2015 Legislative Session: Fourth Session, 40th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 30, Number

ISSN 0709-1281 (Print)

ISSN 1499-2175 (Online)

CONTENTS

Page

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Tributes

Brad and Florian Chapman

G. Kyllo

Introductions by Members

Ministerial Statements

Boat accident in Tofino and community role in ocean safety

Hon. C. Clark

S. Fraser

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

BCHL hockey showcase in Chilliwack

J. Martin

Tahltan Nation Development Corporation

D. Donaldson

Business start-ups in Penticton

D. Ashton

Home care

S. Chandra Herbert

Desert Hills Ranch

J. Tegart

Food culture and Camosun College culinary arts program

L. Popham

Oral Questions

Government record-keeping and freedom of information

J. Horgan

Hon. C. Clark

K. Conroy

Highway 16 issues and government record-keeping

S. Fraser

Hon. T. Stone

Government record-keeping and freedom of information

M. Farnworth

Hon. C. Clark

MRI waiting times in Fraser Health Authority

J. Darcy

Hon. T. Lake

Funding for school facilities

S. Robinson

Hon. M. Bernier

Orders of the Day

Government Motions on Notice

Motion 26 — Electoral Boundaries Commission report proposals (continued)

M. Mungall

S. Hamilton

V. Huntington

D. Routley

G. Heyman

G. Kyllo

J. Darcy

J. Horgan

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

Bill 42 — Electoral Districts Act

Hon. S. Anton

Second Reading of Bills

Bill 41 — Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (N o . 3), 2015

Hon. S. Anton

D. Donaldson

N. Macdonald

Hon. B. Bennett

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015

The House met at 1:32 p.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers.

Introductions by Members

Hon. P. Fassbender: Today I have the real pleasure to introduce some 30-plus participants of the Democracy in Action Conference joining us for question period. The Democracy in Action Conference is a program that was launched last year by Minister Oakes, the former Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development. The 33 youths, aged 16 to 18, from across the province come to Victoria for this three-day learning program.

Yesterday, the Lieutenant-Governor, Judith Guichon, and I had the opportunity to welcome the students to the province’s capital at a welcome luncheon. The province is well represented with students from every corner of this province, including students from as far north as Lax Kw’alaams First Nations, as far south as Osoyoos, as east as Creston and as west as Sooke.

It should be mentioned that this conference would not be possible without the partnership and generous support of B.C. Rotary Clubsco across the province. Democracy in Action is designed to help participants better understand British Columbia’s democratic processes and institutions as well as the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.

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I know that tonight members from both sides of the House will have an opportunity to attend a dinner where they can engage and get to know these students better. I would ask every member of the House to make them feel very welcome.

J. Horgan: I have two introductions to make today of constituents of mine, but I want to follow on the minister’s comments because I had my own question period just the other day. I had, from Edward Milne Community School, Matthew Miller, who is here for the presentation of Democracy in Action Youth Conference. Matthew came to my office and grilled me for a good 45 minutes on what my roles and responsibilities were, not just as a member of the Legislature but as Leader of the Official Opposition. I had — for a brief moment, in any event — a little bit of a sense of what the Premier goes through when we’re asking her questions.

I want the House to make Matthew Miller from Edward Milne Community School very, very, welcome.

My second introduction. I have two friends from my constituency. One is Jane Parkinson, who is the mother of Elizabeth Parkinson, a legislative assistant of ours in the NDP caucus. She’s joined by her friend Kay Prosser. They are here enjoying their retirement, learning new things about democracy and what the Legislative Assembly does on any given day, as well as other pursuits.

On a sadder note, I want to also acknowledge that Jane lost her husband, Kevin, just recently and is, sadly, enjoying her retirement without her life partner. I know that the House will certainly pass on our condolences to her, as I have already, and wish her the very, very best in the days and weeks and months ahead.

J. Thornthwaite: Madame Speaker, I’d like to recognize a very special birthday of somebody that many of you here in the House will know and remember — my esteemed predecessor Mr. Daniel Jarvis, who was the MLA at the same time that you were, since 1991, for North Vancouver–Seymour. Would the House please wish Daniel a happy 80th birthday for November 1. Happy birthday, Daniel.

M. Farnworth: It’s not often that I get visitors from Port Coquitlam here to the buildings, but today I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce a very special guest. She’s active in our community. She works at the Prostate Centre as a researcher. She has been touring the building. She got to see the library, including — I think, for a researcher — an 1877 edition of Scientific American . Would the House please welcome Dr. Amy Lubik to Victoria and wish her a really great day here in the Legislature.

Hon. A. Virk: It’s my pleasure to make two introductions today. In the precinct is my constituent Steven Purewal of the Indus Media Foundation. Members of the House will recall displays in the halls of the Legislative Assembly celebrating World War I and the contribution of South Asians in that.

My second introduction. In the House today is a group of young leaders, a young group of individuals in uniform, the 3300 British Columbia Regiment of the Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps based in Surrey, also known as the Bhai Kanhaiya Cadet Corps.

These 40 cadets participated in a ceremony earlier today to remember the sacrifice by members of the South Asian battalions who fought bravely shoulder to shoulder with Canadian troops in World War I. They are being led today by Major Taylor and Captain Nagra. Apparently, I gave him a field promotion today. I don’t know if that stands or not. His commanding officer will know that.

Would the House please make them feel welcome.

S. Simpson: I have a group of people here to introduce that I’m very, very pleased to be able to bring to the attention of the Legislature. Joining us today is Eileen Greene, a leader from the University of Victoria School of

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Nursing. She’s joined here by 18 of her fourth-year nursing students, who in six months’ time will be joining the profession, after they complete their time here.

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They include Carlee Anderson, Taylor Arkles, Sharon Blackmore, Nichele Boas, Brianne Campbell, Rabina Dodd, Christine Doyle, Hicham El-Boualaye, Rebecca Feddema, Kim Ferguson, Gurinder Hari, Bryce Kniert, Carlee Lawless, Ashley McNaughton, Holly Prince, Amber Smith, Brianna Willett and Julia Wilson. I apologize for any pronunciation problems.

I particularly, though…. Eileen is a special person, not just for the leadership she provides at the school of nursing, but for the work she has done internationally. She is the founder of the Home of Good Hope in Namibia eight years ago. This is a facility that provides basic health care support and that feeds 500 people a day in Namibia. Eileen was recognized this July with an international award for human rights for her work in Namibia and the work she’s done there and the work that she’s done here. I’m also pleased to introduce her because she is the mother of my sister-in-law here in Victoria.

I hope everybody will welcome Ms. Greene and these nursing students to the House.

L. Larson: Hon. Speaker, it is my pleasure to welcome to British Columbia and to our House a visiting delegation from the Senate Standing Committee on Health and the Senate Standing Committee on Implementation of the Parliament of Kenya.

The committee is interested in learning about best practices, health financing and planning for serious health epidemics. The members of the committee joining us in the gallery this afternoon are Senator Lesan, Senator Ali and Senator Kanainza.

Accompanying the members are the following officials and staff: Mr. George, Honorary Consul, Consulate of The Republic of Kenya; Mr. McMillan, assistant to the Honorary Consul; Ms. Madjibodou, committee secretariat; and Ms. Mudibo, committee secretariat.

The delegation met with the Select Standing Committee on Health at lunch and will meet later today with staff from the Ministry of Health.

Would the House please make our guests welcome.

H. Bains: It is a pleasure, and actually it was a very honouring moment, for me to be present at a ceremony where over 40 cadets made up of South Asian young men and women of the 3300 B.C. Regiment….

The ceremony. What was so moving is the glimpse of history that Steven Periwal gave us and reminded us of our history — what we went through as British Columbians — when South Asians first came to Canada in 1897, and then 1914, when, although the Komagata Maru was denied entry and those passengers were not allowed to land, some of them went on to fight for the Crown in the First World War.

They never gave up on Canada, and I’ve said this before. I think they continue to turn Canada into a better place and British Columbia into a place that we all proudly say today is the best place to raise our children and work.

Along with them was a good community worker, Dr. Amer Shergill, and his wife, Furminder Shergill. They were here. And also Raj Periwal from the gurdwara from Victoria.

Thank you to Steven Periwal for doing such a great job and reminding us where we came from and where we are today so we never forget the history going forward, so that people coming after us can also relate to us — that we also play a little role in their lives, that their lives are even better than what we have today.

Please help me to send them a very warm welcome to this beautiful House.

Hon. M. Polak: The Democracy in Action conference in Victoria has already been referenced. Four of those students are from Langley, two of whom I have had the opportunity to meet with in my constituency office. I will tell you that these are absolutely amazing young people. From Langley we have William Karpan, Roxanne Kondos, Caiden Sue and Erin Maloney.

Would the House make them welcome.

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J. Darcy: I’d like to join with the Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Health in welcoming our Kenyan delegation today, who met with us at noon. I know that they are here, they say, to learn about best practices in health care, but I think that it was very, very clear to our committee — to the members from both sides of the House on our committee….

We had sort of a bipartisan, common reaction to what we learned about their Implementation Committee. They have an Implementation Committee that is struck in their Senate — an elected Senate, by the way, that includes representation from youth. There’s a 26-year-old woman in the galleries today who is a senator in Kenya.

Their Implementation Committee takes the motions from parliament, reviews them every three months to see whether or not they’re implemented, and, indeed, they report back to parliament with very, very clear directions about what needs to be done, if it hasn’t been done. I think we were all inspired by that. So while they’ve come here to learn from us, we certainly have an awful lot to learn from them as well.

Thank you so much, and welcome.

Hon. T. Stone: I’m sure I speak for all members of the House when I say it’s always a special treat when our family is here with us. I have been thrilled to have my mother in town all week. I’ve been trying to mind my p’s and q’s. She’s here in the gallery today.

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Her dad, who is my grandfather, is a large part of the reason — a large part of the credit — for my love of politics and my desire to get involved in public life. He was a lifelong CCF-NDP’er till the day he passed away. He used to always say that my political attachments must have been because I was dropped on my head at childbirth. At lunch today, I was able to once again get a firm assessment of that day from my mother, who confirms, yet again, that that was not the case.

Please join me in welcoming my mother to the chamber today.

J. Rice: From Democracy in Action today I have a guest visiting from Lax Kw’alaams, known to some here, perhaps, as Port Simpson. Cayden White is a 16-year-old grade 11 student. He’s an exceptional student and community leader in Lax Kw’alaams. He’s a student mentor, tutor, athlete and basketball coach. He especially loves sports, especially basketball.

He has received awards for sportsmanship and athleticism — highest achievement — and he’s also received the Andy Spence Memorial Award. This award is given out to a student who has given back and helped the community significantly. He’s an active participant in his culture and community, participating in traditional food harvesting, regalia making, and speaks the Sm’algyax language, which is the language of the Tsimshian people on the north coast.

Would the House please make Cayden feel welcome.

Hon. C. Oakes: I have three constituents in the House today. I have Brittany Grob, Alexandra Hamm and Cameron Sytsma.

Would the House please help make them welcome.

G. Holman: I have a number of constituents in the House today that I’d like to introduce. First is a classroom from Brentwood Elementary of 30 grade 5 students and ten parents, led by their teacher Ms. Blackie.

Secondly, a councillor from Central Saanich, Niall Paltiel, who I believe is one of the youngest councillors in British Columbia today.

