2004 Legislative Session: 5th Session, 37th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes

only.

The printed version remains the official version.

Official Report of

DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

(Hansard)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2004

Morning Sitting

Volume 20, Number 7

CONTENTS

Routine Proceedings

Page

Throne Speech Debate (continued)

B. Suffredine

G. Trumper

Hon. R. Thorpe

Hon. J. Murray

V. Roddick

Hon. R. Harris

R. Visser

[ Page 8587 ]

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2004

The House

met at 10:03 a.m.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Hon. M.

de Jong: Mr. Speaker, I call continued debate on the response to the throne

speech.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

Suffredine: When I left off last night, I was speaking about the 25,000 new

university spaces proposed and the Carole James alternative solution to borrow

against the future to create those spaces. Like so many socialist ideas,

borrowing money so people can have what they want today always sounds good until

you analyze the consequences to see what it really means.

[1005]

My son is

at the university stage. It's a bit like telling him I'm going to buy him a new

car as a graduation gift. He can have it when he graduates, but until then, I'm

going to drive it, and I'm going to do nothing but pay the interest on it. So he

goes through his university program, and he graduates in a number of years. What

he gets is a depreciated car on graduation with a mortgage on it and a number of

miles, and he has to then pay it all off.

Now,

borrowing to fund his university is a bit like that. He gets to start his first

job with the potential, say, of student loans that he borrowed to pay tuition,

but also with the hidden debt that must be paid to retire the $10,000 a year

that the government has to pay to fund his studies. That's simply not the way we

want to see our young people start after they get their education.

The next

item in the throne speech is the travel assistance program for health care. Now,

shortly after we were elected, I heard from some of my constituents who

interpreted travel assistance as being something that…. They would just get to

claim their mileage every time they went to the doctor. But it's not that, and

it's great to see this commitment fulfilled. For people who live in remote areas

and have to travel out of the area for specialized care — not care they can

normally get in their own area — they'll now get assistance with their travel

costs, treating them equally with people in major centres who for years have had

the convenience of access to that kind of care within their communities.

The next

thing in the throne speech that I want to comment on is the Olympic LegaciesNow

funding of $30 million. It's one-time funding to encourage new initiatives in

sport, music, arts and culture. It'll be getting a close look from my friends in

Nelson who have a museum and art gallery project, and in Creston most likely

from the aquatic centre society. Candidly, it couldn't be more helpful or come

at a more welcome time.

Now,

something happened last week. When the throne speech was on, I had the pleasure

of a work experience student named Alex Besinque, who is a grade 12 student from

New Denver, accompanying me around the Legislature. He was doing his work

experience week, and to some degree we were able to make that an interesting

week. As part of the exercise, I asked him to read the throne speech and give me

his comments.

conclusion, I'd like to read part of what he wrote — just a few of them. He

said:

"With

the 2010 Olympics fast approaching, our government is introducing the Picture

B.C. initiative. This will showcase images, writing and artwork of British

Columbians. We all know how much talent exists within the Kootenays. Whether

your talent is prose, poetry, watercolour or abstract, your addition to this

provincewide initiative is welcome. To create more socially responsible

government, the Premier is inviting you to join in discussions about your hope

and aspirations for the future through a series of round tables. B.C. families

will share their views on challenges and opportunities for both themselves and

their communities. Our government is breaking ground in sectors untouched by

the NDP, spearheading a new era of social responsibility to government,

showing the true glory of British Columbia on an international level, bringing

business back to the people of B.C. The B.C. Liberals have returned prosperity

to British Columbia and provided us with the means of reaching the status we

have earned."

It's always

interesting to hear another perspective, and it's particularly interesting for

me to hear the views of youth. Thanks to Alex for his thoughtful comments.

The Speech

from the Throne is, after all, a time when we look forward to the future. It's

all about a plan that everyone in every community looks to for hope — that the

years to come will be better than the years past; for confidence that we, our

parents and children will have happy, healthy lives to enjoy new opportunities.

This Speech from the Throne gives us all of that. Thank you for the opportunity

to respond.

[1010]

Trumper: It's a pleasure this morning to rise to speak to the throne speech,

which last week set out the agenda for the future for this province.

I noted in

the throne speech the reference to children and education. One of the greatest

gifts that we can give our children is a good education, and I want to talk

specifically about our aboriginal children. Particularly in my riding, we have a

large population of first nations. Many of these children live in isolated areas

up the coast which are only accessible by boat or air. Many of these children

are unable to access many of the educational tools that we have in the towns and

cities. The effort to bring high-speed Internet access to every community in

British Columbia will help to enhance their educational skills.

Literacy is

a great problem throughout British Columbia not only with children but with

adults. I do applaud the efforts to improve literacy in our schools,

[ Page 8588 ]

both aboriginal and non-aboriginal. Children need books. They need people to

read to them. I know that many of us, as we brought up our children, have read

to them from a very early age. I know personally, from experience…. It's often

been commented that in my own family — I have two sons and two daughters —

there are always books in the house. They are always reading, and they have

given that gift, as well, to their children.

We are

going to ensure that students have the textbooks that they need to bring out

their best. Too often we see young children in front of the television, young

children playing the media games. They're spending hours in front of the

screens, and they're losing that gift of reading. It is something we need to

encourage.

Also, I

just want to comment on a particular program that is being looked at in

Bamfield. Bamfield is a small community on the west coast that has a large

aboriginal population. They have one school there. They are, unfortunately,

losing students, and it's becoming a much smaller school. Consequently, they are

looking at ways to maintain the education in that particular school for the

aboriginal and non-aboriginal children. Bamfield is also blessed with the

Bamfield Marine Station, which is supported by four universities. Recently I

took the then Minister of Education to Bamfield, where we had a tour of

facilities at Bamfield Marine Station and the school, where they had their own

TV program, News for the Week , which the minister participated in.

They are

looking at innovative ways of using the people and the programs that they have

in the Bamfield marine institute to enhance the programs in the school system.

As you can imagine, there are all sorts of rocks, probably, along the way to be

able to put a program like that in place. It is an opportunity to be able to use

the skills of the scientists, the marine biologists who are at the Bamfield

Marine Station, with the young people in the school in Bamfield. We are working

on trying to be innovative in bringing an educational program to an outlying

area in the province which maybe could be used as an example in other areas of

the province that have some skills that can be used in the community, to enable

some of those schools to stay open and not have those young children having to

travel long distances.

Bamfield,

for those of you who haven't been there…. You either spend a considerable

length of time on a 60-mile logging road, which is normally not in great shape,

or you go by boat. There are children who live around the area of Bamfield where

there is no road access. They live in the small community of Kildonan, for

instance, which is mainly float houses. There is also the Uchucklesaht band

living there. They go by boat to school.

Also with

our first nations, we have managed to open new opportunities for our first

nations. I'm really pleased that the Maa-Nulth, which is five bands under the

Nuu-chah-nulth tribal council, signed an AIP last year as they move towards

treaty. It's encouraging. They are very forward-looking five bands.

[1015]

Robert

Dennis is the elected chief of the Huu-ay-aht band. I can remember him saying to

me one day: "Well, you know, we want to look forward. We don't want to keep

looking back at what has taken place in the past. We want to move forward. We

want education, and we want employment for our people." Under our new

forestry revitalization plan they have been able to obtain some timber.

The

Hupacasath have signed an agreement with Eagle Rock, which is a company that

will be exporting aggregate from a site in the Alberni Canal to the U.S. That

aggregate will be used for roads.

Things are

moving forward. The aboriginal people are having health centres put in on their

particular band sites. The Ahousaht band has a health site up there. Still, if

they have emergency health care, they often have an hour-and-a-half ride by boat

before they get to Tofino. There are many areas out there on the west coast that

have these distances they have to travel before they get further education or

before they can get further health services.

I want to

talk about our health care system, and there are many challenges in our health

care system. In fact, all of Canada is facing the challenge. As we continue to

pour more money into health care and continue to increase the number of

surgeries that take place, we still face huge demands on the system as our

population ages.

How we

deliver health care is essential. The status quo is not sustainable, but it has

been difficult bringing change to provide sustainable health care. There is a

shortage of physicians, but we have increased the number of student placements

in universities, and we have increased the number of nursing student places. We

also have put in a program for forgiveness of loans if they decide after they

have graduated to move to some of the rural areas.

The health

system needs changes, and everybody needs to work together. Physicians need to

change the way they practise and how they work with other groups. In many parts

of Canada we have nurse practitioners who are able to do some of the work that

physicians are able to do. In fact, in many of the outlying areas in northern

Canada they are the health service in those areas. The system does need changes,

but they all need to work together, and they need to be able to build on the

strengths of each other.

