British Columbia Hansard — Monday, March 6, 2017 (40th Parliament, 6th Session) (20170306pm-Hansard-v42n11) (20170306pm Hansard v42n11)

20170306pm-Hansard-v42n11

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Sixth Session, 40th Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (HANSARD) THE HONOURABLE LINDA REID, SPEAKER ISSN 0709-1281 (P rint) ISSN 1499-2175 (Online) Monday, March 6, 2017 Afternoon Sitting Volume 42, Number 11

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Her Honour the Honourable Judith Guichon, OBC Sixth Session, 40th Parliament SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Linda Reid EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council .............................................................................................................. Hon. Christy Clark Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Gas Development and Minister Responsible for Housing ......................Hon.

Rich Coleman Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation ......................................................................................................... Hon. John Rustad Minister of Advanced Education ............................................................................................................................... Hon. Andrew Wilkinson Minister of Agriculture ........................................................................................................................................................ Hon.

Norm Letnick Minister of Children and Family Development .......................................................................................................Hon. Stephanie Cadieux Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and Minister Responsible for TransLink ................ Hon. Peter Fassbender Minister of Education ............................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Mike Bernier Minister of Energy and Mines and Minister Responsible for Core Review .....................................................................Hon. Bill Bennett Minister of Environment ..........................................................................................................................................................Hon. Mary Polak Minister of Finance .................................................................................................................................................. Hon.

Michael de Jong, QC Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations......................................................................................Hon. Steve Thomson Minister of State for Rural Economic Development ..................................................................................................................Hon. Donna Barnett Minister of Health ............................................................................................................................................................... Hon. Dr.

Terry Lake Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism ...........................................................................................Hon. T eresa W at Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour ...................................................Hon. Shirley Bond Minister of Justice ...................................................................................................................................................... Hon.

Suzanne Anton, QC Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ................................................................................................................. Hon. Mike Morris Minister of Small Business and Red T ape Reduction and Minister Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch ........................................................................................................Hon. Coralee Oakes Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation..............................................................................................Hon.

Michelle Stilwell Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services ................................................................................................ Hon. Amrik Virk Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure ......................................................................................................................Hon. Todd Stone Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness ....................................................................................................................Hon.

Naomi Y amamoto LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Leader of the Official Opposition ...................................................................................................................................................John Horgan Deputy Speaker .............................................................................................................................................................................. Richard T. Lee Assistant Deputy Speaker ...............................................................................................................................................................

Raj Chouhan Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole .................................................................................................................................... Simon Gibson Clerk of the Legislative Assembly ................................................................................................................................................... Craig James Deputy Clerk and Clerk of Committees .................................................................................................................................

Kate Ryan-Lloyd Clerk Assistant — Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..........................................................................................Susan Sourial Sessional Law Clerk ............................................................................................................................................. Loredana Catalli-Sonier, QC Sergeant-at-Arms ................................................................................................................................................................................. Gary Lenz

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Anton, Hon. Suzanne, QC (BC Liberal) ...................... Vancouver-Fraserview Ashton, Dan (BC Liberal).....................................................................Penticton Austin, Robin (NDP) ................................................................................ Skeena Bains, Harry (NDP) ....................................................................Surrey-Newton Barnett, Hon. Donna (BC Liberal) ..................................... Cariboo-Chilcotin Bennett, Hon.

Bill (BC Liberal) ...................................................Kootenay East Bernier, Hon. Mike (BC Liberal) ......................................... Peace River South Bing, Dr. Doug (BC Liberal) ................................ Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Bond, Hon. Shirley (BC Liberal) ...........................Prince George–Valemount Cadieux, Hon. Stephanie (BC Liberal) ................................Surrey-Cloverdale Chandra Herbert, Spencer (NDP) .................................Vancouver–West End Chouhan, Raj (NDP) ........................................................... Burnaby-Edmonds Clark, Hon.

Christy (BC Liberal) ........................................ Westside-Kelowna Coleman, Hon. Rich (BC Liberal) ...........................Fort Langley–Aldergrove Conroy, Katrine (NDP) .............................................................. Kootenay West Corrigan, Kathy (NDP) ..................................................... Burnaby–Deer Lake Dalton, Marc (BC Liberal) ............................................. Maple Ridge–Mission Darcy, Judy (NDP) ..................................................................New Westminster de Jong, Hon. Michael, QC (BC Liberal) ..............................

Abbotsford West Dix, Adrian (NDP)............................................................Vancouver-Kingsway Donaldson, Doug (NDP) ......................................................................... Stikine Eby, David (NDP) ..........................................................Vancouver–Point Grey Elmore, Mable (NDP) ................................................... Vancouver-Kensington Farnworth, Mike (NDP) ............................................................ Port Coquitlam Fassbender, Hon. Peter (BC Liberal) ...................................

Surrey-Fleetwood Fleming, Rob (NDP) .......................................................... Victoria–Swan Lake Foster, Eric (BC Liberal) .......................................................Vernon-Monashee Fraser, Scott (NDP) ............................................................Alberni–Pacific Rim Gibson, Simon (BC Liberal) ............................................. Abbotsford-Mission Hamilton, Wm. Scott (BC Liberal) .................................................Delta North Hammell, Sue (NDP) ....................................................

Surrey–Green Timbers Heyman, George (NDP) .................................................... Vancouver-Fairview Hogg, Gordon (BC Liberal) ............................................... Surrey–White Rock Holman, Gary (NDP) .......................................Saanich North and the Islands Horgan, John (NDP) .......................................................................

Juan de Fuca Hunt, Marvin (BC Liberal) ....................................................Surrey-Panorama Huntington, Vicki (Ind.) ..................................................................Delta South James, Carole (NDP) .........................................................Victoria–Beacon Hill Karagianis, Maurine (NDP) ........................................Esquimalt–Royal Roads Krog, Leonard Eugene (NDP) ............................................................. Nanaimo Kyllo, Greg (BC Liberal) ........................................................................ Shuswap Lake, Hon. Dr.

Terry (BC Liberal) ....................Kamloops–North Thompson Larson, Linda (BC Liberal) .........................................Boundary-Similkameen Lee, Richard T. (BC Liberal) ......................................................Burnaby North Letnick, Hon. Norm (BC Liberal) ..............................Kelowna–Lake Country Macdonald, Norm (NDP) ....................................Columbia River–Revelstoke McRae, Don (BC Liberal) ............................................................ Comox Valley Mark, Melanie (NDP) ...........................................

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Martin, John (BC Liberal) ..................................................................Chilliwack Morris, Hon. Mike (BC Liberal) ........................... Prince George–Mackenzie Mungall, Michelle (NDP) ..........................................................Nelson-Creston Oakes, Hon. Coralee (BC Liberal) .............................................Cariboo North Pimm, Pat (Ind.) .....................................................................Peace River North Plecas, Dr. Darryl (BC Liberal) .............................................Abbotsford South Polak, Hon.

Mary (BC Liberal) ..............................................................Langley Popham, Lana (NDP) ...................................................................Saanich South Ralston, Bruce (NDP) ................................................................ Surrey-Whalley Reid, Hon. Linda (BC Liberal) ..................................................Richmond East Reimer, Linda (BC Liberal) ........................................

Port Moody–Coquitlam Rice, Jennifer (NDP) ........................................................................North Coast Robinson, Selina (NDP) .............................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Routley, Bill (NDP) .................................................................. Cowichan Valley Routley, Doug (NDP) ............................................Nanaimo–North Cowichan Rustad, Hon. John (BC Liberal) ................................................ Nechako Lakes Shin, Dr.

Jane Jae Kyung (NDP) .........................................Burnaby-Lougheed Simons, Nicholas (NDP) ................................... Powell River–Sunshine Coast Simpson, Shane (NDP) .....................................................Vancouver-Hastings Stilwell, Hon. Michelle (BC Liberal)............................... Parksville-Qualicum Stilwell, Dr. Moira (BC Liberal) ........................................ Vancouver-Langara Stone, Hon. Todd (BC Liberal) .........................

Kamloops–South Thompson Sturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal) ..................................West Vancouver–Sea to Sky Sullivan, Sam (BC Liberal) ...........................................Vancouver–False Creek Sultan, Ralph (BC Liberal) ..................................... West Vancouver–Capilano Tegart, Jackie (BC Liberal) ............................................................Fraser-Nicola Thomson, Hon. Steve (BC Liberal) .......................................Kelowna-Mission Thornthwaite, Jane (BC Liberal) ..........................

North Vancouver–Seymour Throness, Laurie (BC Liberal).................................................Chilliwack-Hope Trevena, Claire (NDP) .................................................................... North Island Virk, Hon. Amrik (BC Liberal) ............................................. Surrey-Tynehead Wat, Hon. Teresa (BC Liberal) .............................................. Richmond Centre Weaver, Dr. Andrew (Ind.) .......................................... Oak Bay–Gordon Head Wickens, Jodie (NDP) ..........................................Coquitlam–Burke Mountain Wilkinson, Hon.

Andrew (BC Liberal) ........................ Vancouver-Quilchena Y amamoto, Hon. Naomi (BC Liberal) ................ North Vancouver–Lonsdale Y ap, John (BC Liberal) ......................................................Richmond-Steveston LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Mission ......................................................................Simon Gibson Abbotsford South ..................................................................... Dr. Darryl Plecas Abbotsford West ...................................................... Hon.

Michael de Jong, QC Alberni–Pacific Rim .......................................................................... Scott Fraser Boundary-Similkameen ................................................................ Linda Larson Burnaby–Deer Lake ................................................................... Kathy Corrigan Burnaby-Edmonds ..........................................................................Raj Chouhan Burnaby-Lougheed ...................................................... Dr. Jane Jae Kyung Shin Burnaby North ..............................................................................

Richard T. Lee Cariboo-Chilcotin ..............................................................Hon. Donna Barnett Cariboo North .................................................................... Hon. Coralee Oakes Chilliwack ......................................................................................... John Martin Chilliwack-Hope ....................................................................... Laurie Throness Columbia River–Revelstoke ..................................................

Norm Macdonald Comox Valley.....................................................................................Don McRae Coquitlam–Burke Mountain .......................................................Jodie Wickens Coquitlam-Maillardville........................................................... Selina Robinson Cowichan Valley ................................................................................ Bill Routley Delta North .........................................................................Wm.

Scott Hamilton Delta South...............................................................................Vicki Huntington Esquimalt–Royal Roads .....................................................Maurine Karagianis Fort Langley–Aldergrove ...................................................Hon. Rich Coleman Fraser-Nicola.................................................................................... Jackie Tegart Juan de Fuca .....................................................................................John Horgan Kamloops–North Thompson ............................................ Hon. Dr.

Terry Lake Kamloops–South Thompson ..................................................Hon. Todd Stone Kelowna–Lake Country ..................................................... Hon. Norm Letnick Kelowna-Mission .............................................................. Hon. Steve Thomson Kootenay East .......................................................................... Hon. Bill Bennett Kootenay West ............................................................................ Katrine Conroy Langley.......................................................................................Hon.