Third, also a student who lives in my constituency, Daniella Ledet of Saanichton, who is participating in the Democracy in Action events here today.

Would the House please make them all feel welcome.

L. Reimer: It’s my pleasure today to introduce to you two wonderful students who are here for the Democracy in Action program and who both interviewed me in my office. Ms. August Sarar is a student at Port Moody Secondary School, in grade 12, and Mr. Dylan Buckmaster is a constituent in Coquitlam–Burke Mountain and comes to us from the Rotary Club of Coquitlam Sunrise and attends Pinetree Secondary.

Would the House please make them very welcome.

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C. Trevena: I, too, would like to recognize a student who is here for the Democracy in Action conference. Joanna Morrison from Campbell River is a student at Carihi — very engaged in community and in issues and is hoping, once she graduates high school, to study international relations.

I hope that people will make her very welcome here and for her very active future.

Tributes

BRAD AND FLORIAN CHAPMAN

G. Kyllo: It’s with a heavy heart that I pay tribute to two fine gentlemen from the North Okanagan who lost their lives recently in a plane crash in northeastern B.C. Brad Chapman was a Vernon-based businessman and community leader in the North Okanagan who, along with his eldest son, Florian, died tragically when his small plane crashed near Taylor, B.C. Brad was 56 years old and Florian only 26. They were the principals in the Chapman Group of companies that included L.B. Chapman Construction and related companies.

Brad was a larger-than-life character who commanded the respect of people in every room that he entered. He had a passion for flying once he acquired his pilot licence in his late 40s. Flying allowed Brad to pursue his other passions for big-game hunting and fishing, and he would often fly to remote locations in order to pursue it. Whether it was for business or pleasure, Brad never passed up the opportunity to go wheels up.

Brad raised five children with his wife, Michaela, his partner in business and in life. He was also very community-minded, supporting numerous charities and community-based initiatives in and around the North Okanagan. If money was needed to support a worthy cause, Brad Chapman could always be counted on to step up and to contribute.

I considered Brad a friend. He was very supportive of me in my desire to become an MLA. Brad and Florian will be profoundly missed by their family and their friends, the community they lived and worked in and by their many business colleagues around the province.

Introductions by Members

S. Robinson: I, too, would like to welcome a student to the chamber today. She interviewed me — or, rather, grilled me — just as some of my other colleagues were this last couple of weeks. Kimberly Venn is here from Coquitlam. She’s a first-year business and economics student at SFU. She also had the benefit of receiving a scholarship from the Rotary Club of Coquitlam. I’m very proud to have her here in the House today, and I hope everyone will help make her feel welcome.

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J. Sturdy: Today I have the pleasure to introduce to the House Don Evans. Don is president emeritus of the West Coast Railway Association, a B.C. non-profit society whose work is the preservation of British Columbia’s railway heritage. The society has built and operates the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish, British Columbia, which is western Canada’s largest railway heritage facility, where it hosts some 60,000 visitors annually. The heritage park is home to the province of British Columbia’s world-famous Royal Hudson locomotive, as well, and the CN Roundhouse and Conference Centre.

Don is also the incoming governor of the Rotary District 5040 and is here to speak to the youth of Democracy in Action. Will the House please join me in making him feel welcome.

A. Weaver: I, too, would like to welcome a student, Silvia Albu, who’s in the gallery tonight with the Democracy in Action students. Silvia is a grade 12 student at Mount Douglas Secondary in my riding. I found out during the interview that she was in the grade 4 French immersion class that my son was in at Campus View as well. Would the House please make her feel very welcome.

S. Hamilton: Following the same theme, I had a delightful and enchanting young lady by the name of Kennedy Dawes take the opportunity to come to my office. She’s here representing my constituency of Delta North with Democracy in Action. She’s very inspiring, and she took more time to ask me questions about how she could get involved in community, as opposed to just simply questions about politics. So I have a lot of faith that she has a very bright future. Would you please help me welcome her to the chamber.

M. Hunt: Also with Democracy in Action from the Surrey-Panorama is Harvay Sidhu, who is here to join that as well. I’d like the House to welcome him as well.

L. Larson: I would like to welcome the one person from the Boundary-Similkameen riding, Teagen Aspell.

S. Fraser: I may be in a little bit late, but I’d like us to recognize Freya Knapp from Port Alberni. She’s a bright student who interviewed me and didn’t give any quarter. She is a very astute student, and she’s going to go far. I’m proud to recognize her today, along with the other students.

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Hon. A. Wilkinson: It’s a great pleasure to introduce to the House today a man in the gallery, Mr. Josef Beck, who is the new consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, stationed in Vancouver. Two notable things to remember about Germany. It’s tied for second place as the largest exporting economy in the world, and it’s the homeland of the member for Surrey-Fleetwood. Please welcome Mr. Beck.

D. Donaldson: I have a member of the constituency, from Smithers, participating in the Democracy in Action Youth Conference. Her name is Chan Tran. She’s a student at the University of British Columbia, and I think that she’s vying for the student who’s come the furthest of any from the north. I would ask the House to please welcome her to the Legislature today.

Ministerial Statements

BOAT ACCIDENT IN TOFINO AND

COMMUNITY ROLE IN OCEAN SAFETY

Hon. C. Clark: Earlier this week — Sunday night, to be exact — the entire province and people around the world were heartbroken to learn of what happened in Tofino. Yesterday I was there.

My grandfather was born on the shores of Clayoquot island. As a daughter of the coast, a great-granddaughter of the coast, I know that accidents at sea are a constant danger for all of us. It’s something that we’re raised with. It’s something that we just know in our bones. In my life, my father, my grandfather and my great-grandfather were all fishermen. My father and my sister were rescued at sea — they would have otherwise perished — by a neighbour who just happened to see them — a situation not that dissimilar from the ones that many British Columbians can tell you about.

Yesterday when I was up in Tofino, I had an opportunity to see and talk to the people who rose to the occasion, who, in the midst of a crisis, stepped up in a really, truly incredible way.

We’re still learning about what happened. There are many more details to come out. The Transportation Safety Board has more work to do. We know that. But in the meantime, we need to do a few things.

The first one is that Minister Yamamoto, our minister responsible for emergency response, is going to make sure that we work with the Ahousaht and other First Nations, who have lived on that coast and have fished that region for millennia, who know it better than anyone else, are as prepared as they can possibly be for events like this.

Today I’m calling on the federal government to ensure that First Nations are more formally integrated into Coast Guard response for sea rescue and other kinds of immediate responses required all up and down our coast. They know it better than anybody else, and they should be part of that response.

We need to improve cell service in the region.

We also need to recognize those individuals who really did something extraordinary. The people on the Leviathan , the crew and the passengers, all have stories of incredible heroism to tell. They were brave, and they were

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selfless. One woman refused to be rescued, with a broken leg, because there was a pregnant woman she felt needed help more than her. The Ahousaht, who responded immediately. They did not hesitate for a moment to put themselves in harm’s way. The Coast Guard, which responded immediately and got there in the absolute fastest time that they possibly could. Also, the people of Tofino, who have opened their hearts and their homes to support the victims and those who are suffering.

I am going to nominate Chief Councillor Greg Louie and Mayor Josie Osborne to receive some of the first Medals of Good Citizenship on behalf of their communities.

There is a long road ahead for Tofino and for people who live on the coast, but the greatest test of character is how we respond as individuals in the face of crisis. The people of Tofino and the people of the Ahousaht First Nation have passed that test with flying colours.

S. Fraser: I would have dearly loved to have had the opportunity to join the Premier yesterday. I thank her for her thoughtful words and her timely commitments and acknowledgement and support of the communities in Clayoquot Sound.

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It’s still early days. The loss of life is still palpable, and it’s raw. We now know the identities of those that have lost their lives. We know something about their lives, their aspirations and hopes, something about their families. That makes it somehow more difficult. Our deepest condolences from all of us in this House go out.

We also know more about those who were involved in the rescue, those who were involved on the ground — the hardship and the trauma that they have gone through and that they will continue to go through and relive.

It’s those on the water, those from Ahousaht, who were the first on the scene and remained searching for days, never giving up.

It’s those in Tofino who opened their homes and their hearts.

It’s those involved in the industry, the whale-watching companies, those women and men whose hearts have also been broken by this tragedy. It’s the emergency services personnel, the Tofino Coast Guard and hospital staff at Tofino General that did so much.

We thank you all. Please know that all people in B.C. share in your grief, and we thank you.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

BCHL HOCKEY SHOWCASE IN CHILLIWACK

J. Martin: This afternoon I would like to recognize Prospera Centre and the Chilliwack Chiefs for their efforts in hosting the annual Bauer British Columbia Hockey League Showcase for the past four years.

For four days each year, all 17 BCHL teams come to Chilliwack to compete in a pair of regular season games. Teams and players get optimum exposure to scouts from the college and professional ranks. Since the first showcase was held, the BCHL has had over a dozen players selected in the NHL entry draft. The economic spinoffs have been recognized in my community. I want to thank all those involved in promoting sports tourism and those in our local hospitality industry for working alongside the Chilliwack Chiefs business personnel to host such an exceptional showcase each and every year for the past four seasons.

I would ask that the House please join me in thanking Glen Ringdal, Barry Douglas, Andrea Laycock and all of the other Prospera Centre staff and community volunteers for hosting this incredible event. And especially to the Chilliwack Chiefs themselves — who managed to come off with one of only two shutouts during the showcase, as they downed the Victoria Grizzlies 4-0 — thank you so much.

TAHLTAN NATION

DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

D. Donaldson: As you head north of Treaty Creek on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, you enter a vast, sparsely populated, remote area of the province, dominated by mountains, glaciers, extensive alpine plateaus, pristine waters and a diversity of wildlife and fish populations.

This is Tahltan traditional territory and is home to an award-winning First Nations business. The Tahltan Nation Development Corporation received the B.C. Aboriginal Business Award in the category of Community-Owned Business of the Year at a gala ceremony in Vancouver earlier this month. The TNDC was recognized for its efforts to ensure community members benefit from responsible economic and resource development in their territories. This award is a timely tribute. The TNDC is celebrating its 30th year.

Over those three decades, the company has grown to a multi-million-dollar corporation. With its start in the mining and construction sector, they’ve expanded into energy, communications and transportation. In 2014-15, the TNDC paid out more than $13.4 million in wages, employing 250 workers. Approximately 75 percent were Tahltan, and 90 percent were First Nations. It’s really a staggering achievement when you consider that most of the basic infrastructure needs for business development, like cell phone service or a well-maintained airport, don’t exist in the area.

The Tahltan purposely separate their political arm, the Tahltan Central Council, from their business branch, the TNDC. Sometimes this presents challenges. For instance, when the provincial government authorized more than 100 development permits on the traditional territory,

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it can run counter to the Tahltan values of responsible economic development and the exercising of Tahltan title and rights. But the fundamental strategy of Tahltan Central Council setting the governance framework through legal and negotiating approaches with the province and the TNDC conducting business under the rules and regulations set by that framework is a key to success.

I congratulate former TNDC CEO, Bill Adsit, current CEO president Garry Merkel and board chair Calvin Carlick for their vision, hard work and for the award. When it comes down to it, it’s all about sustaining the people, while taking care of the traditional territories.

BUSINESS START-UPS IN PENTICTON

D. Ashton: It gives me no end of pleasure in this House to rise, as I do on occasion, to inform of the many wonderful virtues of the area surrounding Penticton, Summerland and Naramata.