I am a

nurse by background. It has changed so much in the way that nurses have their

qualifications today. In fact, my daughter is just taking the last course so

that she gets her degree. If you do not have a degree in nursing today, you are

not going to get advancement. You are not going to be able to deal with many of

the new technologies that take place in health care. It has changed so much, and

we need to make sure that those people who have those qualifications are using

those qualifications to the best of their ability. It will take time, but I do

believe that we are on the right road to slowly changing the health care system,

so that in 2010 or 2020 we can look back and say that we did be-

[ Page 8589 ]

gin to address the big issues of making sure that our health care is

sustainable.

I would be

remiss, though, if I did not mention that within the health system, with our

professionals and our non-professionals, we do have employees who have stepped

up to the plate and have helped us. They are helping us to live within our means

so that with the dollars we have — which do not grow on trees — we make sure

that the finances we do have in place go where they're needed, which is to the

patients. All those dollars must go to making sure that we are treating the

patients for the care they need.

[1020]

I want to

just talk a little bit about my riding, which is an interesting riding. It seems

to have three separate communities. Qualicum, on the east side of the Island,

has the highest percentage of people over 75 for communities in Canada.

Obviously, as we get older — and we don't get younger — that is going to

rise. That is a huge challenge for health services there. We are working to try

and put in place a primary care facility. There was an opportunity last year. As

we know, there is a lack of physicians and professional staff, so it's difficult

to put it in place, but we are continuing to work with it.

The west

side of my constituency has many health challenges as well. For instance, the

rate of obesity is higher than in other parts of Vancouver Island, and the

economies of some of the communities are poor. Many of the citizens, as I have

said before, have a boat ride to Tofino for health care, which can take up to an

hour and a half. Then, if necessary, they have another one and a half hours to

Port Alberni to the hospital, and that depends on the weather conditions. Quite

often on the west coast you cannot fly because of fog, so it does make

travelling difficult. We need to make sure, which is what we're striving to do,

we are able to attract the brightest of people to these hospitals in the rural

areas so that we can have the health services we need.

Many of the

people who live in some of the rural parts of my riding…. I mean, it is

difficult. Because of their economics and their lifestyle, it is difficult for

them to travel. It is difficult for them to even visualize having to go to a big

centre for their health care. Consequently, it is home to them when they come

from Tofino, Ucluelet, Ahousat, Hesquiat. When they come to Port Alberni, there

is family there, and they value that, and they do feel they are being looked

after in an environment they are familiar with.

I want to

talk a little bit about preventative health care. As we talk about health care

and where we're going in it, one of the issues we do have to deal with is

preventative health care, particularly amongst our young children. So much

emphasis is based on hospitals, and we need to do far more for preventative

health care. Our children are overweight. Our diets are not always the

healthiest. We need to encourage fitness and exercise for everyone. April 4 is

Fitness Day. I certainly hope to see many people, young and old, out running and

walking. Particularly in this House, I hope that we will see our MLAs also

participating.

Type 2

diabetes is now showing up in children as young as eight and nine years old. It

is preventable, and to that end the Kiwanis cycling tour will consist of ten to

12 cyclists cycling from Victoria to Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum,

Courtney, Comox, Powell River and Campbell River, ending in Port Alberni. This

will take place from May 30 to June 4. The money that's going to be raised will

go towards research and sending children to the diabetic camp. Re/Max Mid-Island

Realty and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs have joined the project as partners.

As an

example, at the end of the month we have the B.C. Winter Games, bringing young

athletes together — a great example to their generation. I do want to take

this moment to thank the Winter Games board, led by Dewayne Parfitt, for all the

work they have done over the last two years. This has all been volunteer work,

and some of these athletes we will see representing Canada in 2010.

Also, we

learned there will now be legacies for new initiatives to bring out the best in

music, arts, culture, literacy and volunteerism. Over $30 million in one-time

funding would be invested to support these initiatives. This will support our

young musicians and artists so that they, as well as young athletes, can reach

their potential.

[1025]

As we move

forward into the next year, we have set the path for a balanced budget. I listen

with dismay when I hear the alternate budget proposed — no balanced budget

until 2010. There's a book out today talking about middle-class bankruptcy, and

it is frightening to read, because we live on credit. So many of us in the

middle class buy on credit. We continue. We all have Visas.

[H. Long in the chair.]

That book

lays out very clearly that if we don't change the way we live in North America,

so many people will be bankrupt in a few years. That is frightening, and you

know governments tend to do that. That is why we are changing it, and we have

put balanced budgets in legislation. It is so easy to buy on credit and let

future generations pay — my children, yours and mine, my grandchildren and

your grandchildren — and we are not going to do that. We pay $2 billion in

interest a year on our debt. If we put $2 billion into health care or education,

think what we could do with those dollars.

One of the

promises that we made when we came into office was balancing the budget and

doing so using the accounting principles widely accepted in major corporations.

Well, we are seeing the results of that. Over the past two years B.C. has led

the nation in job creation — 8.1 percent versus the national average of 5.6

percent. Real estate sales last year totalled $24 billion, up 22.6 percent from

B.C. has

moved from the second-highest tax jurisdiction to one of the most competitive in

Canada. We are seeing investment come back to the province. We

[ Page 8590 ]

are seeing the mining industry come back to the province. Where I live,

within a 40-mile radius, I am told there are huge opportunities for mining

exploration. We look forward to seeing some of those people arriving in my

region to be able to revisit some of the work that was done in the eighties. In

fact, I had young men staying in my house during the eighties who were doing

surveying for many of the mining companies, and then in the nineties, of course,

they left and went elsewhere.

We are on

the road to recovery. We are on the road to once again being number one in

Canada. It is encouraging to see the changes that are beginning to take place

and to see the confidence that is coming back into this province. I know that we

are on the road to recovery. I know that we have managed to steer the ship into

the right direction, which is not easy. It has not been easy over the last

couple of years, but I know that with the leadership and the government we have,

we can look forward to the future for a time of prosperity for British Columbia.

Hon. R.

Thorpe: It's certainly a pleasure to rise in the House today and speak in

favour of the throne speech. I'm very honoured to be speaking on behalf of the

constituents of Okanagan-Westside, a riding which I am pleased to represent.

You know,

we have laid the foundation for the future of British Columbia, and now is the

time for us all in British Columbia to look forward to a bright and prosperous

future — one that offers hope to British Columbians, to all communities of

British Columbians.

We are, as

the previous speaker said, now headed in the right direction in British

Columbia. We are bringing out the best in our economy. You know, there really is

a simple scoreboard for results. It's not one that we publish; it's one that

comes from StatsCan. It really takes us to the root of what is important for

individuals, and that is job creation. British Columbia is leading and has led

Canada in job creation for the past two years. In fact, 154,000 new jobs have

been created, over 40 percent of all the jobs created in Canada. That is good

news for British Columbia. That's good news for Canada. More importantly, it's

very good news for those who are now working and have the opportunity to provide

for their families.

[1030]

Our

government will continue in this throne speech to aggressively pursue the

reduction of red tape, something that British Columbians had been strangled with

under the previous administration and one where our government is making

progress — 80,000 regulations cut so far, but still some more to go. We will

keep focused on that.

We will

also make sure that our regulations that are in place are put in and modernized

so that our industries such as agriculture can continue to have a chance to

compete and survive and win in this globally competitive marketplace. We'll also

continue to support our ranchers, who have seen extreme difficulty in the past

years.

We are also

working very hard, as we build British Columbia for the future and as we look to

the future, for our first nations. British Columbians have told us that we need

to address this issue, that we need to create certainty. Our government has made

significant progress. In fact, it includes three agreements-in-principle, 124

economic measures and over 150 treaty-related measures. Some of those pertain to

resource management agreements, which again provide opportunities for our first

nations throughout all of British Columbia so that they, too, can prosper and

look after their families.

There will

be new opportunities for revenue-sharing in the area of energy. This is

important for our energy sector, it is important for our communities, and again,

it is important for first nations communities and individuals.

We look to

the north of our province, an area of British Columbia that offers unbelievable

future opportunities. Our government, under the hard work of my colleague the

member for Nanaimo-Parksville, was able to conclude a partnership arrangement

with B.C. Rail — a B.C. Rail investment partnership — which is going to see

significant economic opportunities for the northern part of our great province.

CN will contribute $15 million to help open the port of Prince Rupert. In my

previous role as the Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise, it was an

area of British Columbia in which I was pleased to work with the members from

the area, to offer opportunity to the folks of Prince Rupert and, in fact,

corridor 16 and the entire northwest part of the province. In addition, this new

partnership offers new, enhanced opportunities for the great city of Prince

George, one that both members from Prince George have worked very, very hard on

to give future opportunities, future job creation, future growth for Prince

George and the north.