Mary Polak Maple Ridge–Mission ..................................................................... Marc Dalton Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows ........................................................ Dr. Doug Bing Nanaimo ........................................................................... Leonard Eugene Krog Nanaimo–North Cowichan ......................................................... Doug Routley Nechako Lakes ........................................................................ Hon.

John Rustad Nelson-Creston ........................................................................Michelle Mungall New Westminster ............................................................................... Judy Darcy North Coast......................................................................................Jennifer Rice North Island .................................................................................. Claire Trevena North Vancouver–Lonsdale ........................................Hon.

Naomi Y amamoto North Vancouver–Seymour ..................................................Jane Thornthwaite Oak Bay–Gordon Head ...................................................... Dr. Andrew Weaver Parksville-Qualicum .......................................................Hon. Michelle Stilwell Peace River North ................................................................................ Pat Pimm Peace River South ..................................................................Hon. Mike Bernier Penticton............................................................................................

Dan Ashton Port Coquitlam ..........................................................................Mike Farnworth Port Moody–Coquitlam ................................................................Linda Reimer Powell River–Sunshine Coast ................................................. Nicholas Simons Prince George–Mackenzie ....................................................Hon. Mike Morris Prince George–Valemount ...................................................Hon. Shirley Bond Richmond Centre ......................................................................Hon.

Teresa Wat Richmond East ..........................................................................Hon. Linda Reid Richmond-Steveston ..............................................................................John Y ap Saanich North and the Islands .................................................... Gary Holman Saanich South ................................................................................

Lana Popham Shuswap ................................................................................................Greg Kyllo Skeena .............................................................................................. Robin Austin Stikine ....................................................................................... Doug Donaldson Surrey-Cloverdale ....................................................... Hon. Stephanie Cadieux Surrey-Fleetwood ........................................................... Hon.

Peter Fassbender Surrey–Green Timbers ..................................................................Sue Hammell Surrey-Newton ................................................................................. Harry Bains Surrey-Panorama ........................................................................... Marvin Hunt Surrey-Tynehead ......................................................................Hon. Amrik Virk Surrey-Whalley..............................................................................

Bruce Ralston Surrey–White Rock ....................................................................... Gordon Hogg Vancouver-Fairview ..................................................................George Heyman Vancouver–False Creek ...................................................................Sam Sullivan Vancouver-Fraserview ..............................................Hon.

Suzanne Anton, QC Vancouver-Hastings ....................................................................Shane Simpson Vancouver-Kensington .................................................................Mable Elmore Vancouver-Kingsway..........................................................................Adrian Dix Vancouver-Langara .................................................................Dr. Moira Stilwell Vancouver–Mount Pleasant .........................................................

Melanie Mark Vancouver–Point Grey .........................................................................David Eby Vancouver-Quilchena ................................................ Hon. Andrew Wilkinson Vancouver–West End ...............................................

Spencer Chandra Herbert Vernon-Monashee ...............................................................................Eric Foster Victoria–Beacon Hill .......................................................................Carole James Victoria–Swan Lake.........................................................................Rob Fleming West Vancouver–Capilano ............................................................. Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Sea to Sky ..........................................................Jordan Sturdy Westside-Kelowna ................................................................

Hon. Christy Clark Party Standings: BC Liberal 47; New Democratic 35; Independent 3

CONTENTS Monday, March 6, 2017 Afternoon Sitting Page Routine Business Statements .............................................................................................................................................................................. 14079 Memorial event for firefighters Hon. S. Bond S.

Simpson Introductions by Members ................................................................................................................................................... 14079 Statements .............................................................................................................................................................................. 14080 Message of appreciation S.

Chandra Herbert Introductions by Members ................................................................................................................................................... 14080 Statements .............................................................................................................................................................................. 14081 Message of condolence C.

Trevena Introduction and First Reading of Bills .............................................................................................................................. 14081 Bill 9 — Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2017 Hon. M. de Jong Bill M234 — Wildlife Amendment Act, 2017 A. Weaver Statements (Standing Order 25B) ....................................................................................................................................... 14082 Children of the Street Society L. Reimer Coquitlam Farmers Market S. Robinson Health technology innovation and treatment for balance disorder M.

Hunt Simons Foundation advocacy for peace and disarmament D. Eby High-speed Internet service for Lytton area J. Tegart Blusson Spinal Cord Centre G. Heyman Oral Questions ....................................................................................................................................................................... 14084 J. Horgan Election campaign financing legislation J. Horgan Hon. S. Anton Emergency services at hospitals J. Darcy Hon. T. Lake S. Robinson J. Wickens H. Bains Fuel spill at fish farm in Echo Bay C. Trevena Hon. M. Polak Water quality in Spallumcheen area G. Heyman Hon. M.

Polak

Petitions .................................................................................................................................................................................. 14089 C. James Orders of the Day Second Reading of Bills ........................................................................................................................................................ 14089 Bill 11 — Supply Act (No. 1), 2017 Hon. M. de Jong C. James Bill 5 — Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Statutes Amendment Act, 2017 (continued) Hon. M. Morris K. Conroy J. Sturdy D. Donaldson G.

Holman Hon. S. Thomson Bill 2 — Adoption Amendment Act, 2017 Hon. Michelle Stilwell M. Mark L. Reimer J. Rice Hon. S. Anton M. Karagianis Hon. M. Morris D. Donaldson E. Foster D. McRae Hon. Michelle Stilwell Committee of the Whole House .......................................................................................................................................... 14118 Bill 7 — Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2017 Hon. N. Letnick L. Popham

MONDAY , MARCH 6, 2017 The House met at 1:36 p.m. [Madame Speaker in the chair.] Routine Business Statements MEMORIAL EVENT FOR FIREFIGHTERS Hon. S. Bond: Today many members of the Legislature joined families of fallen firefighters to cele - brate the lives of heroes that have passed away in the line of their work. I wanted to thank Madame Speaker for her hospitality and for making sure that the ceremony took place today.

Certainly, on behalf of Madame Speaker, we want to recognize those families, some who are in the gallery today, and offer our profound thanks for the men and women who serve our province as firefighters, particu - larly today. We think about those who have lost their lives, and we appreciate very much everyone who paid tribute to them during the lunch hour today. S. Simpson: I’ d like to join with the minister in her comments.

I think that we all understand very keenly the role that firefighters and all first responders play for us in British Columbia, how important that role is and how they put themselves in the way of danger every day, and they do that on behalf of British Columbians. Many of them, as we heard of the 14 firefighters that were recognized today, paid the ultimate sacrifice, and their families also paid that sacrifice, losing loved ones.

I’m sure that all members of the Legislature want to of - fer our profound thanks to the firefighters for every - thing they do and our condolences and wishes for the families of those who were lost and who were recog - nized today. Introductions by Members Hon. M. Morris: I have the pleasure today of four of my constituents visiting us here from Prince George. The first one is Bernard McKay. He’s a retired guide-outfitter, fellow trapper, outdoor enthusiast, author and campfire singer. He’s accompanied by his lovely wife, Joeane, of many summers. They’re accompanied here, as well, by Dr. Winifred Kessler.

She’s had a 40-year career in wildlife sciences through B.C., the Yukon, Alaska and throughout Canada and 18 years on the HCTF board and on the national board for Ducks Unlimited. She’s got a PhD in range sci- ence, taught at several universities throughout B.C. and the United States, retired in 2010 and is enjoying the fine life here in beautiful British Columbia. She’s accompan- ied by her partner, Warren Eastland, who’s also a retired biologist, philosopher, author and outdoor enthusiast. May the House please make them welcome. D.

Donaldson: Joining us in the gallery today are two Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs: Sm’ ooygit Malii, Glen Williams, from Lax Gibuu, the wolf clan, and Sm’ ooygit Luuxhon, Don Russell, from Lax Ganeda, the frog clan. They were meeting with the B.C. NDP leader and also with our official opposition spokesperson on aboriginal relations and reconciliation to talk about the Gitanyow Lax’yip land use plan and how the galüünx, the treasure box, and sustainability are embodied in that plan. We had a great discussion.

Would the members of the chamber here please wel - come these two Hereditary Chiefs to the Legislature. [1340] Hon. P . Fassbender: I had the pleasure earlier today to meet with a parliamentary committee from Denmark. They are here in British Columbia, visiting us to see our rural jobs strategy and education strategy. They were very interested in our B.C. jobs plan, and I would like the House to make them feel very welcome. K. Conroy: I also wanted to say welcome — goddag og velkommen — to the Danish delegation. Having Danish parents and Danish heritage, it was really a pleasure to meet with them today.

I also have one other introduction. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to introduce a class today. On Friday, I spoke to Ms. Deschene’s grade 5 and 6 class at Kinnaird Elementary. They’re learning about the different levels of government, and I was just so very impressed with their level of understanding of governments and the services they offer, and with the really great questions they asked me. I explained to them how our Legislature works and how everything we say is recorded on Hansard. They all said how very much they’ d like to tour the build - ings.

Instead, I promised that I’ d introduce them in the House. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Deschene’s class to Hansard — and especially one favourite student, my grandson Ryen Batchelor. Hon. Michelle Stilwell: As we know in the House, none of our offices could really function properly with - out super staff that anchor the foundation of our offices. So today I’ d please like the House to make my staff feel welcome. Valerie McKnight is my administrative co - ordinator, and Christine White is my administrative assistant. J.

Darcy: I would like to join the members who’ve already spoken in welcoming the Danish delegation. 14079

British Columbia Debates14080 Monday, March 6, 2017 Goddag. Hvordan har du det? I was born in Denmark myself. I go back regularly for family reunions and take the opportunity to study what’s happening with health care, in particular, in Denmark, especially seniors care. My colleagues have heard me speak about it endlessly. I’m also proud to say that our Select Standing Committee on Health, which issued its report last week, has definitely learned from the Danish experience. We certainly wel - come you to British Columbia today. Hon. S.

Anton: I’ d like to make two introductions today, the first being the Trial Lawyers Association — president Keri Grenier, John Rice and Ronald Nairne. One of the most important pieces in having good ac - cess to justice is having good counsel to help and to as - sist in the courts and to represent people in the courts. Their representative organization is the Trial Lawyers Association, and they do a terrific job for their clients in British Columbia every day. Then the second introduction, if I might introduce my friend Wendy Turner, who’s here visiting us today.

I have the pleasure, as you know, of representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview, which of course has the north arm of the Fraser River running along one border of my riding. A longtime advocate of the Fraser River and someone who keeps in touch with me is someone whom I met when I was first on the Vancouver park board. She was a great ad- vocate for the river and all things around the river. She’s now living here in Victoria. Her name is Wendy Turner. Would the House please make welcome the Trial Lawyers Association and Wendy Turner. V .

Huntington: I have two introductions to make to - day — firstly, the members of the Delta Y outh Legislative Advisory Council, who are here visiting today — Maggie Munro, Telisa Taoukil and Christian Thomsen, who are here with my legislative assistant Bernadette Kudzin. Will the House make them very welcome. Secondly, I’ d just like to quickly introduce Ross Rettie, a very old — not very old — but dear friend of mine from my constituency, a longtime supporter. Ross is here with the Engineers and Geoscientists council of British Columbia. Hon. A.

