British Columbia Hansard — Thursday, February 13, 2003 (37th Parliament, 4th Session) (H0213pm-04) (H0213pm 04)

H0213pm-04

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

4th Session, 37th Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (HANSARD) Thursday, February 13, 2003 Afternoon Sitting Volume 11, Number 4 THE HONOURABLE CLAUDE RICHMOND, SPEAKER ISSN 0709-1281

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Honourable Iona Campagnolo 4TH SESSION, 37TH PARLIAMENT SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Claude Richmond EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council................................................................................. .........................Hon. Gordon Campbell Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations.............................................................................. ..................... Hon.

Greg Halsey-Brandt Deputy Premier and Minister of Education ....................................................................................... ..................................Hon. Christy Clark Minister of Advanced Education................................................................................................. ...........................................Hon. Shirley Bond Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Treaty Negotiations.............................................................. .................... Hon.

Geoff Plant Minister of Children and Family Development.................................................................................... ..............................Hon. Gordon Hogg Minister of State for Early Childhood Development.............................................................................. .................................Hon. Linda Reid Minister of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services......................................................................... .................. Hon.

George Abbott Minister of State for Community Charter........................................................................................ .................................. Hon. Ted Nebbeling Minister of State for Women's Equality ......................................................................................... .................................... Hon. Lynn Stephens Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise ................................................................................ ..................................Hon.

Rick Thorpe Minister of State for Deregulation ............................................................................................. ............................................ Hon. Kevin Falcon Minister of Energy and Mines................................................................................................... ....................................... Hon. Richard Neufeld Minister of Finance ............................................................................................................ ....................................................... Hon.

Gary Collins Minister of Forests ............................................................................................................ .................................................. Hon. Michael de Jong Minister of Health Planning .................................................................................................... ............................................ Hon. Sindi Hawkins Minister of Health Services.................................................................................................... ................................................ Hon.

Colin Hansen Minister of State for Mental Health ............................................................................................ ...................................Hon. Gulzar S. Cheema Minister of State for Intermediate, Long Term and Home Care ............................................................................. Hon. Katherine Whittred Minister of Human Resources.................................................................................................... ............................................Hon.

Murray Coell Minister of Management Services................................................................................................ .........................................Hon. Sandy Santori Minister of Provincial Revenue................................................................................................. ................................................Hon. Bill Barisoff Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ................................................................................ ..................................Hon.

Rich Coleman Minister of Skills Development and Labour...................................................................................... .............................Hon. Graham P. Bruce Minister of Sustainable Resource Management and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries ..................................Hon. Stan Hagen Minister of Transportation..................................................................................................... .................................................... Hon.

Judith Reid Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection..................................................................................... ....................................Hon. Joyce Murray LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Deputy Speaker................................................................................................................. ..............................................................

John Weisbeck Leader of the Opposition ....................................................................................................... ...........................................................Joy MacPhail Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole ........................................................................................... .............................................. Harold Long Clerk of the Legislative Assembly .............................................................................................. .........................................E.

George MacMinn Clerk Assistant ................................................................................................................ ................................................................... Robert Vaive Clerk Assistant and Law Clerk .................................................................................................. ........................................................ Ian D. Izard Clerk Assistant and Clerk of Committees........................................................................................ ............................................Craig H.

James Clerk Assistant/Committee Clerk................................................................................................ ............................................ Kate Ryan-Lloyd Sergeant-at-Arms ............................................................................................................... .........................................................A.A. Humphreys Director, Hansard Services ..................................................................................................... ........................................

Anthony Dambrauskas Legislative Librarian.......................................................................................................... ............................................................. Joan A. Barton Legislative Comptroller ........................................................................................................ .................................................................Peter Bray Published by British Columbia Hansard Services, and printed under the authority of the Speaker by the Queen's Printer, Victoria.

Rates: single issue, $2.85; per calendar year, mailed daily, $298. GST extra. Agent: Crown Publications Inc., 521 Fort St., Victoria, B.C. V8W 1E7. Telephone: (250) 386-4636. Fax: 386-0221. www.leg.bc.ca/hansard In addition to printed transcripts, Hansard Services publishes transcripts on the Internet and broadcasts Chamber debates on television.

Party Standings: Liberal 75; New Democratic 2; Independent Liberal 2. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Abbott, Hon. George (L) ....................................................................... Shuswap Anderson, Val J. (L) .............................................................Vancouver-Langara Barisoff, Hon. Bill (L)............................................. Penticton–Okanagan Valley Bell, Pat (L).........................................................................Prince George North Belsey, Bill (L).................................................................................

North Coast Bennett, Bill (L) ........................................................................... East Kootenay Bhullar, Tony (Ind. L) ................................................................. Surrey-Newton Bloy, Harry (L).................................................................................. Burquitlam Bond, Hon. Shirley (L).........................................Prince George–Mount Robson Bray, Jeff (L)......................................................................Victoria–Beacon H ill Brenzinger, Elayne (L) ...............................................................

Surrey-Whalley Brice, Susan (L) ............................................................................Saanich South Bruce, Hon. Graham P. (L)................................................ Cowichan-Ladysmith Campbell, Hon. Gordon (L)............................................. Vancouver–Point Grey Cheema, Hon. Gulzar S. (L) ..........................................Surrey–Panorama Ridge Chong, Ida (L)................................................................ Oak Bay–Gordon Head Christensen, Tom (L) .............................................................

Okanagan-Vernon Chutter, Dave (L) ........................................................................... Yale-L illooet Clark, Hon. Christy (L) ..................................................Port Moody–Westwood Cobb, Walt (L) ............................................................................. Cariboo South Coell, Hon. Murray (L) ........................................ Saanich North and the Islands Coleman, Hon. Rich (L) .............................................. Fort Langley–Aldergrove Collins, Hon.

Gary (L).........................................................Vancouver-Fairview de Jong, Hon. Michael (L)....................................... Abbotsford–Mount Lehman Falcon, Hon. Kevin (L) .......................................................... Surrey-Cloverdale Hagen, Hon. Stan (L) ................................................................... Comox Valley Halsey-Brandt, Hon. Greg (L) ..................................................Richmond Centre Hamilton, Arnie (L)............................................................Esquimalt-Metchosin Hansen, Hon.

Colin (L) .....................................................Vancouver-Quilchena Harris, Roger (L)......................................................................................Skeena Hawes, Randy (L) ............................................................ Maple Ridge–Mission Hawkins, Hon. Sindi (L).......................................................... Kelowna-Mission Hayer, Dave S. (L) ................................................................... Surrey-Tynehead Hogg, Hon. Gordon (L) ........................................................

Surrey–White Rock Hunter, Mike (L) ...................................................................................Nanaimo Jarvis, Daniel (L)...................................................... North Vancouver–Seymour Johnston, Ken (L)............................................................ Vancouver-Fraserview Kerr, Brian J. (L).............................................................. Malahat–Juan de Fuca Krueger, Kevin (L).................................................

Kamloops–North Thompson Kwan, Jenny Wai Ching (NDP) ...............................Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Lee, Richard T. (L).......................................................................Burnaby North Lekstrom, Blair (L)................................................................. Peace River South Les, John (L) .......................................................................... Ch illiwack-Sumas Locke, Brenda (L) ...........................................................

Surrey–Green Timbers Long, Harold (L) ...................................................Powell River–Sunshine Coast MacKay, Dennis (L)....................................................... Bulkley Valley–Stikine McMahon, Wendy (L).............................................Columbia River–Revelstoke MacPhail, Joy (NDP) ..........................................................

Vancouver-Hastings Manhas, Karn (L) .............................................Port Coquitlam–Burke Mountain Masi, Reni (L) ...................................................................................Delta North Mayencourt, Lorne (L) ..........................................................Vancouver-Burrard Murray, Hon. Joyce (L) ........................................................... New Westminster Nebbeling, Hon. Ted (L) .......................................... West Vancouver–Garibaldi Nettleton, Paul (Ind. L)..................................................Prince George–Omineca Neufeld, Hon.

Richard (L)...................................................... Peace River North Nijjar, Rob (L)...................................................................Vancouver-Kingsway Nuraney, John (L) ...............................................................Burnaby-W illingdon Orr, Sheila (L) ...........................................................................Victoria-Hillside Penner, Barry (L)....................................................................... Ch illiwack-Kent Plant, Hon. Geoff (L) ......................................................... Richmond-Steveston Reid, Hon.

Judith (L)............................................................Nanaimo-Parksv ille Reid, Hon. Linda (L) ................................................................... Richmond East Richmond, Hon. Claude (L) ................................................................ Kamloops Roddick, Valerie (L)..........................................................................Delta South Sahota, Patty (L).....................................................................Burnaby-Edmonds Santori, Hon. Sandy (L)..............................................West Kootenay–Boundary Stephens, Hon.

Lynn (L) ........................................................................ Langley Stewart, Ken (L)...................................................... Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Stewart, Richard (L) ...................................................... Coquitlam-Maillardville Suffredine, Blair F. (L) ................................................................Nelson-Creston Sultan, Ralph (L)....................................................... West Vancouver–Capilano Thorpe, Hon.

Rick (L) ..........................................................Okanagan-Westside Trumper, Gillian (L)................................................................Alberni-Qualicum van Dongen, John (L).........................................................Abbotsford-Clayburn Visser, Rod (L).................................................................................North Island Weisbeck, John (L).........................................................Kelowna–Lake Country Whittred, Hon.

Katherine (L) ...................................North Vancouver–Lonsdale Wilson, John (L)........................................................................... Cariboo North Wong, Patrick (L)............................................................Vancouver-Kensington LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Clayburn................................................................John van Dongen Abbotsford–Mount Lehman ..............................................Hon.

Michael de Jong Alberni-Qualicum.......................................................................G illian Trumper Bulkley Valley–Stikine ..............................................................Dennis MacKay Burnaby North..............................................................................Richard T. Lee Burnaby-Edmonds............................................................................Patty Sahota Burnaby-Willingdon......................................................................

John Nuraney Burquitlam ........................................................................................ Harry Bloy Cariboo North ..................................................................................John Wilson Cariboo South .................................................................................... Walt Cobb Chilliwack-Kent ............................................................................. Barry Penner Chilliwack-Sumas .................................................................................

John Les Columbia River–Revelstoke....................................................Wendy McMahon Comox Valley .......................................................................... Hon. Stan Hagen Coquitlam-Maillardville .............................................................Richard Stewart Cowichan-Ladysmith .......................................................Hon. Graham P. Bruce Delta North.......................................................................................... Reni Masi Delta South................................................................................