We're going

to continue to work on developing the northern part of British Columbia. In

fact, we are also now going to bring out and continue to work to bring out the

very best in British Columbia's forest economy. We have introduced a

market-based timber pricing system for the coast. That is going to help us be

much more competitive. We are also looking at 20 percent of the annual allowable

cut, which will be reallocated to small operators, local communities, first

nations and others.

This is

looking to the future. This is about creating a vision and an opportunity for

the future. Of course, in that area we are led by our Premier, who has a great

vision of hope and prosperity for British Columbia.

We will

also introduce in the coming months new, aggressive measures to combat the

mountain pine beetle.

The

government is looking forward to not only reviewing but implementing the Filmon

fire review recommendations so that the fires that happened in the Thompson

region of British Columbia, happened in the Okanagan, happened in my back

yard…. We can learn from those experiences so that British Columbia families

do not have to face the challenges that we did this past year.

[ Page 8591 ]

Of course,

bringing out the future in British Columbia, the energy sector offers us great

opportunities as we look forward. British Columbia has had a vision about

offshore oil development. British Columbia has been pursuing that. We have been

saying to the federal government that we must move forward. We must move forward

based on scientifically and environmentally sound programs that can make us

develop and harvest the wealth off the shores of British Columbia, similar to

what they've done in eastern Canada. Just think.

I never

have quite understood why the members over there from the opposition have been

against the people and the folks of the northwest part of British Columbia. I do

not understand why they do not want them to have the same opportunities that

other British Columbians have, to have good-paying jobs.

[1035]

I am

encouraged now that the federal government…. The Royal Society of Canada has

come out with its report, as it was asked to do by the Department of Natural

Resources Canada, and their study now says that the federal government has

concluded that there are no scientific barriers for preventing oil and gas

exploration off British Columbia's north coast near the Queen Charlotte Islands.

This is good news. It's about building the future of British Columbia and

bringing out the best in British Columbia.

Now what we

need the federal government to do is to act — act on behalf of all Canadians,

act on behalf of British Columbians and act on behalf of those in the northwest

portion of British Columbia. We will continue in our pursuit of our energy

development here in British Columbia to make sure that all new power produced

for B.C. Hydro will be generated…. Fifty percent will be generated from clean

alternative energy sources. That is about building to the future, looking to the

future and bringing out the best in British Columbia.

When I talk

about the future of British Columbia and bringing out the best of British

Columbians, there is no better place to start than with our students. In the

coming days, details will be released that indicate we will be adding in excess

of $313 million to education over the next three years. We will be putting in

place new graduating requirements starting in September to raise our standards

and provide more flexibility and choice for our students.

We will

launch, under the leadership of our Premier, a new initiative to address

literacy beginning with the creation of the Premier's advisory panel on

literacy. This will provide new funding, new opportunities because it is

important as we build to the future of British Columbia that we strive to bring

the best out in British Columbians — that we not only have literacy under

control, but we beat it to the ground. We wrestle it to the ground so that we

have the best, most educated, most literate society in the world here in British

Columbia.

Bringing

out the best in our students means that we have to bring out the best in higher

education. I am so pleased that our government has committed further resources

to higher education. We will be increasing the budget by over $100 million —

over $100 million — in the year 2006-07 and providing 25,000 new spaces in

British Columbia for our students by 2010. Whether that be in our universities,

colleges or technical schools — our institutes — it's important we provide

all our students with their post-secondary opportunities because we know that as

we look to the future, to bring out the best in British Columbians, 70 percent

of our students are going to need some form of post-secondary education. Our

government under the leadership of the Premier will be there to provide that.

Another

area about bringing out the best in British Columbia is closing the digital

divide. To me, closing the digital divide is about bringing all parts of British

Columbia together, about levelling the playing field so that folks in all

regions of the province — students, small business, parents, seniors, everyone

— have the same access to the world that people who live in major urban

communities do. Our government is committed and will aggressively pursue closing

that digital divide.

When we

look to health care — no greater responsibility for a government in Canada

than to provide patients' care where they need it, when they need it — as we

all know, the health care system of the past, the health care system that we

were left by the previous government, was simply unsustainable and put the

patients at risk. Yes, we've had to make changes. We've made those changes all

the while by being focused not on the special interests but on the interests of

one group, that being the patients. That will continue to be the focus of our

government as we move forward with bringing out the best in our health care.

[1040]

As we look

to diversifying and bringing out the best in all British Columbians, we can't

help but look to 2010. I'll talk about that a little later — the Spirit of

2010. The flame has been lit. The flame was lit on July 2 of last year, and it's

growing. Now what we do as we move towards 2010…. We must start to celebrate

sport and music and our culture. Our government is committed to a $30 million

one-time fund to support new initiatives to bring out the best in sport in

British Columbia, to bring out the best in music in British Columbia, to bring

out the best in culture in British Columbia, to bring out the best in literacy

in British Columbia and to bring out the best in volunteers.

I live in a

community, a region, of British Columbia that is renowned for its volunteers. In

fact, every year we host the Canada Iron Man, where we get out and we have 2,000

participants. We have over 5,000 volunteers for that event. That happens in

community after community throughout British Columbia, and it's something we

should be celebrating.

The other

thing — as we move forward and lead in Canada in that we're bringing out the

best in the spirit of British Columbia — is our commitment, under the

leadership of our Premier, to our Citizens' Assembly. It's 161 British

Columbians deliberating on how would

[ Page 8592 ]

be the best way to elect members to their Legislative Assembly — not our

Legislative Assembly, their Legislative Assembly. It is a groundbreaking

initiative that has not taken place anywhere else in the Commonwealth in its

history. It's being done here, and we are bringing out the best in the spirit of

British Columbia so that we have the opportunity for British Columbians to say

how they want to be governed, how they think they should be governed, how they

think they should have people elected. What more could we ask for in British

Columbia than to have that unprecedented opportunity? That comes out of the fact

that our Premier had a vision. Our Premier made a commitment. Now we're living

with that commitment, and we are going to see that through.

As we look

forward to bringing out the best in British Columbia, there are some members —

two of them that sit right over there, one for Vancouver-Hastings and the other

for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant — and their leader, who for some reason chooses

not to want to be in this House, that want to take our province backwards.

British Columbians are telling me that they want to move forward. They do not

want to move backwards as those members over there want this province to move

backwards.

Gone are

the days of tax of Glen Clark, but Carole James wants to bring that back. I say

no to that. I say no to excessive taxation. I say no to their alternative budget

— which they have released, which they have funded — that says that at a

minimum, taxes are going to go up 27 percent; that they're going to tax nurses

an additional 50 to 60 percent; teachers, 40 to 50 to 60 percent; and doctors,

90 percent increases in taxation. That's about going backwards. Our government

and our vision are about going forward. I want to go forward, and British

Columbia wants to go forward.

What do

they want to do to small business? After we've cut red tape by one-third, after

we have put in one of the lowest tax rates for small business, as we have one of

the highest thresholds before taxation starts in all of Canada for small

business, what do those members over there want to do now? They want to go back,

and they want to strangle small business with red tape. They want to put their

taxes up 71 percent. That's not a vision of going forward. That's a vision of

going backwards, and that is unacceptable.

They also

now want to introduce subsidies back into business. Again, government in its

infinite wisdom, as those two members over there have said many times…. They

think government should pick winners and losers. It's not acceptable. We waste

taxpayers' money. We should be creating an environment in which investors can

come, invest their money, risk their capital and be successful — not risk

taxpayers' money and have it go down the drain. That's not what taxpayers want.

The other

thing they're now professing they want to do in their alternative budget is

introduce what I call the super-sized Four Corners bank. They now want to start

a public bank in British Columbia that is financed by pension funds. They want

to take royalties away from the gas and oil industry, they want to take

royalties away from the forest industry, and they want to put them into an

NDP-run bank. We've had one experience with an NDP bank. We do not need another

NDP bank in the province as we're going to move forward.

[1045]

Let me just

say I'm excited about the future of British Columbia. I'm excited as I look

forward to the future of British Columbia. I'm excited, as we look forward, to

bring out the very best in British Columbia and a new Spirit of 2010. My

colleague the Minister of Small Business and Economic Development will be

bringing forward an exciting new tourism strategy that will be introduced later

this year so that all regions of the province can share in the excitement of the

future of British Columbia. Government will host a 2010 business summit,

bringing together businesses and investors and community leaders from around the

province as we all look to the future to build a great future in British

Columbia. We will also be showcasing through Picture B.C. an initiative to

showcase British Columbia images and words and artworks to the world.

You know,

there is so much we have to be thankful for in British Columbia. There is so

much, when we all work together, that we can be. It's a time for all British

Columbians to commit to the future of our province. The foundation has been laid

through very hard work by people throughout this House, throughout our

professional public service. We have laid the foundation to move forward with a

bold new agenda as we try very hard to reach the number one position in all of

Canada.

