2014 Legislative Session: Third Session, 40th Parliament

HANSARD

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

official report of

Debates of the Legislative Assembly

(hansard)

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Afternoon Sitting

Volume 15, Number

ISSN 0709-1281 (Print)

ISSN 1499-2175 (Online)

CONTENTS

Page

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

Bill M201 — Fall Fixed Election Amendment Act, 2014

V. Huntington

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

Williston reservoir trout fishery

M. Morris

Threshold Housing Society youth housing project in Victoria

C. James

Milan Ilich Pavilion at Richmond Hospital

J. Yap

Bev Parnham and Ted Lewis

C. Trevena

Chilliwack corn maze

J. Martin

Jim Deva

S. Chandra Herbert

Oral Questions

Comments by Premier on LNG development and resource industries

J. Horgan

Hon. C. Clark

Tailings pond breach at Mount Polley mine

J. Horgan

Hon. C. Clark

Comments by Premier on LNG and negotiations on LNG development

B. Ralston

Hon. C. Clark

Comments by Premier on forest and mining industries

C. James

Hon. C. Clark

Comments by Premier on job creation

S. Simpson

Hon. C. Clark

Health Ministry investigation into alleged privacy breach and role of RCMP

J. Darcy

Hon. T. Lake

A. Dix

Hon. C. Clark

Petitions

B. Ralston

Orders of the Day

Throne Speech Debate (continued)

J. Kwan

M. Dalton

C. James

J. Thornthwaite

R. Austin

D. Barnett

K. Conroy

L. Throness

S. Chandra Herbert

P. Pimm

B. Routley

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014

The House met at 1:34 p.m.

[Madame Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers.

Introductions by Members

Hon. N. Letnick: Madame Speaker, I’d like to introduce Erica Mattson and Amy Morris from the SPCA. They, along with a number of other SPCA representatives, are in the precinct today holding meetings. I ask the House to make them all feel welcome.

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J. Horgan: Joining us in the gallery today are some of the people that have been building British Columbia for the past number of decades. I would like to introduce representatives from the building trades council who are here with us today. Mark Curtis, a former constituent of mine, is somewhere up here. Give a wave. There he is. Philip Venoit, a current constituent of mine — good to see you; Jim Paquette; James Leland; Jim Pearson; Dave Holmes — four to Dave Holmes; Tony Santavenere; Mark Olsen; Rob Tuzzi — the Bricklayers; Dale Dhillon; Lee Loftus; Brian Cochrane from the Operating Engineers; Chris Feller; Jim Nunn; Richard McTavish; and, of course, the irrepressible Tom Sigurdson.

Would the House make them all very, very welcome.

Hon. T. Wat: Joining us in the gallery this afternoon is the wise governor of the Jiangsu province, from the People’s Republic of China, and a delegation from the Jiangsu provincial government. The Minister of Agriculture and I met the wise governor and the delegation this morning to discuss bilateral relations between the two provinces and to strengthen relations between our governments. We also witnessed the signing of the letter of intent between our two provinces, which will foster future cooperation.

Would the House please extend a warm welcome to the hon. Governor Xu and the delegation.

C. James: I have two groups visiting us today in the gallery, and I’ll have a little more to say about that later.

Would the House please make them very welcome.

Hon. S. Bond: I just want to join with the Leader of the Opposition in welcoming members of B.C. Building Trades here today. I know they’re meeting with a number of people throughout the course of the day.

It was fantastic to meet with them this morning and learn that their theme, their motto is: “We build B.C.” I assured them that that’s our job too. It was a very productive discussion. We had some fantastic conversations. I want to join with the members opposite in welcoming men and women who, indeed, do build British Columbia.

B. Ralston: With us today in the gallery is Mehmed Hasakovic, who is the president of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Cultural Centre. With him is the Bosnian youth group the Golden Lilies. I would ask the House to make them welcome.

J. Darcy: I am deeply grateful to welcome a dear friend to the House today, a director with the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union and a former constituency president of mine, Lynn Bueckert.