Valerie Roddick East Kootenay .................................................................................. Bill Bennett Esquimalt-Metchosin...................................................................Arnie Hamilton Fort Langley–Aldergrove ..................................................... Hon. Rich Coleman Kamloops ....................................................................... Hon. Claude Richmond Kamloops–North Thompson ........................................................Kevin Krueger Kelowna–Lake Country...............................................................

John Weisbeck Kelowna-Mission ................................................................ Hon. Sindi Hawkins Langley ............................................................................... Hon. Lynn Stephens Malahat–Juan de Fuca .....................................................................Brian J. Kerr Maple Ridge–Mission ................................................................... Randy Hawes Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows .............................................................Ken Stewart Nanaimo..........................................................................................

Mike Hunter Nanaimo-Parksville ...................................................................Hon. Judith Reid Nelson-Creston.......................................................................Blair F. Suffredine New Westminster ..................................................................Hon. Joyce Murray North Coast ........................................................................................Bill Belsey North Island........................................................................................Rod Visser North Vancouver–Lonsdale.......................................... Hon.

Katherine Wh ittred North Vancouver–Seymour .............................................................Daniel Jarvis Oak Bay–Gordon Head .......................................................................Ida Chong Okanagan-Vernon .................................................................... Tom Christensen Okanagan-Westside.................................................................Hon. Rick Thorpe Peace River North .............................................................Hon. Richard Neufeld Peace River South .......................................................................

Blair Lekstrom Penticton–Okanagan Valley ....................................................Hon. Bill Barisoff Port Coquitlam–Burke Mountain.................................................... Karn Manhas Port Moody–Westwood......................................................... Hon. Christy Clark Powell River–Sunshine Coast.......................................................... Harold Long Prince George North................................................................................Pat Bell Prince George–Mount Robson................................................Hon.

Shirley Bond Prince George–Omineca................................................................Paul Nettleton Richmond Centre......................................................... Hon. Greg Halsey-Brandt Richmond East .......................................................................... Hon. Linda Reid Richmond-Steveston ................................................................ Hon. Geoff Plant Saanich North and the Islands ............................................... Hon. Murray Coell Saanich South...................................................................................

Susan Brice Shuswap .............................................................................. Hon. George Abbott Skeena.............................................................................................Roger Harris Surrey-Cloverdale ................................................................. Hon. Kevin Falcon Surrey–Green Timbers .................................................................. Brenda Locke Surrey-Newton ............................................................................... Tony Bhullar Surrey–Panorama Ridge................................................. Hon.

Gulzar S. Cheema Surrey-Tynehead .......................................................................... Dave S. Hayer Surrey-Whalley ...................................................................... Elayne Brenzinger Surrey–White Rock ...............................................................Hon. Gordon Hogg Vancouver-Burrard................................................................. Lorne Mayencourt Vancouver-Fairview............................................................... Hon.

Gary Co llins Vancouver-Fraserview ...................................................................Ken Johnston Vancouver-Hastings .......................................................................Joy MacPhail Vancouver-Kensington...................................................................Patrick Wong Vancouver-Kingsway..........................................................................Rob Nijjar Vancouver-Langara....................................................................Val J.

Anderson Vancouver–Mount Pleasant............................................Jenny Wai Ching Kwan Vancouver–Point Grey ................................................... Hon. Gordon Campbell Vancouver-Quilchena............................................................ Hon. Colin Hansen Victoria–Beacon Hill.............................................................................Jeff Bray Victoria-Hillside.................................................................................. Sheila Orr West Kootenay–Boundary.................................................... Hon.

Sandy Santori West Vancouver–Capilano ..............................................................Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Garibaldi ................................................. Hon. Ted Nebbeling Yale-Lillooet .................................................................................. Dave Chutter

CONTENTS Thursday, February 13, 2003 Afternoon Sitting Routine Proceedings Page Introductions by Members............................................................................................................................... ....................... 4759 Tributes....................................................................................................................... ............................................................... 4759 McBride peewee hockey team Hon. S.

Bond Statements (Standing Order 25B).............................................................................................................................. .............. 4759 Arnold Patrick Recalma G. Trumper Chinese New Year P. Wong War against Iraq J. MacPhail Oral Questions................................................................................................................. ......................................................... 4760 Impact of Olympic Games on Vancouver rental market J. Kwan Hon. R. Coleman Gasoline tax J. MacPhail Hon. G. Collins Monty Little R. Visser Hon. R.

Thorpe James Bay Community Project health clinic J. Bray Hon. C. Hansen Collection of unpaid sales taxes J. Kwan Hon. B. Barisoff Reports from Committees ........................................................................................................ ............................................... 4763 Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts J. Kwan Throne Speech Debate (continued)............................................................................................................................... ........... 4764 T. Christensen B. Kerr Hon. R. Coleman Hon. R. Neufeld H. Bloy Hon. S. Bond D.

Chutter I. Chong J. van Dongen

4759 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 The House met at 2:04 p.m. Introductions by Members J. Nuraney: I have great pleasure in recognizing some of the very distinguished guests with us today in the gallery, starting from our new police complaint commissioner who got sworn in this morning. I'm happy to welcome Dirk Ryneveld and his wife, Fiona; his son, Michael; and his daughter, Susan. [1405] We also have in the gallery Barbara Murphy, the deputy commissioner; Mr.

Ben Casson, who very ably fulfilled the duty and deputized the role of the dep- uty commissioner; the chief officer, Dave Douglas, of the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia; Kevin Begg, the director of police services, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General; Derek Egan, president of the B.C. Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police. Will the House please make them all wel- come. B. Lekstrom: It is my pleasure to welcome to Brit- ish Columbia and to our House a delegation of visi- tors from the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in South Africa. Joining us in the gallery this afternoon are Mr.

Nicholas Isaacs and Mr. Archie Lewis, both members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, South Africa; and Mr. Mario Sassman, senior commit- tee coordinator, Western Cape Parliament. As well, they are accompanied by staff from the Parliamentary Centre in Ottawa, Ms. Tania Wallace and Ms. Kim Caldwell. Would the House please help make me make them feel welcome. Hon. J. Murray: It's my great pleasure to intro- duce Daniel Fontaine, who is joining us today in the gallery. Daniel is a tireless volunteer, a key executive member of my B.C.

Liberal Riding Association in New Westminster, and I'm very pleased to have him here today. Please make him welcome. J. MacPhail: I, too, join with my colleagues in the Legislature to welcome guests from the Western Cape of South Africa. My colleague met earlier with them, and I will be meeting with them later today. It is in a true spirit of international friendship and collegiality that we welcome them today. I join with everybody else in doing so. Hon. S. Bond: I am pleased to make an introduc- tion in the gallery on behalf of my colleague from Prince George North.

We're pleased to welcome today a constituent of his and also a resident of my commu- nity, Iris McIntyre. We want to welcome her to the precinct. I would ask you to help me make her wel- come. Tributes McBRIDE PEEWEE HOCKEY TEAM Hon. S. Bond: You'll be thrilled to know I have somebody else. I was just following my colleague over there from Peace River. It gives me great pleasure to- day to acknowledge an outstanding group of young athletes from one of my communities, who are going to enjoy an exciting slice of Canadiana. The McBride peewee hockey team is going on the road with the Vancouver Canucks.

This coming Saturday is Hockey Day in Canada, and teams across B.C. were invited to participate in the Ca- nucks' peewee road trip contest. All they had to do was explain why they loved hockey. Explaining something that seems genetically programmed into Canadians is not an easy task. However, the McBride peewee boys won it with their poster entitled "We Fit Together as a Team." As a hockey mom who has spent countless hours in a hockey rink, I know it is the dream of Canadian chil- dren everywhere to grow up and play in the big leagues.

This team will have many sleepless nights until Friday, when the bus arrives and picks them up. They will travel to Calgary. They will eat with the Ca- nucks. They will skate with them and then watch a hockey game. I can tell you, I want to congratulate them. It is a dream come true for a wonderful group of young people in my constituency. Congratulations to the McBride peewee hockey team. Introductions by Members V.

Roddick: In the gallery today from Delta South are three dedicated teachers — Connie Matisz, Nancy Gamlin and Mary Hodgson — with 59 very enthusias- tic students from grades 6 and 7 accompanied by ten wonderful, long-suffering parents from Hawthorne Elementary in beautiful, historic Ladner. Please give them all a desk-thumping welcome. B. Suffredine: In the gallery today we have one stu- dent from Camosun College who has an interest in criminology and political science. He came to the throne speech debate, and that wasn't enough for him, so he came back today to watch question period. He's also my son, James.

Would the House please make him welcome. [1410] Hon. G. Abbott: Among the many people in the gallery today who are here to witness the drama and splendour of question period are two constituents of mine from Shuswap. William and Sybil Pringle are here from Salmon Arm. I'd like the House to join with me in making them welcome. Statements (Standing Order 25B) ARNOLD PATRICK RECALMA G. Trumper: I rise today to pay tribute to Arnold Patrick Recalma, who is known as Buddy to his friends

4760 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 and family. He died just before Christmas. Buddy was the head of a family that made up some of the last sur- vivors of the Penlatch people and was a well-respected leader in the aboriginal community. He was born in Victoria in 1930, at a time when even the right to as- semble for reasons other than Christian purposes was denied to status Indians in Canada. As a teenager he joined the Native Brotherhood of B.C., North America's oldest aboriginal organization.

This was an underground organization that organized for treaty rights, fishing rights, old age pension and the right to vote. Because the federal government out- lawed the ability to organize politically, they opened their meetings with a hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers , which served as a decoy for the brotherhood's activi- ties. Many of the people who knew Buddy experienced the generosity of his open-door policy, whether he found them a job, gave them a place to sleep or offered them a meal. He was a hereditary chieftain, a fisher- man and a strong advocate for the rights of his people.

He was a friend not just to me but also to nearly every person who met him. Perhaps more than anything, Bud Recalma was a man of his people and lived to the best of his ability with his large family, both past and present. His presence will be greatly missed. To his family, it was a privilege to have known him. CHINESE NEW YEAR P. Wong: As today is Chinese New Year, I would like to wish my constituents, my colleagues and guests in this House and all British Columbians gung hay fat choy.

From February 1, I have attended many Chinese New Year's celebrations and on February 2 had the pleasure of accompanying the Premier and Mrs. Campbell at the Vancouver Chinatown New Year pa- rade. For over one million Canadians of Chinese heri- tage, Chinese New Year marks the beginning of an- other year filled with prosperity and happiness. Much emphasis is placed on the importance of family, hard work, social tolerance and awareness. The Chinese lunar calendar is represented by 12 animals each year as the symbol for Chinese New Year. The qualities that the symbol represents are what guides us through the year.