There are

some that will say we'll never achieve that, but you know, Mr. Speaker, there

were those who said we would never win the 2010 Olympic bid. I was there at GM

Place on July 2 with my three-month-old grandson, and when my daughter said,

"Dad, why does your grandson have to be there with you?" I said:

"Risha, this is about the future. This is about looking to our future. This

is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." When the word "Vancouver"

rolled out of the mouth of the president of the IOC, British Columbia

celebrated.

British

Columbia looked to the future and said that we now have an opportunity to look

to the future, to bring out the best, no matter what part of British Columbia

we're from — whether it is the Peace, the northwest, the Okanagan, the

Kootenays, the lower mainland or the Island. No matter where, we have an

opportunity to build a great future in British Columbia. This throne speech

provides the vision, lays out the road map on how, when we all work together in

British Columbia, we will have a great future — one that not only will we

prosper from but that our children and, in some of our cases, our grandchildren

will have the opportunities to prosper from.

I'm very,

very pleased, when the vote comes, to stand proudly and to vote in favour of

this throne speech, which is all about building the future of the province and

bringing out the best in British Columbia.

[ Page 8593 ]

Hon. J.

Murray: Today I have the privilege of speaking in response to the Speech

from the Throne of February 10, 2004. Our government was elected to transform

this province to be the absolute best it can be, to excel in every field of

endeavour, and the throne speech describes that transformation. It draws a road

map of the mileposts on government's journey to bring out the best in British

Columbia, and we're making great progress. The throne speech initiatives for the

coming years will bring even greater achievements.

[1050]

Now British

Columbians can be excited about our future again. It was hard to be excited

about the future as a have-not province. We became so lame that we qualified for

handouts from Alberta and Ontario. It was hard to be excited about the future as

the province's white elephants consumed our scarce provincial dollars for no

lasting benefit. A series of costly bailouts and failures, like the ICBC

building at Surrey centre, wrote off hundreds of millions of your tax dollars

before we were elected. Everyone in my riding of New Westminster can picture

this white elephant across the river in Surrey.

It was hard

to be excited about the future after years of net out-migration from British

Columbia — your children, your sisters and brothers, your doctors and nurses

leaving British Columbia to live and raise their families in other provinces

where opportunities were brighter. But we now can be excited about our future

again.

As a mother

of three children, opportunities for children to succeed are a top priority for

me. I remember the first day taking my child to school with his small hand in

mine as we climbed the school stairs. I think I was more nervous than he was

about letting him go.

We as a

government said we would protect education funding. We have done that. In fact,

we have increased it substantially each year we've governed. In the coming year

we will put $85 million more into the education budget despite a decline of over

6,000 students in British Columbia. For New Westminster this increase is on top

of our school board's 7.5 percent budget increase for the current school year.

In addition, our government is putting capital dollars into New Westminster to

build another middle school and to build a brand-new high school.

The throne

speech confirms that over the next three years our government is putting an

additional $313 million into the provincial education budget because we want to

bring out the best in our young students. After graduation our young people need

access to training and further education. Our government is expanding Douglas

College and the Justice Institute for New Westminster, and this is just a part

of the 6,000 extra spaces that we added to post-secondary institutions in the

past two years.

The throne

speech outlines Premier Campbell's commitment to an extraordinary goal. That's

adding 25,000 new spaces by 2010. That will help further education and training

be much more accessible. It will bring out the best in our young people so they

can succeed in their lives.

Families

need sports, and we said we would support sports. We are. Like many Royal City

parents, I spend hours and hours on the side of a muddy soccer and rugby field

following my son and daughter's numbered jerseys dart around the field — the

clusters of moms and dads stamping our feet to stay warm, cheering the team's

goals, groaning when they missed. Our government committed to doubling the

physical fitness and amateur sport fund from $22 million to $44 million because

we know how important sport is to children's confidence and their development. A

new LegaciesNow fund of $30 million will bring further opportunities for our

young athletes.

Remember

the moment at GM Place when we learned B.C. won the bid for the 2010 Olympic and

Paralympic Games? We won. We built confidence in ourselves and in B.C. That's

the excitement we will see growing over the next six years. In New Westminster

we created one of the first 2010 committees. Our giant gold medal inspired other

municipalities, and I want to thank the members of New Westminster's Spirit of

2010 committee, now chaired by Mr. Jack McGee of the Justice Institute.

Committee members are working very closely with city hall to generate many new

opportunities for New Westminster from the 2010 games.

Strong

families need strong women. In New Westminster I have a special focus on the

concerns of women and the challenges families face. Last spring a dozen women

leaders joined me for lunch to discuss issues that they're concerned about and

opportunities for women in our community. They observed that New Westminster

women face a higher rate of family violence than women in any other part of the

province. I'm proud that during this time of fiscal constraint our government

fully protected the annual budgets for programs for women and children who have

experienced or witnessed abuse, including programs for transition houses, safe

homes and counselling.

[1055]

New

Westminster is also home to many needy families. This year we dedicated the

largest budget in B.C.'s history — over $153 million — to subsidized housing

for those in financial need. In New Westminster the Cliff block on 6th Street

opened a few months ago. This is housing that gives a healthy alternative to

people who might otherwise be homeless. The Lookout Society's leaders deserve

our appreciation for their hard work on that project.

Families

and children can grow strong in a clean and healthy environment. Our government

is committed to environmental stewardship. We have made motor oil suppliers

completely responsible for recycling used oil filters and containers. We are

working with electronics manufacturers so they recycle or reuse electronic waste

like TVs and computers as part of their product stewardship. Our government

introduced the protection of critical wildlife habitat into the new forest

practices regulations. We're making progress on our commitment to protect Burns

Bog and other marine

[ Page 8594 ]

ecosystems, and we're expanding our parks system by converting protected

areas to parks.

Our

government will also be doing its share to clean up the Fraser River in New

Westminster. Thanks to over $3 million in grant money to upgrade the sewer

storage facilities on the riverbank down by the quay, we are committed to a

clean and healthy environment for our children.

Under

Premier Campbell's leadership, our dedication to a sustainable environment has

also paid dividends for the economy. Since the last election, our province has

experienced a longer period of peace among industry, government and

environmental groups than this province has seen in many, many years.

Our

families also need a strong and successful community. Under our Premier's

leadership, our government recognizes the importance of good transportation to

B.C. communities. Partnering with Canada, the province is investing $58 million

to upgrade the Queensborough Bridge area and relieve traffic bottlenecks in New

Westminster. Cyclists and pedestrians have not been safe crossing that bridge. I

worked with the community and the minister and made sure those concerns will be

addressed in the project design.

Communities

need volunteers. This year's second annual New Westminster Festival of

Volunteers attracted even more people than last year. It led to scores of new,

active volunteers for many Royal City groups. I do want to acknowledge all of

the volunteer organizers who worked with me to create this very special event.

Under our

government, no communities will be left out of today's information age. Premier

Campbell committed that by the end of 2006, all British Columbia communities and

schools will have broadband high-speed Internet access. That means that 173

rural and first nation communities will have the same ability to access

Internet-based information, education, telehealth and business opportunities as

New Westminster.

Our Premier

has a vision of bringing out the best in all government support systems,

services and public servants through innovation, information technology and

leadership. We're doing that.

[Mr.

Speaker in the chair.]

Our

management services and the B.C. Public Service Agency are the government's

nervous system. They enable effective response by ministry staff and public

sector organizations to each other and to our public. Excellence in performance

and services throughout government and the public sector will help us meet our

goal of excellence in government. It will help bring out the very best in

British Columbia.

Communities

and families need to honour their heroes. My dad was a World War II veteran.

Canadian veterans, men and women alike, put their lives on the line so we can

live in the number one city and the greatest province in the world. To celebrate

these veterans, I'm working with a group of New Westminster residents to

organize a D-Day Juno Beach sixtieth anniversary event on June 6 this year. In

honouring our veterans, we also educate our young people about Canada's role in

World War II.

[1100]

Families

must honour their elders. My mom is about to retire at age 74. She's a youthful

and independent 74 about to go on a trip around the world, but in the future she

may need a responsive health care system.

Sustaining

a high level of health care is one of every government's biggest challenges. The

elderly are the fastest-growing part of our population. As the percentage of

elderly people grows, the demands for health services increase.

In the past

two and a half years our government has increased health care spending by $2

billion a year, or 23 percent. Some people talk about health care cuts; the

reality is that major health care spending increases. Health care costs cannot

continue to grow three times as fast as provincial revenues. We cannot allow the

entire provincial budget to be used for health care. Improving health services

and responsiveness while keeping costs under control is indeed a very difficult

challenge.

We can only

control costs by recognizing how our needs are changing. Because of improved

drugs and specialized equipment, fewer acute care hospital beds are needed. That

reality led to a decision that was very difficult and very disappointing for

people in New Westminster. In November last year government announced the

decision to transfer all services out of St. Mary's Hospital. I tried to find a

different solution because St. Mary's was a top-quality faith-based hospital and

a very important institution in our community.