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This time I’m thrilled shared to share the news with everyone that my hometown of Penticton has received yet another accolade. Last week the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released its rankings of the best places in Canada to start and grow a business. It should now come as no surprise to the members that Penticton fared very well in those rankings — so well, in fact, that I’m proud to say that Penticton is ranked as the best place in British Columbia to start and grow a business.

What makes this ranking even sweeter is that among B.C. cities, Penticton finished one spot ahead of our larger rival to the north, Kelowna. In fact, the only place in Canada that ranked ahead of Penticton is the Calgary periphery, the group of municipalities that surround the Alberta metropolis, which scored only three-tenths of a point ahead of Penticton. Therefore I have the pleasure to announce that Penticton is the best small city in Canada to start and grow a business.

As the MLA for Penticton and the former mayor of that incredibly fine city, this honour fills me with incredible pride. These rankings by the CFIB are based on the strong concentration of entrepreneurs, the high business start-up rate, the optimism and success of business owners and — what I think is incredibly important — the continuation of good public policy.

In addition to being an amazing place to live, Penticton has created a business-friendly environment that inspires and rewards entrepreneurship. The message to all entrepreneurs in this is: Penticton is ready to accommodate you. We’ll see you there soon.

HOME CARE

S. Chandra Herbert: Imagine this: not being able to prepare your meals or take medication, stuck with dirty clothes and soiled bedding, left at home alone, no family able to help and real concerns that there’s no one who cares. For too many British Columbians and, especially, seniors dealing with illness and disability, this can be their reality. They get sicker, their housing becomes unsafe, and eventually they have to go into the emergency room — expensive long-term care for the rest of their lives.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We know what we need to do, but we need to do it better. Home care is the solution. Don’t we all want to spend our health care dollars wisely, cut down on emergency room visits? Don’t we all want good lives for our fellow citizens as they age, regardless of their wealth? With the increasing age of British Columbians, we will need to rely on home care and preventative health care even more.

Home care works. Constituents tell me that in some cases they’re afraid of being able to do their laundry because they’re afraid they’re going to fall down and injure themselves. Constituents tell me of the 89 Saint Elizabeth home care workers who’ve recently been laid off, and they ask me: “What happens next? Why?” Constituents speak gratefully about what a difference having a home care visit makes for their lives. It changes their lives for the better. But some constituents aren’t able to get that help.

Home care workers do better, and so must we. We need to honour our home care workers, thank them. They are our eyes, our ears, our voices, our arms, our hearts in helping the most vulnerable in our communities. They are asking for our help in this House so that they can succeed. When they succeed, our communities succeed. When they succeed, our economies succeed. When they succeed, our health care system succeeds.

I ask all of us to thank a home care worker and look at what we can do to help them succeed.

DESERT HILLS RANCH

J. Tegart: Early in the 20th century, settlers in the area around Ashcroft found that the rich volcanic soil there produced some of the best produce in the world. They found that as long as you added water to the fertile soil, almost anything would grow.

More than 100 years later, Desert Hills Ranch is committed to bringing its customers the finest produce available. From the careful selection of only the best seed to the gentle harvesting and packing, Desert Hills monitors its products every step of the way to ensure that its customers receive the best product on the market.

Desert Hills Ranch Farm Market in Ashcroft has been owned and operated by the Porter family since 1983. They grow more than 40 products, including the finest watermelon, cantaloupes and honeydew melons, field and Roma tomatoes, onions, potatoes, carrots, peppers, beets and much more. They supply several retail outlets in British Columbia, including Superstore and the Overwaitea Food Group and Co-op. Of course, their

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products can be purchased right at the farm gate in Ashcroft.

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Business has been so strong that production has tripled in the past three years, and the number of employees has increased to 200 from just 20 three years ago.

Food and safety and the environment are a top priority for David Porter and the staff at Desert Hills Ranch. They strive to protect the land they cultivate by following the most rigid environmental stewardship practices.

For the best-tasting, freshest B.C.-grown produce, I recommend a visit to Desert Hills Ranch whenever you’re in the Ashcroft area, and please look for their brand in your local supermarket.

FOOD CULTURE AND CAMOSUN COLLEGE

CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM

L. Popham: For as long as I remember, I’ve been fascinated and captivated by the world of food. From growing it to preparing it, I’m interested in every step and in every role there is to be played. This fascination has led me to believe that every farmer needs a chef, and every chef needs a farmer.

If you want to be a great farmer, you have to work with great farmers, and if you want to become a great chef, you have to work with great chefs. If you want a great meal, you make sure you’re friends with both.

The strength and growth of the local food movement has brought together farmers, chefs and eaters like never before. The passion for good food is one that drives many of us, and in British Columbia, we are surrounded by people with this passion. The calibre of our chefs is extraordinary, and as eaters, we get to reap the benefits of this talent at our local restaurants.

You can be born with the passion for food, but to embrace it professionally, training is a must. Saanich South is home to one of the best and most successful Red Seal–designated professional cook-training programs in Canada at the Camosun College Culinary Arts Centre. Led by five amazing chefs — chef Gilbert Noussitou, chef Clemens Dober, chef Nikolaas Sillem, chef Steve Walker-Duncan and chef Michael Weaver — this culinary program is world-class, and it is one to support.

The public is invited to do just that by making a reservation at the ClassRoom Restaurant. The ClassRoom Restaurant offers gourmet dinners prepared and served by senior students. Dinner at the ClassRoom Restaurant is more than a meal; it’s a unique dining experience. Besides enjoying a fabulous four-course meal at a great price, only $32.95, guests have an opportunity to contribute to an exceptional learning experience for tomorrow’s chefs and cooks.

To the Camosun culinary arts program: thank you for all you do. The world tastes better because of you.

Oral Questions

GOVERNMENT RECORD-KEEPING

AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

J. Horgan: For months, we’ve been asking the B.C. Liberal government why it is that when we ask for documents, when we ask for information about policy decisions, when we ask for information about basic consultations, we continue to get “no records” responses.

Last week the Information And Privacy Commissioner issued a report entitled Access Denied: Record Retention and Disposal Practices of the Government of British Columbia . The minister responsible tried to characterize it as an administrative report on purely technical matters. But the heart of the issue, as we now know, goes right into the heart of the Premier’s office.

Yesterday I asked the Premier if she would apologize to Tim Duncan, the courageous whistle-blower who came forward when he was bullied by an official in the Minister of Transportation’s office and directed to delete e-mails that he felt needed to be retained to respond to an access-to-information investigation. She refused to offer an explanation or an apology to Mr. Duncan.

We asked her why it was that the person responsible for freedom of information in her office used a tracking system consisting of Post-it Notes, and she didn’t answer. We asked the Premier why she had said in May, and then again as recently as this fall, that she wouldn’t tolerate anyone working in the government that wasn’t abiding by the rules and yet Ms. Cadario and Mr. Facey, identified by the commissioner, continue to be in the employ of the province of British Columbia.

My question again, given 24 hours, is to the Premier. Will she do the right thing, apologize to Mr. Duncan and also follow through on her commitment to ensure that people working under her are not breaking the law?

[1415]

Hon. C. Clark: We certainly do, as I’ve said a number of times, take the report that the commissioner has provided us very seriously. We’re thankful for the direction she’s given us. We are acting on that direction, hiring David Loukidelis, a former Information and Privacy Commissioner, to make sure that we give life to her recommendations throughout government.

That means ensuring that training is properly and adequately done throughout staff. It means helping make sure that what are defined as transitory documents is consistent across government and making sure that we’re up to date on technological change. There is work to do there, and we’ve certainly begun work on it.

So in answer to the member’s question: yes, we are very busy making sure that happens. Mr. Loukidelis has been retained. In the meantime, all political staff and all ministers have been directed not to delete any e-mails, even

[ Page 9844 ]

those that are transitory, until we get further direction from Mr. Loukidelis and further clarification and training across government.

That, I think, will go a long way to ensuring that we are able to not just answer the member’s questions but, much more importantly, to make sure that we’re speaking to the citizens of British Columbia, who have a just and fair expectation that documents that government has a duty to retain are properly retained and available to them under FOI.

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

J. Horgan: It’s a shame that the Premier doesn’t take what she says seriously. It’s a shame that the Premier doesn’t give life to her own comments around this issue.

In May, she said that she would not tolerate…. I interpret that…. Maybe it’s an

interpretation issue. Not tolerating something usually means that you’re going to address it in a meaningful way, not by saying: “We brought in an individual from the past who’s going to make sure that we don’t do it again.”

Well, they said they wouldn’t do it again in 2012. They said they wouldn’t do it again in 2013. Now here we are, two years later, and we’re still not going to do it again.

But it’s not just Ms. Cadario who has an absence of records. It’s not just the Premier who has an absence of records. We contacted, as I said yesterday and we raised here yesterday, the Premier’s office and asked if Mr. Dyble, her deputy minister, had any records, any documentation around litigation, around internal investigations, around the botched firing of seven health care workers. Now, one would think, with all of the activity around that file, that someone in the Premier’s office would have kept a scrap of paper, but that is not the case.

We then asked for another series of information from the Premier’s communications director, Ben Chin. We asked if he had kept any records or documents over a period of time. You can well imagine the response we got, even though, at the time, the Premier’s flagship legislation with respect to oppressing municipalities, the Auditor General for Local Government, was a fiasco in the making and we were just about to not hire her former colleague George Abbott. But the communications director, the guy responsible for making some sense of the incoherence in the Premier’s office, did not keep one scrap of paper.

So my question, again, to the Premier is: if the Premier’s director of communications doesn’t write anything down — he doesn’t send any e-mails — how is it that he communicates her inexplicable vision to the people of British Columbia?

Hon. C. Clark: Well, as I’ve pointed out in the House previously, transitory records, which include unnecessary duplicates, are, under the act, allowed to be disposed of, as they properly are. Individuals who originate documents should be keeping them and making sure that those are available for freedom of information. In fact, many documents related to the issue that the member has raised — all of the documents that were identified — have been passed on to the Ombudsman’s office, and they will all be released publicly. We don’t…. When the Ombudsman is finished his work, those will be released.

So it’s certainly not true for the member or other members to suggest that there are no documents. There are, and they have been passed on to the Ombudsman’s office as part of that review. We’re looking forward to the results of that review as well. I hope that the member will stand up and ensure that he corrects the record with respect to documents, because those documents do exist.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Order.

Hon. C. Clark: I will just finish by saying this. The vision of this government doesn’t need to be communicated by the press secretary or anybody else. The vision of this government is clear to every member of this government and, I think, to most British Columbians. The vision of this government is to make sure that we grow the economy, that we lift thousands of people in First Nations communities out of poverty, that we make sure that we pay off our debt so that our children will not be living under that burden when we are done here.

[1420]

That is our vision for British Columbia. I’m happy to have the opportunity to talk about it today, but again, I don’t need a communications director to do that. I’m very happy to do it myself.

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

J. Horgan: It’s interesting. The Premier’s confession that not one original idea or document comes out of her office is quite extraordinary — quite extraordinary after four years. “We don’t originate anything here. We just get up and say whatever is in our head.” That’s leadership.

I know the people of British Columbia will take enormous comfort — enormous comfort — knowing that not a single person making six figures working in the Premier’s office ever creates a single idea. It all comes full blown out of her forehead. That’s extraordinary. Zeus has arrived here in the Legislature, and we don’t write a darned thing down.