This Year of the Ram represents accommodation of others, peace, compassion, toler- ance and humility. Given the uncertainty facing our world, the Year of the Ram is very appropriate to re- flect upon these values and to make them a part of our everyday lives. I am very pleased that the city of Vancouver has proclaimed February 1 as Chinese New Year day in the city. This is welcome news to all the Canadian Chinese living in Vancouver, and it marks a signifi- cant step in recognizing the importance of this cele- bration to the Chinese population.

Through you to all British Columbians, may the Year of the Ram bring peace and happiness to everyone's lives, and may we all find the balance and humility we are striving for. WAR AGAINST IRAQ J. MacPhail: As we meet this session to debate the future of our province and the security and well-being of our citizens, the possibility of a new war in the Mid- dle East hangs over our deliberations. A comprehen- sive weapons inspection regime is in place, which needs more time to determine compliance with the UN resolution 1441.

There is widespread public opposition to a war in Canada and amongst our European allies. [1415] Nevertheless, Washington looks to be intent on a predetermined and unilateral course of action. It seems that war is coming, whether we like it or not. Although British Columbians and, through them, this Legislature can do little to quiet the drumbeat in Washington, the war will affect our lives in ways that we cannot predict. There is the possibility that young Canadians will be asked to participate and be put in harm's way.

There is the possibility that it will trigger the use of weapons whose destructive force is impossi- ble to contemplate. There is the possibility that it will dramatically disrupt the global economy, destroying the chance a small, open economy like ours has of re- covery. Already we're seeing the impact on gas prices. Of course, if an invasion begins, there is the potential that thousands will die and more will be hurt. British Columbia may be a small province, but we can and must be a strong voice for peace.

With people from every corner of the globe living side by side within our borders, British Columbia stands as a tes- tament to the values of tolerance, civility, dialogue and understanding, values that now more than ever need to find expression in our own politics and in international relations. The Iraqi regime is a pariah. It brutalizes and op- presses citizens, but it is also a weak and broken re- gime. In Canada we need to propose alternatives, be- cause pre-emptive unilateral war will only reinforce divisions, uncertainty and hatreds.

For the sake of peace, for the sake of future generations and for the security of the world, let us speak and work for peace, not war. Oral Questions IMPACT OF OLYMPIC GAMES ON VANCOUVER RENTAL MARKET J. Kwan: New provincial rent legislation an- nounced last fall appears to violate a key guarantee in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic bid and could threaten the city's bid as it heads into a plebiscite next week. Legislation which would allow landlords to retroac- tively apply rent increases for up to three years would compromise a promise made at the International Olympic Committee.

In a tight housing market like Vancouver, this will have devastating consequences for renters, seniors and people living on social assistance. Will the Solicitor General agree to shelve the legislation

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4761 until a more comprehensive consultation can take place? Hon. R. Coleman: First of all, through to the mem- ber opposite, we do have controls built into this legisla- tion and into the regulations that will be coming for- ward. She knows that. She debated the legislation with me last fall. In reviewing the bid book from Salzburg, there is no mention whatsoever about anything to do with rents with regards to them. They only refer to bed-and- breakfasts and hotels relative to what they have in that category of their bid book.

In addition to that, stability in the rental housing market will bring more rental accommodation invest- ment into British Columbia so we don't face a rental crisis by the time we get to the 2010 Olympics. In addi- tion to that, the government of the day will be able to moderate whatever increases could be done by regula- tion, because that's the way we structured it. Mr. Speaker: The member for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant has a supplementary question. J. Kwan: During Expo 86 over 1,000 people were evicted by greedy landlords putting in unreasonable rent increases. Several people died as a result of those evictions.

We have an opportunity to do things differently. The mayor of Vancouver, staff at the Olympic bid corporation, the Tenants Rights Action Coalition, the West End Residents Association — as the member for Vancouver-Burrard will certainly know — have all requested that these changes to the Residential Ten- ancy Act be shelved. The minister says: "Don't worry. Everything will be fine." The minister won't listen to the people who ex- perienced the deaths in the community.

Again, to the Solicitor General: will he announce today the delay of the changes to the Residential Tenancy Act which will gouge renters and undermine the Olympic bid? [1420] Hon. R. Coleman: It would be well for the member opposite to, first of all, quit fearmongering with re- gards to how rent controls…. The member opposite might also want to look at the bid book… Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Hon. R.

Coleman: …and look at the legacy that's being built with regard to several hundred rental hous- ing units that would be available for social housing as a result of the Olympics coming to British Columbia and the fact that — for the first time ever, I am told by the industry — when they see there's actually going to be stability…. We are actually building today new rental housing for the first time in many years in British Co- lumbia. GASOLINE TAX J. MacPhail: Yesterday the Premier announced an annual $200 million, 3.5-cent-per-litre gas tax hike.

That's on top of over $800 million in new tax increases and countless new fees. This tax comes at the worst possible time for low- and middle-income British Co- lumbians, just when gas prices are going through the roof. To the Minister of Finance: can he please table the economic impact study that he must have undertaken to determine the effect of this new tax on the economy of the interior? Hon. G.

Collins: I can tell the member opposite that every single penny of the gas tax revenue is going to go back into the infrastructure that British Columbi- ans from one end of the province to the other have been asking for and demanding for over ten years. We're going to deliver it. The economic benefits of that improved infrastructure will be monumental to every single community in British Columbia. Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a supplementary question. J.

MacPhail: For the last 12 years the full gas tax has gone into transportation infrastructure — the only province in all of Canada that has done that. I might remind the minister that it was his government that outlawed the business lens that the former government put in. Now, on the lower mainland this government put… Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Order, please. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Order. The Leader of the Opposition has the floor. J. MacPhail: …in a 2-cent-per-litre increase in the gas tax last April.

This March they're putting a 3.5-cent- per-litre increase on the lower mainland citizens, and now we hear that the citizens of the lower mainland are also going to have to pay tolls. It couldn't come at a worse time than now — a 5.5-cent-per-litre increase and tolls in the lower mainland. Will the Minister of Finance commit to doing an economic impact study on the economy of the lower mainland before he imposes tolls on the lower mainland? Hon. G. Collins: Perhaps she should ask the Cana- dian Centre for Policy Alternatives to do that. They gave them $200,000 to do just that sort of thing.

All you have to do is look at the infrastructure benefits to the people of the lower mainland, to the

4762 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 transportation network of the lower mainland. If we can twin the Port Mann Bridge, if we can improve bor- der crossing infrastructure, if you can do a South Sur- rey perimeter road, the benefit to the shipping industry and the trucking industry in British Columbia… Interjection. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Hon. G. Collins: …when they can get their goods to market faster…. They're not paying people to stay in traffic, to stop in traffic and to idle in traffic — some- thing I know was never a issue to the NDP.

But think of the improvement in the air quality when we relieve the gridlock in the lower mainland and we can start to see improvements in the air quality for the people of British Columbia. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Member, order, please. The member for North Island has the floor. MONTY LITTLE R. Visser: I stood in this House yesterday and spoke about 270 North Island folks, their families and their community and the devastating fire that they had last weekend.

I asked that we as legislators and all Brit- ish Columbians rise above the ill-informed rhetoric of the critics of aquaculture and remember the real people that depend on us to bring balance and substance to the debate. [1425] No sooner had I sat down than the member for Vancouver-Hastings was on her feet levelling accusa- tions at the industry that sustains those very people I was talking about. How disappointing. J. MacPhail: Really. And how did you get that from my question — that you're on the take…? Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Interjection. Mr. Speaker: Order. R.

Visser: My question is for the Minister of Com- petition, Science and Enterprise and minister responsi- ble for the B.C. Science Council. Could he please tell this House… . J. MacPhail: I'm in favour of jobs, in the wild stock. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Order, order. Please continue. R. Visser: Could the minister please tell this House and this province the real facts about Monty Little and his appointment to the Science Council? Hon. R. Thorpe: You know, one of the great things about the member for Vancouver-Hastings is that when she was in government, she didn't get the facts right.

She's in opposition, and she doesn't get the facts right. So let me share the facts with the House. On March 21, 1996, Mr. Monty Little was appointed to the Science Council and signed by Mr. Dan Miller, former Premier of British Columbia. On October 5, 1999, an order-in-council appointed…. Interjection. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Please continue. Hon. R. Thorpe: On October 5, 1999, Mr. Little was once again appointed to the Science Council, signed by the former minister, Andrew Petter, of the NDP gov- ernment. And on January 12, 2000, former minister Petter of the NDP government appointed Mr. Little once again.

Then, in the dying days of their govern- ment, on May 25, 2001, that member for Vancouver- Hastings, the Deputy Premier of the province, formal- ized the appointment of Mr. Little to the B.C. Aquacul- ture Research and Development Committee. These are the facts. The member for Vancouver- Hastings should stand in this House and apologize to Mr. Little, a very credible scientist, volunteer and busi- nessman in British Columbia. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Order. The member for Victoria–Beacon Hill. Interjections. Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. JAMES BAY COMMUNITY PROJECT HEALTH CLINIC J. Bray: My question is to the Minister of Health Services. Recently I attended a public meeting organ- ized by citizens concerned about the status of the James Bay Community Project health clinic. At the meeting a motion was passed asking for my assistance. Of par- ticular concern to the citizens is the current funding model that funds medical practices like the James Bay

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4763 Community Project based on the number of patients cared for and not the number of services provided. These citizens have raised concerns about the abil- ity of this funding model to meet the needs of seniors locally. Can the Minister of Health Services tell us what steps his ministry has taken to address this issue? Hon. C.

Hansen: I g u e s s , f i r s t o f a l l , I w a n t t o a c - knowledge the hundreds of hours that this member has put into this particular issue and the time he's taken to develop an understanding of the challenges that the James Bay clinic is facing. As a direct result of the various meetings I have had with this member, we have gone back and reviewed the formula.

What is obvious from the material he has pro- vided me is that the James Bay clinic has an inordinate number of seniors on their patient list, and we have now made a decision that we will adjust the funding formula to reflect the increased number of seniors. That will be retroactive to last April 1. In addition to that, increased money will also flow to the clinic as a direct result of the increase in physician compensation in the province. So as a result of those two sources, they will see additional funding flow retroactive to April 1 of last year. Mr.

Speaker: The member for Victoria–Beacon Hill has a supplementary question. J. Bray: I would hope that the Leader of the Opposi- tion would actually watch MLAs do their job and see how it's actually done in this House. [1430] I am pleased that the ministry has recognized a need to increase the funding formula, to better recog- nize the specific needs of seniors in this type of health clinic. However, many of my constituents are con- cerned that staffing levels, especially among physi- cians, are not adequate to deal with existing patients or new patients as they get registered in the clinic.