Over the

long term, by consolidating patient services to fewer facilities, the Fraser

health authority will save money, and these dollars can then be used to serve

the growing demands for patient care in our region. Most of St. Mary's

professional caregivers will be rehired, where they can continue to provide

their high quality of service in other facilities in our region. Many of the

services and procedures formerly at St. Mary's…. In fact, half of the services

will continue to be provided in New Westminster at our Royal Columbian Hospital,

Queens Park Centre and other facilities. These services will continue to be

convenient for our residents, which I know is something that many are concerned

about.

My focus

over the past few months has been to ensure that all of St. Mary's Hospital

patients and clients continue to receive the care they need and that this very

difficult transition is as compassionate and seamless as possible. My focus now

will be to work with the Fraser health authority and the Sisters of Providence

to recreate a future for St. Mary's that meets demands in the health care

system.

We've shown

that we can improve health care. By reorganizing health delivery, we reduced

health care system administrative costs by 7 percent. We also got better

results; 38,000 more surgical procedures were completed in 2003 than in 2002. We

can and we are

[ Page 8595 ]

improving health care by redirecting dollars to respond to changing patient

needs as well as by the increases that the health care budget has seen.

Families

also need sustainable income. As the wife and former business partner of an

entrepreneur, I know firsthand the challenges that small business people face

every day, and I know how hard business owners work. Years ago my husband and I

ran the family business from our home. That way I could care for small children

and fit in meetings or work around their needs.

It is the

committed entrepreneurs of small businesses who create fully 50 percent of the

private sector jobs in British Columbia. Well over a third of these B.C. small

business owners and operators are women, the highest percentage in Canada. Now,

after three years of decline, in 2002 the number of B.C. small businesses has

grown by over 3 percent. We're turning things around in this economy.

I am

working for small business. In 2003 there was a plan to move New Westminster's

land titles office to the interior, a move that would have cost small and large

businesses alike. So with a small group of concerned people, I made sure the

office will stay in our community and will stay open.

[1105]

Our

families need a thriving economy. We have good news in New Westminster. It is

only February, and already in 2004 New Westminster is looking forward to more

than $600 million in new private sector investment for a variety of new

developments that will create jobs and grace our previously empty lots.

Investors are confident in British Columbia once again. Now we can be excited

again. B.C. is Canada's leading job creator. We created 77,000 new jobs in 2003.

Our job gain was the strongest of all of the provinces. We've gone from last to

first. Now others are excited about us. For the first time in six years more

people are moving into B.C. from other provinces than are leaving B.C.

Now our

first citizens can be excited again. Governments in the past failed first

nations. Our government is making changes that will bring out the best in

opportunities for first nations, and 2003 — last year — marked a turning

point. We ratified three agreements-in-principle with first nations. We signed

over 50 resource development agreements, and we're sharing over $95 million in

timber revenues with first nations people. We supported first nations language,

youth leadership, highway upgrades, and provided $44 million in extra education

funding each year. These are just some of this government's initiatives to

enable first nations to become a more integral part of our strengthening

economy.

Strong

communities require a strong economy across all of British Columbia. Our

government is revitalizing forestry. We are rebuilding the north through our

billion-dollar B.C. Rail investment partnership. We are accessing our large new

oil and gas deposits, and after almost three years of difficult decisions and

careful planning, we will have a balanced budget for the coming years and on

into the future. We have turned the page. We have put deficit spending behind

us. No more piling up debt that our children will have to pay back. No more

rising interest costs eating into other spending priorities. In the future we

will look back on the '04-05 budget with pride. This is the watershed year where

we have turned things around, and it's the year we begin accelerating towards

further achievement and further success.

In 2003

British Columbians showed how tough and how resourceful we are. We rose to the

challenge of floods, drought, BSE, SARS, pine bark beetle and wildfires. Imagine

a firestorm roaring toward you so fast that you hurl yourself into a lake to

escape the inferno engulfing your family, property and home. That's what some

British Columbians faced. We rose to all of these challenges with compassion for

each other. It has made us stronger. It has made us proud to be British

Columbians — deeply proud.

Firefighters

from New Westminster, instead of enjoying well-deserved days off with family,

spent time helping fight the fires in Kelowna. Congratulations and thank you to

all who pitched in with each of our challenges.

In New

Westminster we're proud of our city and we're proud of our neighbours. I have

the honour of representing New Westminster and serving British Columbians across

this province. I will continue to work hard for my constituents in New

Westminster. I will continue to bring my experience as a mother, daughter,

entrepreneur and community member to achieve the objectives you elected us to

realize so that we can bring out the best in each of us — the best in New

Westminster and the best in British Columbia.

Hon. C.

Hansen: I ask leave to make an introduction.

Leave

granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. C.

Hansen: It gives me great pleasure to welcome a group of grade 11 students

from Little Flower Academy in my riding. I think about half of them are in the

gallery today, but there is a total of about 45 altogether that are here.

They're joined by several of their teachers. I'm pleased to welcome Mr. Matt

Coady back again. He has been here on several occasions before. Also joining

them are Ms. Karen Corness, Sister Francesca, Ms. Julie Mills, Ms. Irene Small

and also a longtime personal friend of mine, Ms. Maureen Lyons. Will the House

please make them all very welcome.

[1110]

Debate Continued

Roddick: It is a great honour for me to rise today in response to the throne

speech as the MLA for the constituency of Delta South. Being an elected

representative is an enormous responsibility, a responsibility none of us take

lightly. Everyone knows Delta South.

[ Page 8596 ]

It's the place everyone goes through to get somewhere else, as a result of it

being crisscrossed, expropriated and having offshore development time and time

again with very little input that was actually listened to. Delta South will be

facing every one of these issues yet again over the next three to five years.

As we are a

government committed to communities, our biggest challenge is how to cocoon in a

global world. We can only obtain and maintain the services we so desire and

deserve by building an economy that can support them. However, we simply must

listen to our communities. They are our pulse.

Delta South

has a rich and varied history. Tsawwassen first nations lived and fished

throughout all the sloughs and marshlands that make up what is now referred to

as Delta South. Farmers arrived from all across Canada and Europe. They diked

the area and created this number one agricultural area in the 1800s.

These

wonderfully viable fields are still producing delicious, top-quality, safe food

for our people today. It is the biggest single economic generator in the

constituency. Agriculture is our province's major natural resource, because we

still have to eat to live. Our government, to help British Columbia farmers cope

with the mad cow disease, has committed an additional $16.8 million to try and

see them through this crisis.

agriculture progressed, so did our fishing community. Our Ladner commercial

fishing harbour is the second largest in Canada after Steveston wharf. Local

fisherman Edgar Birch said this is due solely to the stubbornness of Delta's

residents. That stubbornness has never abated. We dig our heels in and will not

take no for an answer.

Like our

pioneers, it is our mission to continue opening up British Columbia. We need to

look no further than Delta South for such opportunity. Our ferry terminal is the

first to be looked at along the lines of Vancouver airport redevelopment. This

is an opportunity for Delta to have input and investment and to work with the

province to make sure we as a community benefit overall.

The

Vancouver Port Corporation is looking at more than doubling its Roberts Bank

facilities. This can only be done in conjunction with hard work and cooperation

by all parties — Canada, the province and our municipality. With proper

management, growth and expansion can be achieved without negatively impacting

our rural-urban community. It will enable controlled growth along with

desperately needed transportation improvements.

With this

growth and economic opportunities come many challenges, not the least of which

is air quality. Our government is working on an air quality control planning

board. The developmental impact on Delta South's air quality is an excellent

example of the saying "Prevention is worth an ounce of cure." We need

a local monitoring station now, not after the fact.

The federal

and provincial governments, along with the Vancouver Port Authority and the

GVRD, must make this a priority. It is an intriguing urban-rural challenge that

can and must be met successfully head on.

[1115]

To provide

jobs and investment, we are looking towards having our Delta industries look at

Delta not just as a place to work but as a complete community. Why, this year

alone four Delta industries were nominated for 2003 export awards: Apex-Micro

Electronics Manufacturing; FPI Fireplace Products International Ltd.; ASCO

Aerospace Canada Ltd.; SEI Industries Ltd., SEI designs — the latter being the

producer of the famous Bambi Bucket which contributed so enormously to fighting

the wildfires last summer.

SEI

Industries won the 2003 export award in the category of manufactured products,

and FPI Fireplace Products International won the top award in the consumer

products category and exporter of the year. Also, featured in the news twice

this year and being chosen by NASA as their energy bar of choice is our own

Delta's Perfect Ten. We need and appreciate their participation.

