures are not making much difference. Y et we see no willingness to update these measures and take new actions to actually cool the market. Instead, it seems this government is con- tent to watch as housing stretches further and further out of reach for British Columbians, particularly lower- and middle-income families and young people.

The truth is that this Finance Minister, like every Fin- ance Minister since Bill Vander Zalm and probably before that, is too reliant on the revenue generated by real estate transactions to take any significant action to cool the super-heated real estate market. Housing prices are out of control, not just in the greater Victoria area, not just in the Lower Mainland, but in communities right across our province. However, housing supplies substantial revenues to the provincial coffers.

No doubt, measures to cool the housing market would be controversial, but what we need is a courageous Premi- er and Finance Minister who will speak honestly and dir- ectly to British Columbians about the necessity of those measures. Until the provincial government diversifies the sources of revenue into the treasury, we are going to, unfortunately, resemble that dog that relentlessly chases its own tail, only to never catch it and to stop briefly to celeb- rate that yes, we are still chasing our tail.

In addition, for anyone who is planning a construc- tion project right now, they must have a serious look at the cost of building materials. Even as the B.C. NDP pumps billions of dollars into financing programs to en- courage the construction of new homes, the cost of lum- ber has exploded 300, 400 percent. As a result, margin- al projects are now unsustainable. In-stream projects are blowing through their contingencies and are likely to go over budget. The truth is that the HousingHub program we cel- ebrate has been exhausted for months.

Applicants have been waiting for this government’s decision on whether the Treasury Board was going to re-up on the program or move on. While this government dragged its heels month after month, projects that could have been up and out of the ground while the cost of building materi- als was still reasonable now have to be prudently recon- sidered.

As my colleague pointed out in her budget res- ponse, the situation is having a disproportionate impact on low- to moderate-income British Columbians and young people who had the dream of home ownership and are now having to reconsider. [3:15 p.m.] The Ministry of Health budget continues to grow, now well over $20 billion and counting. Certainly, this past year our health system has been tested. COVID-19 has exhausted our front-line health care workers. I raise my hands up to them as they continue to face what seems like an endless battle with a vicious pandemic. A Vancouver Sun

article from yesterday noted that 60 percent of nurses in British Columbia are showing signs of “emotional distress leading up to early signs of PTSD. ” The head of the Nurses Union, Christine Sorensen, was unequivocal. The platitudes from the politicians are not enough. Hearing the Health Minister refer to the number of beds that are available does not reflect the current reality facing nurses in our health care system. As Sorensen said of nurses in B.C.: “They have done a remarkable job over 1376 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

the last year and have not been given enough credit. They feel incredibly undervalued by the employer and govern- ment. ” I have fundamental questions of this government about the decision-making process that chose to ignore the experts warning of an impending third wave that now has our health care system bursting at its seams, but that will come in the inquiry later.

There are welcome investments into health care in this budget: $585 million to train more health care support workers, $495 million over three years to increase dia- gnostic imaging and $45 million over three years to ad- dress the systemic Indigenous racism. I’m pleased to see the $253 million in the budget on team-based and urgent primary care. The specific mention of supplying British Columbians “faster access to doctors and nurse practition- ers” should not be overlooked. If I were to ask the 14,000 residents of the Saanich Pen- insula who are without a family doctor if they felt that the B.C.

NDP government have their backs, what do you think that they would say? If I asked them if they think a bigger walk-in clinic, when what they want is a relationship with primary care practitioners, was a sign that their govern- ment has their backs, what do you think that they’ d say? What I need to see is how this quarter-billion dollars is going to be spent. Will it be on more urgent care clinics or primary care networks? My constituents want a family doctor or a team of primary care practitioners to build a meaningful relation- ship with.

It is still to be seen, after four years of promising team-based primary care homes and networks attaching British Columbians to longitudinal care, if the B.C. NDP government is actually going to deliver on the promise they made in 2017. Five years ago public health officials declared an emer- gency due to drug overdoses. This tragic situation did not just happen overnight. The mental health crisis in British Columbia had been growing for years before. But since they declared the emergency, more than 7,000 British Col- umbians have perished to illicit drug poisonings.