It’s not just….

Interjections.

[ Page 9845 ]

Madame Speaker: Members. Members.

Please continue.

J. Horgan: It’s not just the director of communications, it’s not just the deputy to the Premier, it’s not just the Premier and it’s not just the deputy chief of staff that don’t create anything. We did a freedom-of-information request to the chief of staff, a 25-year veteran of this place. In fact, he was working for the government of British Columbia before the NDP brought in the Freedom of Information Act. I would think that he has had a quarter of a century to understand

interpretation.

We asked him if he had any records at all about a pretty busy month for the Premier. It would be the month of June, when she was planning, announcing and cancelling Om the Bridge. That was a pretty busy time for political operatives. I recall reading a good deal of comment on that in the public press. I would have thought that the chief political fixer in the Premier’s office would have maybe dispatched an e-mail or two to some subordinate saying: “We should fix this.” But apparently not.

We have the Premier, the deputy to the Premier, the chief of staff to the Premier, the deputy chief of staff to the Premier, the communications director to the Premier and, of course, the guy with the Post-it Notes. He’s the only one writing things down, but he doesn’t keep them.

My question to the Premier is: why should anyone in British Columbia have any confidence in her and her office?

Hon. C. Clark: I can give the member a couple of answers to that question.

Look at how well British Columbia is doing compared to North America, compared to Canada. Look at the $11½ billion, a record amount in the history of our province, that we have budgeted for constructing infrastructure, including Site C.

Look at the number of jobs that we’re creating. We’ve seen the biggest decrease in unemployment, since the jobs plan was introduced, of any province in Canada.

We have balanced three budgets. We will balance a fourth. We are running a surplus, and that surplus represents a dividend for the people of British Columbia that we can begin to share in a society that is founded on a wealthy, a highly functioning, a job-creating private sector that puts people in every corner of our province to work.

If he wants to know why people should have confidence in this government, it’s because I and this great team that I work with have done everything we can to make sure that British Columbia is truly the best-performing province in Canada.

[1425]

K. Conroy: Well, the people of British Columbia would think it would be a dividend if the government actually was open and transparent, as they say they are.

On Thursday, government issued a statement in which the Premier’s office announced that, effective immediately, John Dyble would assume responsibility for freedom-of-information requests in the Premier’s office. On Tuesday, the Premier claimed that David Loukidelis, not John Dyble, would solve the FOI evasions in the Premier’s office. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Tuesday’s Premier didn’t agree with Thursday’s Premier. Perhaps she deleted her statement.

How will putting in the man who has openly flouted B.C.’s FOI law in the Boessenkool affair and the health firing debacle restore public faith that the Premier’s office is actually obeying the law?

Hon. C. Clark: The member speaks to the issue I have already spoken to, as well, which is the fact that we want to make sure the act is being applied consistently across government. That’s why Mr. Loukidelis, a former Information and Privacy Commissioner himself, a former Deputy Attorney General, is coming in — to make sure that we are able to bring all of those recommendations to life and make sure that it’s happening in a transparent way throughout the public service.

When the member talks about dividends, she raises an issue that should be talked about — 1,000 new child care spaces, a B.C. early childhood tax benefit, a B.C. training and education savings grant, a B.C. access grant, a single-parent employment initiative and the lowest overall provincial taxes in Canada, which means we leave more money in people’s pockets to spend how they see fit rather than think that government can spend it better for them.

That is a real, tangible dividend for the people of British Columbia. If you want to talk about confidence in who is going to grow the economy, who is going to put working people on jobsites, who is going to make sure there is a future, a great future, for people’s kids across our province, it’s this government. Those are the things we believe in. It’s our platform, it’s our plan, and it’s what we’re executing on every single day.

Madame Speaker: Kootenay West on a supplemental.

K. Conroy: And the highest child poverty in the country for how many years in a row? Let’s not forget that one.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner said: “I would have expected that staff…in the Office of the Premier would have a better understanding of…their obligation to file, retain and provide relevant records when an access request is received.” In other words, John Dyble, the Premier’s choice to lead the public service, should know better. Yet for more than two years, he failed to retain a single record on the biggest human resources crisis in B.C.

My question is to the Premier. How is it possible that the man she picked to solve the culture of delete in her office failed to keep any records on a human resources

[ Page 9846 ]

debacle that cost a man his life and will cost taxpayers millions?

Hon. C. Clark: As I commented a little bit earlier today, Mr. Dyble was not the decision-maker, so those records were kept elsewhere. Those records, though, have been sent to the Ombudsman’s office, and the Ombudsman is looking through all those records as part of his investigation. We look forward to that concluding and the public release of all of those records.

With respect to poverty, I do want to just correct the record on that. Seventy-five thousand children have been lifted out of poverty. We have seen the poverty rate for children in this province decline by 41 percent, the second-lowest poverty rate in British Columbia since 1980, long before the NDP ever saw the government side of the House.

[1430]

What we understand…. The way we were able to change the terrible rate on child poverty produced under a decade of NDP government was to focus on growing the economy, creating opportunities for people to be lifted out of poverty and then targeting supports to people who really need them.

The difference between us and them is this. What they focus on is trying to just make it a little more comfortable, a little easier, for people to stay in poverty. What we believe in is trying to lift people out of poverty, to try and change that cycle and fix those issues in their lives forever.

HIGHWAY 16 ISSUES AND

GOVERNMENT RECORD-KEEPING

S. Fraser: Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council, who lost a cousin on the Highway of Tears, says that the commissioner’s revelations have “shaken our confidence in how government are treating the whole Highway of Tears initiative.”

Why should anyone trust the Premier, when the B.C. Liberal government’s track record is to put their political gain, their political coverage, ahead of the lives of the women on the Highway of Tears?

Hon. T. Stone: Again, on behalf of the government of British Columbia, and certainly as the minister responsible for Transportation, I want to once again reiterate the fact that we acknowledge the history and the pain that has been experienced by far too many families who live up and down Highway 16. This is why we have worked very hard for many years — in fact, predating my time as the minister responsible — on a wide range of initiatives.

I have spoken about a number of these initiatives in the past: the transit services which are in place, about $1.5 million per year, that connect a number of communities; the Northern Health bus, which is funded at about $2 million per year; the web portal that was established, which connects people to all of the available resources; the $75,000 that’s been provided to the Carrier-Sekani for driver education and training.

I will say this again. There is more to do. That is why, in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority, we are very proud to be co-hosting, co-sponsoring, a symposium in November in Smithers where, again, we will be bringing together representatives of all the First Nations, local governments and other stakeholders to further assess and discuss and identify initiatives which will make that corridor even safer.

Madame Speaker: Alberni–Pacific Rim on a supplemental.

S. Fraser: The minister’s political staff destroyed key information relating to a decision made on the Highway of Tears by this government that could affect the lives of the women in the north. The Coalition on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women is outraged at the fact that the B.C. Liberals deliberately destroyed records regarding the Highway of Tears.

Like the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, and like the families of the missing and murdered women, they are all shocked by the actions of this minister, of this Premier and this Liberal government. They’re asking the government to formally apologize to the families of the murdered and missing for the wilful destruction of the e-mails and reports related to the Highway of Tears.

Will the Premier stand in this House today and do just that and apologize to those families?

Hon. T. Stone: The member opposite — in fact, the opposition — needs to, at some point, understand that official records, decision documents, reside in the ministry. All of the records that the members opposite are referring to exist. They exist. They’re retained. They’re saved. They’re available for FOI purposes in the ministry.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members. The Chair needs to hear the question and the answer.

[1435]

Hon. T. Stone: Thank you, hon. Speaker.

I would also like to take this opportunity…. We have acknowledged — the commissioner in her determination that there were 36 pages of a request that was made back in February — that the scope was too narrow on that request. So we’re very much working to produce those documents. But I also think it’s important, for the record, to reiterate for this House that since 2012, there have been six FOI requests on the topic of Highway 16, totalling over 600 pages of information. Three of these requests were loaded onto open gov., and three were in-

[ Page 9847 ]

formation that was sent right to the requesters. I know this because I have the material here in my hands.

There are over 600 pages of material, mostly un-redacted, on Highway 16 — FOI requests — which have been released to requesters or have been posted on open gov. to this point. To simply suggest that there is any attempt on the government’s part to withhold key information is simply not true.

GOVERNMENT RECORD-KEEPING

AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

M. Farnworth: In this House today, we have asked the Premier about missing e-mails and information requests related to one of the most awful human resource issues in this province that resulted in the death of an individual. The Premier felt that that was not worthy of a response.

We have asked questions in this House related to the Highway of Tears and missing women. Again, the Premier felt those questions were not worthy of a response.

We have asked questions related to other issues around the retention of information that are supposed to comply with the act, of freedom of information. The Premier has not thought those worthy of a response. Can she explain that to this House?

Hon. C. Clark: Well, there are a number of processes underway, as the member knows. The Ombudsman’s report is underway. He is in receipt of many records that would otherwise immediately be available under freedom of information, I believe, as part of his work. Those documents, those records, will be released when he says they can be released.

In addition to that, our government is making sure that we give life to the recommendations of the Privacy Commissioner. There’s no one better, I don’t think, in the country than David Loukidelis to make sure that we do that, ensuring that there’s proper training across government and making sure that the act is being consistently applied all across government. That’s what we’re hiring him to do, and I can’t think of anyone better to do that.

I have given those answers a number of times. I don’t think it’s fair for the member to assume that he knows what I think and what I feel, because I have done my best to answer all the questions that have been put here today.

Those processes are underway. We look forward to their conclusion. There is more to do, and Mr. Loukidelis will draw us a road map of how we make sure we get that done.

MRI WAITING TIMES IN

FRASER HEALTH AUTHORITY

J. Darcy: Peter McQuade, who lives in Surrey, has been in severe pain since April of this year. His doctors said from the very start that he needs an MRI to diagnose the source of his pain, but because the wait-lists in Fraser Health are so long, he’s going to have to wait until April 2016.

My question is to the Minister of Health. Why does Peter have to wait almost a year in order to find out why he’s suffering from such unbearable pain?

Hon. T. Lake: As always, physicians have the ability to ensure that if someone needs an emergent diagnostic procedure, they will have it right away. In Fraser Health, we have performed an additional 800 surgeries and an additional 3,400 MRIs between January and March of this year.

[1440]

We do recognize, however, that there are people waiting longer than we would like for some of these procedures. We’re working very hard with all of our health authorities to make sure we can reduce those wait times, and I’m confident that we can do that.

Madame Speaker: The member for New Westminster on a supplemental.

J. Darcy: Peter McQuade is not alone. There are thousands of other British Columbians like him, and many of them are waiting even longer than Peter. Some are being booked into 2017. In fact, the notification that Peter and other patients receive for their booking says, “Please note the year of the appointment” — the year. Why? Because some patients are actually showing up a year earlier than the time of their appointment.

The government’s own benchmarks say that no one should have to wait more than 60 days for an MRI, and that’s for the least urgent cases. Yet according to an FOI request about Fraser Health filed by the official opposition, the government is only meeting its own benchmark in Fraser Health in 15 percent of the cases — 15 percent.

Surely, we can do better. Peter McQuade is suffering. And it’s not a laughing matter. Peter McQuade is suffering. He can’t get treatment until he gets a proper diagnosis.

My question is to the Minister of Health. Why is this government not even meeting its own benchmark for MRI wait times?