A dialogue

on crime is to be held later this year in pursuit of better ways to prevent and

combat crime in our schools and on our streets. In November of 2003 the

Solicitor General gave an impassioned speech on the enormous impact of organized

crime in our province at the Delta Chamber of Commerce. This past year our own

Delta police put together a chilling presentation on drugs, alcohol and speed,

which I attended along with 500 parents and teens, at South Delta Secondary.

To open up

the future, we must have confidence to challenge the status quo and build upon

the values of British Columbians. In fact, a women's forum is being held in

Delta South to identify issues of importance that impact women of Delta. This

forum and a women's caucus meeting in the heartlands will be the forerunners of

a new forum, similar to the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, to focus on

B.C. families. These will be randomly chosen British Columbians, and they will

be asked to share their views on family life and their hopes for the future.

Your

government is prepared to look outside the box, to look well into the future —

not just hiccup from one election to another with no regard for the people of

our province. We have established the Citizens' Assembly to look at the

electoral reform system in British Columbia. This is a fascinating opportunity

to make history. Delta's representatives on this committee are Marijke Merrick

and Jakob Skovgaard, both of Ladner. I applaud them for taking on this

responsibility.

Education

is a major key to success. New steps will be taken to encourage student

involvement in education planning in the schools. The Premier's advisory panel

on literacy has been created in an effort to improve literacy rates. Two grants

have already been delivered to Delta. Innovation and creativity are necessities

in an era of declining enrolment. Our Delta school board is to be congratulated

for its ability to balance its budget and still deliver services year after

year.

We in Delta

can reach out and encourage families to move to our area, a wonderful place to

live, work

[ Page 8597 ]

and be educated. Our schools are number one. The Delta school district held a

day-long workshop in September '03 to discuss a vision for the district's future

and the challenges and changes facing students and educators.

It's

interesting. The young student that sat next to me was in grade 10, and her

comments were: "I need school 365 days a year so I can fit in my choices

and flexibility to be able to have a job, to be able to do the extracurricular

activities that I want." I really admire the fact that these people are

having their input. Interaction between advanced education and our high schools,

such as takes place between Delta high schools and Kwantlen College, is

imperative.

[1120]

We also

honoured Lauren Inrig, who was a Premier's excellence award winner for academic

achievement and volunteerism. She has gone on to university.

The

discussions in our community around the possibility of student nurse training or

practicum work in mental health and aboriginal health show what commitment our

educators and our government are prepared to undertake. South Delta Secondary or

Ladner High has a pregnant and parenting teens program to help students remain

in school and continue to get an education.

Post-secondary

education is not just attending a university — in fact, far from it. We are

fast approaching a significant shortage of skilled people in our workforce. A

new Private Career Training Institutions Act and a new model for industry

training in the trades and technical sector have been implemented. By 2010,

25,000 new spaces in B.C. colleges, universities and institutions will be in

place with an additional $105 million committed by 2006-07.

No area of

government is in more dire need of reform than health care. We must find new

ways of controlling rising health costs while also increasing access to service,

drugs, technology and highly skilled health professionals. We already pay more

per capita than any other country in the OECD, but our technical, human resource

and equipment inventory is amongst the lowest per capita. We must work on this

issue in conjunction with communities.

Delta South

is an excellent example of how a community can pull together and work positively

to create ideas and solutions to save our beloved Delta Hospital. It is coming

together slowly but surely, and there are still initiatives being worked on at

every level in the community. An example was a meeting with the ER docs in the

Fraser health authority the week before last. They put forward a solution to the

Fraser health authority on how to keep patients moving through the emergency

room into the required beds. This solution was accepted in its entirety at the

open board meeting of the Fraser health authority.

A second

example is the establishment of a citizens' liaison committee to work between

the community and the Fraser health authority. We truly do know where our heart

is in Delta South. We are a community that will be pleased to hear that our

government has improved choice and access to child care services and has

introduced legislation to open up a new provincial authority called community

living B.C. to oversee the design and delivery of services to people with

developmental disabilities.

Our own

Doug Woolard is front and centre in this initiative. We have an

agreement-in-principle with the Tsawwassen first nation. There is no mileage in

the status quo. The place to meet is at the negotiating table, not in court or

on the opposite sides of new barriers to understanding. All levels of

government, all citizens, including Delta, must work together to break new

ground and lead by example.

As our

government acts to create a new generation of understanding and collaboration,

we are striving to create a new Canada–British Columbia partnership. We want

to work together, not in isolation or opposition. We have just signed a

memorandum of understanding between the federal and provincial governments, the

GVRD and the municipality of Delta concerning the preservation of Burns Bog. We

are just that much closer to achieving yet another major new-era commitment.

[1125]

Our

provincial park system is to be expanded by converting protected areas to parks.

The government will reinstate funding for forest recreational roads and

campsites. As well, our government is working to harmonize environmental

assessment policies, streamside protection, and with the Minister of State for

Intergovernmental Relations is negotiating with Ottawa to improve provincial

influence not only over the management of our wild fish stocks but for fair,

equitable and sustainable fisheries for all British Columbians.

A new

multi-year national agricultural policy to improve food safety, quality and

environmental sustainability has been established. We are also hoping to

negotiate to have western agricultural representation on the international trade

and tariff board. All of this must keep in mind our most precious natural

resource — farmers and ranchers and the food they produce.

On the

topic of our marvellous province and its Super, Natural food, what better way to

invite the world to visit our province than by hosting the Olympic and

Paralympic Games in 2010? Delta South is awash with eager young athletes in

baseball, lacrosse, gymnastics, skating and a major junior hockey team, the

Giants, who attend high school in Delta South. In fact, Delta South has

organized an Olympic committee which hosted an Olympicfest on February 12, six

years to the opening day. We will be celebrating every February 12 from now till

2010 and beyond. It was hugely successful. The Olympics are about much more than

tourism and sport. They are about reaching for the best in all of us —

individuals, communities, British Columbians and Canadians.

new $30 million fund called LegaciesNow has been established to support sports,

music, arts, culture, literacy and volunteerism. This exposure will help us open

up our provincial lands and resources to wealth creation to gain and maintain

the basic services we so desire. Goods must flow freely around the world if our

[ Page 8598 ]

economy is to prosper, and our transportation infrastructure needs to be

recognized for what it is — critical to social and economic infrastructure.

We in Delta

South know only too well what this means. We are living and breathing a failing

— no, failed — transportation system every single day. Our Delta Chamber of

Commerce with input from the LBA and TBA is working on a transportation task

force, as is the engineering department of the Delta municipality working on

plans for the south perimeter road.

full-scale provincial transportation plan is being designed to not only open up

our heartlands and contribute to the revitalization of our forest and mining

industries but also to work with everyone concerned to mitigate the trauma of

change on people's lives in our heartland communities and Vancouver Island and

the lower mainland. To delay further opening up of our province to its own

inhabitants will invite devastating consequences and unthinkable permanent job

losses.

Much of

last session's legislation affected Delta South — for instance, the

modernization of the Waste Management Act. Improved contaminated sites

regulation — this is a huge issue along River Road and in Burns Bog. Finally

now, even the federal government has recognized the economic drain of

brownfields sites. We have streamlined and strengthened the Pesticide Control

Act as well as enhanced planning for agriculture and the right to farm.

[1130]

The future

we want for our families, communities, province and country will not materialize

by clinging to the status quo. However, we need to balance positive change with

everyone's desire for certainty, stability and manageable reform. We need to

listen, learn and act accordingly. Delta South has certainly been front and

centre in this respect. We as a province have listened, we are learning, and we

are endeavouring to act accordingly.

It is

imperative to modernize and improve crucial public services by putting the

interests of patients, students and people in need first. This is exactly what

the Select Standing Committee on Health, of which I am Chair, heard loudly and

clearly from all the people all around this province and incorporated into Patients

First: Renewal and Reform of British Columbia's Health Care System and Patients

First 2002: The Path to Reform .

I mentioned

earlier that agriculture was our major natural resource, because it supplies

food to our people, but really it's the people — all people — who will make

this province number one again. Together we can and we will. As the Premier said

in his address to the province last February, when we do things as a province

working together in the spirit of generosity and kindness, there is nothing we

can't accomplish.

Thank you,

Delta South.

[J. Weisbeck in the

chair.]

Hon. R.

Harris: I want to start out by welcoming all the members back to the House.

It's nice to see all those smiling faces across from me.

I also

would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Skeena again for

allowing me the honour of representing them. It's a job I don't take lightly,

and I certainly appreciate this opportunity they've given me. I also want to

thank the many people that come up to me every day in Skeena and ask how I'm

doing and how my family's doing. It's actually their encouragement and support

that allow me to sort of recharge my battery and find the energy I need to

continue to do this job. I really appreciate that. It's a really important part

of allowing us to do the work we do down here that at the end of the day is

going to make life a little bit better for everybody in our riding.