S. Chandra Herbert: I would like to, of course, join my colleague the Minister of Agriculture, in welcoming members of the BCSPCA and add that Geoff Urton is here with them.

Also, I am very excited to welcome parents and students here of Lord Roberts Elementary in the West End: Meri Kate Marcum, Henry and Lydia Marcum, Sarah Dionco and Leiroy Dionco, and, of course, the Dunn family are on their way — Craig, Shanna, Madeline, Cooper.

Welcome to your Legislature, the people’s House.

K. Corrigan: My colleague has already introduced Mehmed Hasakovic. With him today is Eldin Hasakovic and Elvira Hasakovic, who are constituents of mine, as well as — I’m sorry for butchering your names — Emina Mujezinovic and Amela Causevic.

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I hope the House will make these members of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Cultural Centre and the youth club very welcome yet again.

L. Throness: I’d like to introduce Ken and Joanne Denbock from my riding. They’ve taken a few days away from beautiful Rosedale to come and holiday in beautiful Victoria. Would the House please make them welcome.

R. Chouhan: It gives me great pleasure to introduce all my constituents who are part of the Bosnia delegation today. As my colleague from Burnaby–Deer Lake said, I’ll do my best to pronounce their names properly. First of all, Hajrudin Dzebic, Melisa Dubinovic, Larisa Dubinovic, Neira Karic, Merisa Isovic, Sara Selimovic, Amela Causevic, Meliha Isovic, Elvira Dubinovic and

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Edita Causevic. Please join me to welcome all of them.

M. Farnworth: It’s my pleasure to introduce two members from my Port Coquitlam constituency. They’re here as part of the Bosnian community that’s visiting Victoria today. I’ve spent some time in their country before in a number of places, and it’s a beautiful part of the world. We’re glad that they’re visiting us today. They are Lejla Velagic and Dula Velagic. I wish the House to make them most welcome.

There’s one thing I would ask them. If any of them can tell me where to get any kaymak in the Lower Mainland, I’d really appreciate it.

Would the House please make them welcome.

B. Routley: We have with us in the House today several groups from the Shawnigan Lake School. They’re here on a tour with their teacher, Paul Klassen. There are 39 grade 11 students and two adults with them. Will the House please join me and make them feel welcome.

S. Robinson: In the House today we have two of my constituents as well, Magdalena Colakovic and Edvin Colakovic. Would the House please make them welcome.

G. Heyman: It gives me pleasure to introduce more guests in the gallery — Kenan Krupic, Anel Hodzic, Sinan Zukanovic, Melissa Dautovic, Armin Delalic, Emir Krupic and Nihad Krupic. Please join me in welcoming them to this chamber.

M. Elmore: In the group I’d also like to welcome Alisa Zukanovic, Amir Bakovic, Hasnija Dautovic and Melina Krupic. Welcome, and I ask everyone to also please give them a warm welcome.

Introduction and

First Reading of Bills

BILL M201 — FALL FIXED ELECTION

AMENDMENT ACT, 2014

V. Huntington presented a bill intituled Fall Fixed Election Amendment Act, 2014.

V. Huntington: I move that the bill intituled Fall Fixed Election Amendment Act, 2014, be introduced now and read for a first time.

Motion approved.

V. Huntington: This is the sixth session in a row wherein an independent member has introduced a bill to move B.C.’s fixed election date to the fall. When I introduced this bill last spring, it was with the knowledge that there was support for the legislation on both sides of this House.

Since that time, however, I have been informed that now is not the time to move the fixed election date, because the budget plays an important role in the election debate as a statement of where government plans to take the province.

I was told that the quarterly reports let taxpayers know if the budget is on track. But quarterly reports are not issued before our spring elections, which is precisely the point of this bill. A spring election makes a proper budget cycle impossible. The budget is not fully debated in the House, and the voter never sees a quarterly report. There are no audited financial statements. There is no spending authority for ministries.

The federal government and eight other provinces have adopted fixed fall election dates. Voters go to the polls knowing whether government can deliver its vision and knowing that government business will not be interrupted by an election.