Virk: In the Legislative Assembly today, we had representatives of Life Sciences B.C. The life sci - ences sector in B.C. is one of the largest in Canada with the second-highest number of companies in the country that are engaged in drugs, pharmaceutical development, research, testing, medical devices. [1345] It’s a sector that employs over 8,500 people and is ap- proaching revenue of almost $1 billion. Today with us in the legislative precinct was their chair, James Hatton, to introduce the newly minted president of Life Sciences B.C., Dr. Lesley Esford. Along with them was Susan Ogilvie as well.

Would the House please make the Life Sciences repre- sentatives feel very welcome. Statements MESSAGE OF APPRECIATION S. Chandra Herbert: I wanted to first just say thank you to all members of the House, Madame Speaker, British Columbians and, indeed, people from all across the world who have contacted my husband and I to say congratulations on the birth of our new son, Dev Juno Chandra Herbert. He’s an incredible little boy. I can’t wait to introduce him to all of you. He’s calm and reflective, like his dads at some times. He also really knows how to get what he wants. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I thought being an MLA was a tough challenge, and it is. But be - ing a dad is truly one of the most rewarding and toughest challenges we’ve ever taken on. Thank you to everybody for making us feel so welcome. Introductions by Members Hon. A. Wilkinson: It’s a pleasure to introduce the fleet of engineers and geoscientists with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, the people who actually did build this country.

With us today is Peter Mitchell, Laurel Buss, Janet Sinclair, John Turner, Efrem Schwartz, Ann English, Susan Hayes, Melinda Lau, Colin Smith, Bob Stewart, Warren Mirko, Deesh Olychick and, of course, the second introduction for Mr. Ross Rettie. C. Trevena: I know that we’ve been honouring the fire- fighters today. In the precinct — and who we’ll be meet - ing with later — is Stuart Dumont from the Campbell River firefighters.

I last saw him on Saturday evening, when he was one of the handsome hosts of the firefighters’ Fashion Inferno, the 15th annual fashion parade of firefighters in Campbell River, put on for the fireman’s burn fund, one of the most successful events in the province for the burn fund. I hope the House will make Mr. Dumont and the other Campbell River firefighters — and all the other firefight - ers — very welcome. S. Hamilton: I’ d like to echo the earlier introduc - tions.

It’s my pleasure to welcome to British Columbia and, of course, to our House the visiting delegation from the National Parliament of Denmark, the Committee for Rural Districts and Islands. The committee is visit - ing British Columbia to learn about the promotion of growth, employment and business development in our

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14081 province and how the traditional industries of agricul - ture, fisheries and forestry have adapted to the changing business environment. I have the enviable task of actually identifying them all by name for the record. I’m going to preface that by saying that my wife is Danish, so if I screw this up, I’m in big trouble when I get home. We have the acting chair Mette Hjermind Dencker, committee members Magnus Huenicke, Kaare Dybvad, Troels Ravn, Lea Wermelin and committee member Susanne Eilersen.

And we have the district counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission, Royal Danish Embassy, Maja Sverdrup; Honorary Consul, Royal Danish Consulate, Ann-Britt Everett; committee secretary Jørgen Nielsen; and committee secretary Tommy Jørgensen. The delegation spent the morning speaking with vari- ous ministers and my committee as well. We impressed upon them, through Finance and Government Services, that the work we do in that particular committee is steeped in mutual civility, decorum and respect that exist throughout our deliberations. And now they’re here to hear question period.

Would the House please make them all welcome. Statements MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE C. Trevena: It’s with some sadness that I’ d like to ask the House for sympathies to go to the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht First Nation. On Friday, four members of the First Nation were killed in a road accident on Highway 28. They were Jamie Jack, Jennifer Andrew, Greg Mark and Josephine Campbell. The community is clearly in mourning. The village of Gold River has been kind in offering its support. Eight children were left as a result of the accident. I would ask the House if they could….

Madame Speaker, if you could pass on sympathies to the First Nation. [1350] Madame Speaker: It will be done. Introduction and First Reading of Bills BILL 9 — FINA NCE STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2017 Hon. M. de Jong presented a message from Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2017. Hon. M. de Jong: I move the bill be introduced and read a first time now. Motion approved. Hon. M. de Jong: I am pleased to introduce the Finance Statutes Amendment Act. This bill is largely technical in nature and amends several finance statutes.

The Income Tax Act is amended to ensure that that provincial act re- mains consistent with the Income Tax Act of Canada. The Insurance Premium Tax Act and the Logging Tax Act are amended to modernize and clarify the enforcement and administrative provisions in those acts. The bill also amends the Tobacco Tax Act. That amendment clarifies the amount of a collection bond the director appointed under the Tobacco Tax Act may require from a person as a condition of holding a per - mit to sell tobacco.

I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for consideration at the next sitting of the House after today. Bill 9, Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2017, intro - duced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on or - ders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today. BILL M234 — WILDLIFE AMENDMENT ACT, 2017 A. Weaver presented a bill intituled Wildlife Amend- ment Act, 2017. A. Weaver: I move that a bill intituled Wildlife Amend- ment Act, 2017, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper, be read a first time now. Motion approved. A.

Weaver: It gives me great pleasure to introduce this bill that, if enacted, would make a number of changes to the Wildlife Act. This bill restricts the practices of non-resident trophy hunters who come to B.C. to kill large game by making three specific amendments to the Wildlife Act. The pro- posed changes remove grizzly bears from the list of ani - mals exempt from meat harvesting regulations, ensures all edible portions of animals killed in B.C. are taken dir- ectly to a hunter’s residence and requires the meat to be taken out first, before the hide or head.

This bill also stops government from letting non- resident hunters buy preferential access to limited-entry hunting permits and bans people convicted of fisheries or wildlife offences from becoming fishing or hunting guides in the province of British Columbia. For local sustenance hunters, the vast majority of hunters in B.C. that is, this bill merely echoes what they are already doing — harvesting wild game to bring the meat home to feed their families. For non-resident tro - phy hunters coming to B.C. to hunt an animal only for

British Columbia Debates14082 Monday, March 6, 2017 its hide, skull or antler, this bill puts in place a significant logistical challenge. At this time, I move, pursuant to standing order 78A, that this bill be referred to the Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills for immediate review. Madame Speaker: I will point out that’s a departure in practice. All those in favour? Nay is heard.

Division has been called. [1355] Motion negatived on the following division: YEAS — 36 Hammell Simpson Robinson Farnworth Horgan James Dix Ralston Fleming Popham Conroy Austin Chandra Herbert Fraser Huntington Karagianis Eby Mungall Mark Bains Elmore Wickens Shin Heyman Darcy Donaldson Krog Trevena D. Routley Simons Macdonald Weaver Chouhan Rice Holman B.

Routley NAYS — 43 Lee Sturdy Bing Hogg Y amamoto Michelle Stilwell Stone Fassbender Oakes Wat Thomson Virk Rustad Wilkinson Morris Pimm Sultan Hamilton Reimer Ashton Hunt Sullivan Cadieux Lake Polak de Jong Coleman Anton Bond Letnick Bernier Barnett Y ap Thornthwaite McRae Plecas Kyllo Tegart Throness Martin Larson Foster Gibson A. Weaver: May I have this referred to second reading — a motion to do so? Bill M234, Wildlife Amendment Act, 2017, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements (Standing Order 25B) CHILDREN OF THE STREET SOCIETY L. Reimer: Despite all of the different views and opin- ions that members in this House have, I know that all the members in this House can agree that, wherever possible, we should protect our children. Part of protecting them includes educating them on the dangers that they may face as they grow, including the perils of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Human trafficking is an abhorrent practice, and we should support those who are working to eradicate it.

It’s my pleasure to rise today to speak about an organiza- tion based out of Coquitlam that is doing just that, the Children of the Street Society. The society’s mission is to take an active stance on the human trafficking and sex - ual exploitation of youth and children through spread - ing public awareness, teaching intervention strategies and providing support for people affected by trafficking. The Children of the Street Society hosts over 500 workshops annually in over 30 communities across B.C., playing a key role in education and prevention of sexual exploitation.

I’m proud to report that the society has recently re - ceived a grant of $86,000 from the community gaming grant program to support their important work. They also receive other funding from our Ministry of Justice. This year’s Stop the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Y outh Awareness Week runs from March 6 to March 12. To mark this week, the society has chosen the symbol of the fuschia daisy. The daisy represents childhood in - nocence and the mixing of the colours red, to represent the red-light district, and purple, which is B.C. ’s provin- cial colour, for violence prevention.

The society’s noble work should be commended, and I hope that we can all move forward to a future where human trafficking and sexual exploitation is a thing of the past. [1400] COQUITLAM FARMERS MARKET S. Robinson: The Coquitlam Farmers Market started as a community economic development project by Simon Fraser students back in 1996 with the goals of recon - necting local producers with suburban consumers and citizens with each other. Coquitlam is so proud to have one of Metro Vancouver’s longest-running suburban farmers mar - kets, and it’s in my community.

During the fair-weath - er months of May to October, the Coquitlam Farmers Market operates at the Poirier Community Centre in the heart of Coquitlam-Maillardville. During the cold - er months, the Coquitlam Farmers Market operates a

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14083 winter market at the Port Moody Recreation Complex. I love that every Sunday I can check out local vendors that make, bake and grow locally. This past weekend the B.C. Farmers Markets Asso - ciation named the Coquitlam Farmers Market the 2016 Market of the Y ear. They also named a constituent of mine, Julia Zado, Market Manager of the Y ear.

Congratulations to the market manager, Julia Zado; the market execu - tive director, Tabitha McLoughlin; the market founder and past chair, Terri Evans; and directors Kate Hoffard, Andreas Miller, Jesse Brothwick, Lindsey Forstbauer, Siobhan Ashe and Denise Nembhard. I have to say…. As a proud mama, I want to wish a heartfelt and heart-bursting-with-pride kind of con - gratulations to the board chair, who also happens to be my son, Aaron Robinson.

As parents, we work hard to en- sure that our children understand what it means to be a good citizen — one who not only takes care of themselves and their family but takes care of the community as well. I’m pleased to say that it feels like my job is almost done. Congratulations to everyone at the Coquitlam Farmers Market for the well-deserved recognition. HEALTH TECHNOLOGY INNOV ATION AND TREATMENT FOR BALANCE DISORDER M. Hunt: We’re living in uncertain times.

With a weak global economy and a new risk-filled path being contem- plated by our largest trading partner, we should take a moment to celebrate the small, local businesses that are driving our strong economy. Surrey’s innovation boule- vard is a great example of what can be achieved when government, advanced education and local businesses come together to create advantages for local businesses, students and the economy. One such local business is Health Tech Connex, which is led by the cofounder of innovation boulevard, Dr.

Ryan D’ Arcy, and which finds itself well positioned within the medical technology cluster. With concussions receiving ever more attention as a serious health issue, it’s wonder- ful to know that local innovation is leading the way to address them. In partnership with the company Helius Medical Technologies, Health Tech Connex is testing a prototype treatment for those with balance disorder from the mild to moderate trauma brain injuries which are often the result of concussions.