To the Minister of Health Services: this is an issue of significant concern. Can he answer my constituents' concerns about the staffing levels at the clinic? Hon. C. Hansen: I think what's important to under- stand here is that this particular clinic is funded based on the number of residents that register with the clinic. It is a pilot project that was put in place a number of years ago. It's a demonstration project around the pri- mary care demonstration project that was in place a while ago. Their funding mostly flows as a direct result of how many residents of the community sign up for care from that clinic.

I know there is a significant recruitment drive that is being developed now to get more residents of the James Bay community to sign up at the clinic. The con- cern that has been expressed to me via the MLA for Victoria–Beacon Hill is that they need assurance that the additional dollars will flow as patients are regis- tered, because we can't have this new influx of patients to the clinic and not have the dollars to match.

I can give the member assurance that as new residents of James Bay sign up for the clinic, we are able to ensure that those dollars will flow from the day that they are registered, and we can also assist them in moving new physicians into that clinic as those new patients come to seek that care. COLLECTION OF UNPAID SALES TAXES J. Kwan: To the Minister of Provincial Revenue: the Minister of Forests says he was wrongly named in the judgment in writ of seizure for unpaid PST filed in the S u p re m e C o u rt i n J u l y o f l as t y e a r.

W e k no w t h at t he judgment was very efficiently cancelled on his behalf. Yesterday I asked the question: has the $12,500 owed to the Crown by the minister's former partner been paid in full? The question remains unanswered. If not, I'd like to ask the minister this question: why hasn't the government re-filed the judgment using the correct names? Mr. Speaker: I believe the question was taken on notice, but the minister may answer if he wishes. Hon. B. Barisoff: Due to taxpayer confidentiality, the member knows full well that I can't comment on that.

But I will assure the members that we treat all taxpayers equally and fairly. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. [End of question period.] Reports from Committees J. Kwan: I have the honour to present the report of the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts for the third session of the thirty-seventh parliament. H o n . S p e a k e r , I m o v e t h a t t h e r e p o r t b e t a k e n a s read and received. Motion approved. J. Kwan: I ask leave of the House to suspend the rules to permit the moving of a motion to adopt the report. Leave granted. J.

Kwan: I m o v e t h a t t h e r e p o r t b e a d o p t e d . I n s o moving the report, I would simply like to advise that members of the committee have completed the review of the reports of the auditor general of B.C. deposited with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly during the last 12 months, with the exception of the following new reports: Managing Contaminated Sites on Provincial Lands, which was delivered on December 2002; Review of Estimates Related to Vancouver's Bid to Stage the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games , January 2003; Building Better Reports: Our Review of the

4764 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 2001-02 Reports of Government , which was deposited on January 2003; Follow-up of Performance Reports , depos- ited January 2003. The committee looks forward to being reconstituted at the earliest opportunity in the fourth session of the thirty-seventh parliament in order to complete the re- view of the outstanding reports published during the current Legislative Assembly. Motion approved. [1435] Orders of the Day Hon. G. Collins: I call continued debate on Ad- dress in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. Throne Speech Debate (continued) T.

Christensen: Thank you for the opportunity to continue debate on the throne speech. On Tuesday the Lieutenant-Governor spoke of opening up new ways of meeting our common interests, and I just want to touch on a couple of the issues that the Lieutenant-Governor mentioned.

First was the issue of a consolidation of the delivery of child care services in the province, and I think this is a long overdue move on the part of gov- ernment to try and bring some cohesion to the delivery of the various supports that government provides to parents around the province who need child care, as well to child care service providers. I know that in my own constituency, I'm contacted by parents on really two basic issues around child care.

One is certainly the cost of child care in today's econ- omy while parents are struggling to make ends meet, and the second is simply on the lack of available child care spaces. Obviously, both of those are difficult issues to address, but government must take steps to encour- age an expansion of the child care spaces. I think the minister has made great strides, in fact, in doing that by expanding the scope of support in child care to li- censed family day cares as well as the licensed group day cares.

I look forward in my own constituency to seeing how that policy unfolds and seeing the results on the ground as parents are better able to get the child care that they need and that their children need. The second issue in new ways of meeting our common interests is that of the move towards a pro- vincial authority for community living B.C.

I think that we will look back a decade from now and really see what an exciting opportunity this has been for the peo- ple who rely on the community living sector and those working in that sector in terms of their ability to pro- vide for the people who they care so much about. In my own constituency of Okanagan-Vernon we're very fortunate to have a number of very good service providers, both non-profit societies and private care- givers, who are dealing with folks in community liv- ing.

I know, certainly, in speaking with them that there are a number of challenges ahead as we move to this new authority, but in general, there's a great deal of excitement in terms of their ability to have input on how to best meet the needs of this client group.

All of the folks involved are very committed to focusing on the needs of clients, and as long as that is the focus that is retained, I guarantee you that at the end of the day we're going to have a much more effective delivery system in British Columbia, and certainly those in my constituency are looking forward to that. [1440] One of the most important elements of the throne speech on Tuesday was the statement of recognition and reconciliation with first nations. I don't think the importance of that statement by the Lieutenant- Governor and by the government can be overesti- mated.

Nobody who reviews the history in this prov- ince and the policies of the past in terms of dealing with our first nations people can look back with any sense of pride on those dealings. For the first time gov- ernment has acknowledged that poor history and has attempted to make amends so that we can move for- ward in cooperation with our first nations to achieve the goals that first nations communities are setting for themselves and do that hand in hand with non–first nations communities.

I know that in my own constitu- ency — I believe it was last week, or it may have been two weeks ago now — the city of Vernon and the Okanagan first nation came to a memorandum of un- derstanding in terms of how those two neighbouring communities can work better together to further their common interests and the common interests of every- body who lives in the North Okanagan. As long as we have our communities working together, we are all going to be better off at the end of the day. There were a number of initiatives in the throne speech that dealt with opening up B.C.'s heartlands to economic growth.

Again, those initiatives and the importance of those initiatives can't be overesti- mated. I just want to touch very briefly on a few of them. Firstly, and of great interest to my own constitu- ency, there is the indication that we are going to have a B.C. resort task force. As I suspect most of you know, Silver Star Mountain Resort, one of the finest ski areas in the province, is in my own constituency and is again enjoying a good year of snow when many others are not.

While I haven't had an opportunity this year to get up there nearly as much as I would like to, it's always a good break when I can at least get up for a couple of hours and enjoy a few runs on the slopes. Silver Star, on its own, is in the process of developing an aggres- sive growth strategy that will benefit all of the North Okanagan. I've commented in this House before about the type of customers we're seeing come from around the world to visit our ski resorts.

I think the establishment of a B.C. resort task force to focus on what the needs of those communities are, so that they can take the great- est advantage of this natural opportunity we've been provided in British Columbia, is a very major step for- w a r d . I v e r y m u c h l o o k f o r w a r d t o s e e i n g w h a t t h e

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4765 task force is doing and hearing the results, and I'm sure many in my community are looking forward to that, as well, and hoping for some involvement. Secondly, in respect of economic growth, many members in this House have spoken of the reliance we have on the forest industry in the province and the fundamental importance that this industry is working on all cylinders. The fact that in this session we can look forward to the long overdue steps necessary to revitalize the forest industry in this province is some- thing we can all be excited about.

In my own constituency we have a wide, wide d i- versity of forestry interests. Perhaps it's a good exam- ple in the province of a community that is a relatively small geographical area but has a great diversity of types of forest as well as a great diversity in the indus- try. We certainly have the large companies that literally employ thousands in the Okanagan Valley and that must continuously work on efficiency to remain com- petitive in what is becoming an extremely competitive and tough world market.

We have smaller but growing mills that face the continuing struggle to ensure that they can get access to fibre so they can actually make the products they already know they have markets for. We have the value-added remanufacturers and log home builders and others in the value-added sector that, again, strug- gle on a continual basis to ensure that they can get the fibre to make the products they've already developed markets for. We have, among others, a thriving salvage logging community that really, in certain parts of my constituency, is the foundation of the economy.

All of those aspects of the forest industry need the opportunity to thrive in this province.

I am confident that the steps taken and the legislative changes made during this session and led by the Minister of Forests will, in fact, accomplish a revitalization of the forest industry as a whole so that we can all look forward to a dynamic and successful forest industry throughout the province in every part of that industry. [1445] Finally, there was a good deal of discussion — and I'm sure this discussion is going to be ongoing — in terms of transportation infrastructure, and I simply want t o c o m m e nt t hat what is o f f u nd am e nt al i m p o r- tance is that we are now moving forward with a pro- vincial strategy that deals with the transportation needs in all parts of the province.

I know in my own constituency there's been a good deal of anxiety over the years about the need to upgrade Highway 97 going both south and north from Vernon. I'm looking for- ward to the further unveiling of the transportation in- frastructure strategy and how that impacts the Okanagan in particular. But I think we all need to rec- ognize that it doesn't matter where you go in this prov- ince, there is a transportation infrastructure project that is critical to both the social and the economic needs of every single community.

It's long overdue that we develop a strategy that can actually see the province move forward. It was refreshing to see we have a government that's prepared to take, in some cases, unpopular steps necessary to ensure that the strategy moves forward and that is thinking about the long-term interests of the province. Another development, just briefly, in terms of transportation. Certainly, I was pleased to hear that t h e r e w i l l n o t b e t o l l s o n i n l a n d f e r r i e s . T h a t i s s o m e - thing my colleagues in the interior and I have been concerned about.

While I don't have an inland ferry in my own riding, I have one that neighbours on my rid- ing. Certainly, it's of critical importance in terms of the link between my riding in the Okanagan and the neighbouring riding in the Kootenays. There will be a good number of my constituents who are happy to see that development. In closing, it's simplistic to say — and it really is underwhelming to say — that we've set out an ambi- tious set of initiatives, but that is in fact the simplest way to put it. Success is critical to the well-being of my constituents in Okanagan-Vernon as well as all other parts of the province.

I certainly look forward over the next number of months to working with the Premier, the cabinet and all of my caucus colleagues here in this House to ensure that we reach the goals that were set out in the throne speech by our Lieutenant-Governor. B. Kerr: I t ' s m y p l e a s u r e t o r i s e i n s u p p o r t o f t h e Speech from the Throne today. I receive hundreds of e- mails, it seems, every week.

Last week I received an e- mail from a constituent, and he told me, after going on through a number of issues, that all he wanted was decent wages, public health care, affordable education and public parks we can afford. I think that's what we all want. I don't think we're any different in that re- gard, but the serious question is: if we're not there now, how do we get there? I think the Speech from the Throne lays out that plan, so I'd like to address some of the specifics outlined in the speech.