Hon. T. Lake: In fact, the number of MRIs done in British Columbia since 2001 has more than tripled, so we are doing far more MRI procedures than ever before. However, we understand, with an aging population, particularly, that we have to increase the number of MRIs available. I have asked my ministry to work with all the health authorities and ensure that we can reduce those wait times.

I recognize that in health care, we always can do better. We have one of the best-performing health care systems in Canada, but we’re not going to settle there. We’re going to continue to improve our system to make sure all British Columbians get the best health care in the world.

[ Page 9848 ]

FUNDING FOR SCHOOL FACILITIES

S. Robinson: Maple Ridge school board has had to choose between window coverings for portables and services for students. As a result, teachers have been asked if they could find some cardboard, cut it to shape and prepare it for use as window coverings. That way, if they need to shade the windows from sunlight to keep out the heat of the day or they have to shade so that the classroom can actually see the overhead projector, they can simply tack up the cardboard to cover the windows.

In fact, as part of keeping our children safe, it’s protocol in the event of a lockdown to close blinds so that any potential intruder cannot see into the classroom. But at this Maple Ridge school, teachers were told that in the event of a lockdown, the teacher is supposed to quickly tack this cardboard up so that the intruder cannot see the students in the classroom.

My question is to the Minister of Education. Will he admit that his government’s so-called administrative savings are affecting our kids’ classrooms and stop underfunding our education system so that schools like these in Maple Ridge can have proper window coverings, like blinds, instead of cardboard?

Hon. M. Bernier: Actually, on this side of the House, one of the things we’re really proud about is the fact that we work well with the parents, we work well with the teachers, and we work well with the school districts in the province. In fact, we’ve invested more than $1.4 billion in the last few years just on improved schools, working on seismic, working on safety in the classrooms.

One thing is important to mention here. What’s really important is the positiveness that we have on this side of the House when we talk about the education system. What’s unfortunate is we always have to hear the NDP besmirch the system.

[1445]

You want to talk about outcomes, you talk about what happens in the schools. We’re rolling out a new curriculum. Why? Because we’re educating our students today. We’re educating them for the jobs of today and tomorrow. If it wasn’t for this side of the House, if these people were in government, there wouldn’t be jobs tomorrow. So I want to thank this side of the House for the great work our members are doing.

[End of question period.]

Hon. A. Virk: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. A. Virk: I’ve had two classes visiting me from my constituency today, the grade 5 classes from Surrey Christian School. We’ve had Ms. Hofstede’s grade 5 class and Ms. Kay’s grade 5 class.

Would the House please make them feel welcome.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

Interjection.

Madame Speaker: Vancouver–Point Grey.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: Continued debate on Motion 26.

Government Motions on Notice

MOTION 26 — ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES

COMMISSION REPORT PROPOSALS

(continued)

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

M. Mungall: It’s my pleasure to rise and speak to the motion to receive the report from the Electoral Boundaries Commission, as they are proposing to change the electoral boundaries for the upcoming 2017 election.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the commission for their work. It’s not an easy job to look at the map of B.C. and look at how our electoral boundaries are shaped and what they need to do to rework those boundaries to ensure that people are represented — that we have a strong representation by population but also by region — and to hear from people right across this province in terms of how their communities connect, how they work together in terms of what they do on a day-to-day basis, just living and working together in their communities on the variety of issues that they may have.

For example, in Nelson-Creston, agriculture is a very important issue in my area — and how the Creston Valley connects and works together on the issue of agriculture and how they want to see them stay together in working on that issue and with their elected representative.

It’s not an easy task for the commission to go out and speak with four million people on how they’d like to see their electoral boundaries look, in terms of how that impacts their representation. Not an easy task, but they did it, and they did it well.

They had some constraints this time around, as we all know. One of the things that they had to take into consideration is that there were 11 ridings, I believe — 11 rural ridings — that were not going to be changed whatsoever. They were going to be protected regardless of whether their population met the average or even the re-

[ Page 9849 ]

quirements under the Election Act, historically, in terms of their population.

[1450]

For example, what the Election Act says is that constituencies cannot deviate from the average by more than plus or minus 25 percent. That’s no longer the case for those particular rural ridings, and Nelson-Creston is one of those ridings.

We didn’t see much of the Boundary Commission this time around. We did engage with them back in 2007, 2008, when they were redrafting the boundaries at that time. They came through Nelson and Creston to hear what we had to say about the boundaries.

The original proposal would have taken four ridings out of the Kootenays and only had three ridings. Some of the things that we said at the time and that still hold true today — maybe not to the extent that we’re seeing with this current map, but they do hold true — are that we do have to create a balance between representation by population and the regional realities that are here in Canada and particularly in British Columbia.

We don’t want the people in rural areas to be at a disservice of having good representation simply because there is a sparse population in their region, and it could take you two or three hours to get to your representative because of that sparse population.

It’s fair to say that we do need to have regional representation, and that’s why we had the plus or minus of 25 percent. Nelson-Creston now and in this particular report is actually at minus 30.5 percent from the average. So we’re deviating by 30.5 percent, and that means that our total population in Nelson-Creston is 36,907.

I can appreciate that if we increased the size of Nelson-Creston to perhaps the former boundaries of what it was under my predecessor — the MLA for Nelson-Creston at the time, Corky Evans — the Slocan Valley was included in Nelson-Creston right up to Nakusp. I know today I still feel some challenges in being able to get out to all the communities I represent as much as I would like to. And I couldn’t imagine having that much larger a riding. But we do it. We see our federal counterparts do it. So we do make it work.

Right now, with the deviation of minus 30.5, there is a little bit of concern that maybe Nelson-Creston is being over-represented, but I think that’s more of a discussion for another day.

Right now, it’s about the commission’s report, what they’ve done and the fact that they had quite the challenge on their hands to comply to the constraints that were imposed on them by this government but also to meet the requirements of the Election Act and ensure that they have sufficient public input. I do think that they met the task that was before them and we have a good electoral boundaries proposal from them at this stage.

If I can, I would like to speak about Nelson-Creston under the current electoral boundaries that are going to be maintained in this report. Of course, I know that there are 84 other MLAs in this chamber that are very assertive that they represent the best riding in British Columbia, but the truth is that Nelson-Creston is actually the best riding in British Columbia for many reasons.

The geography. We can start there with the geography. Nelson-Creston is 13,212 square kilometres. On the east side, it goes all the way to Yahk in the Creston Valley, then heads north through the Purcells and all the way around the north end of Duncan Lake, comes back south past Kaslo, then heads west at Balfour and takes in the west arm of Kootenay Lake.

Heading past Salmo to South Slocan, just before you meet the junction between Highway 3A and Highway 6, it cuts off. Highway 6 belongs to my good neighbour, the MLA for Kootenay West. She has Mount Sentinel School on her side of the line. For those who are watching back home wondering where that line is, it’s just the property line between Mount Sentinel School and the Twelve Tribes farm.

[1455]

Then it goes south from there, down to the U.S. border, and includes Salmo and the surrounding areas in the district of Salmo. We don’t include Fruitvale or Montrose or Warfield. Those are part of Kootenay West. But we do have some of the rural communities just outside of Salmo, closer to the Bombi junction. Those are the boundaries.

But what’s really amazing about Nelson-Creston are those 13,212 square kilometres inside the boundaries. Like I said, the Purcells are on the boundary on the east side. Then throughout the entire riding, we have the beautiful Selkirk Mountains, which are a very old mountain range, not as high and as rocky as the peaks of the Rocky Mountains but more of a rolling mountain. They are absolutely stunning to look at. We’re surrounded by them. They’re very, very tight as well.

We don’t have large valleys. Kootenay Lake, over the last millions of years that it has been forming, has not provided a large valley. In fact, it’s a very narrow valley. As a result, it’s not necessarily an easy riding to navigate. In fact, the longest straight stretch in Nelson-Creston is a whole 3.4 kilometres.

A little while ago, I put a contest on Facebook for people to guess where that 3.4 kilometres is. There were some really wonderful guesses — all the way from a straight stretch that is between Creston and Yahk and another straight stretch that is at the north end of Kootenay Lake to another one closer to Salmo, between Nelson and Salmo, on Highway 6. In fact, where it is, is on the Creston flats. This is one area where we do have a little bit of a larger valley — on the Creston flats. That’s why you have the longer straight stretch.

This is the historical drainage essentially produced by the Kootenay River flowing into Kootenay Lake. Historically, this area would flood every year and produce some of the most amazing wetlands, and it would recede every year as

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the spring runoff from the mountains discontinued. The water would recede, and the Kootenay River would continue to flow into Kootenay Lake. The water would pull back. Historically, the First Nations would collect a lot of the natural vegetation in that area for their food.

Nowadays we see farmers who have come into the valley. In fact, Creston was originally settled…. The First Nations settled it and were living in the area, and then the European settlers came in. They settled it in a way that was a bit different than the rest of the riding. I’ll come back to what brought Europeans to the rest of the riding.

What brought Europeans to the Creston Valley was that farming potential that resulted from the Kootenay River receding and depositing incredible amounts of nutrients onto the land base around the Kootenay River in what is the Creston Valley.

It’s still a tight valley, but my goodness, doesn’t it produce some of the best food you’ll ever eat, hon. Speaker? This is one of the contributing factors that makes Nelson-Creston the best riding in British Columbia. I’m sorry. I know you represent the wonderful riding of Burnaby-Edmonds, and it is fantastic. But Nelson-Creston is just a little bit better. One of the reasons….

I have MLAs from other areas who are insisting their riding is actually better than Nelson-Creston. I hate to disappoint, but Nelson-Creston, I do believe, does remain the best riding.

One of the reasons, as I was going to say, is the food that’s produced in the Creston Valley. It truly is remarkable. The best asparagus you’ll ever eat comes from Sutcliffe Farms — yes, colleagues do know this to be true — which grows this asparagus right on the Creston flats, on the Kootenay Lake flats that I was just describing. They grow it right there, and it truly is just remarkable.

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It is crisp. It is fresh. It’s just vibrancy as you bite into this asparagus. The same can be said for the carrots that are grown out in Canyon. And of course, the dairy production that exists all throughout the Kootenay valley is, bar none, some of the best dairy you’ll ever eat, as well, because of what the cows are eating. The cows are eating the hay that is grown in the Creston Valley. They’re eating the grasses that grow up from this mineral-rich soil in the Creston Valley.

It would be terrible for me to leave this chamber at the end of my time without mentioning the cherries of the Creston Valley. Then, of course, I know the apple growers and the strawberry growers and everybody else is going to be quite upset with me. But we all know that Creston is well known for its cherries. Again, it’s that richness of the Creston Valley and the water that exists in our area that allows us to produce all this phenomenal food, including those amazing cherries that people love to stop for in cherry season.

I will remind members that the world’s best juice is produced from those cherries. That’s right. The best cherry juice is being produced by my friends Susan and Gary Snow. It’s called Tabletree cherry juice. They truly did win the award for the world’s best juice. The year following that, they won the award for the world’s best apple juice. So I’m not kidding when I say some of the best food you’ll ever eat comes from the Creston Valley.

You might think that the Creston Valley is not able to grow citrus fruit, but you’d be wrong, because the Creston Valley is growing citrus fruit in their greenhouses. You can even get oranges and limes and lemons. The farmers there are very creative in experimenting with citrus fruits.