With non-invasive portable neuromodulation stimu - lators, delivered through the tongue and combined with physical therapy, they hope to alleviate the sometimes terrible symptoms of balance disorder. This advance - ment could be especially valuable for those serving in the Armed Forces, both here in Canada and the United States, who frequently suffer from trauma brain injuries.

The Health Tech Connex and Helius Medical Technologies partnership is a great example of cross-bor- der cooperation and cutting-edge medical science and serves to connect local medical skills with international innovation for the betterment of both economies. I’ d like to ask all members of the House to join me in recognizing the value of local innovation and local companies to British Columbia and all their partners worldwide. SIMONS FOUNDATION ADVOCACY FOR PEACE AND DISARMAMENT D. Eby: It’s too easy for us to forget about why we need to advocate for peace, disarmament and international law.

After all, we live in a peaceful country with the longest undefended border in the world and relative harmony with our neighbours. Today, though, when those in power south of us appear to have lost our shared understanding of the existential threat of nuclear weapons, the undermining of peace and prosperity that comes with expanding war and weapon- ry and the danger of seeing international humanitarian laws a technicality easily overcome, we are reminded of why we must always advocate for peace and disarmament internationally and closer to home. A shining example of this advocacy is the work of Dr.

Jennifer Simons, a constituent of mine. Following her founding of the Simons Foundation as a graduate student at SFU, Dr. Simons has been described in media profiles as “one of the world’s most effective advocates for dis - armament. ” A mother of four, she has since completed her PhD and donated more than $15 million to fund in- itiatives around the globe dedicated to peace. [1405] Her foundation’s support has advanced critically important international high-level discussions on a wide range of issues, including the weaponization of space, cyber warfare, nuclear weapons and internation - al humanitarian law.

As just one example, the Simons Foundation founded the research for Senator Roméo Dallaire when he was adviser on the prevention of geno- cide to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. This March guests of the Simons Foundation–fund - ed conference titled “The Responsibility to Protect” will come to Vancouver from Russia, China, the United Kingdom, India, Ghana, the U.S. and, of course, Canada to discuss and support the global political commitment made by all UN member states to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

The culmination of this conference will see the founda - tion award Australian Foreign Minister, the Hon. Gareth Evans, QC, their highest honour for his groundbreaking international work on disarmament. Thank you, Dr. Simons, and everyone involved in the Simons Foundation for your work in support of a more peaceful world.

British Columbia Debates14084 Monday, March 6, 2017 HIGH-SPEED INTERNET SERVICE FOR LYTTON AREA J. Tegart: Reliable Internet service and connectivity is imperative to our rural communities. Our modern world requires an Internet connection, whether it’s for work, for school or for staying in touch with family and friends. Internet services and connections are vital necessities and an essential service. In 2006, a group of tech-savvy citizens formed Lyttonnet, formerly the Lytton Area Wireless Society. In typical rural entrepreneurship fashion, they decided to create a wireless network on their own.

With their initial network, most of the region was able to benefit from the wireless service, giving nearly 300 homes the option to move to broadband from dial-up, which was previously the only other option available. Lyttonnet was recently awarded over $240,000 through the connecting British Columbia program to replace out- dated infrastructure with a fibre optic solution. With their upgraded system, Lyttonnet has expanded their reach to homes in the village of Lytton, the Lytton First Nation, rural Lytton and St. Georges Road.

The residents in these communities were originally unable to receive the old wireless signal due to the line-of-sight blockages, and they’re now able to receive fast, reliable home Internet. Through the hard work of local volunteers, Lyttonnet has been providing high-speed connectivity to commun- ity members for the past decade. I’m very proud of the work and dedication that Lyttonnet has put into making the Internet more accessible for the families of Lytton and area. Please join me in saying thank you to this dedicated group of volunteers. BLUSSON SPINAL CORD CENTRE G.

Heyman: The Blusson Spinal Cord Centre in Fairview’s health sciences district is home to the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, or ICORD, the Rick Hansen Institute and the integrated spine clinic. The centre conducts integrated research, care and training toward effective strategies for preven - tion, functional recovery and improved quality of life after a spinal cord injury. The centre models and supports an active exchange of ideas between ICORD researchers and the community living with SCI. Additional research looks at fatigue, pain and quality of life of people living with multiple sclerosis.

The Physical Activity Research Centre seeks best strat- egies to provide people with complete or partial paralysis opportunities to participate in exercise and physical ac - tivity. The ICORD Community Resource Centre makes research accessible for the community at large in addition to providing important resources to people visiting the centre. A blog and social media presence run by under - graduate volunteers enhance engagement and knowledge transfer to the spinal cord injury community.

On my visit in January, staff, researchers and volun - teers showed infectious enthusiasm for the life-improv - ing possibilities of their work. After discussing their applied research, they connected me via video to speak with a person with SCI as they conducted a computer- based home monitoring trial, which saves hours of time and effort involved in coming to the centre for testing.

We looked at work in progress on a lighter functional exoskeleton, an external brace-like system that facili - tates mobility. [1410] I want to thank everyone I met on my visit to the Blusson Centre, the Rick Hansen Institute and ICORD staff, medical researchers and the students working with them on applied projects. Their work and the enthusiasm of everyone involved in the centre and the institute are improving quality of life for those with SCI today and holds great promise for the future. Oral Questions J. Horgan: Last spring media reports exposed the B.C.

Liberal practice of fundraising at exclusive dinners in people’s homes and in private locations, with large sums to get access to government decision-makers. Most recently we heard from the New York Times that the practices of fundraising here in British Columbia were considered the Wild West by North American standards — quite something when you look at the super PACs that exist in the United States. Most recently, even though we could have been sitting in this Legislature, in fact, we were not here for over 200 days.

We could have been putting forward legislation to ban big money, to make sure that we’re amending our practices so that big money doesn’t distort our politics. But instead of doing that, the fall session was cancelled and the B.C. Liberals were sent off to raise money — so much so that the Minister of Agriculture cancelled a scheduled debate on agriculture issues sponsored by the B.C. Agriculture Council so he could be in his constitu - ency raising money. This weekend we learned that Elections B.C. is now in- vestigating the practices of the B.C. Liberals.

My question to the minister responsible, the Attorney General: if all of this doesn’t provide enough evidence to the govern - ment that they should amend their practices, what will? Madame Speaker: Hon. Members, I will make a com- ment. Questions addressed to ministers must relate to matters for which those ministers are currently and offi- cially responsible. This is the only basis upon which min- isters can be expected to answer questions. Accordingly, the question is out of order. New question.

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14085 ELECTION CAMPAIGN FINANCING LEGISLATION J. Horgan: A new question. Well, it almost appears like that was anticipated. I wonder why that would be. I guess someone’s paying attention. My question to the Attorney General is…. There is a bill on the order paper that would ban big money. It would amend the legislation so that we could run our elections with people at the focus rather than corpora - tions and unions and other large donors.

To the Attorney General, will she call the bill for debate so that we can have, finally in British Columbia, election finance laws that are fair for people and fair for our democracy? Hon. S. Anton: What’s important for citizens of British Columbia is transparency — openness and transparen - cy. This government is very committed to that. In fact, at least one of the political parties has committed to trans - parency so much so that the donations, the contributions to the party, are up on the website as they’re given, in real time. Both parties are not doing that. It is important.

The whole purpose of the Election Act and the provisions of the Election Act is that citizens are entitled to know who is making contributions when they’re made. And that is happening. Madame Speaker: The Leader of the Official Oppo - sition on a supplemental. J. Horgan: It might just be me, but I heard “transpar- ency” three times in one sentence and about six times during that answer. My guess is that rather than address the root cause of the notion that British Columbians have that our system has been corrupted by big money, the B.C. Liberals are going to just say: “Look what we’re getting.

We’ll tell you every couple of weeks. ” That’s not the issue. The issue is the influence of that money. Why would a minister cancel an event to go fundrais- ing? Why would that happen? Being transparent about that does not relieve the minister of his responsibility to address his files instead of raising money for his polit - ical party. Again, would the minister take the time to look at the order paper and look at the bill that’s been tabled not once, not twice, but six times by the official opposition and ban big money.

Get the money out of politics so that the citizens of British Columbia can have confidence that their executive council, their cabinet, is not being distort- ed by the people that are writing the cheques. Do it today. [1415] Hon. S. Anton: If the member has an allegation to make, he should make it, rather than by insinuation. He should make that allegation in a formal way, rather than in an insinuation way, which is undemeaning to him. We have rules. We have rules in the Election Act. I expect, as the minister responsible for the Election Act, and we ex- pect, as government, that people follow those rules.

That is the expectation. It’s the ability of the public to see where contributions come from and to know that rules are followed, which is what’s important. Certainly, on this side of the House, that is the expectation, and that is the practice. EMERGENCY SERVICES AT HOSPITALS J. Darcy: Last week the Premier was asked questions about patients stuck in hallways, sometimes for days, waiting in care.

She dismissed it with a glib answer, say - ing: “It’s tough to build a church big enough for Easter. ” At Peace Arch Hospital in Surrey, Fran Nesbitt, who is 86 years old, spent three full days in the emergency room, in Surrey–White Rock, in a hallway, with a fractured pel- vis. Does the Minister of Health think it’s too tough to build a health care system so that Fran doesn’t have to wait three days with a broken pelvis? Hon. T. Lake: We’ve canvassed this many times.

I cer- tainly can empathize and sympathize with people wait - ing for care in a very busy hospital, and we know that this year has been especially busy. The members opposite may dismiss the facts that we’ve had a very difficult in - fluenza season that’s affected seniors more than in other years. We’ve had an unusual winter where more people have slipped and injured themselves and have to be seen at emergency. We’re in the middle of an opioid epidemic, the biggest public health crisis we have seen. All of this has put pressure on emergency departments. On that, we all agree. But we are working hard.

Every health authority is working hard to address these issues in each and every hospital across this province, and we will continue to ad- dress these issues. But as far as building a health care system, I have a list of $11 billion worth of investment in health care. So if the opposition members want to talk about a record on building a health care system, I’m happy to have that discussion. Madame Speaker: The member for New Westminster on a supplemental. J.

Darcy: We have been asking these questions day after day, week after week, because there’s an emergency room crisis happening throughout Fraser Health that this minister continues to ignore. It hasn’t just been happen- ing for a few months; it’s been happening for several years. Fran Nesbitt is not alone. At Peace Arch, according to the latest Fraser Health report, only one in three emer - gency patients is seen within Fraser Health’s own ten- hour benchmark.

British Columbia Debates14086 Monday, March 6, 2017 The Liberals like to talk about a busy flu season, and the Premier loves to give glib answers about building churches for Easter, but that is cold comfort for Fran Nesbitt, left to lie in a busy hallway for three long days. The emergency room crisis at Peace Arch and through- out Fraser Health is a direct result of this government’s failures. When is this government going to fix it so that people like Fran get the health care that they deserve? Hon. T. Lake: Firstly, I’ll say this. Our Premier is any- thing but glib.