In Budget 2021, $500 million will be invested in youth- focused care, First Nations mental health and addictions, early psychosis intervention, eating disorder care, sub- stance use treatment and recovery and opioid treatment services. There is no doubt in my mind that these cash injections into the mental health support network will help a great deal. These investments have been a long time in coming. Over the five years, there has been so much grief and sadness. So it is in this context that I must note that the B.C. NDP continues to be reluctant in their reactive and painstakingly slow approach.

This government launched the Pathway to Hope plan in June 2019. Finally, in Budget 2021, we see the first large investment in the plan. [3:20 p.m.] This government remains in response mode. For mon- ths, the B.C. Green caucus has been asking government to cover psychiatric services for mild-to-moderate mental health concerns in our existing health care model. There is no recognition that mental health is part of the overall health of our bodies. The mind is indeed part of the body. Unfortunately, that basic reality continues to be ignored. To prove that this government has our backs, they need to be proactive.

More importantly, British Columbians de- serve preventative mental health services. To get the cor- rect treatment and therapy, we need to see the correct professional. It’s unlikely that our family doctor can offer much more for us than a prescription. Currently only Brit- ish Columbians who can afford to get the help that they need get it. None of this, of course, is good enough. It is when the B.C. NDP change their philosophical approach to mental health care that they will truly show that they indeed have our backs. A robust public education system will always be a prior- ity for the B.C. Green caucus.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard a great deal of fear, stress and ten- sion coming from those working in our public education system. Many British Columbians are questioning whether this B.C. NDP government has had the backs of educators, administrators, support workers and students. The provincial government supplied a one-time a- mount, a cash injection, to fund the extra costs in PPE, hand sanitizers and other materials to follow public health requirements. That money hasn't been extended in Budget 2021. From the perspective of this document, it looks as if the B.C.

NDP are taking the approach that by September 2021, this pandemic will be all completely behind us. In the lead-up to this budget, we’ve heard from school districts from across the province that they’re facing signi- ficant budgetary challenges. The $438 million investment in public education brings our total contribution to the ministry to $7.1 billion in operational funding. That’s the second-largest sum of any ministry. These funds will be enough to cover the increases to teacher and support staff contracts only. However, this falls far short of what is needed.

I’ve heard from many of my constituents that their chil- dren are not receiving the educational support that they need. I’ve heard that administrators are often asked to de- cide which students get extra help and which students are to go without. I’ve heard stories about delays in getting assessments for our children, so there are many students that may need extra help who are not even given a consid- eration. This is simply not good enough.

As a parent with chil- dren in our public education system, I do not feel like these actions are of a government that has my back, the backs of my child’s educators or of our children. Child care has been a policy priority for the B.C. NDP government since the 2017 election. Experts, parents and advocates have been clear that child care is a key factor in Thursday, April 22, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1377

affordability for families in British Columbia. During the fall election, the Premier committed to $250 million per year for child care. After he made this promise, advocates came to us to tell the B.C. Greens — quite apologetically — that our commitments fell well short of these new expect- ations that the Premier had set. Premier Horgan delivered a juicy election promise. But when called on to deliver it…. Mr. Speaker: Member, no names. A. Olsen: The Premier. Sorry. Thank you. It is this B.C.

NDP government that has fallen well short of their own expectations, and $250 million over three years is a fraction of the money they promised to invest in this ministry. Even the provincial government’s own bud- get documents needed to remind the reader of the 2018 investments, likely to distract from the underwhelming commitment this fiscal year. [3:25 p.m.] I’m thankful that, finally, the B.C. NDP government is going to move child care into the public education system, where it belongs. For the B.C.

NDP to truly have the backs of families, there needs to be affordable, high-quality early childhood education systems as well as before- and after-school care available for our chil- dren. While the $4-an-hour wage increase is welcome, I’m sure that if the B.C. NDP is to have the backs of our early childhood educators, they are going to have to do much better than $23 per hour. I’ve heard the B.C. NDP members stand in this chamber and talk about their climate action and their commitment to our environment.