You can pretty much get anything you’d like to eat from the Creston Valley. And that’s all within 100 kilometres — or 100 miles, as the 100-mile diet goes. I’ve brought that up here in this House before. One of the things that makes Nelson-Creston so great is that you can have a full 100-mile diet in Nelson-Creston because we also produce grains. We have amazing grain growers as well.

I don’t just say it. I try to live it as much as I possibly can in my home. My husband and I, when we got married in 2011, wanted to show our family the wonderful abundance of the Kootenays and everything that can grow within 100 miles of our house. We hosted a 100-mile wedding feast. Everything that we served came from the Kootenays, 100 miles of Nelson. Most notably, pretty much 95 percent of that came from the Creston Valley.

Being able to have that lifestyle is great. It really shows that the connection between Creston and Nelson is right on our dinner plate. What’s on our dinner plates is very important to policy and government decision-making and representation. That’s why Nelson-Creston continues to be a riding where these two communities — these two important communities in the Kootenays — are linked.

Just to share with you some of the history of when that link first took place, it was 1933 when the riding of Nelson-Creston first appeared on the hustings in the general election. It appeared after a redistribution of that time. It was just the riding of Nelson, and there was a riding of Creston. So there were more ridings, and the population was smaller. In fact, Frank Putnam won that election in 1933 with 50 percent of the vote. So 2,489 people voted for Frank. There was a total of 5,162 voters.

Now contrast that with the last election. We have about 26,000 registered voters in Nelson-Creston. A good percentage of them…. We see about 60 to 70 percent of people coming out to vote. Contrast that with only 5,000 voters. Now we have 26,000 people who are registered to vote in Nelson-Creston.

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In that same election, in 1933, that was also a significant year for the predecessor to the New Democratic Party. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was founded in that year, and they ran a candidate in Nelson-Creston. For as long as Nelson-Creston has been around, the New Democratic Party and its predecessor, the CCF, have also been running candidates.

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In 1933, the candidate for the CCF garnered 23 percent of the vote. It’s a little bit different now. We’re the successor to the CCF — the NDP. We garner about 50 to…. I think our highest total, in 2005 with Corky Evans, was 60 percent. We’ve come a long way, just like the riding of Nelson-Creston has come a long way.

I do want to acknowledge that it was 1953 that saw the highest voter turnout for Nelson-Creston. Now, Nelson-Creston — typically, we retain the right to brag that we always have high voter turnouts. We always have a higher voter turnout than the provincial average. Right now that provincial average sits at about 52 or 53 percent, and we’re 10 percentage points above that, at around 63 percent. Unfortunately, that’s not where we have been historically. Our highest was in 1953, at 88 percent voter turnout — 88 percent. I truly think that is amazing. The Social Credit won the election of the day in 1953.

That high voter turnout, I think, is a real credit to Nelson-Creston. I think we need to do our very best in any future election to get back up to 88 percent or more. That would be amazing to see — more than 88 percent. I think we need to set ourselves a goal in Nelson-Creston to achieve that 1953 high of 88 percent voter turnout. Only good things happen when people come out to vote. That’s democracy in action — absolutely.

I spoke a little bit about one of my predecessors, Corky Evans, and I talked about other predecessors — Frank Putnam, for example. But I’ve had the privilege of actually meeting four of my predecessors.

First let me talk about Lorne Nicolson, who represented Nelson-Creston — again, with different boundaries than what’s being proposed here in this report. But it was the Nelson-Creston riding. He represented Nelson-Creston from 1972 through to 1986.

In 1973 — I believe it was, if I’m remembering my history books correctly — Lorne was named the Minister of Housing under the Dave Barrett government. It was quite an honour for Nelson-Creston to have a minister in the government and to be representing an issue that is so important to our region — and to anybody in British Columbia. But the people in Nelson-Creston have a real passion for affordable housing, so it was very wonderful for us to see somebody who understood that passion be able to take what we have in Nelson-Creston, which is a commitment to affordable housing, and be able to take that responsibility forward for the rest of British Columbia as well.

Lorne, though…. While I said he was elected in 1972, that wasn’t the first year he ran. He ran in 1969, at the same age I first ran for Nelson-Creston — at 31 years old. So Lorne was a young man while he was in the cabinet of Dave Barrett and representing Nelson-Creston. I have the honour of being a younger woman in the House — second-youngest. I’m very happy to pass the torch of youngest woman in the House on to my colleague the member for Burnaby-Lougheed.

Lorne was a young man when he first ran for Nelson-Creston, and I have been very, very privileged to get to know him in recent years as a mentor to me, since I was elected in 2009. Lorne has a deep passion for the Kootenays and a deep commitment to social justice.

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Every election you see him there, because that passion for the Kootenays, that passion for social justice, he believes, is best met in his work in the democratic process. He never shies away from working in the democratic process. I’ve learned so much from Lorne over the years, and I’m so proud to be able to be filling his shoes, so to speak. He has done such a service to the Kootenays in representing us for a total of 14 years.

Another predecessor that I had the privilege of meeting was Howard Dirks. Now, he was representing Nelson-Creston for the Social Credit Party from 1986 to 1991. I got to know Howard when he was the executive director for the Nelson and district economic development partnership. When I was first elected to city council in 2002, Mr. Dirks had that position. I met him at that time and got to know him through his work in terms of economic development for the area. He worked very hard for the area in that position. I saw that firsthand.

I have no doubt that he had that same work ethic when he was an MLA for five years from 1986 to 1991. I didn’t get to see that firsthand. If I was living in the Kootenays, I would have been eight years old when he was first elected. I would have appreciated knowing my MLA at the time, but I would not necessarily have had the full breadth of understanding of everything that he was doing for the region at the time. No doubt he was working very hard and serving the people of Nelson-Creston very well. I thank him for doing that.

I’ll also mention another MLA before I get to the biggest shoes that I have to fill. An MLA named Blair Suffredine represented Nelson-Creston from 2001 to 2005. He certainly made his mark on this seat at that time. He was actually preceded by and succeeded by somebody who is without a doubt a legend in British Columbia politics.

It doesn’t matter where I go in B.C. People always ask me: “How is he doing? How is Corky?” That’s right. Corky Evans represented Nelson-Creston with a larger boundary set than what we see here in the Electoral Boundaries Commission motion that we’re speaking to today. He represented a larger boundary, which included the Slocan Valley and Nakusp, from 1991 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2009.

Corky…. I’m going to just call him by his first name throughout this speech, because he is a friend and another mentor of mine. Corky was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Forests, and he was the Chair of the Legislature’s Select Standing Committee on Forests, Mines and Petroleum Resources when he first entered the chamber. He was given some substantial re-

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sponsibilities right from the beginning. Of course, his ability to meet those responsibilities was very clear. Not surprisingly, he became the Minister of Transportation and Highways. Following that, he also had the post of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

After his first leadership race, he advocated…. Pardon me, his second leadership race. This was his second leadership race, and I’ll come back to that. After his second leadership race…. During the race, he was advocating for a ministry of rural development, looking at…. The economic development and the social development and the environmental needs of rural B.C. were distinct and different than what was happening in urban areas, and we needed to put a very specific lens on that.

Corky advocated for that very successfully and became the Minister for Rural Development following that leadership race, which he didn’t win. That’s democracy. That’s why we participate. He became the Minister for Rural Development. Not long after that, heading into the 2001 election, Corky was the Minister of Health and for Seniors.

As I mentioned, my predecessor ran for the leadership of the New Democratic Party not once, as is the case for most people who have a go at that, but twice. That shows, to me, his commitment to the people that he served.

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I know that nobody disagrees with that — Corky’s commitment to the people that he served and to bringing those ideas forward and to having the debate, having the discussion, and to being a part of leadership in our party and in our province. Corky never shied away from that, and he still doesn’t today. So not surprisingly, when time came to consider a new leader for the New Democratic Party, Corky stepped up. He stepped up, and you see him…. He wasn’t elected as leader, but he stepped up. He served this party well, and he served the region well.

I see that my time is already up. I have so much more that I could say about Corky Evans and so much more that I could say about the best riding in British Columbia. I’m going to have to reserve those remarks for the next opportunity I can get to speak about Nelson-Creston. It is truly an amazing place that I hope all members of the House will take the opportunity to frequent for some vacation time.

One of the things that we do very well in the Kootenays is celebrate our region and provide a really wonderful opportunity to relax, enjoy and have fun. We also have the longest free ferry ride in the world, in part because of the work that Corky Evans did to make sure that we have the Osprey ferry going back and forth between Balfour and Kootenay Landing on the East Shore of Kootenay Lake.

When people come to visit the beautiful, beautiful area of Nelson-Creston…. Stop in Creston, have a wonderful meal, get some cherries. Stop in Nelson, enjoy the restaurants, enjoy the beaches. And make sure that you get on the Osprey ferry for the longest free ferry ride in the world. You will not regret it.

If you get an opportunity and you see Corky Evans or Howard Dirks or Lorne Nicolson or Blair Suffredine or myself on Baker Street, do say hello. That’s the way we roll in the Kootenays. We’re friendly. We like to have a lot of fun, and we always welcome visitors to come to what is truly the best riding in all of British Columbia. I’m sorry to disappoint 84 other members, but it is true. Nelson-Creston is the best place you can be in British Columbia.

S. Hamilton: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak on this most important issue. Although it doesn’t affect my riding directly — it remains unchanged — it has had a significant effect on a number of people that sit in this chamber. I guess we’re going to be introduced to two more after the next election. I don’t know where we’re going to fit them all in, but I’m sure we will manage to squeeze.

Of course, we know that British Columbia is a province that has vastly different areas. They range in density of population between urban centres and highly remote rural regions.

In Canada, electoral districts are based primarily on population and a formula known as the electoral quotient. The electoral quotient is an average population per electoral district, and it’s calculated by dividing the provincial population by the number of electoral districts.

Now, I’m not going to drone on for 30 minutes. I don’t have the capacity to say anything more in this House than has already been said on the issue of the Boundaries Commission’s decision to modify the jurisdictions in the province. As a matter of fact, we have heard a lot. We’ve heard a significant amount, and people in this gallery watching us and people watching on television must be wondering what in the world it is we’re doing here.

Having listened to the opposition speak to some extent about this particular issue, I think I know this province more intimately now than I ever did before. Corky Evans was a gentleman that the member opposite just spoke about who I never met, but I know him intimately now. He seems like a very nice fellow. Some day, when I do meet him, I’ll have to remind him of all the time that was spent talking about him here in this chamber.

We’ve had history lessons. We’ve had geography lessons. We’ve had lessons on demographics. We know all about the service organizations in just about every community in this province. Of course, they do incredible work. I’m glad to be part of a community with a very strong sense of duty when it comes to the service organizations that continually support all of the efforts that are so needed to every community.

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We need organizations like that regularly and volunteers in a community. They’re the heart and soul of every community, no less in mine. It’s very, very important that we support their efforts, because communities are much richer and more vibrant as a result of the efforts

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put forward by our volunteers. We really could not survive without them.

Hypothetically, if the population of British Columbia was 100 people, let’s say — and this is the way it’s all going to work out in terms of how we define the sizes of our jurisdictions and our constituencies — the province would then be divided into ten electoral districts, and you’d wind up having ten people residing in each riding. It’s pretty simple.