She was the one, when her mom was ill, who went in every day to look after her mom and help the hospital staff. She knows more than anybody how hard people in hospitals work to care for their patients. So I think to call her glib does a disservice to everyone who has a member of their family in the hospital and goes and looks after them. [1420] I’ve had two discussions with the CEO of Fraser Health over the weekend. We are, together, putting an action plan in place. Over the weekend, additional community care and diagnostic staff were brought in to ease the pres- sure. Fifteen flex-beds were opened at Abbotsford.

Five opened at Mission. This plan will be overseen by my as- sociate deputy minister. There are many different strategies being employed to ease the congestion issue. Everyone is working hard — no more exemplified than by the front-line workers: the phys- icians, the nurses, the health care staff at all of our hospitals. S. Robinson: On Wednesday, we asked the minister why Jean Donaldson was forced to lie on a gurney in the lobby of Eagle Ridge Hospital, outside the gift shop, for 36 hours.

In response, the minister said, “Wintertime is busy, ” and then said that it would really be folly to leave a hospital half-empty. Well, it turns out that after leav - ing Jean in the lobby for 36 hours, they moved her to an empty block of rooms in Eagle Ridge Hospital. My question is for the minister. Can he explain why he’s leaving a block of Eagle Ridge Hospital half-empty when, in fact, in his own words, it’s just the busy season? Hon. T. Lake: We have a strategy in the Ministry of Health to shift resources into the home and community.

Fraser Health has done that by opening up 400 residential care beds in the community. That is to take pressure off the acute care system. Now, there are times when there are overcapacity issues, and that’s why we are taking this action plan in Fraser Health. In fact, Abbotsford, Eagle Ridge and Peace Arch all have business cases sitting with the Ministry of Health for consideration of the expansion of emergency departments. Again, an $11 billion investment in health care facili - ties across this province. There are times when we’re busy. There’s no question.

I experienced this personally, a couple of weeks ago, at Royal Inland Hospital. Despite being busy, every one of those nurses and every one of those physicians gives proper, professional care to those patients. Of course, there are times when they are housed in an area of the hospital where…. We would prefer that they be in a ward, and we are working hard to do that. But there is no way in the world…. I can’t stand here today and say that we’ll never have congested times in our hospitals. The members opposite know that. They know that. It’s a situation that has oc - curred across the country.

But we are working hard in B.C. to address those situations, and I’m quite confident that we’ll be able to do that. Madame Speaker: Coquitlam-Maillardville on a sup- plemental. S. Robinson: Well, I’ve been in that hospital in October. Then I had the misfortune of being there in November and then, of course, again in January. Every single time I was there those rooms were empty and people were wait- ing in hallways. Nothing has changed.

After holding Jean in the lobby for 36 hours and then moving her to an empty block in the hospital, she was finally able to get access to some nursing and some housekeeping resources, which were really stretched to the limit because there are not enough nurses and staff in the hospital to make sure that patients are getting the care they need in that hospital. To add insult to injury, included on her meal tray was a letter soliciting dona - tions for the hospital foundation. The hospital founda - tion already has a really tough job to do, raising money for the hospital.

Does the minister really think that keeping people in hallways, people like Jean, is really helpful for the hospi- tals and for the patients of British Columbia? Hon. T. Lake: The member asked what has changed. I’ll let the member know what has changed. Last year we successfully hired 1,700 nurses across the province. Since 2001, we’ve invested over $11 billion in the Lower Mainland.

So $475 million for Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre, $237 million for the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey, $500 million for the emergency department and critical care tower in Surrey, $543 million for the Teck Acute Care Centre at B.C. Children’s Hospital. In the Interior, $417 million towards the new patient care tower in Kamloops and $381 million for the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre in Kelowna. [1425] The list includes every part of this province. That is what has changed. J.

Wickens: Like at Peace Arch and Eagle Ridge, there is serious overcrowding at Abbotsford Regional Hospital. This B.C. Liberal government claims that it’s just about

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14087 the weather. The Premier and this minister shrug their shoulders and say that nothing can be done. According to at least two doctors, the situation is one of dangerous overcrowding, where patients have to compete for services. But wait. On Thursday, the B.C. Nurses Union released a statement about conditions at that hospital. They said that the problem is not seasonal. It didn’t happen over- night, like this minister would suggest. They said that the problem has been two years in the making and that this government has done absolutely nothing to address it.

Should British Columbians listen to the front-line workers or to this minister, who would like us to believe it’s all about the weather? Hon. T. Lake: I know it’s difficult for the members op- posite to deviate from the script written by their staffers, but I actually did say…. Interjections. Hon. T. Lake: I actually did say what we were doing. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Members. Hon. T. Lake: So 1,700 new nurses over the last year. We have been working with the B.C. Nurses Union on a plan to hire more nurses — obviously, as evidenced by the numbers.

In fact, of the $845 million increase to the Ministry of Health, much of that is going to pay for existing nurses in terms of wage increases and new nurs- es — $845 million. Madame Speaker: Coquitlam–Burke Mountain on a supplemental. J. Wickens: The nurses, actually, didn’t pull any punch- es when they described the situation at Abbotsford. They said it was like a scene out of MASH. Imagine that — the ’90s, MASH. They said there has been an average of 30 nursing vacancies in the emergency room for the past two years. At one point, they were…. Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Please continue. J.

Wickens: They said that there has been an average of 30 nursing vacancies in the emergency room for the past two years. At one point, they were so overcrowded that they had three patients behind one curtain. The ambu - lance bay was filled with patients. Is this what the minister considers quality patient care, or is this, again, just the fault of the weather? Hon. T. Lake: The members opposite like to, of course, keep it simple. “Oh yeah, he’s blaming the weather. ” They want to ignore data.

They want to ignore the fact that there’s a flu season that has impacted seniors more than any other year in the last number of years. They want to ignore the fact — and I can testify to this — that more people are injured because of slips and falls because of this unusual winter. They want to ignore the fact that we are in the mid - dle of an opioid crisis, that emergency departments and paramedics are dealing with overdose situations at every centre across this province.

Meanwhile, the members have the audacity to talk about Abbotsford Regional Hospital, a hospital they promised to build for ten years and never did. We said we would, and we did. H. Bains: This minister can blame it on weather. He can blame it on flu season. But the nurses and the doctors in hospitals know the truth. The truth is incompetence and neglect by this government. At Surrey Memorial Hospital, a doctor said “people will die” because of the failure of this government. He went on to say this: “It is happening now, and it will con- tinue to get worse. ” Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. [1430] H.

Bains: “It is happening now, and it will continue to get worse. ” My question to the minister is, again, this. How bad must it get before this minister will take action to pro - tect the patients lying in the hallway at Surrey Memorial Hospital? Interjections. Madame Speaker: Members. Hon. T. Lake: Again, the consummate professionals that work in our hospitals understand there are going to be busy times of the year. It is up to us to work with them, to make sure we put into action plans that alleviate that congestion.

That is why I spoke with the CEO of Fraser Health over the weekend a couple of times, to make sure that we had plans in place. They have moved resources to those areas that are suffering from unusual congestion. We’re making sure that we move patients out of the hospital as quickly as possible, to free up space. We’re making sure that other hospitals can take patients from a busy hospital to one that is less busy. And we’re moving additional personnel into those hospitals as well. But $11 billion of investment, and I have a lot more

British Columbia Debates14088 Monday, March 6, 2017 on the list if the opposition members would like me to go through it. I know that while they didn’t build a sin - gle hospital in the 1990s, they did close one. We have not done that. Madame Speaker: Surrey-Newton on a supplemental. H. Bains: The minister can live in the past, but the problem is now. Nurses say that the problem across Fraser Health is getting worse. Doctors say that people are going to die because of it. And the Liberals claim it’s a flu season.

The minister said here the other day that the average wait is 2½ hours, but let me tell the minister the real num- bers here. The Fraser Health report card from September says Surrey Memorial shows that nearly 75 percent of emergency patients wait more than ten hours to be ad - mitted — ten hours, not 2½ hours. So it is getting worse. It’s getting worse than two years ago. Let me ask the minister a question again. When will the minister stop blaming the weather, stop blaming the flu season and fix the problem with the hallway medicine at Surrey Memorial Hospital? Hon. T.

Lake: The people of British Columbia are thankful that we don’t live in the past, because in the past, nothing got done. If the members opposite, when they formed government, had actually increased the number of spaces for medical graduates, we’ d have 1,000 more doctors today. We’ve increased first-year medical stu - dents from 128 to 288. We’ve added 4,800 new nursing education spaces, increased the number of residency pos- itions 800 percent and increased the number of nurses practising in B.C. to 55,000. FUEL SPILL AT FISH FARM IN ECHO BAY C.

Trevena: Early yesterday morning hundreds of litres of diesel poured into the ocean near Echo Bay. It came because a fish farm had left a pump on. The com - pany now says “Sorry, ” and it’ll learn lessons from the incident. But that spill is now covering about three kilo- metres of the ocean. To the Minister of Environment, her government claims it has world-class cleanup, but how could this sloppy management be allowed in the first place? Hon. M. Polak: Thank you for the question.

I know all members of this House have been concerned to hear the news, and I will begin by just providing the most up-to- date information that we have. The updated spill volume is now reported as being be- tween 500 and 600 litres of biodiesel. That’s the equivalent of about three 45-gallon drums of fuel. Now, not insig - nificant, but certainly, we’re all thankful that the amount wasn’t as much as originally reported. Our Ministry of Environment and the Coast Guard have now joined in unified command.

They are working to fully incorporate not only the responsible party but also the First Nation and the local governments in inci - dent command. [1435] In addition to that, we also know that while the spread of the material is, as the member states, around about three kilometres in radius, Coast Guard, after conducting a flyover with incident commanders from both the Ministry of Environment and the Canadian Coast Guard, are, at this time, advising that that discontinuous silver and rainbow sheen is likely unrecoverable.

Although it spreads quite broadly, it can be a very, very thin layer on the top of the water, sometimes within a couple of mi - crons. They are forming up an incident command post in Port McNeill to manage the ongoing response activities, and I’m sure we will have more updates as time goes on. Certainly, we see everyone who should be responding to this event responding to it. With the addition of the in- vestment that is coming from our federal partners in the ocean protection plan, we are hopeful that we will have even better response and capabilities in terms of these kinds of incidents going into the future.

Madame Speaker: Recognizing the member for North Island on a supplemental. C. Trevena: The minister talks about having a thin layer still out there, but she says it’s absolutely not insig- nificant. Absolutely, it is not insignificant. First Nations in the region are “beyond outraged. ” This is their traditional territory, and they have not given so - cial licence for these farms to operate. The First Nations are also running their own response teams, and they’re seriously worried about the impact that this not-insig - nificant sheen is going to have on their clam beds and the fish on which they rely.

Will the minister acknowledge that the First Nations in whose territories these farms operate have a crucial role in any future response and any future planning? Hon. M. Polak: As I outlined in my first answer, the unified command is now working to fully incorporate the First Nation and the local governments in the inci - dent command. In addition to that, they have also held coordination calls today — actually, sorry, I think that was yesterday — to coordinate response efforts and com- munications that will happen between the incident com- mand and First Nations.