Over the

last couple of days it's been interesting to listen to a lot of the members talk

about the theme of this throne speech, which I am very pleased to stand here and

speak in support of. That's "Bringing out the best." It is a theme

that resonates well within this building, but I also think it resonates well

outside of the building. Yet when you think about bringing out the best, it is

about bringing out the best in ourselves, in our families and in our

communities.

Each of us

has people in our communities who do that and demonstrate that every day. I was

listening to the member for Vancouver-Burrard talking about people in his

community. It really resonates how the little individual things that everybody

does within a community make such a big difference.

I was

thinking, actually, when some of the other members were talking, of my neighbour

Bill McRae. He just turned 80. I think it was last weekend that they had his

party. He's got more energy than people half his age, I'd say, and maybe even

people a third his age — more than me, I think. He's an icon in the forest

industry in our community. He's an icon in the hospital. He's an icon in working

for that town in everything. Everything you go to, every event you go to, Bill

McRae will be there in one form or another, because he understands and

appreciates the contribution that we each make as individuals to improve the

lives of everyone within our community and that we all have a part to play.

I know last

week the city of Terrace gave out their Order of Terrace awards. Actually, it

was a couple of weeks ago now, I guess. It was something they brought in with

their seventy-fifth anniversary. People like Ida Mohler, Jim Stanton and Gordon

McConnell were recipients. These are all really visible faces in our community.

In Kitimat,

Myles and Audrey Bode come to mind. I go to the swearing-in ceremony for new

Canadians, or I try to get there every year, and for the Canada Day

celebrations. Wherever I go, there is Audrey's face as she's setting things up

and getting things together — again, just tremendous activists within their

community.

[1135]

Last year

we lost a friend of mine named Guy Morgan who, even though he was ill, ran for

the position of chief councillor of the Kitwanga band. He did that because, even

though he wasn't feeling well, he knew he had a role to play in improving the

lives of people in

[ Page 8599 ]

that community. In Haisla they had the same situation this year where Lee

Williams, their administrator, lost her life in an automobile accident last

year. That's another individual with whom I really enjoyed the discussions I

had. She was forceful, and she was direct, but she never lost focus. By bringing

out the best in herself and the best in other people, at the end of the day,

that worked for their community.

I want to

talk about one other group of people that I think did a great job in bringing

out the best. That was a group of people that put in literally thousands and

thousands of hours of volunteer work over the last year to bring the Northern

B.C. Winter Games to Kitimat last year. The Northern B.C. Winter Games really

hold a special place in the heart of northern communities. These games this year

were made even more special, I think, by the appearance of people like Nancy

Greene and Steve Podborski.

Our Premier

came up to open the Northern B.C. Winter Games. That's only the second Premier

in the history of this province to be at the Northern B.C. Winter Games to open

them. That's pretty special. What's even more special, I'm led to understand, is

that's the first time in the history of this province that we've had a Premier

who's now gone to open up all the games. He has done that in less than three

years. That's the kind of commitment he has — to the province, to children, to

youth, to athletics, to competition — to things that bring out the best in

people.

I do want

to take the time to thank Colleen Nyce and her board along with the thousands of

volunteers who welcomed over 2,500 athletes, coaches, officials, family and fans

into the community of Kitimat. They did a great job. They put on a show that

will be hard to top. They made a difference, and they brought out the best in

that community. For that, I say thank you.

I want to

talk a bit more about the throne speech, because the throne speech is as much a

road map for the future as it is a picture of the past, a past that's worth

reminding ourselves about. Over the last two and a half years — well, almost

three years now — there has been much said in this House, I know, in a lot of

speeches around the decade of decline, as it has been coined. Living most of my

life in the north, I think we felt it more than most. The member for Bulkley

Valley–Stikine talked about mining the other day and how we have gone from 30

active mines to 12 mines. I guess if you live in the lower mainland or in

Victoria and read that, it sounds like a negative, and it is, but it really

doesn't mean a whole lot.

But if you

live in the town that lost the mine, that's your job. That's the arena, the

school, the soccer field where you went to watch your kids. That's conceivably

gone too. It's not just losing your job. It could be your whole town that's

gone. It is a real personal thing. It's not a statistic to people who live in

those communities. It is about life. It's real life, and that's what it actually

means to go from 30 mines to 12. Those communities are as important to the

people who live in them as they are to someone who lives in Saanich or Point

Grey, to be rather candid.

We heard in

this chamber over the last couple of years how forestry in B.C. went from being

the lowest-cost fibre producer in 1990 to becoming the highest-cost fibre

producer in the world on the coast by 1999. Again, I think for folks that live

in large urban areas that really don't recognize they are also a

forest-dependent community, this sounds bad. It sounds like it's something that

doesn't work very well. Well, that's an understatement. But if you live in a

forest-dependent community, if you live there, it means that the mill in your

town can no longer compete. You have lost that global competitiveness.

Does it

mean it closes down permanently? Usually, it doesn't. It means that it's up and

it's down. It's working irregularly. You have no life that's predictable. It

means harvest contractors and loggers work one month and have one month off.

It's the kind of thing that turns an occupation that used to be seasonal into

part-time. It's the kind of thing that you just sit there and it is a slow but

constant deterioration of your community. People start to migrate out of it,

looking for stability in their lives. As we know now, most of those folks moved

to Alberta, and in most of those communities it was those under 35 — the

valuable people that we need in our community to build a future, the young

families.

When you

start talking about land use planning, that's actually an important function. It

is important that this province has 12 percent of its land committed to parks.

It's something I support, but it is important to understand what that means.

[1140]

In the

riding I represent, the Kallum, we now have 22 percent of our land that's put

into protected areas or parks. You know, it is a noble gesture, but at the end,

what does it mean to people that live there? It means that the place you work

today may not be there for you to work tomorrow. It is a new role. That's why

things like the working forest land act became so important. The working forest

— because we need some security that our jobs are going to be there tomorrow.

The

1996-2000 census, as we've heard about so often, only confirmed what communities

already knew. The hope was that the government of the day would wake up to the

devastation that was being wrought in those communities, that they would

understand the impact of some of their initiatives — things like the Forest

Practices Code and what it did to the forest industry and what it was doing to

those communities. We needed to know that they recognized the importance of

those industries not only in generating revenues for government for things like

health care and education and social services that we seem to talk about down

here so often, but they also need…. If we're going to have a strong province,

we need a strong, healthy, vibrant rural economy. The rural-urban split became

real because governments through the nineties did not understand, or were

unwilling to understand, the critical role that the resource industries and

rural communities play in this province.

[ Page 8600 ]

It is

little wonder that B.C. became a have-not province in Confederation by 1999.

That's a full two years before the election. While every region in North America

saw their economies grow, B.C. saw their economy shrink. We stood alone in B.C.

in a statistic that is something we can't be very proud of.

So why is

this throne speech so important? As the Prince George Citizen stated,

northern B.C. natural resource industries and first nations figured prominently

in the provincial government's throne speech. I think it's a lot more than that,

but I'll tell you I'm pretty happy to hear that, because for me that works.

Right after

the election, the Premier of this province put together a northern caucus, and

he asked me to chair that. He felt that it was really important that if we are

going to have good policy decisions in this province, we need to have strong

regional representation — voices that reflected the values and the priorities

of every region of the province. That is important. As a caucus, our first act

was to get together with the other groups in the north — groups like the

Northwest Corridor Development Corp.; Northwest Tribal Treaty Nations; the NCMA,

North Central Municipalities Association — and start to bring some synergy and

strategic planning to what we were trying to achieve as northerners.

We looked

at numerous studies and reports that governments and organizations had done over

the years, which ended up on somebody's shelf in somebody's office. We knew we

still have, and we know we still have, tremendous untapped wealth in resources

and people and ideas and energy. What we needed was a commitment and a will to

start to put those resources to work for us. Our government and this Premier

have given this province that commitment. That's important.

Last year

our government announced a heartlands strategy. That's a cross-ministry,

cross-government strategy to develop economic plans for infrastructure, human

capital and marketing. It squarely focused on the resource sector. This year's

throne speech continues to put flesh on the bones and articulates a vision for

northern communities across Highway 16 corridor as well as points north.

In mining,

the changes we have made over the last two years in regard to the regulatory

framework and permitting process are starting to get results. As the member for

Bulkley Valley–Stikine also talked about when he was talking about mining in

his community, there has been a significant increase off Highway 37. Two years

ago we had roughly around 2,500 claims staked. Last year that jumped to over

10,500. That's a pretty impressive growth. Are we close to anywhere we need to

be? Absolutely not. But you know, what we're doing here is reversing the trend

— a trend that saw mining exploration go from over $200 million a year in 1990

to now just over $7 million in the northwest by 1999. It's going to take us a

little bit of time to get back up to those numbers, but the trend is there.