It recognized the importance of an economic strat- egy for the heartlands, and it recognized that no place on Earth is more blessed with more potential than Brit- ish Columbia. It mentioned that in the heartlands, the optimism of the people burns bright. I'd like to say that although my riding is not considered to be in the heart- lands — at least I don't think it's considered to be — that same optimism is felt throughout my entire riding. F r o m C o w i c h a n B a y i n t h e n o r t h o f m y r i d i n g t o Port Renfrew in the extreme west, we are on the verge of great economic development.

It is through economic d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t w e w i l l a r r i v e a t t h e v i s i o n o f m y constituent. It cannot be done by saddling our province with more debt. It cannot be done by mortgaging our children's and our grandchildren's future. It must be done by developing a sound economic plan that takes into account all segments of our community. The economic strategy will include plans for infra- structure, human capital and marketing.

It will open up new partnerships with first nations; new invest- ments and transportation infrastructure; new opportu- nities for tourism, sports and recreation; and a revital- ized forest industry. All these plans are vital to my

4766 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 constituency and are already recognized by concerned citizens throughout my entire riding. In Cowichan Bay they formed an improvement society. They have worked hard to develop a breakwa- ter to protect the foreshore and the pleasure craft that will come to that area. Cowichan Bay is a unique site, and I invite everybody to come for a visit. It's a beauti- ful little area. Getting the breakwater has not been easy. It has taken time. Now that approval's been reached, Cowichan Bay will be able to develop and reach its true potential as a tourist resort.

I'm really looking forward to that breakwater. I'm looking forward to maybe tak- ing my boat there this summer. [1450] Even closer to my home is a 65-acre site called the Skeleem centre. The Skeleem centre is a facility that works with acquired-brain-injury patients, with the intention of their rehabilitation and their return to the community. The work this centre does is unique in British Columbia, and patients from all over the prov- ince have been helped by this centre.

Skeleem is having its problems right now and may soon have to shut down, but it's my hope that it can continue and that the good work performed by the staff at the centre can continue. I have been working closely with all parties to solve this problem, but I'm afraid that only time will tell the future outcome of this worthwhile facility. In the Glenora region of my riding a number of vintners have gathered together to form VIVA, the Vancouver Island Vintners Association.

It's their hope to develop the region as a wine region which will at- tract tourists from around the world to a culinary and wine-tasting experience in a setting that is second to none. They are setting a strategic plan entitled the wil- derness wine route. This route will be an alliance of tourism, vineyards, restaurants, transportation provid- ers and food growers. All the people have come to- gether with a willingness to cooperate in an effort of mutual benefit. Roughly, this route would leave from Victoria, head northwest through Sooke and along the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail to Port Renfrew.

From there it would move across a logging road over to Cowichan Lake and into the wine region and then back to Victoria. We can sometimes call that the circle route. I've had that on my agenda since I've been elected. I hope that in the very near future that will happen. My colleague across the way here is hoping we can extend it to beyond C o w i c h a n L a k e t o P o r t A l b e r n i , a n d m a y b e t h a t w i l l happen too.

Along the way, tourists will be able to taste some of the local flavour, with the potential to dine in two of the most notable restaurants in North America, the Sooke Harbour House or the Aerie. What a great vision for Malahat–Juan de Fuca — a vision that coincides directly with the vision outlined in the throne speech. The throne speech also recognizes the need to rec- oncile with first nations to bring them into the vision and to work with them as equal partners. This is ex- actly what's happening at Port Renfrew.

There the Pacheedaht are working with a developer to put to- gether a multimillion-dollar tourist attraction. They're an integral part of the development and are working with the developer to benefit both parties and the en- tire community. So as you can see, Mr. Speaker, from Cowichan Bay to Port Renfrew the economy will soon be booming. Next week we're going to hear about a comprehen- sive transportation plan that will open up our area for even greater economic opportunities.

Although we have the Island Highway, we need upgrades on a number of other highways if we want to open up the entire Island for commerce and tourism. The regional transportation advisory committees will determine what the priorities should be. This will avoid political interference that can sometimes occur and allow the citizens who have direct interest in the highways to determine where the improvements should be. I think that's a great step to getting rid of political interference so we don't end up with the hodgepodge of whoever has the most influence getting the most money spent in their area.

This means that Vancouver Island and coastal B.C. will be opened up with greater choice, more competition and better service through the new B.C. Ferry Services. We at Malahat– Juan de Fuca welcome this vision. Vancouver Island has relied heavily on the forest industry in the past, but times are changing. We need to create more value for each dollar spent in the forests. In Sooke there is a number of companies that increase value considerably by manufacturing and exporting products made from wood. They've had problems get- ting fibre in the past.

That's been one of their biggest hurdles in business: just getting the fibre. The throne speech outlines the visions of how more timber will be available for innovative, smaller local operators. This is great news and will allow the smaller companies to really develop their business potential. Nothing will correct social problems more than job creation, and this economic incentive will indeed create more jobs. Mr. Speaker, you can see that everything I've taken from the throne speech so far relates to the economy, but there's yet more good news in this area. Hon. R. Coleman: More good news. B.

Kerr: More good news. Changes to the Small Business Venture Capital Act will increase access to seed capital, eliminate red tape and provide funding opportunities not only for my riding of Malahat–Juan de Fuca but for all the regions of British Columbia. I can tell you from my experience as a business consultant that one of the most difficult problems facing any business is the shortage of capital to start up a business or to expand a business.

Our vi- sion for the economic development of British Columbia — whether it is to increase tourism opportunities, in- crease business opportunities through greater access to capital, increase opportunities in the forest or increase transportation infrastructure — augurs very well for the future of British Columbia, and I am truly optimis- tic about our future.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4767 A strong economy allows us to determine what kind of a society we want, because a strong economy gives us choices for health, for education and for other social ser- vices. I'd like to address some of these issues now. [1455] As a parent and grandparent, I am really concerned about the educational opportunities for our children. At the grade school and high school level, the Teaching Profession Act will be amended to enhance account- ability and administrative efficiency while clarifying the role of the B.C. College of Teachers.

During the past year, I met with both the Sooke Teachers Association and the school district board. I hope to work closely with both bodies to ensure that students' needs come first. It is important that educa- tors and boards recognize that there are fiscal con- straints and that choices must be made so the system runs efficiently in a manner that will provide our stu- dents with an outstanding education and a safe envi- ronment. I know a number of educators are working extremely hard to provide just such an environment, and to those educators I would like to offer my thanks.

In my role on the Finance and Government Services Committee I travelled, along with other members of the committee, across the entire province. We listened to the concerns of citizens. While advising us to stay the course on our fiscal plan, most said they wanted more funds for education. They, like me, are concerned about education, and I am pleased that the minister has been able to provide additional funding for education. This, along with the flexibility provided to school boards, will provide a framework for excellent educa- tion now and into the future.

Another issue that's extremely important, and one that touches all of us, is health care. Health care costs have risen tremendously over the past few years. Health care costs now amount to over 41 percent of the province's entire budget. If we are to make health care sustainable, we must make reforms to make health care more accountable, and we must make every dollar spent on health care patient-centred. I'd like to offer you a quote from the auditor gen- eral regarding health care resource allocation by the previous government. This is directly from the auditor general's report.

"We concluded that the ministry is allocating resources across the health care system without the benefit of essential cost and performance information. As a result, most resource allocation deci- sions are not based on the kind of information neces- sary to fully implement and evaluate the strategic di- rections the ministry has set." In other words, the health care system was adrift. The largest cost to the budget had no controls. Over $9 billion was being spent without any controls. So what have we done? We've recognized the im- portance of health care to our community, and we've added $1.1 billion in funding.

But in doing that, we've added some controls. We have determined perform- ance measures, and we have set benchmarks so we can measure our progress towards these goals. These are steps we must take if we're going to provide patient- centred health care on a sustainable basis into the fu- ture. Pharmacare is another serious challenge within our health care system. Pharmacare costs have risen dra- matically over the last few years — I believe around 14 percent a year — and it's predicted to rise considerably at an even greater amount in the future.

As more and more people ― the baby-boomers ― get into that stage, we can see that the costs are going to be horrendous unless something is done. Affordability is a significant challenge and one we have addressed through our Fair Pharmacare program. Under this program over 280,000 families will see their Pharmacare costs drop. That's a great thing, and it's fair for everybody. Under the Fair Pharmacare program, low-income families, regardless of age, will benefit.

I think all of us agree it's not fair that a wealthy individual does not pay for Pharmacare solely because of his or her age when a younger, low-income family must bear the full cost. The Fair Pharmacare will address this inequity. I listened to the member for Vancouver-Hastings lamenting the fact that we're dividing people by pitting workers against management, that we're not bringing people together and building a better, more democratic and more prosperous province. What's happened after increasing funding for health care, making Pharmacare more equitable and setting more measurable perform- ance goals?

We still hear about cuts to health care. I suggest that those who continue to chant the mantra of cuts to health care are the ones who are attempting to divide the province through a misinformation cam- p a i g n d e s i g n e d t o c r e a t e f e a r a n d u n c e r t a i n t y . M r . Speaker, we are doing the right thing for health care. [1500] I'd now like to revisit my constituents' concerns that I mentioned at the beginning of my comments: decent wages, affordable education and parks we can afford. I believe that the throne speech addressed all of the concerns of my constituents.

Wages will increase and, indeed, have increased. They've increased faster than any other province in Canada. They will continue to increase through increased economic activity. Edu- cation will improve, and access to higher education and trade skills will improve with the changes that the throne speech addresses. B.C. parks will become a magnet for tourism. The new recreational stewardship plan will make that happen. We are doing the right things.

We are taking the right direction for the province, and to counter some of the words of the member for Vancouver-Hastings, we will be bringing people together in a common project to build a better, more democratic and more prosper- ous province. We will encourage the potential of every British Columbian to realize their hopes and dreams, and we'll be helping them bridge the gap between who they are and who they want to be. I'm proud to sup- port our vision in the throne speech, and I look for- ward to this session as the vision unfolds into reality. Hon. R.

Coleman: The throne speech this year is good news for British Columbians. It is the sign of the

4768 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 turning of the corner, the sign that we as a government, who have made tough decisions and had to bring the fiscal and management of government into order, are starting to see the successes. On Monday the Minister of Education announced an additional $50 million that will go into education in British Columbia this year. That's a remarkable amount of money on top of an already protected budget of $4.8 billion. Why were we able to accom- plish that? Well, quite simply put, because we've ac- tually managed our money better.