The riding of Delta North, as the riding of Delta South, has been pretty consistent over the years. We haven’t changed very much. While I guess I’m glad that my boundaries haven’t changed with any significance — actually they haven’t changed at all — as I mentioned before, we do have some members in this House whose boundaries have changed quite significantly.

I have an immense amount of appreciation for the work that every member in this chamber who comes from a rural part of the province does — the amount of time they have to travel. I think the member for Peace River South mentioned to me that for him to drive from one end of his riding to the other takes him some eight hours, from the longest point. That’s very, very significant. It’s very, very difficult to service a riding — one MLA — that size.

The importance of maintaining the ability to properly represent a geographical area — I’m glad the commission took this into consideration and, as a result, decided to make sure that there were no changes to that type of representation.

Personally, a riding like mine I can transit from one end to the next, at its longest point, in about 12 minutes. There are some ridings that are even more densely populated, and you can walk from one end of the riding to the next in just about the same amount of time.

The important thing to remember, though, is that if we have roughly the same number of constituents in each riding, they still have to be properly represented. Even if a riding, geographically, is substantial and the number of constituents in that riding is less, I think it’s just as important that they be properly served. Whatever we can do to help with respect to resources in each constituency, I think, would be welcomed.

In addition, due to the population increases in the Lower Mainland, specifically, the commission is recommending an increase from 85 seats in this House to 87. If my fellow members think it was crowded before, as I mentioned, we’re going to be bulging at the seams here eventually.

I really don’t have much more to say about this. I’d just as soon let other members speak. But again, pretty much everything that has to be said on this issue has been said. I think we’ve canvassed it quite significantly in this House. I look forward to listening to further debate, but for now, I will conclude my comments.

V. Huntington: I appreciate that Delta South and Delta North are able to address this issue simultaneously, almost, in the House. It’s a pleasure to follow the member for Delta North.

I’m pleased to speak to the resolution: “Be it resolved that…the proposals contained in the Final Report of the Electoral Boundaries Commission tabled in the Legislative Assembly on September 28, 2015 be approved.”

I hadn’t originally intended on speaking to this motion. I felt that because my riding had been fortunate enough not to be changed, there wasn’t much I could add to the debate. However, two situations prompted a change of heart. One was meeting the House Leader for the official opposition in the hall and listening to his wise words that advised me that this was an opportunity to speak about my riding and about the meaning of the Electoral Boundaries Commission to the province of British Columbia.

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Perhaps I’ll take this opportunity to say that my thanks are very sincere for the time that the member for Port Coquitlam has given me over the years in mentoring me in this House. The Opposition House Leader is the individual with whom I have the most official contact. I could not have proceeded as well as I have managed to in the House without his very congenial and helpful advice over the years.

As an independent, I don’t sit with a caucus. I don’t have that natural support a caucus brings to its members. That was recognized from the very first day by the member for Port Coquitlam, who has eased me into this job in the most admirable of fashions. I am indebted to him for that.

The second reason that I decided to speak was because I had been listening to the members during the course of this debate, and I began to realize just how well served we were as a House and as a province by the electoral boundaries commissioners.

Even though they were deliberating within a confined mandate, these commissioners seemed to have understood the importance of community and the importance of listening to people from communities who were concerned that their personalities might be changed — not their personal personalities but the personalities of their neighbourhoods, of their homes, of their communities, of their towns and cities and villages — as a result of decisions made by outsiders.

The commissioners listened diligently to these comments and, I think, have done a great service to the province and to its people in the deliberations that they have recommended to this House. They’ve done a wonderful job, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

Not so much can we say the same thing, particularly in the case of my federal riding, of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission. Delta South has been treated like a soccer ball over the years federally. Whether you call

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it gerrymandering or trying to fit populations into one another, I believe the decisions have been made without any application of the comments made to the commissioners over the years, the federal commissioners, by community members or by their representatives, by the way. I was privileged enough to have written the comments from one of the MPs when the Boundaries Commission was considering a change to the federal riding of Delta.

Since 1988, Delta has had so many different names that we’re totally confused. We feel that everybody else is totally confused about what we are. We know what we are, but we haven’t thought that the federal commissioners of the day recognized what we were.

We have been called Fraser Valley West. We’ve been Richmond–South Delta, Surrey–White Rock–North Delta. In 1996, we became Delta South–Richmond. Then it was Newton–North Delta. Then it was Delta. Then it was Delta–Richmond East, and now once again, we’re Delta, which is what we want to be. We’re Delta. North Delta and south Delta, from a municipal point of view, from a federally constructed point of view as a riding, is Delta, and that’s what we would like to stay. We have no faith, however, given the history of our name changes, that that will happen.

At least provincially, Delta South and Delta North are different, distinct and preserved. We have been since at least 1991. It gives stability to the ridings, to the people, and it gives comfort to the population to know that their communities are stable and are recognized as such provincially and by the Boundaries Commission.

How can we say it? It gives one pride to stand up. I’m sure the member for North Delta feels the same. I certainly do as the member for Delta South. It gives us pride to stand up and say that we represent those communities and that those communities make up one, the municipality of Delta.

Delta North and Delta South are divided almost equally by population. But far more than population, they’re divided by personality and geography.

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Delta North is basically a suburban, urbanized community with a large industrial component of Annacis Island. Delta South, however, has two smaller suburban communities in Ladner and in Tsawwassen, both of whom have distinct personalities themselves and who divide the bulk of the population in south Delta between them.

Ladner and Tsawwassen are divided and surrounded by agricultural land, all of which is surrounded on three sides by water — the Fraser River, Boundary Bay and the Georgia Strait.

It’s a very unique community, a community that we have huge pride in and that we love very dearly. It’s a unique community, because it is also the environmental heart of the Lower Mainland — indeed, I think, of the Fraser Valley.

It is, as so many people in this House have heard me say over and over again…. Delta is a Pacific migratory bird flyway. Without Delta, there would not be the flyway. That is why I speak so often about it, because we are in danger of losing the habitat that supports millions and millions of birds and the habitat that supports the great salmon migrations of the world.

The Fraser River delta is south Delta. Well, I should say it’s south Delta and Richmond, but Sturgeon Bank is not what I represent, although I would certainly love to. It gets very little time in this House. But Roberts Bank wildlife management area and Boundary Bay wildlife management area are areas that I try and recognize in this House as often as I can, for without them, we lose so much. We lose the greatest wildlife migrations in the continent. Do we have a moral right to even contemplate that loss, let alone engage in it? The members will hear me, over and over again, warn them that we are in danger of losing that legacy.

But in addition to the agricultural lands, Delta South also has the Tilbury industrial area. So between Annacis Island and Tilbury industrial areas, we have the two largest industrial areas in the Lower Mainland. Delta is indeed unique in everything that it provides and becomes to the Lower Mainland.

The problem is, in south Delta — and to some extent, north Delta, but less so — we’re struggling with the demand to develop the agricultural land reserve. We’re struggling with the demands that are enabled by a province that hasn’t put its foot down about development on the agricultural land reserve, indeed, which supports development in some regions of this province on that land reserve — land which is so vital to the future of this province, of our population and of the country in general.

In talking about Delta South, I can say that when you include Burns Bog, when you include the Fraser River, when you include the Fraser estuary, the agricultural lands, Boundary Bay wildlife management area, we are talking about something that is absolutely vital to the health of this country.

In Delta, next to the Boundary Bay wildlife management area and just south of the Boundary Bay Airport, is a raptor management reserve. Very few people know that this raptor management reserve exists. Delta has the largest concentration of raptors in Canada, yet we are constantly playing and building upon the habitat that supports these raptors. With the South Fraser Perimeter Road and Tsawwassen Springs development alone, 30 percent of the old field habitat in Delta disappeared — two developments, 30 percent, one of them heavily supported and built by the province. How can we continue to allow that type of habitat destruction to continue?

If you want eagles in the Lower Mainland, you’ve got to protect the habitat in Delta South, and it’s that simple. If you want to see a harrier, you’ve got to protect the habitat in Delta South, and you if want to go out right now

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and see 100,000 snow geese on the farmland, you have to protect the habitat of Delta South.

I will not rest until somebody in this House, on that side of the House, recognizes the fact that if they don’t step up to the plate and protect Delta South, there’s going to be a disaster, an environmental disaster, that will be on their shoulders.

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Lastly, I’d like to just comment on the member for West Vancouver–Capilano’s comments on this motion. We were chatting today in the rotunda, and I said to the member that I agreed with his position that this House has to start looking at a different way of distributing the population, of representing the people of this province.

We can’t continue ad infinitum to add members to this House. I don’t think the people would stand for us building a new institution. They love this one. We love this one. It is a glorious building, and we should be protecting it as a right of everyone’s heritage in this province.

We’re filling it up now. It’s reaching its capacity, I believe, although I must say that the Opposition House Leader thinks we could go to benches and do well. Well, maybe that’s what we’ll end up doing if we continue adding members.

However, I think we have to sit down in an atmosphere of discussion and conversation, not debate. We need to sit down in a non-partisan manner. We need to talk about how we can represent the people of this province without adding exponentially to the members of this institution as the years go by.

I think we need to look at: do we do what the Americans have done, for instance? Do we give larger budgets so that we can hire more individuals and have more offices to serve the population in a riding? Is that how we handle the increase in population? How do we do this?

I can’t answer that. There are other ways in the world that they have discovered — new processes and new ways of representation — but we need to do that. We need to think about it, and we need to do it in a non-partisan manner, a conversation rather than a restricted debate.

So with that, I’ll sit down and just once again compliment the Electoral Boundaries Commission on the very fine work it has done for the people of British Columbia.

D. Routley: It gives me pleasure to stand up in support of the motion brought forward to support the Boundaries Commission report that we have just received in this House.

I’d like to talk a little bit about the process itself and then a little bit about the constituency that I represent and have represented for some time now, having lived through a previous boundary reconfiguration.

I think the general feeling amongst people in our society is that there is a growing cynicism about representation. There is a growing cynicism about the transparency of government, and that’s been a very hot topic in this House for the last few days and for several years now.

The transparency, accountability and integrity of government is at stake, and people need to have faith and confidence in their government in order to abide by common laws and to pay respect to the process that governs our province. This is a very important issue that we all face, not just in this House but throughout the province — the disengagement of voters.

This process of examining boundaries is meant to do two things. It’s meant to, as much as possible, make everyone’s vote equal in this province so that whether you live in the north of the province or the south of the province, in an urban area or a rural area, your vote is roughly equal to another British Columbian’s vote.

But that principle clashes with the principle of effective representation when, if we had the average constituency by population applied to the vast areas of the north of this province, these ridings would become impossible for any member to represent effectively because of the travel and the distances and the terrain involved.

So we have come to a compromise in this province that accepts 25 percent above the average to 25 percent below the average as being acceptable, with several exceptions even to that. Those exceptions are in the north. There are two seats that are more than 50 percent under the population average of seats in the province. There are ten seats that are below the 25 percent level.

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This has been a compromise that has attempted to balance the two principles: the one of making people’s votes equal and the other of making their representation effective.

We accept these differences, but then the application of boundary reconfiguration is something that historically, here in Canada, here in B.C. and throughout the world, has been vulnerable to political manipulation, gerrymandering — the reconfiguration of boundaries to serve a particular partisan political interest. We’ve had experience with that in B.C. in my lifetime and yours, Mr. Speaker.