That's important, because that's what you have to start to do as you start to

rebuild the economies and communities.

With a

Minister of State for Mining being established by the Premier and the mining

task force now about to develop a mining plan, the Premier has put additional

resources and attention to seeing this industry grow. The trend now is the right

one. I know I'm not going to be satisfied until this province is the number one

mining jurisdiction in the world, and I don't think anyone else in this House

thinks any different.

[1145]

In gas and

oil the ministry continues to build on the successes it has had in the Peace to

bring those same successes to other regions, like the Bowser and Nechako. The

new royalty regime that we've put in place for exploration and undeveloped

basins is exactly the right strategy to bring in that investment, to direct it

to where it needs to be and to expand that opportunity across the whole

province. Combine that with the offshore oil and gas we're talking about on the

coast, and this industry has the potential to be an economic driver for this

province for years to come.

There is a

whole new industry that has developed in the north, and that's the IPP —

independent power producers. That is another great opportunity for northern

communities. We have already seen 17 green hydro projects announced by B.C.

Hydro, 15 of them in rural communities, bringing over $800 million of investment

into this province. The Irrican co-gen plant is one; the run-of-the-river Iskut

project is another great project. That's kind of an interesting one, because it

actually moves power generation further north. It has the potential to do for

the far north, the Dease-Iskut area, in many ways the same things that Nechako

and Alcan did for the northwest, by bringing power to a region that didn't have

it before.

Two of the

key components for any new mine are transportation and power. Having available

lower-cost power will actually make the economics viable for a number of new

mining opportunities. As we continue to improve the transportation grids around

the north, we will start to put all the components together that will allow that

industry to flourish.

I want to

move on here. In forestry the Premier has established a new position, Minister

of State for Forestry Operations, and I'm very pleased that he has asked me to

take on that role. The forest industry is one that is especially close to my

heart and a key part of the economic fabric of the communities I represent. With

this new ministry to support the minister, I'm going to be ensuring that the

objectives of the package of forestry reforms we brought in will actually start

to be felt around the whole province, so people in every individual community

can start to see the benefits.

The

commitment we've made in the throne speech to quadruple the amount of wood

available to small-scale salvage continues to support our commitment to smaller,

community-based tenure holders. By supporting and building on first nations

participation, community forest licences, the B.C. timber sales program and

woodlots, this is going to create the fibre supply that will attract the new

investment, create the new

[ Page 8601 ]

facilities and bring new opportunities to communities across British

Columbia.

We are

already starting to see new investment in the forest industry in this province.

I happened to be able to attend the opening of the largest sawmill in the world

in Houston, but we're seeing investments from Slocan, from Dunkley, from Brink.

There are investments right across this province in forestry. In fact, already

we're seeing investments that are about 50 percent higher than what we saw a

year ago. That's a sign that they are starting to work, but are they anywhere

near where we need them to be yet? No. We need to completely bring the new

policies in place, so people in every community can start to benefit from the

new opportunities that are going to come out of this.

In every

community across the heartlands we've heard of the need to diversify our

economies. Governments and politicians have spoken about that concept for years.

Our Premier and this government are the first to look at the obstacles to

diversification and to start to put in place the tools for each and every

community across the north to redefine themselves, to reach their full potential

based on the unique qualities that each one possesses.

The

benefits of the new CN–BCR partnership are going to change the dynamics of

rural communities forever, taking them in directions they never dreamed before.

With a commitment from CN of $15 million and an additional $17 million from the

province, a container port on the northwest coast of Canada will become a

reality. A new gateway to the fastest-growing economies in the world in Asia as

well as daily service and a new gateway to the continental U.S. are going to

give northern communities a competitive advantage over communities and ports on

the west coast. That's pretty significant. The expansion of the runway in Prince

George and the opportunity for international flights directly into the region,

the new cruise ship dock and new passenger rail service that we're going to see

across Highway 16 out of Prince Rupert — these are just some of the

transportation infrastructure changes we're seeing in the north that are going

to change the dynamics, but they don't just stop there.

[1150]

We've seen

the road system…. I was over at the member for Peace River South…. I was up

there last fall. I can tell you that when you drive from Terrace to Peace River

South, you can't go for 20 minutes without hitting new pavement, a new bridge or

a straightened corner. The highway system in the north is getting better every

year. You can't drive up Highway 37 without being impressed by the changes

there.

Further to

that, we now have a rail operator, in CN, that has the capacity to expand. There

have already been meetings in Alaska talking to folks up there about extending

the rail line into Alaska. Imagine a rail line either coming out of Fort Nelson

or coming up the Dease Lake extension — what that's going to do to open up a

region of this province that's completely underserviced today from a

transportation perspective. The opportunities around tourism and around mining

and forestry…. Those communities can start to look at themselves entirely

differently. That's what we've done. That's what this Premier has done.

The $135

million northern development initiative fund finally takes us away from those

short-term funding models we've always seen for northern incentives. It puts in

place a permanent fund that's going to be there, a fund that's going to be run

by northerners — managed by us, spent on the priorities we believe need to be

spent on. That's what we've always asked for. This Premier has done that. He has

led the charge. He's encouraging communities to become more than they have been

in the past.

I want to

spend a moment on something I believe is one of the most significant

achievements of our government. In Skeena four out of the five first nations in

my riding have now signed forestry revenue-sharing agreements. These agreements

provide for revenue-sharing as well as access to fibre, so these communities can

finally have an opportunity to have a strong economic base.

It takes

strong leadership to be able to sit down and come to an agreement. Steve Wilson

of the Haisla has often told me that it's a lot easier to fight than it is to

find solutions, and I couldn't agree more. It takes even stronger leadership to

have the courage to take that first step which these community leaders have done

to help improve their communities, to bring out the best. I want to acknowledge

the strong leadership of Steve Wilson of the Haisla, Glen Bennett of the

Kitselas, Steve Roberts and before him Diane Collins at Kitsumkalum, Glen

Williams of the Gitanyow and, as I mentioned, Guy Morgan from Kitwanga.

First

nations communities today are major contributors to every economy in a community

across the north. Their people shop locally. Their councils purchase and

contract out work locally. They are tremendous supporters of rural economies and

rural growth. As we work with these communities to help them improve the

economic climate within their bands, every community will feel the benefit.

The theme

of this throne speech is "Bringing out the best." I could go on about

the improvements in post-secondary education that we've seen across the north.

We have the LPN program in Terrace. We now have a new two-year pilot program

around culinary arts in Terrace. That's a first in B.C. We have a new private

power engineering program in a school in Kitimat, a first in British Columbia.

We've got the new aircraft maintenance and engineering program in the northeast.

We've got new facilities in the Cariboo and in Prince Rupert. We've got the UNBC

medical program, something that's going to touch every little town in the north.

Post-secondary

education in our college system is a jewel of economic growth across the entire

north. It's something that we can build on and can tap into the new industries

to start to get the college system and the communities to complement themselves

in terms of what they want to become and where they want to go.

We are

bringing out the best. Are we even close to being satisfied? I know I'm not, and

I don't think any-

[ Page 8602 ]

one else in this building is either. Are there challenges ahead and tough

decisions to allow this province to move out of a have-not status? Yes, there

are.

Last year I

ended my response to the throne speech with a phrase that I believe is even more

relevant today: "…as we move to create a legacy for our children as great

as the one we inherited, this throne speech provides the means and the vision. I

am pleased to be part of a government that has its eye firmly placed on the next

generation, not the next election."

Visser: I, too, have the opportunity to get up and spend a couple of minutes

— literally a couple of minutes — talking about the throne speech this

morning. I have a long list of things to say.

[1155]

When you're

elected, you go out there, you're young, you're new, you're idealistic, and you

want to seize the world and make it different. I think that in this throne

speech and in the last three years of being here, we've been given that

opportunity to succeed in that way. We've been given the opportunity to shape

the future of this province, shape the future of this government and, really,

shape the day-to-day operations of how government relates with the broader

public. Throne speeches bring us back to touch on that every year.

The theme

of this year's throne speech is "Bringing out the best in B.C." I

think that is exactly what we have to do now and for the next ten years. We have

to take a long-term vision to this province. It's a long-term vision of

reconstruction, of building future growth, future opportunities — something

that gives that opportunity to our kids, so that they can stay here, work here

and raise their families here. It's what my family had when they came to this

Island in 1863. We've had six generations — and my daughter is seven

generations — of looking forward, of seizing this province and of seizing

those opportunities.

Mr.

Speaker, noting the hour, I wish to adjourn debate and pick up where I started

next time.

Visser moved adjournment of debate.

Motion

approved.

Hon. G.

Cheema moved adjournment of the House.

Motion

approved.

Deputy

Speaker: The House stands adjourned until 2 o'clock this afternoon.

The House

adjourned at 11:57 a.m.

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