We've done very well in the management of our debt and our interest and the management of that ministry and, under the tutelage of the Minister of Education, have been able to find the additional funds that we've always said would go back into education whenever we found those savings. T h e e f f e c t o f t h a t i s d i f f e r e n t i n e v e r y a r e a o f t h e province. In my particular area today, my school board announced it is not closing three schools that it was intending on having to look at closing with regard to some of the rural areas of my riding.

In other ridings it will be additional books, computers. It will be addi- tional opportunities for students and teachers. It will be additional opportunities to see education grow within those communities. But whatever it is about, it's about this. It's about a government that is doing the job it was elected to do in May of 2001. [J. Weisbeck in the chair.] It is about a government and a group of people in a government caucus that have put in literally thousands of hours on behalf of their constituents and on behalf of the province to get this place under control.

It's about a government that has taken the time and listened to British Columbians to set the priorities for the future so that we will have a sustainable education system, a sustainable health care system and, frankly, a sustain- able government in British Columbia, because we are not going to waste money where it's been wasted in the past. We are going to manage it. We are going to do it r i g h t , a n d w e h a v e p r o v e n i n t h e l a s t 2 0 m o n t h s t h a t that is exactly what we are doing.

The throne speech that was given in this House two days ago is a document that was full of interesting and very positive initiatives on behalf of government. A number of those affect my ministry and affect other ministries of government, but I think the message is this: the heartlands of British Columbia are recognized as the breadbasket and the people that fund money into this province for critical health care and education services in this province. It's time a government recog- nized that contribution given to all of us in British Co- lumbia by the heartlands of B.C.

It is about the fact that we've identified we want to have a dialogue on crime, which I am going to speak about in a minute. It's about modernizing policing. It's about protecting education and health care. It is about finding ways to reconcile with first nations and other initiatives that need to be done and Canada's relation- ship with ourselves and also about the 2010 Olympic bid. [1505] We are going to have a dialogue on crime in British Columbia. Somebody had said: "Well, why do you want to have a dialogue on crime?

You've had one on transportation, education and health care." W e l l , t h e r e ' s a n u m b e r o f r e a s o n s , a n d I w a n t t o outline them today.

First of all, I think it's time that our communities — the communities, the policing agen- cies, the community service groups, the judiciary, the Crown, the legal profession on both sides of the fence — all came to an understanding of the stresses and pressures this province presently faces with regards to crime and also how it faces and how it can stand up to and plan for the future, so that we will not move down a road where it will become an unmanageable situation for our citizens. I want to use a couple of examples in regards to this. First of all, let's talk about the drug trade for a second.

In British Columbia we have 40 percent of all the marijuana grow operations in this country. Some people would say: "So what?" Well, I say it's not ac- ceptable. It's not acceptable for a number of reasons. First of all, the marijuana grow business fuels organ- ized crime in British Columbia and other areas of Can- ada. The money that comes out of the illegal drugs funnels money into terrorism activity internationally. It funnels money into the illegal gun trade. It funnels money into methamphetamine labs, which is speed, which is also sold to our youth.

It trades kilo for kilo for cocaine across the border, which comes back into this province and further debilitates our society. This industry is run by the outlaw motorcycle gangs in British Columbia. They are organized crime in B.C. and in this country. Tied into them are various groups, both ethnic and non-ethnic groups, that are involved in this business. Today in this province we are investigating in excess of 60 murders that are re- lated to that trade. That is not something that is accept- able in our society.

For anyone to think we should sit back and be soft and not have a conversation on crime in that context alone, they are making a dramatic mis- take about the importance of us getting all our re- sources together and pushing in the right direction to deal with this issue. These are serious issues for British Columbians. The illegal gun trade in British Columbia, which fuels both north and south of the border and into Asia, is paid for through marijuana grow operations. It is paid for through the drug trade. It is what is insidiously destroying our communities. We have to come to grips with a number of things.

First of all, are we prepared to welcome the criminal element of this country and other countries into our jurisdiction because they think this is the place to do business? Or are we going to start to stand up to this trade so this place is not the place to do business in the illegal drug trade in North America or anywhere else in the world? I think we have to do the latter. We have to stand up to it, and we have to protect our communi-

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4769 ties. We'll do that by educating our communities on the whole issue in and around this issue. The dialogue on crime will therefore give us the opportunity to raise the bar of awareness, which will lead us down the road to what changes we may require the federal government to make with us, what informa- tion we want to give to our federal and provincial prosecutors, how to educate our system on how its system of justice has to react to the ever-changing scope of crime.

I think it's a critical start to that dia- logue taking us forward to the education that is going to be required in order for us to fight crime. As we do that, we are going to move on some other initiatives in the province. [1510] We know by the Oppal report that integration and amalgamation of police services are essential. We also know that common communication and a lack of bor- ders — either technological or communication-wise or between law enforcement communities over law en- forcement communities — cannot exist if we are to be able to deal with the serious crimes that we deal with in our province.

We can all find examples in Canada where, if proper integration and sharing of information had taken place, a serious crime would not have been continued or a second one would not have been com- mitted. We will not accept anything less than proper integration or amalgamation of police services in B.C. That's a message to anyone, whether it be from the heartland, whether it be from the lower mainland or whether it be from the lower Island. We want integra- tion in our policing in British Columbia because it's the best thing we can do for our citizens. I want to give you an example of integration.

At the moment we are looking at putting together an inte- grated homicide team on the lower mainland of British Columbia, one that will go across the borders and have common information about policing with regards to homicides, which isn't blocked by borders between communities that the criminals, frankly, don't believe they are stopped from operating within. We are going to have that integrated homicide team so that we have the seamless ability to do investigations and share in- formation. But that is just step one.

We need to look at all the aspects of crime, and we as public figures have to understand, as integration comes forward, that we cannot go back to a little island within a community and believe that there is no crime here; it's only over there. One of the challenges we will have as we move forward is that we will actually want to put specialized teams together to deal with sex offenders and sex crimes. When you do that, you have to be able to watch somebody move from Burnaby to Vancouver to North Vancouver over to Delta and into the Fraser Valley.

You have to be able to have the movement of intelli- gence and observation when you're dealing with that, so that we can protect our children from people who want to commit these offences. As we move forward there are actually going to be mayors and councillors who are going to tell us that they don't think their communities should participate in integration because they're different, that they don't think they should protect their citizens at the level that the Oppal report and we in government see as a vital connection to the stopping of crime and protecting citizens in B.C.

The message is that we're going to do that. Last year through, basically, the group of people on the lower Island getting together with the concern be- tween two police departments, we amalgamated the Esquimalt and Victoria police departments. The mem- bers of this House should be aware that that has actu- ally been a very successful and healthy project. The people in both Esquimalt and Victoria have seen the difference. They've seen the better coverage. They've seen the better integration. They've seen the better ser- vices that come with that relationship.

One of the critical aspects of dealing with crime and dealing with integration comes from the sharing of technology. There were some choices that had to be made, particularly in the last 12 months, in British Co- lumbia with regard to how we will police this province in the future. The critical one was to be able to get to the table all the chiefs of police from the 12 — and now 11 — municipal departments in B.C. and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, both at the municipal level and at the provincial level, to come to an agreement on an integrated, real-time information management envi- ronment for policing.

We got that decision. The next challenge was: what do we do with that? What if we w a n t e d t o p u t a c o m p u t e r s y s t e m i n s o t h a t w e h a d real-time information-sharing so that a B and E that's taking place in Coquitlam this evening is, in real time, entering into the computer of the law enforcement offi- cer in Burnaby as that individual officer at the scene is putting the data in?

What could we do if they could talk to each other, and we could actually know and flag incidences from a crime management system to be able to know that we have relationships in two communi- ties between similar crimes? [1515] The first thing you do is get to the point where you say: "We need to have that system." Then you have to identify and select the system. Then comes the biggest challenge of all. No integration of information man- agement in the criminal side for policing would ever be successful in this province if we allowed somebody to opt out. We can only have one system.

We can only have one platform, and that platform in British Colum- bia is PRIME-BC. In order to accomplish that in British Columbia in the times of the toughest restraint, as we moved forward to make the tough decisions in gov- ernment, Treasury Board and the committees of this House gave to my ministry the money to put PRIME in every community in British Columbia within the next 24 months. That is going to allow us to change the face of policing in British Columbia on a standardized basis in real time.

As we move forward, the Attorney Gen- eral's JUSTIN system, which is in the court system, will integrate down into PRIME and will actually download

4770 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 information that is critical for law enforcement to do their job on the ground in B.C. For instance, if there's an order that says somebody cannot be in a community because the court has or- dered them because of a relationship in a spousal dis- pute within that community, we want to be able to have that information in the car. When somebody is checked, we will know they're not supposed to be there, and maybe we'll save a life. Maybe we'll stop an assault. Maybe, but maybe, we'll stop more crime.

PRIME is going to go into British Columbia, and it will be a success. It is the first time anybody in any jurisdiction can look and see and say that somebody's actually moving in the right direction. I had a meeting with the commissioner and the deputy commissioner o f t h e R C M P a w e e k o r t w o a g o . W e w e r e h a v i n g a discussion about different systems. I have always been pretty clear that this was our system in B.C. Of course, they will integrate with anything that we do now.

I said to the commissioner: "Absent of any discussion on technology, can you tell me another jurisdiction in Canada or in North America, or anywhere for that mat- ter, where there's going to be a standardized data man- agement system in real time for policing across an en- tire jurisdiction the size of ours?" The answer to that is no. In the United States we actually have county police who have data systems that don't talk to city police. We have international information that doesn't talk back and forth. That's not acceptable in this province.

We are going to lead the way forward in both integration and the integration of management for policing in Brit- ish Columbia on the data side, so we can tell the world that this is how it should be done, this is how it will be done, and this is what will work for you as citizens of the province of British Columbia. It is such a critical aspect of our communities that a s w e m o v e f o r w a r d w i t h t h e d i a l o g u e o n c r i m e a n d PRIME and the education of our communities, we col- lectively come to the decisions of how we're going to manage the issues that face us in our system today.

It's also important to realize that we have a group of thou- s a n d s o f p e o p l e o u t t h e r e . I n B . C . w e h a v e a l m o s t 3 0 percent of the entire Royal Canadian Mounted Police complement in Canada. We have our 12 municipal police forces. Those people are out in the street every night on shift — shift work, which is hard on families — with a commitment to communities, a dedication to our communities. They are asked to make snap deci- sions — decisions that we all think we can second- guess, whether it be in the media or in the privacy of our own homes or on talk-show radio.

Understand that these are professionals. They do their job because they believe in your communities and in protecting society, or they would have never entered into the career. We're going to give them the tools to do that job. We're going to build a five-year plan for policing which will include integration and specialized sections, every- thing from forensic idents to dog masters to specialized teams to deal with sex offences to homicide. We will do this because it is the right thing to do. The police offi- c e r s i n t h i s p r o v i n c e a g r e e ; t h e i r s e n i o r m a n a g e m e n t agree.