Looking forward, one of the pieces of the ocean pro - tection plan announced by the federal government is that the Coast Guard will be forming a new indigenous com- munity response group of teams in British Columbia. It will also offer formal training for search and rescue, en - vironmental response and incident command in order to

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14089 better coordinate, from the front and beginning of these episodes, with First Nations. W ATER QUALITY IN SPALLUMCHEEN AREA G. Heyman: Last week the Environment Minister denied that her ministry failed to directly contact the Splatsin First Nation when a liquid manure lagoon spilled over their drinking water supply. Y et this past Friday the minister was forced to apologize to area residents and the Splatsin Nation for not providing timely information.

Her ministry then announced $950,000 for alternative drinking water sources and well treatment just hours be- fore the member for Shuswap was expected to be roasted by residents for the long-standing water pollution crisis. To the Minister of Environment: after years of raising concerns on this issue, why did it take the upcoming elec- tion before Hullcar valley residents got the first concrete action by this government to provide clean, safe water? Hon. M. Polak: I would commend the member to review Hansard with respect to the initial part of his question.

The facts of the matter are, in terms of my statements in this House, that when it came to the la - goon spill, I indeed apologized immediately upon rising in this House to not only the Splatsin but also the com - munity members, who weren’t given timely information. That allowed a lot of concern and anxiety in the com - munity to grow. He conflates that, knowingly, with an apparent, as he says, denial that we hadn’t contacted the Splatsin. In fact, that second point was with respect to ten days later, as the member had outlined in his question previously, saying that even to that date we hadn’t contacted them.

That, at that time, was incorrect. [1440] In fact, I have found out subsequently that at that time, the member for Shuswap had actually already spoken personally with the Chief and that our staff had spoken with the Splatsin. So let’s just get that straight and on the record. Insofar as actions that have been taken to protect the health of the people who are living and depending on that aquifer, our staff have been working in an interministry working group for quite some time. Work on this aquifer has been taking place for two years.

It was upon receipt of the reports and the data and the information as a result of that multi-year work that we, indeed, have provided funding to not only support alternative drinking water sources for Steele Springs, for well users, for the Splatsin but also to provide assistance for those in the agricultural community to be able to achieve appropriate best practices in nutrient manage - ment. [End of question period.] Petitions C. James: I rise to present a petition.

I’ d like to recognize Rachel White, an extraordinary young woman in my community who single-handedly researched, did the work and put together a petition that requests that any person with a mental health issue can, with the consent of a doctor, have an emotional support animal in non-pet housing. Orders of the Day Hon. M. de Jong: I call second reading of Bill 11, the Supply Act (No. 1). Madame Speaker: Members leaving the chamber, please do so, so the debate can commence. Second Reading of Bills BILL 11 — SUPPLY ACT (N o. 1), 2017 Hon.

M. de Jong: I move that Bill 11, the Supply Act (No. 1), be read a second time now. [R. Chouhan in the chair.] I won’t have a great deal to say beyond what I indicat- ed when the bill was introduced. As I think all members know, the existing voted appropriations expire at the end of March, March 31, later this month. Bill 11 will provide interim supply until the completion of the 2017 election and the formation of a post-election government. Interim supply for ministry operations and other ap - propriations is based on the voted expenses as presented in the 2017-18 estimates.

The interim supply period has been set at six months. It is not normally six months, but in an election year, it is historically six months. This will ensure the continuation of government services until after the election and gives the government the full range of time contemplated in the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act for preparation and tabling of a post-election budget. Bill 11 provides two-thirds of the combined voted amounts in schedules C and D of the 2017-18 Estimates for disbursements related to capital expenditures, loans, investments and other financing requirements.

These dis- bursements, I can advise the House, are not evenly dis - tributed throughout the year. Therefore, the higher level of interim supply is required to accommodate the pay - ments made under these schedules. Mr. Speaker, 100 percent of the 2017-18 requirements for

schedule E financing transactions is being sought in this supply bill.

Schedule E of the 2017-18 Estimates out- lines the revenue collected for and transferred to other entities. These distributions are statutory, and there is

British Columbia Debates14090 Monday, March 6, 2017 no impact on the operating results, borrowing or debt resulting from the collection and transfer of this revenue. These interim supply appropriations are based on the accountabilities and allocations outlined in the 2017-18 estimates. The final supply bill for 2017-18 will incorpor- ate these amounts, when it is finally presented, to ensure it reflects the sum of all voted appropriations to be given to government in that fiscal year. Those are my comments. C. James: I rise to speak to second reading on Bill 11, the Supply Act.

As the minister has said, this is not the budget that we’re voting on. We voted on that last week. [1445] The Supply Act provides support for all those individ- uals who, although we may be out on the campaign trail, are continuing to work — continuing to do the work in individual ministries, continuing to keep government operating and our province operating. I express my ap - preciation to them. I also support, as the minister has outlined, the fact that this supply bill extends for six months, which is usual in an election year.

I think it’s important that the six months be provided to allow a new government, whoever that may be, to be able to have time to put together their budget and bring it forward to the public. With that, I take my place. Deputy Speaker: Minister to close the second reading. Hon. M. de Jong: I move second reading. Motion approved. Hon. M. de Jong: I move that Bill 11 be referred to Committee of the Whole House for consideration at the next sitting after today.

Bill 11, Supply Act (No. 1), 2017, read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole House for consideration at the next sitting of the House after today. Hon. M. de Jong: I call second reading of Bill 5. BILL 5 — FORESTS, LANDS AND NATURAL RESOURCE OPERATIONS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2017 (continued) Hon. M. Morris: I stand to speak in support of Bill 5. There are a couple components of this bill, one deal - ing with some amendments dealing with the Wildfire Act and the other dealing with amendments under the Wildlife Act as it pertains to the electronic issuance of li- cences and whatnot.

I’ll start with Wildfire Act first. As this House is aware, a couple years ago I was tasked with the job of reviewing the penalties under the Wildfire Act and looking at things that we can do to help to reduce the number of human- caused fires out there. As we know, up to 50 percent of the fires that are caused every season are human-caused. Those are 100 percent preventable. There’s a lot that can be done there to try and mitigate that and reduce those numbers over time. We’re going to do that.

Part of the complications behind this is the amount of time that was given to fire investigators and people working under the confines of the Wildfire Act. The time limits were a little bit short, so they’re increasing the time limits in this regard to three years. I speak from an investigative perspective. As you know, I spent many, many years as an investigator. The complexities associ - ated with investigations nowadays are significantly more than they were ten, 20, 30 or 40 years ago. This legisla - tion identifies that.

When we look at the technical requirements that our investigators have to look at when they go in to deter - mine what the source of the fire was and the cause of the ignition for that particular fire…. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of time for those particular investigators to become accredited within their field of expertise. It’s not just one fire they work on — or two fires or ten fires.

It’s 100 or 200 fires throughout the entire province for them to get to the level of expertise necessary to con- duct those investigations, not only to investigate them efficiently and effectively to determine what the causes were and who might be responsible for that but to do it in such a fashion that it prepares the document and the charge for scrutiny of the courts. The rule of evidence and the rule of law that takes place when those types of things are prosecuted rely on tech - nically elegant investigations.

If we spend hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars on that in - vestigation and, at the end of the day, it’s determined that the investigation was not done properly, we lose all that money. The individual that was responsible for it goes without any sanctions or repercussions as a result of that, and we end up losing money out of the budget because we didn’t spend it properly and wisely enough.

This gives us the breathing room available or neces - sary to conduct these kinds of investigations at that tech- nically elegant level that’s required in order that we can deal with it either administratively — at the end of the day, through some of the other sanctions or provisions that this bill addresses — or criminally, if it goes in that direction, as perhaps some of these should be looked at in the future. [1450] These types of human-caused fires cause millions of dollars, not only in damage…. They take workable for - ests out of commission for several years.

It destroys a lot of the annual harvest that we rely upon with the economy that we have in British Columbia. It destroys recreation facilities and destroys wildlife habitat. It does a number

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14091 of things that are detrimental to the society that we live in, in British Columbia here, and we need to do every - thing that we can. In addition to that, human-caused fires cost millions of dollars to put out. We saw a couple years ago that we were well in excess of $100 million, $200 million in battling these blazes. The hundreds of millions of dollars we’ve spent fighting wildfires over the last decade….

That’s the kind of money that could have gone into other programs — into social programs, into education, into health, into a number of other programs that we rely on so heavily in British Columbia. These amendments here are going to go a long way to providing a little bit of extra time, a little bit more lever- age for us to really make a difference in this province — to turn down the temperature, so to speak, in the number of human-caused wildfires that we see. It’s going to enable the B.C. Wildfire Service, which does such a professional job for us….

When I toured the province doing the penalty review under the Wildfire Act, I visited many fire scenes.

I was blown away at the professionalism exhibited by not only those people that were looking after the administration and the operations of the particular firefight but the people that were on the ground, the young men and women that would put a pack on their backs and grab a chainsaw or a pickaxe or some other tool to go out there and do whatever they had to do to try and put that fire out — and putting their lives on the line, as we tragically saw here a couple of years ago with the firefighter that was killed in the line of duty.

These provisions are necessary for us to gather all of the tools that we need in order to address these very ser- ious concerns and to make sure we’ve got the tools avail- able to us to prosecute through the courts or through an administrative process and be successful, at the end of the day, to hold those accountable for the types of fires that they cause, for the damage they cause, for the loss of life they may cause and a number of factors there.

It’s a progressive step forward to ensure that B.C. has some of the best tools available to it legislatively, in addition to all the other tools we have to fight fires. Fire control costs are an issue there, and they’re calcu- lated in accordance with the Wildfire Regulation. Those things are going to be outlined in this legislation as well.

It gives them the provisions to go after some of these in- dividuals to recoup some of the costs that we have, as a province — the wages of responding employees; food and transportation; accommodation expenses; fuel and flight costs for air tankers and helicopters, which are go- ing up every year; the cost of fire retardants and other suppressants and the replacement of gear; training costs; and all those things that are attributable to fighting these types of fires. The second part of this bill is a part that I’ve got a pas- sion for — the outdoors, hunting, fishing, trapping.

All of those are covered by regulations and by statutes. What this bill does is it provides an opportunity now for the province to keep up with technology and to keep up with modern times by making the licensing available on line to people. Just about everybody carries a smartphone with them these days, and they’ve got some access to the Internet. They’ve got a home computer. This is going to provide them the opportunity to apply for their licence on line and to get their licence on line, and any of the other authorizations they have. I was talking with a couple of friends of mine today.

Both of them are self-described relics, as they call them - selves. They don’t rely on smartphones or cell phones. They say: “What are we going to do? What is a guy like me going to do, that doesn’t have access, that can’t use a computer?” I say: “Well, FrontCounter B.C. is more than willing to give you a hand on that. Pop by my place.

I’m more than happy to give you a hand and tie into the computer system, to help you apply and print off what - ever documents you get from that. ” [1455] When we go off into the wilderness on a hunting trip, everybody is proud of the trip they make and the scen - ery they see and their friends. There are a lot of campfire memories to make there. They all carry these smart - phones now that have the camera on. They take dozens or perhaps hundreds of pictures with these smartphones, but they also have their licence on that phone.