This process has been developed, having three noted people — in this case, a judge, Mr. Justice Melnick; Beverley Busson, the former superintendent of the RCMP; and Keith Archer, the Chief Electoral Officer — strike a commission which examines, in an objective, non-partisan way, how to create boundaries that are both equal in representation as much as possible and effective in representation as much as possible. This is an extraordinarily difficult task, and I commend them on the work that they’ve done.

We had great concerns when the current government changed the terms of reference of that commission and allowed the protection of a greater number of seats. We had some doubt as to whether the commission could do that in a way that was justifiable and legitimate. But we happen to be very pleased and reassured that the commis-

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sion has come forward with boundaries that protect those two principles, balance them and also resist any kind of influence, in a partisan sense. We do offer our commendation to the commissioners and the work that they did.

The process of the commission. The commission travelled in its first phase to 29 communities. It heard from 128 presenters, and it received 295 written submissions. There was a second phase after the preliminary report, which travelled the province again, went to 15 communities, heard from a further 144 presenters and received another 426 written submissions. These submissions have influenced the decisions of the commission.

I started out by saying that there’s a crisis of confidence in government in our society now, a feeling that there is a growing cynicism about the integrity, honesty and transparency of government. I think that this process is a reassurance to British Columbians that the process is true and honest. I really thank the commissioners for not only the report but for a contribution to reinforcing people’s faith in this institution and the representation that they receive.

There have been changes to 48 constituencies. There have been a total of two new constituencies added to the Legislature under this report, if adopted — and it appears that it will be adopted. People will often feel that perhaps it’s not worthwhile to invest in more representation, but I feel that that’s a mistake.

This addition of two seats is supportable and justified by a population expansion in the province. Our lives are so complex. The government’s business is so complex compared to what it was historically. It’s a $46 billion enterprise that affects every aspect of our lives. It is education, health care, transportation, environment — on and on the list goes — an incredibly complex institution that requires the ability to not only hear from constituents but to adjust and reflect the wishes, views and needs of constituents.

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For such an enormous organization to have that kind of flexibility requires that people be able to send their voice to government, either through government members or through opposition members. I think it’s always a good investment to reinforce the capacity of people’s voices to be heard by government. So we support the addition of two seats, and we look forward to working under this new map.

You know, the complexity of government is only matched by the enormity of government. That’s not a bad thing. We have public health care. That’s one of the biggest pieces — in fact, the biggest piece — of government. We have the great benefit of public health care, something that defines Canadians, something that we all find identity with and something that has become another enormous task of delivery on the part of all Canadian governments. In B.C., the health authorities, if they were a private organization, would be the largest employers in Canada, the single largest employer in Canada — just the health authorities in B.C.

So you can imagine that that being one aspect — albeit the biggest aspect — of provincial government business, it is a reflection, an illustration, of exactly how big the task of governance is.

The commission made its recommendations in terms of the shape of constituencies, the size of constituencies and the location of borders, but they also made a couple of recommendations. One was to allow Elections B.C. to take over the administrative support for future commissions. I hope the government will hear that recommendation in the legislation it brings forward to support this report.

It has said that the Legislative Assembly should assess whether increased discrepancy in representation by population was sufficiently addressed in the May 2014 legislation, freezing the number of electoral districts in slower-growing regions. That requires further debate, but it’s understood on this side of the House — and I’m assuming, from what I’ve heard, on the government side of the House — that, in fact, that is a legitimate reflection of the balance between the principles of equal representation and effective representation.

We have 17 protected seats in the province, and we had, in the past, only three. That was a major concern on the part of the opposition, but thankfully, the commission appears to have managed that requirement with grace and integrity.

Having now spoken about the role of the commission and the functioning of the commission, I’d like to turn my attention to the constituency that I represent. The name of that constituency, as you know, is Nanaimo–North Cowichan. I grew up in the Cowichan Valley, and I am very intimately aware of the relationships between the different communities on the Island, in the mid-Island area that I grew up in and now represent.

I attended high school in Chemainus, which is one of the small communities I represent. I’ve played sports in all of these communities. Despite their close proximity and their cordial relationships, there is a high degree of competitive interest between these communities, and it’s never to be underestimated.

When I was a school trustee, a school trustee who hadn’t grown up in the Cowichan Valley made an unfortunate remark about the tensions between the community of Lake Cowichan and the community of Duncan when we were discussing the management of school interests. Not having grown up in the Cowichan Valley, she observed that they were only 20 kilometres apart. How different can they be?

I think the Justice Minister, who also grew up in Duncan and the Cowichan Valley, would readily agree that there are very distinct differences between these communities — high levels of competitiveness but high levels of cooperation and interdependence as well, some-

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thing that’s quite a lovely mix that has grown up organically over time.

The Justice Minister’s father was a very significant person in the Cowichan Valley, in fact. I personally learned a great deal from her father around the historical role of the community of Duncan and the Cowichan Valley.

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I’m relieved, in fact, that this time the constituency I represent has changed very little. The southern boundary at Herd Road and Lake Cowichan Highway has remained the same. The northern boundary has changed slightly, by a couple of blocks, further north, and a couple of different neighbourhoods have been removed. But these amount to, really, tinkering at the edges. This is something that I’m relieved about, not simply for my own comfort but for the comfort of constituents.

Last time, the last boundary reconfiguration, which occurred at the point of the 2009 election, the constituency I represented changed by 50 percent. The population changed by 50 percent. People, effectively, had moved north, 50 percent past its boundaries. So 50 percent of the population was new, and 50 percent were the people that I represented between 2005 and 2009. This is a very significant change, of course, for me, but I’m familiar with those communities and active.

But for the constituents, it was a really jarring experience, and this is not to be underestimated. The constituencies that members represent that have experienced large changes will find that there’s quite a significant impact that comes from that change.

My history of it in Nanaimo–North Cowichan was that the boundary, when it moved north, also newly encompassed the island of Gabriola, with a population of just about 5,000 people. Gabriola is a very unique and separate, independent community. The residents of Gabriola were, I think, really jarred by that change last time — just having to go to a different office in a different part of the city, becoming familiar with a different representative, as I was re-elected, under these new boundaries.

I’m relieved, in fact, that the constituency I represent did not significantly change, because of that disruption and the impact that people felt last time. I have empathy for the constituents of members who are experiencing greater change. It is not an easy thing. It’s not easy for the members, as well, to become familiar with new community groups, new local governments, new school districts. All of these things take time in the relationship-building that’s vital to the representation that we provide to constituents.

The constituency I represent, Nanaimo–North Cowichan, actually decreased very slightly in area, from 2,720 square kilometres to 2,709 kilometres, but has increased in population by about 5,000 citizens. It was at 49,402, and it is now at 54,560. It’s about 4 percent over the average, but it’s still a very manageable number. The fact that the area hasn’t greatly changed makes that, again, much easier.

Part of the tension in developing a map by any Boundaries Commission is the tension between urban and rural representation. In B.C., we are so dependent on resource industries, which largely come from the smallest communities. Although being the economic breadbaskets of our province, often I think that rural communities feel under-represented — not in a sense of the quotient of population to members in the House but in terms of the priorities of government, because of the high concentration of people in urban settings.

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My own experience is similar in that Nanaimo–North Cowichan, the constituency I represent, in a way, is a representation of that tension. I represent the south third, roughly, of the city of Nanaimo, the densely populated Harewood neighbourhoods and the South End community. These are some of the most historic neighbourhoods of Nanaimo. They are the traditional homes of miners and lumbermen, people who are dependent on the resource industries of the island but who also live in a very urban setting.

Then I also represent vast areas of wilderness, mountainous terrain and agricultural communities, farming-based communities. So just within the constituency of Nanaimo–North Cowichan, we see played out the tensions between rural and urban divides and the different interests that people have, the different challenges they face in terms of acquiring government services, in terms of standard of living — challenges that are very different from a rural setting to an urban setting.

I’ve said that there are 54,000 people here. In fact, there are 54,560 citizens proposed under the new boundary, and we, in our offices, generally have two staff people. If one out of 100 of those constituents has an issue or a problem or a need that must be addressed through the office of the MLA, that’s 545 or 546 people in a year. These problems are sometimes simple but more often very complex and difficult, vexing problems to solve.

Our constituency assistants do amazing work in dealing with the load of that requirement, all that need. They must have relationships built within ministries and with bureaucrats throughout government. They must become experts in everything, Mr. Speaker. You know this well. Our constituency assistants have to deal with not only that enormous load of constituency work in representing people but also the amazing complexity of what they must know in order to do that.

There was a cartoon circulated a few years ago that was titled “The constituency assistant begins their day.” This person had a blindfold on and was throwing a dart at a wall that had “education, health care, transportation, bus” — all the issues that they face. Then at the bottom it said: “Today I’m an expert in….”

This is absolutely the truth. These folks do amazing work, and we have to thank them very deeply for being able to do that. I think it’s a job and a task that’s perhaps

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underappreciated because it doesn’t get a lot of attention, but when we talk about the budgets of offices and what it takes in order for a member to represent their community, that’s where the resources go. It’s very well-spent public funds that go to these people to represent constituents.

In Nanaimo–North Cowichan, we have an enormous diversity, as I’ve already indicated, in terms just of small communities that I represent. The community of Crofton is home to the Catalyst pulp mill. There are long-time community families there who were friends of mine as a child, who go back many generations to the founding of the community — some still living in the houses that they’ve lived in for several generations. It’s a beautiful seaside community with a ferry terminal that connects Crofton to Saltspring Island.

I represent the community of Chemainus. Chemainus is a lovely little town that has always been very forest-industry-dependent. It has had several mills come and go over the years. One of the major mills was closed when I was a teenager, actually, and it was a huge blow to the community. Since then, more milling activity has come on stream, but in recent years that has been challenged by a lack of availability of fibre for those mills as raw log exports increase.

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[R. Lee in the chair.]

Chemainus is known as the little town that did. That is because when Chemainus first suffered the blow of the closure of their main mill, they rallied together and, behind the leadership of several citizens, had murals painted throughout the town depicting its history — the social, economic and environmental history of Chemainus. This became a globally recognized attraction. Suddenly Chemainus was able to provide employment and small business opportunity through attraction as a tourist destination, something that had never been a part of its past. I think it’s an example of the resiliency and determination of the people of the communities that I’m proud to represent.

The town of Ladysmith. They say you’re never over the hill in Ladysmith because it’s built on hills like the hills of San Francisco. It’s a beautiful little town that was founded primarily as the home of workers in the coal-mining industry.

One of my interests is railway history. The history of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, currently owned by the Island Corridor Foundation, owned by the communities of the Island, is a history that was established when B.C. entered Confederation. There was an agreement that a transcontinental railway would have its terminus point in Victoria, so that there would be a railway from Nanaimo to Victoria, as one of the conditions of B.C. entering Confederation.

In order to deliver on that promise, the governor of British Columbia granted land to Robert Dunsmuir, who was a coal baron. It was, essentially, the eastern third of Vancouver Island. All the resources, all the coal, all the forests, all the land of the eastern third of Vancouver Island was granted to Dunsmuir in order to complete that railway.

Communities sprung up along the railway that were home to workers. This deeply affected the history of Vancouver Island, particularly mid–Vancouver Island — Ladysmith, South Wellington, communities that I represent proudly.

Dunsmuir was not known as a particularly friendly person to organized workers, organized labour. There was a very notable strike in the Ladysmith, South Wellington, Nanaimo area. For many months, coal-mine workers were on strike, and the companies brought in armed reinforcem