We from the public-life side have to recognize it is absolutely critical that we be successful in integration for the protection of our citizens. This throne speech also dealt with a number of other issues. It was announced that we're going to have a seniors and youth conference. That sounds, some people would say…. Some people might have some questions like: "Why would you do that? What are you saying? Are you just trying to make it sound good?" [1520] You know what we need to do?

As part of a plan to deal with the issues around crime, the issues around human behaviour and the respect for each other in our communities, we also have to reintroduce our commu- n i t i e s t o e a c h o t h e r . O u r y o u n g p e o p l e h a v e t o l e a r n the respect for seniors, and seniors have to understand the changes that youth have relative to how they dress or what they do today versus what they did when they were young.

You'll accomplish that by actually having an open dialogue and conversation between those groups, with everybody participating, so that we can actually have a conversation and understand the im- pact one person's decision over another is going to have on somebody and how we can get beyond that to where we regain the respect between our youth and our seniors and our communities. It is critical that we do that.

We can't sit back and let some of the things happen in our communities without actually trying to go help these people to understand how a change of behaviour would be better for them and the communities that they live in. Our seniors shouldn't live in their homes in fear of home invasion, and our youth should not think they should have the right to take what doesn't belong to them. I think we have to bring together these parties and all the others to understand that, under- stand that on the outside edges of any one of these dis- c u s s i o ns , we c an al way s p i c k t he b ad .

I 'v e al way s b e - lieved that most of it is good, and that good will be brought out by us having that dialogue and actually re- identifying some goals for our communities. In the 1996 election there was a vote that took place in this province where a government formed govern- ment with actually less than the percentage vote of the party that formed opposition. This province has had some people for some time as king us to l ook at a citi- zens' assembly, to look at how we actually govern, to look at how we actually form our government and how we elect the people that serve us.

It's a dialogue that's needed to take place, and as the throne speech says, we're going to move to a citizens' assembly. That citi- zens' assembly, made up of people from around British Columbia, will look at all the options with regards to electoral reform in this province and may come back and tell us we already have the best of all worlds. They may also come back and give us some direction that we may want to look at for electoral reform in the future of B.C. Ironically, the very government doing this has al- ready made some of the biggest changes in Canadian

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4771 political history with regards to electoral reform. This is the government of free votes. This is the government that has set an election day, has set election days for the future of the province of British Columbia. This is the government in B.C. that finally put in place a parlia- mentary calendar, that actually put in place a way to manage people's business so debate can actually be focused based on the timing and thoughtful introduc- tion of legislation in a Legislative Assembly.

This is the government that took members of the caucus and put them on government caucus commit- tees so they can work on issues and give full advice to cabinet ministers, so that they can move forward with an agenda that meets the needs of all British Columbi- a n s . T h i s i s t h e g o v e r n m e n t t h a t ' s g o n e f u r t h e r t h a n anybody else in developing some forms of electoral performance. I don't think we should be ashamed or afraid of the discussion and the debate that will come from a citizens' assembly as we move forward, because at the end of the day it's not our choice.

It's a choice of the people that vote in this province as to how they want this province to be governed. I spent time in an elementary school where 50 per- cent of it was aboriginal and 50 percent of it was Cau- casian. I grew up with friends, who I still have today, I met in that school from both aboriginal and non- aboriginal communities. I served in the Royal Cana- dian Mounted Police for almost eight years, and during that time I actually served where there were Indian reserves that had to be policed.

I think the step towards reconciliation that this throne speech brought forward to the first nations, outlining our deep regrets to them, is an important step. If you've ever seen firsthand how we failed in so many circumstances with first nations, it is time that we actually admitted our failures, ex- pressed our regrets and built a legacy for the future, not one for the past. [1525] We will work for workable, equitable and fair trea- ties, the throne speech says.

New economic opportuni- ties for first nations and $30 million in an economic fund, which is $10 million per year, and we doubled the First Citizens Fund for British Columbia's first na- tions. I was at a meeting the other day with some peo- ple from the First Nations Summit. You take a step back and have to understand the difficulty in both the elementary and high school education and then the university education opportunities for people in these circumstances. They need advice and help. They need advocacy; they need tutoring. They need work with them so that they can be successful.

The First Citizens Fund can form a big part of that relationship and help us get there. In this province, if you've travelled it, Mr. Speaker, we have some pretty ugly roads for people to travel on. The member for Peace River North is fond of telling us about the state of northern roads, and frankly, he is correct, with the exception of the one that actually runs by his own home in his community. The reality is, though, we have this vast province t h a t w e w a n t t o b e s u c c e s s f u l .

W e w a n t i t t o s u c c e e d economically because economic success will allow us to put money into education and social programs and health care. We need to move effectively to market the goods and services that we as British Columbians pro- duce, and you can't do that down roads that won't take the weight or the capacity or move the machinery or the equipment. Whether it's in the oil patch or the min- ing industry or forestry, we do need an improvement on the infrastructure in British Columbia so that we can move our goods and services.

By making that commitment to do so, it tells a number of things to a number of people. First of all, the fact that we're comfortable enough to do it tells us we're being pretty successful as a government, because we have confidence in our ability to deliver and our ability to deliver it for everyone in B.C. on infrastruc- ture. We have confidence that we can reinvigorate the economy of British Columbia, because we as govern- ment have started to make the changes to make those things successful.

And we are confident that the people in the heartlands of British Columbia will grab on to the opportunities they have for them and deliver on behalf of all British Columbians — because we need them to. We are going to take that infrastructure and im- prove the roads in rural British Columbia. We're going to upgrade highways. We are going to fix highways that, when you travel through and talk to people, are nothing but scary in communities. The scariest one of all is the Kicking Horse Pass outside Golden.

If you've ever travelled the Trans-Canada Highway, it is proba- bly the most unsafe and scariest piece of highway on that entire ribbon of asphalt from coast to coast. It is also a huge stress on the communities in that area be- cause of the fatalities and the serious-injury accidents that take place on it. We need to fix that highway. We've made a com- mitment, with the cooperation of the federal govern- ment, to fix that portion of highway in B.C., because it does a number of things.

It sends a message to our trad- ing partners across Canada, especially in the Prairies and Alberta, that we're open for business, and come on — we're improving our roads. It sends a message to the people in the Golden area, the Invermere area and the Revelstoke area that we've actually listened to you about the concerns about this highway and the prob- lems it is giving to your community.

And it sends a message to the rest of British Columbians, whether they be on the lower mainland or the lower Island or the North Coast or Prince George or the Okanagan, that we're serious about transportation links for all British Columbians in all areas of B.C. so that we can build a strong future for our province. [1530] Mr. Speaker, if you could imagine having the op- portunity to run an advertisement for your company, if you were in business, to two billion people for two hours, you would jump at the opportunity.

But if you could do that and create a couple hundred thousand jobs and a few million dollars into government coffers and open up a whole bunch of facilities and open up a

4772 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 province to the world, you would do it. The 2010 Olympic bid will do just that. Over two billion people watched the opening ceremonies at Salt Lake City. They have a problem in Utah, which the members of the opposition wouldn't like us to have, and that is they have all the facilities built, they have a legacy fund, and they have $100 million (U.S.) in additional profit they're trying to figure out how to spend in their state. I w a n t t h a t p r o b l e m i n B . C . I w a n t u s t o o p e n u p this province to the world.

I'm proud that we're going to open up the infrastructure, I'm proud that we're pro- tecting health care and education, and I'm proud that we're doing the right thing to deal with the issues that face B.C., because we've made the tough decisions and will continue to do so as we move forward. We have turned the corner in British Columbia. This government has made the tough choices. We are taking this province in a bold new direction, and we'll build its future beyond what anybody's imagination could be. Members of this House, be proud of that, because you know what?

We're going, we're going way up, we're going to win as a province, and the future is bright for all British Columbians. Deputy Speaker: Responding to the Speech from the Throne, the Minister of Energy and Mines. Hon. G. Plant: I'm excited already, and you've barely begun. Hon. R. Neufeld: And I've just barely begun. It's certainly a pleasure for me to be able to rise in the House in support of the Speech from the Throne.

This is a Speech from the Throne that has all kinds of good news for everyone in this beautiful province, re- gardless of where you live, what you do, where you work or how you work — or the work that's going to come so you can actually have a job. This province is moving forward. The Premier said he was going to move this province forward, and the Premier meant what he said. It is moving forward in the economic sense, in the social sense, in the treaty sense. Anything you can think of that we talked about during the election in the New Era document, we're moving forward on it.

There's a short paragraph in the Speech from the Throne that really caught my attention. I'm just going to read it into the record: "This is the government's overriding vision: to open up every region and every community to new horizons of hope; to open up every sector of our economy to new opportunities wherever they exist; to open up the free flow of people, goods and services within our province and with our trading partners; to open up every region of B.C. to visitors from around the globe through a successful 2010 Olympic bid.

There is no place on Earth that has more to offer the world than British Columbia." Far too often all of us forget how fortunate we actu- ally are to live where we do in this beautiful country called Canada. I am always proud of the fact that I come from the north. I will always live in the north, and I have lived in the north for most of my life. I've raised my family in the north. It is something that I hold very near and dear to my heart.

I'm proud of the constituency of Peace River North, and I'm proud of the people that live in the constitu- ency of Peace River North: an entrepreneurial young generation of people that want to move forward in this province, that love B.C. as much as I do and that want to actually have jobs in the province so that their kids can have jobs in this great province of ours. [1535] My constituency is the second largest in the prov- ince.

To put this in perspective — I always have to re- mind myself of how large it is, and in fact I get re- minded when I try to drive across it every so often — it stretches over 500 miles by highway from one side to the other. It goes through flatlands, it goes over major rivers, and it goes through the Rocky Mountains. It's a huge part of the province. It's the size of New Bruns- wick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Vancouver Island in land mass.

There are some members here from Vancouver Island and particularly one from North Island and one from Port Alberni, as we speak, and they can feel some isolation, I'm sure, at some time in the province, as we all can. Some of the constituents I represent feel isolated also, and that should be under- standable. They understand how people on Vancouver Island can feel isolated, and I'm sure the people on Vancouver Island can understand how we feel iso- lated sometimes from our major centre, that being the Vancouver-Victoria region. We have a vibrant economy where I come from.

We have almost always had a vibrant economy. The only time we didn't have a vibrant economy that I can re- member is when government got involved — and that's the federal government — in setting the price of oil and natural gas in a national energy program that actually almost destroyed our economy. Government moved out of that, and that should be a good lesson to all of us. It's a lesson we all know in this House, except maybe a few. When government gets involved too heavily in our daily lives, something's going to go wrong.