If they’re stopped by a conservation officer or a constable when they’re out on their trip, they can bring that up, and they can show that to the conservation officer or the con - stable, and say: “Y eah, I’m duly licenced, and here’s the information. ” We’re getting increased cellular coverage right across the province, and a lot of the places that these folk go and hunt have cell coverage. The conservation officer will have immediate access to all his data and confirm that the information is correct and that everything is on the straight and narrow.

Because that is a permanent rec- ord on the cell phone, it suffices as a record that they can show the constable. The other part of it is if I’m applying for a limited-entry hunting authorization, I can apply for that authorization on line, and I’ll receive that authorization on line. A little bit of work to do with respect to that because the rules say that immediately upon getting my animal, I have to mark my authorization and cancel it to make sure that I don’t keep reusing it. A lot of people will resort to all kinds of deviant means. I think technology….

As we progress through this and we develop our regulations and as we see how this folds out, I foresee an opportunity to again utilize technology to help us cancel those authorizations whenever we get an animal. Our cell phones have a camera on them where you take a picture and it automatically establishes the date and the time that the picture was taken. If that can be at-

British Columbia Debates14092 Monday, March 6, 2017 tached to the authorization and the conservation officer comes and says, “Okay, you shot this animal. When did you shoot it, ” you can show them the picture with the date and the time on it, and it can correlate to the actual events. I see this as a progression forward.

It’s going to make it fundamentally easier for those of us who enjoy the out - door activities in the hunting world or the trapping world or the fishing world to obtain the necessary permits and authorizations that this province needs to keep track of in order to make the whole system work properly.

The other aspect of the electronic version of hunting licences and authorizations is the fact that government and biologists will have quicker access, real-time access to the amount of activity that is going on in the province, to the amount of animals that are being harvested, the number of days that the hunters are spending on that. It will be a lot easier to maintain wildlife inventory num - bers, to establish special zones if there is any particular issue that surfaces as a result of overharvesting or a num- ber of other factions out there.

It will make it easier for the conservation officers and the constables that are patrolling the areas that are hunt- ed on a frequent basis to ensure that there’s compliance out there. I’ve done it myself. I’ve gone out on my annual hunt. I might be a hundred miles away from my home by the time I get to my camp. Y ou get there, and you realize you’ve left your licence at home. Y ou have to turn around and go all the way back home to pick your licence up to go back out and join your friends out in the hunt camp. By having it electronically, it’s also my camera.

Even though there might not be any cell coverage out there, I’ve got a camera with me, and I take pictures of a num- ber of things out there. I’ve got some beautiful wilderness shots, some sunsets, some shots of family members out there gathered, hunting together. I know I always have that camera with me, and now I will know that I always have that licence with me. It will never be gone.

All we have to do is to look around and see the prob - lems that we have with distracted driving, with a number of the other issues out there to show how attached our public has become to the cell phone, to that little device that everybody packs with them. They’re always reading their emails, they’re reading their text messages, and it’s always in their hands. So I think we stand a better chance of people having their licence on them and having their authorizations on them by going into this new electronic world of ours. It will be real-time. It will be accurate information.

Everybody will be able to see exactly what that authoriza- tion stands for. There won’t be any blurring. Y ou don’t have to worry about it getting wet and destroyed. Y ou don’t have to worry about dropping it in the fire or dropping it in the mud. It’s always going to be on your cell phone. [1500] Again, if we are in close proximity to cell coverage — it’s getting better and better every year, thanks to the work that this government has done, with Telus and a number of other organizations, to create that — everybody is go - ing to have access to it.

Y es, according to my good friends that I was speak - ing to, there are still going to be a few of the older people around that don’t carry those devices. But they’ll have to resort back to the papers. So there’s still that opportunity. They can go to a FrontCounter B.C. They can apply for their licence and authorizations and print those copies off and put them in their pocket or their wallet and carry them the way they normally have — for the past 40, 50, 60, 70 years that some of them have been hunting — to ensure that they stay legal. I think this is a great step forward.

It’s provided all kinds of opportunities for us to be a lot more effective in how we approach hunting and fishing and trapping right across the province here. It’s going to provide biologists and researchers and other people with real-time informa- tion in order to enhance how we look after our biodivers- ity and our wildlife and this great province that we live in. I wholeheartedly support this bill and the direction that it’s taking us.

It’s going to have enhancements for our wildlife and whatnot, but it’s also going to really enable us to attack some of the technical issues around wildfire investigations and give us a better foothold when it comes to the disposition of these types of of - fences, either through the courts or through an admin - istrative process. K. Conroy: I’m also pleased to stand up and speak to Bill 5, the Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Statutes Amendment Act, 2017.

This bill makes changes to the Wildlife Act and the Wildfire Act, and its stated intent is to make it easier for hunters to complete licensing, permitting and reporting activities on line. It also will give wildfire investigators more time to complete their work and streamline the cost recovery process associated with human-caused wildfires. Now, I know my colleagues before me have spoken to the Wildfire Act issues as it pertains to the forest indus - tries and also to the communities that are at risk due to wildfires.

I also know that many communities in rural B.C. have expressed concern that they know they need to deal with preventing wildfires, but the lack of funds to carry out the sometimes extensive work required is a concern. The response from government to date has been inadequate, and we all pay when wildfires hit. We all saw what happened when the fires hit the com- munity of Fort McMurray. I can say, as someone with a family member who was significantly affected, that the ongoing aftermath of the fire is significant.

Our son lost his home, and it is finally just starting to be in the pro - cess of being rebuilt — almost a year later. I wouldn’t want to see that happen to anyone in B.C. — to have to go through what the people in Fort McMurray are go - ing through now, many who are still fighting to get their

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14093 houses rebuilt. It’s been a horrible process, and you just don’t want to see that happen here. These are experiences that could be somewhat pre - vented or minimized if appropriate precautions are in place. So let’s hope that this bill addresses those issues for the many residents and communities in B.C. who could be affected if in a similar situation to what hap - pened up in Fort McMurray and other communities across the country. I really want to talk more about the wildlife portion of the act.

Since our leader asked me to take on spokes - person for wildlife issues, I have to say that it’s been one of the most interesting parts of my job in a lot of ways — to meet so many interesting people across the province. I’ve been so impressed by people’s dedication to the con- servation of wildlife and their habitat, and especially their commitment to not only talking about the issues but ac- tually doing something about them as well.

Y ou only need to look at the different groups who are involved and see the number of projects that they take on — often with minimal funding, lots of volunteer hours and lots of fundraising. I have talked to many hunters since this bill was introduced about what it means. I also have been talking to different clubs that are members of the B.C. Wildlife Federation about what a great example they are of the work they do in the province, whether it’s stream restoration, habitat enhancement, wetland clean- ups and many more things. One club, for instance, is the Kamloops and District Fish and Game Association.

For decades, up in that area, unmanaged public access to Crown land resulted in the spread of makeshift campgrounds all over — on the shores of a number of lakes surrounding Kamloops. These sites lacked the proper sanitary facilities, boat launches, fire pits and meant that campers were having a detrimental impact on the surrounding ecosystem — the habitat of wildlife. [1505] To counteract this, this club, the Kamloops association, partnered with the ministry to create formal campsites, complete with firepits, picnic tables, sanitary facilities and a proper boat launch.

While the ministry provided permits and some ma - terials and equipment, this association actually provided hundreds of hours of volunteer time to build and con - struct the sites, all of the labour coordinated by the pro - ject committee chair, Bob Goldie. The campsites are now receiving heavy use from recreationalists while helping limit their impact on the environment, on the ecosystem, on the habitat of wildlife in this province. I think that’s kudos to that organization for what they do. I talked to so many different groups about different issues.

When you get to the bill and you talk to hunt - ers and people that fish about what it means to go out in the back country and hunt — there are a lot of people in this province that do hunt, over 100,000 hunters in the province — they all talked about their commitment to the wildlife. So I asked them about the streamlining of licensing on line. As the former member said, there are some concerns from people that have been hunting for years and years, who don’t access smartphones, who don’t access comput- ers. They are worried about what it’s going to mean for them.

They said yes, they can go to the offices where they can get support. But it still is a bit disconcerting for them. I talked to hunters who said: “Y eah, we can take pic - tures of our licence. We’re often hunting for sometimes up to two weeks. ” They don’t have access to plug in their phone so that the battery stays charged. Now with new solar technology and things like that, there’s more access to getting your phone charged in the back country. But if you have your licence on your phone and you run out of battery somewhere out in the wilderness, how are you go- ing to prove that you have your licence?

They said: “Well, we’ll still be carrying our licence with us just in case. ” There are those issues, and I’m sure that we’re going to drill down more on them more at committee stage. But there are issues that people are worried about. The on- line process — everybody agrees that we need to come into the 21st century with this whole process. But they also remember…. People liked the fact that there was a huge kickoff when the limited-entry licences got put on line, and people were really happy with that, except that I think the system crashed because so many people applied.

We want to make sure — and we’re going to be asking the minister, I hope — that their system’s in place. I mean, this government doesn’t have a great record with systems on line, so I hope that there are things in place to ensure that this system doesn’t crash when it’s accessed — that it will be there for people when they want to use it. Some of the other things I’ve talked about with people is what’s going to happen with the rural outlets, people who’ve been selling a hunting licence for years. People come in, and they buy their hunting licence. The people write it out. There it goes. Off you go.

It takes a few min- utes. Now these same people, not only do…. I’ve talked to some of them. They’ve had to go to buy new computer equipment so that they can deal with the system. They also have to take freedom-of-information train - ing that they never had to take before because now they’re suddenly dealing with things on line. They said it takes a while, where they have to go and do this training. They said there’s no compensation for it. At one outlet, they were saying they were quite con - cerned. The hunting licence is a thing they do, and it’s a rural part of B.C., and they do it as a service.

They don’t get much for it. So they want to make sure that they can provide services to the people that are coming in to util- ize the store for the other things that they are coming to buy, whether it’s feed for their animals, equipment for their farms. They can’t be sitting there helping some - one to access their hunting licence, when they might

British Columbia Debates14094 Monday, March 6, 2017 not be used to accessing things on the computer, when they need to go and help their actual customers who are buying things from their store, without any compensa - tion for it. I’m going to be asking the minister a little bit about that. What are they doing to help rural outlets who al - ways used to sell licences and now have to go through this whole process? I talked to a number of places where they’ve said they’re just not going to do it anymore.

So places where people always used to go get their hunting licence — and have for years and years — suddenly won’t be doing that anymore. One hunter said he doesn’t access computers. He doesn’t have any family members that are…. He said: “I guess I’m too old.

I don’t have kids that are young and hip that are doing that. ” He said that he feels that he’ll be left out in this. [1510] I’m hoping that there are processes and systems in place that will actually help people to ensure that they can get on the system and that they will be able to get their licence regardless of if they have computer savvy or if they’re out hunting. What’s going to happen to the ones that have their actual system crash on them if they’re out in the bush somewhere? What’s going to happen there? The other concern that’s been raised about the whole process is the actual….