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In B.C., however, the perception persists that an election-year budget is nothing more than a political tool and not the important, legitimate document that the voter has a right to see. British Columbians deserve better from their leaders.

I move yet again that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Bill M201, Fall Fixed Election Amendment Act, 2014, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

WILLISTON RESERVOIR TROUT FISHERY

M. Morris: I would like to speak today about one of the many long-term benefits of hydroelectric reservoirs, using Williston Lake as an example. Williston reservoir is the largest reservoir in B.C., with a surface area of 1,773 square kilometres, an area equivalent to over 60 percent of the area covered by the greater Vancouver regional district. The controlling structure for the Williston reservoir is the W.A.C. Bennett dam.

Sustaining and promoting a trophy lake trout fishery in Williston reservoir is a unique opportunity to meet conservation and tourism-related goals consistent with the goals of local communities. Increased tourism revenue attributed to destination trophy lake trout fishing is important to the economic diversification of northern resource-based communities.

In the 1990s the Peace-Williston fish and wildlife compensation program made huge efforts to establish

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a stocking program, releasing approximately 2.4 million kokanee to supplement native stocks and develop Williston reservoir as a kokanee sport fishery. Kokanee are not only popular with anglers throughout the province; they are also an important food source for all of Williston reservoir’s trout species. The angling public is very interested in a promising trophy lake trout fishery. Williston reservoir’s Parsnip Reach supports a lake trout fishery with high catch rates, with many fish weighing between ten and 20 pounds.

This resource serves as an example of economic diversification to support rural resource-based communities. Williston reservoir lake trout fishery, recreational facilities and local fishing derbies attract visitors from all regions of B.C., other Canadian provinces as well as international travellers. Come visit Mackenzie and the Williston reservoir, and bring your fishing rod.

THRESHOLD HOUSING SOCIETY

YOUTH HOUSING PROJECT IN VICTORIA

C. James: When an anonymous donor gifted a fourplex to the Threshold Housing Society this summer, it opened a door to help young people at risk of being homeless. The property will be used to increase units in the society’s safe housing for youth program. The building is located in the South Jubilee area of my constituency, and the project was endorsed and supported by the South Jubilee Neighbourhood Association.

Work renovating the property was completed over the last three weekends by HeroWork, a volunteer program that organizes a modern-day version of old-fashioned barn raisings. They’ve done everything from a backyard garden makeover for a community member with MS to the recent Mustard Seed renovation.

They called this project a HeroWork radical reno, and it’s quite the makeover. Hundreds of people pitched in, donating dollars, contracting services, helping hammer and clean and haul and providing supplies like flooring and plywood and concrete. Each apartment space in the building was decorated and furnished by a different local designer, creating an inviting home and environment for youth.

This project is critical to our community. Because of a shortage of housing, the Threshold Society turns down three out of four youth who need a place to stay. They have a current referral list of 147 youth in need. This building, with its great proximity to transit, will provide transitional housing for up to eight vulnerable youth at a time.

Thank you to the anonymous donor who so generously stepped up to make a difference and to start something extraordinary. Congratulations and a huge thank you to the incredible team of professionals and volunteers who made this happen. This project shows what a difference dedicated individuals and organizations can make, and I’m sure it’s going to inspire others to step up and impact positive change as well.

MILAN ILICH PAVILION

AT RICHMOND HOSPITAL

J. Yap: I am pleased to talk about the newly named Milan Ilich Pavilion in Richmond Hospital. Madame Speaker will recall recently attending the naming ceremony along with the Minister of International Trade and myself.

A few years ago I shared with this House the story of Milan Ilich, one of Richmond’s greatest philanthropists. Milan had dedicated most of his life as a developer in the city of Richmond. He was also involved in many endeavours, including sports, charitable and community services. For eight years he was the owner of the Vancouver 86ers professional soccer team and also a founding co-owner of the WHL Vancouver Giants.