We need to give more responsibility to people, to individuals, to our children, to people that want to w o r k a n d i n v e s t a n d d o w h a t e v e r t h e y w a n t t o d o i n this great province of ours. I'm also representative of a part of the province that has a treaty, for well over a hundred years, that was signed. Treaty 8 it's called.

In fact, just recently the Premier, myself and the Attorney General had an op- portunity to meet with the seven Treaty 8 chiefs and talk about their treaty and how we have to start look- ing at it maybe in a different way — that we start re- specting some of the thoughts that were in Treaty 8, although it was written a hundred years ago, and start looking at it as a modern document so we can start moving forward so those aboriginal communities, s o m e o f t h e m i n m y c o n s t i t u e n c y a n d s o m e i n t h e member from the South Peace's constituency, can actu- ally prosper, can have the same hope, the same feelings the rest of us do about the fact of having a job, of hav-

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4773 ing a home and a vehicle and actually having a reserve where I live where there's sewer and water — the basic things that so many of us take for granted — or a road so you can actually get there without a four-wheel drive. Those are things this government is addressing and has committed to address across this whole province. We know it's going to take a while. We understand it's going to take some time, but if you don't start some- where, it's never going to happen. We've committed to doing that.

Aboriginal people have been proven to live in the northeast for a long time. It's the only part of the prov- ince that's actually east of the Rockies. All the rest of the province of British Columbia is west; we live east of the Rockies. The Charlie Lake Caves show that hu- mans, aboriginal people, lived as long ago as 10,000 years right close to Fort St. John in the Charlie Lake community caves. Those same kinds of artifacts are found along the Alaska Highway going north up to- wards Alaska. That's 10,000 years ago. It's a long time.

They have been there for quite a while. [1540] We have an amazing amount of stuff in Peace River North or in the northeastern part of British Columbia that a lot of people don't know about. Fort Nelson is a small community along the Alaska Highway of about 5,000 to 6,000 people. We have barging facilities out of Fort Nelson that actually go to the Beaufort. You can arrive in the Beaufort earlier in the spring than you can from any other place. Most of the barging is done out of Hay River.

They have to wait for the ice to go out on that river longer than the Fort Nelson River, so you can actually get out to the Beaufort Sea out of Fort Nelson. In fact, a very good friend of mine in Fort Nelson who died a number of years ago and has a large barging company — well, the company is still owned by the company — a c t u a l l y b o u g h t t w o o f h i s t u g s i n V a n c o u v e r . H e h a d them built in Vancouver and took them around the long way. They're still plying the waters north of Fort Nelson. We have tourism along the Alaska Highway, all kinds of tourism.

Almost everyone in the lower 48 wants to go to Alaska to see the last frontier. Every year we see everything from small cars to huge motor homes by the thousands going up the Alaska Highway. It's a huge draw and not just for our area of the prov- ince. To get from the lower 48 up to where I live, they actually come through the rest of British Columbia to see what wonders we have through this whole prov- ince. Whether they go through the Okanagan or through Highway 97 through the Cariboo, they will see areas they will never forget because they're so different and so beautiful.

We also have in my constituency pretty well all the oil and gas that's produced in British Columbia. It comes from northeastern British Columbia and from Peace River North. We hope to change that. In fact, we're not hoping; we're moving forward to change that. We want to see oil and gas delivered across this whole province in other areas. There are basins where that can happen, basins that have been unexplored — literally unexplored — where there are billions of bar- rels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and coalbed methane. It is such a huge opportunity for this province.

Now there are those that would say that we shouldn't be exploring for oil and gas because it's a thing of the past. They're wrong. When you talk to people like Dr. Ballard, he will tell you that they're wrong. We need natural gas, and we will continue to need crude oil well into the future as a feedstock for hydrogen cells. We know we're going to need it. We should be out there finding it. We should be getting self-sufficient in oil. We're far from being self-sufficient in oil.

We import almost all of the oil that we need in this province just simply because we haven't gone out there and explored for it in the other basins where there's an opportunity to find it. It creates great jobs, good eco- nomic activity. It's something that each one of us needs. How many times a year do you pull up to the pumps and get gasoline or diesel fuel in your vehicle? That's made from crude oil. How about driving down those roads, which the member just talked about, that are paved? That asphalt is made from crude oil, and the gravel is mined. We need that. You look at our buildings. The concrete is mined.

It comes from all parts of the province. We need to continue to do that, to continue to grow because this province will continue to grow. The population will continue to increase. We committed to open up the democratic process with free votes in the Legislature. We're one of the first Legislatures to have free votes. That's a positive for British Columbians because their members can actually come here and vote the wishes that their constituents would like them to vote. W e h a v e a f i x e d e l e c t i o n d a y .

P e o p l e i n m y c o n - stituency at election time constantly talk to me or used to talk to me about the fact that they never knew when the next election was. They didn't know how to pre- p a r e f o r i t . T h e y d i d n ' t k n o w w h e n t o l i s t e n b e c a u s e the government of the day, whatever stripe it hap- pened to be, would just call it whenever they felt it was most appropriate for them, not appropriate for the people that they represent. We fixed that.

The Premier said during the election that we're going to have a fixed election date, and we do have a fixed election date in British Columbia. [1545] We have a provincial congress where we get MPs, MLAs, mayors, councillors, chiefs and people from all over the province to sit down and talk about how we can actually deliver services to people. Obviously, we all represent the same people, just in different areas of the province. That's a move, a step forward. In fact, we've heard all kinds of good reports about that. Open cabinet meetings where we actually have a cabinet that's televised provincewide.

That's great stuff for the province. We said during the election that there were going to be two things that were our priority. One was education and one was

4774 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES T HURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 health care. In education, we now have the top-paid teachers on average of any jurisdiction across Canada. It's very important that people have a good education. As the Premier says many times, a good education is probably the best thing for health care. I believe that, and so do most people. The funding that we got just recently, the $42 mil- lion that was divided up amongst all the school dis- tricts across the province, will certainly help in my school district. In fact, they're very happy with it.

In fact, last night the Premier announced for this next fiscal year another $50 million in education. When I talked to my school boards — I have two of them — they both told me that the difficulty they were having with the levelling of the budget was actually paying for the increase in teachers' salaries. This will go a long way to taking care of that problem in continuing to provide excellent education in the province and spe- cifically in Peace River North. In advanced education the minister should be commended for what she's done in Peace River North.

The colleges have worked with industry to try and encourage development of training for people to work in the oil and gas industry and in the forest industry in the region that I come from. That's the biggest problem. The jobs are there, but you can't find the people to fill them. You can find people, but they're not trained. You need to train them. Nabors Drilling donated a $1.5 million service rig to the college in Fort St. John for training for workers in the oil patch.

Now, I think that's great the ministry worked that hard to make that happen, but I think it's equally great that Nabors Drilling decided, because they see what opportunities there are in the northern part of the province, to actually donate a piece of equipment that's worth that kind of money to the col- lege, and it sits right in the college yard right now. In fact, we had a dedication of that just a short time ago. We also have Duke Energy, which is going to make an exciting announcement in the next week or two in Fort St. John. It will benefit Fort St.

John, Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson and all the communities in the northeastern part of the province. They're going to start working with the education system, with the high schools, with the colleges in donating millions of dol- lars over the next number of years for the benefit of people wanting to get into the trades to be able to work in this industry. It takes some real good training to work in a lot of this industry. It's not just a simple in- dustry to work in. That's the foresight these people see with the changes that have come in the last number of years under this administration.

They feel the long- term investment they're going to make by putting those kinds of dollars into education is actually going to pay off for them, and that bodes well for the prov- ince. Health care — $1.1 billion more last year, and this year we'll have some more dollars from the federal government. Health care is the number one concern in the constituency, and we're going to address that as best we can. [1550] We have a problem with getting enough doctors and nurses, and the government has seen fit to actually expand the training for health care professionals into the University of Northern British Columbia.

That bodes well for northern British Columbians, and I think that's just great and shows that the Premier means what he says. We want to get health care and education on track so that people can receive it where they live and when they need it. The heartlands strategy is great. We heard earlier that the problems of infrastructure are huge across this whole province. It doesn't matter just where I live. We need a lot more infrastructure, but to have infrastruc- ture costs dollars.

The Finance minister and the Trans- portation minister have worked very closely together to figure out, along with everyone else, how we can do this. Last night the Premier announced a program where we will see…. Although we will see a 3.5-cent-a- litre gas tax increase, all of that money, which will raise approximately $200 million a year — and as the econ- omy grows, that will also grow — will be reinjected into roads and bridges through this whole province, and specifically for rural and northern roads. That's in excess of $600 million over three years. That is good news.

That is absolutely wonderful news for where I come from, where not too many years ago you could hear the stories of farmers having to pull school buses with their four-wheel-drive tractors. That, in fact, is true. Unbelievable, but it's true in this era we're in to- day. That was under the last administration, the last administration that forgot about the north. This ad- ministration has remembered where the north is and that they're just as important and integral to British Columbia as any other part of the province. That is going to be a boon to the people from where I live.

All this money that's raised by the 3.5 cents will go back into infrastructure — every bit of it. There will be no debt for our children to pick up for that later on. We're actually going to pay our way and maybe even a little bit more than pay our way. I want to thank the Minister of Transportation. For a long time, when the last administration tried to rebuild some roads, they did it in the old-fashioned way — just kind of graded a little bit more dirt on the surface and spread a few rocks on it and left it.

But this administration has taken a serious look at how roads are constructed so that we can actually move loads at 100 percent axle weight year-round. We're actually going to have shoulders on our highways in northeastern B.C. Now, that may seem pretty simple for a lot of people. You look at me a little puzzled, but I can understand that, because I've been to the Okanagan. I do see shoulders on the road, and we're actually adopting that process that's been used in the Okanagan for all those years. We're actually going to move that north, and I think that's just wonderful and great.

We're finally going to have shoulders on the road. As Minister of Energy and Mines I have a great portfolio to represent, and I am so happy that the Pre-

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 4775 mier gave me the opportunity to do it. The people in my constituency actually re-elected me in the last elec- tion so I had that opportunity. It's a great ministry to represent. We have mining across this province, and in fact the miners just had their annual convention in Vancouver, their Cordilleran Roundup. It was the most positive one they've had for over a decade. Over 3,000 registrants came to Vancouver to the Cordilleran Roundup to talk about mining in British Columbia, something that this government sa

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	H0213pm-04
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	H0213pm 04
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	b30de811ae7a450e5ef6ecc23c2fbe27977dc4ef

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (pdf).