Just this morning the member for Nelson-Creston delivered a two-minute statement about the desperate need to transition from fossil fuels. I believe she meant it. However, what she and all other members of the B.C. NDP caucus, who care about addressing climate action…. What are they doing to force our Premier to stop subsidizing fracking and the gas liquefaction industry? As the Pembina Institute said in their response to the 2021 budget, the government’s plans equal “small steps” for climate action. I’m with the member for Nelson-Cre- ston. But what is needed is for the B.C.

NDP to reflect the sense of urgency that I heard in her voice this morning. I’m happy to see Budget 2021 follow through on the commitment to create a $500 million strategic invest- ment fund for British Columbia. We’ve been calling for a fund like this for years. We see other important invest- ments, commitments like the $130 million for clean transportation, including investments in rebates and zero-emission vehicles and active transportation and the PST exemption on e-bikes. However, I stand to deliver this speech in this chamber on Earth Day.

I must rec- ognize that this budget is striving only for a greener economy, tinkering around the edges and missing the opportunity that was there to be taken. We have been encouraging the B.C. NDP to lay out a comprehensive vision for a green recovery from the COV- ID-19 pandemic. We want them to embrace the vision of their member for Nelson-Creston, to match the despera- tion in her voice by using our competitive advantages to be leaders, not followers. Instead, this B.C.

NDP government does not have the focus or the ambition that’s necessary, lacking the political will to match what other jurisdictions are doing or, better yet, to get ahead of them. When I think about the frame of this speech, a gov- ernment that claims to have our backs, in the short term, the B.C. NDP has offered us some trinkets and blankets. But over the long term, they continue to try to be all things to everybody and shy away from tackling systemic issues with systemic solutions. The B.C.

NDP’s own throne speech from last week said: “Too often, economic growth in our province has come at the expense of the environ- ment. That must change. ” But we’re not seeing anything in this budget to make that change. The B.C. NDP has failed to outline or fund a paradigm shift in the forestry sector, as they promised. The budget for the Ministry of Forests is set to decline over the next few years. Every time the Premier has promised to implement all the recommendations of his own old growth strategic review panel and promised wholesale changes to land use and landscape management.

How- ever, his government has invested nothing to deliver in a transitional way from old-growth logging. Without proper funding to implement the recommendations of the old growth panel report, this government’s promises on old growth are meaningless. [N. Letnick in the chair.] As I stated clearly in my response to the throne speech, benefits agreements with Indigenous people are specific to certain resource extraction activities. They are not broad economic development tools. To protect old growth, the B.C.

NDP need to step up with a fund for conservation financing to compensate for the lack of revenue that was promised in those benefits agreements that will not be realized if those forests are not to be cut. There is no funding for that in this budget. There is no funding for Indigenous-led protected areas or to support communities through transition. [3:30 p.m.] Here we are again with a government that believes you can change the status quo by doing the same thing over and over and over again, while standing up, members in this House, to talk about the change that they dream of.

As I said at the beginning of this response to Budget 2021, the B.C. NDP have offered little in the way of a uni- fied sense of what they are trying to achieve, a common vision, agenda, or purpose. They have failed to take the opportunity to transform the economy through bold vis- ion and audacious policy proposals. The B.C. NDP claim 1378 British Columbia Debates Thursday, April 22, 2021

to have our backs, yet their throne speech and budget spend billions of dollars while not clearly articulating the outcomes they are trying to achieve. With that, I’ll take my seat and thank you for the oppor- tunity to speak to Budget 2021. Hon. N. Cullen: I hope I’m coming through okay. I’m some hundreds of kilometres away from you and the Leg- islature, but with the powers of our technology today, so much that once was thought impossible is now possible. Legislators gathering from around B.C. and in our capital, across Canada — able to talk to one another about issues that matter. I am speaking to you today from Wet’suwet’ en territory, specifically Gidimt’ en terr

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20210422pm-Hansard-n56
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20210422pm Hansard n56
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ad6e36eb3235213ce7ec1bcfca6f6fc1e5d7564b

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