It says it’s going to “enhance com- pliance and enforcement by allowing conservation offi - cers to request photo ID from all hunters, anglers and trappers. ” Well, I hope that somewhere we also are going to ensure we have enough boots on the ground to ensure this happens. Right now we don’t in this province. People will go out hunting for quite a while and not ever run into a CO because there are not enough of them. That’s an issue. People are saying: “Well, who’s going to be out there to check?” That’s something that we need to ensure, that the abil- ity is there to make sure that the….

I don’t know if the funding…. It doesn’t look like there’s funding in this bill to ensure that there will be more staff out there. I’m hoping that there will be. It also says that it’s going to enable permits and licences to be issued on the same day that applications are submit- ted. Well, I can see this happening. As long as the process works, as long as the computer systems are up to snuff, then I can see that, yes, this, in fact, will be something that people will be happy with.

There are, as I said, concerns with the system, concerns with the computer system, going on line, and concerns about the reporting because, again, everybody…. Y es, people have their smartphones or cameras that they take with them, but there are a lot of places in this province where people hunt where there is not accessibility. It’s out in the bush. I mean, nobody lives there. How it’s in- habited is by wildlife. They’re not particularly concerned about computer access. I’m just wondering how we’re going to access these processes of reporting in a timely manner if you don’t have access to the Internet.

For people that…. They say they go out hunting for a couple of weeks. They could easily not have their systems up and running for that whole time. So I hope that there’s a process in place that is going to make sure that it’s going to take care of these things. Everybody is enamoured with technology, but we also have to ensure that we respect the people that aren’t quite as enamoured with the technology as a lot of other people are. I know that hunters are really concerned. I go to a lot of different meetings.

Just on the weekend, I was at the West Kootenay Big Game Trophy Association’s 60th an- nual awards banquet — there with the Trail Wildlife Association, who also host in conjunction with this or - ganization. They’ve been in existence for 60 years. There was a fellow there that was honoured, Lou Kratky. He was one of the first people in the province of B.C. to be able to actually go out and measure racks for their points to see what kind of an award system they were going to be given. Lou lives in Kelowna now. He’s originally from Trail.

He was honoured at the banquet for the work that he’s done and for being one of the first people in the province to actually have the ability to do that. He passed that ability on to another member of the association, who passed it on to a young member, who is now doing it. It was quite inspiring to see. One of the neat things about that whole…. When I was talking to them about the aspects of the bill and what’s happening with hunting in the province, one fellow who won the award for the…. I think it was the sheep he won the award for, and he won another award for the elk. He said that he loves hunting.

He was really proud to be able to win the awards he did, with the biggest rack, but he also said…. He’s a sustenance hunter. He believes in hunting and eating and utilizing the entire animal, not only getting a rack from the animal but utilizing the meat, making sure that it fills his family’s freezer. He was very clear about that. In fact, I didn’t meet anybody there who didn’t re- spect the animals and want to ensure that…. After the fact, yes, they might get a trophy out of that animal, but they respected that animal. They used that animal, all of the animal.

They hunted it for sustenance. [1515] It was a great evening, and it was so nice to see some - body…. Lou is 89, still very spry. He had to leave Trail so he could be closer to his daughter in Kelowna but miss - es Trail. But he said that…. It was just really nice to see him honoured. He’s one of the ones that…. People in the room were saying: “ Are we going to see someone like Lou get on line to get his licence?” It’s interesting when you talk to hunters about their concerns. All of them said: “Is there funding in this bill?” All of them asked me. Anybody I talked to said: “Where

British Columbia DebatesMonday, March 6, 2017 14095 is the funding in this bill to ensure that there will be, ” as I said, “conservation officers to help the outlets with the service they’re going to provide?” They said: “Where’s the funding just for wildlife conservation as it stands? Where is the funding for that?” I haven’t talked to any hunter…. When I talk to hunt - ers, I talk to them about the bill I tabled in the House last year, the Sustainable Wildlife Management Act. In that bill, I said that I think we need to have designated fund- ing for hunting, for wildlife conservation and for habitat.

I talk to hunters about what happens down in the States, where they actually have a dedicated funding stream. I said: “Is this something that you could see happening in this province? Every time you bought a li - cence”— and now you go and buy your licence on line, as this bill will help you to do — “that fee will go into a dedicated fund just for habitat conservation. ” I haven’t run into any hunter who said: “No, don’t do that. ” In fact, they expand on it. They talk about what’s happened in the States, where there’s actually a small sur- charge on anything to do with the back country.

Those funds are put into a dedicated source of funding for con- servation of habitat. Everybody is in agreement with it. I talk about so many different projects that are done by different people. I talked about Kamloops and the different people that do different projects. I want to just acknowledge Barry Brandow from Grand Forks, he and his family: Barry and his wife, Midge, and his son Bear and his wife. They have single-handedly kept the issue of the Gilpin Grasslands on the forefront for probably 30 years, I think. I was talking to him about this bill and asked him what he thought about it.

Of course, we got talking about the Gilpin. Barry single-handedly, with his family and some dedicated friends of his, has built a wildlife fence along Highway 3 between Grand Forks and Christina Lake. His fence has protected so much wildlife, especially the sheep — it’s big enough to prevent the sheep from get - ting out in the road — for so many years. He’s done that with fundraising on his own, with little or no support from government.

Huge kudos to people like Barry, who are out there day after day constantly talking about the issues of hunting and wildlife conservation and the fact that we do need more boots on the ground. He said: “Is there money in this bill?” I said: “No, there’s no funding in this bill. ” That’s a concern. He says: “How is it going to happen? How is it going to be implemented if there’s no funding to back it up?” I said: “Well, we’ll ask the minister that when I drill down in committee stage. ” He has been at the forefront of talking about the lack of the actual inventory of animals.

I said to him: “My bill I tabled last year talks about making sure we have a proper inventory done. ” He gets that, and he just says: “It’s what needs to happen. ” He said: “There have to be people that actually care about wildlife in this province that are starting to ensure that the funding is there, that the care is taken. ” What he has done with his family and their friends is pretty incredible. Y ou don’t find too many people that have that much passion about wildlife to actually go and construct a fence to save the wildlife. One of the other groups that I met with and talked to was….

I was up in Quesnel, and I was hearing about some of the projects that they have been involved in. Wilf Pfleiderer has been interested in conservation since his late teens, when he helped install duck nests and Canada goose boxes with the Maple Ridge Rod and Gun Club. [1520] Now he lives up in Quesnel. He’s a member of the B.C. Conservation Foundation and a member of the Quesnel Rod and Gun Club. He’s been a member since 1995 up there, and he’s still actively pursuing conservation initia- tives with elk, mule deer and California big horn sheep. One of the ones he told me about, which I heard about, was in 2007.

A seal coat was applied to West Fraser Road to allow for higher traffic between Quesnel and Williams Lake. It was an increase in usage, especially by logging trucks. It led to collisions with California bighorn sheep. In a few months, nine sheep were killed. The herd was quite small, so they were pretty concerned about this. In an effort to prevent additional deaths, Wilf devised a plan to install signage to warn drivers of the sheep popu- lation and urge them to slow down. He was unable to find an appropriate template that would address the issue, so he created his own design.

After receiving permission from the Ministry of Transportation to erect the signage — he got some funding from the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund — they installed the signs at key locations along the corridor. The project was a huge success. There hasn’t been a California bighorn sheep killed on that road since the signage was installed. That’s another example of the pas- sion that people have for wildlife in this province, where they’ll go and they’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that we have the wildlife not only there to hunt, but to view and to see.

It’s just so amazing, when you talk to differ - ent people, what they do. In talking to the B.C. Wildlife Federation, an amazing organization over 60,000 hunters strong in this province, I’ve asked them about their BCWF Conservation App. It’s done on line. It’s similar process to what’s been pro- posed in this bill. They did it on their own. They made it so it’s easy for people to report environmental infrac- tions. They’ve got an app and a website, and it’s allowing British Columbians to take ownership of their own nat - ural resources. This app and the website now have over 3,000 users across the province.

There have been multiple reports and some fines issued due to the great support of the people that are using this app. It’s got a public website, which displays environmental abuses that are reported

British Columbia Debates14096 Monday, March 6, 2017 through the app. They’re hoping to develop an Android- based app and rolling out a marketing campaign this coming summer to increase social awareness and the number of users. I think this is a great opportunity for the government to actually partner with B.C. Wildlife Federation to en - sure that this can increase. People see something in the bush that they know that it’s inappropriate, they take a picture. When they get back to where they’re going, they can make sure that it gets onto the website. It all happens with modern technology.

That’s an example where modern technology is working, and it’s working well. I think we need to make sure that we give people kudos where kudos are due, when it is working. This bill is interesting in what it proposes. It’s interest- ing in what it doesn’t propose. It doesn’t really set out any objectives for the conservation of fish and wildlife habitat, which people have been asking for, for a number of years. That’s one of the other questions I got asked: does the bill have anything in it about objectives?

It really doesn’t put fish and wildlife habitat, habitat conservation, at the fore- front of decisions made in the province. We’re a resource-based province. We are going to have resources in our province. It’s what makes our province rich in many, many ways. It’s the resources that we have. We need to ensure that when we’re planning in the back country or in the wildlife habitat…. When we’re planning for land and water use activities, we need to ensure that we remember that we’re not just accessing land and water. We’re accessing a habitat, the habitat of wildlife.

We need to ensure that we keep those priorities in place. This bill doesn’t talk about that. It talks about get- ting your licence on line. I wish the minister could have gone a little further with what he’s planned in the bill, but it just doesn’t seem that that’s an option. The other thing that people have asked about is a round table. We have been saying for the last year that we really feel that a wildlife management round table should be front and centre in this province. We should give people an opportunity to come to the table to talk about the issues. Does the bill address that?

No, it doesn’t. [1525] People want to come to the table. All of the different sectors that are so involved, whether you’re talking about resident hunters, guide-outfitters, trappers…. Y ou’re talk- ing about the ecotourism organizations. Y ou’re talking about backpackers. Y ou’re talking about the people that just want to be out in our back country, hiking and fish- ing. They want to have a voice at the table to ensure that our wildlife is there for years to come. People are really concerned that the numbers are showing that it’s not.

The numbers are showing a huge de- crease in some of our populations, especially moose and the caribou. We know the difficulties that are happening with trying to sustain the caribou herd in this province. The same is happening with moose. Driving home the other night…. Everybody knows that in this job, some of us in the rural parts of the world drive a lot. Driving home Thursday night, I’m almost home, an hour away from home, and all of a sudden there’s an animal in front of my car. I’m up a mountain pass, and it was a moose. It was a good two feet above the front hood of my car.

Thank goodness, at the last second, it veered off the other way. I don’t know if I’ d be speaking here in the House today — talk about getting the adrenaline going. But what a magnificent creature. Then my son said to me: “What was its rack

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20170306pm-Hansard-v42n11
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	20170306pm Hansard v42n11
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	b2af3b91687583ff4564d9213e5577ba88b7280d

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