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Terra Nova, a major community located in northwest Richmond, was developed by Milan’s company and included innovations for the time, including a child care facility and affordable housing amenities. Milan also took a lead role in establishing a vital community services facility in Richmond called the Caring Place, and he inspired many local businesses to also show their support.

Milan’s wife, Maureen, has also contributed generously to the community. The Milan and Maureen Ilich Foundation has donated money generously to many charitable organizations throughout the years, including more than $10 million to the Richmond Hospital. The Milan Ilich Pavilion includes a beautifully redesigned atrium with new, comfortable furniture, a new patient and family resource centre, a new spiritual sanctuary, and a quiet room for private family meetings which serve patients and their families in a more comfortable and caring manner.

It’s fitting that this revitalized Richmond Hospital pavilion is named to honour the life and legacy of Milan Ilich, a great example of how we can all share our success, help others and improve the quality of life by giving back to community.

BEV PARNHAM AND TED LEWIS

C. Trevena: As people put their papers in to run for the municipal elections, I’d like to recognize two individuals who put their communities first but, sadly, died well before their time. Mayor Bev Parnham of Port Hardy died at the end of May. Ted Lewis, the mayor of Zeballos, died in August. Both put politics to one side and worked with those who wanted to work for their communities.

In this last term alone, Bev Parnham fought to improve health care in the north Island. She lobbied for broadband Internet. She stood up to try to save the ferry run

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that runs from Port Hardy to the central coast and Port Hardy to Prince Rupert. And she was not afraid to quote and use for leverage the sad health outcomes, statistics which put the area among the poorest in the province.

She was respected across the community and among her peers. She never sought the spotlight but as mayor was a true, good-humoured team player. She mentored the young and supported the old.

Ted Lewis moved to Zeballos just ten years ago. He said he fell in love with the village within the first 20 minutes and chose to show his love for his community by running for mayor. His affection for and pride in the village was infectious. He’d always encourage visitors to stay awhile and think about moving there.

He was also impressive in working with those people who’ve always lived in that part of Nootka Sound, the First Nations — the Hupacasath and the Nuu-chah-nulth. His approach was on-the-ground inclusiveness.

His ideas for economic development, his determination to get the 42-kilometre logging road approach to Zeballos upgraded, his push for services and his strong voice for this smallest of communities never overshadowed his humour and his goodwill.

Others will, of course, run for the jobs of mayor in both communities, but both communities are individually better for the commitment from Bev and from Ted. They’ve left us missing their presence at the table and their insights, as well as their laughter.

CHILLIWACK CORN MAZE

J. Martin: As we know, my constituency is in the heart of the Fraser Valley, the breadbasket of this wonderful province. In Chilliwack we are privileged to have a diverse and strong agricultural component to the local economy, but we also ensure that we support our agritourism industry. A number of businesses have been established and have grown over the years, which help educate young people on traditional and emerging farm practices, teaching families where their food comes from and how it gets from field to fork.

The original Chilliwack Corn Maze does just that. Diane and John Bruinsma and their family work hard every year to create the best possible experience for families to enjoy in the community of Greendale. With this being October, the pumpkin patch is also thriving. Right now families can have a great farm experience on a weekend by going out to the pumpkin patch, getting lost in the corn maze, and enjoying the many other fun and affordable games and activities provided at the farm.

Diane and John understand the importance of promoting our agricultural economy and getting involved in various organizations within the city and province to enhance the industry. Encouraging others to learn more about this important basis of our lifestyle is crucial. I’d like to congratulate the Chilliwack Corn Maze on working together with various partners, such as the 40th anniversary of the University of the Fraser Valley, to grow the agritourism industry in the province.

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Locally owned small businesses nearby produce honey, vegetables, poultry and many artisan gifts. I would encourage everybody and anyone who might be passing through the No. 1 this weekend to stop off in Chilliwack for a great farm experience at the Chilliwack Corn Maze.

JIM DEVA

S. Chandra Herbert: When I got the call, I was hit hard. A man I always knew as an unstoppable force of nature for all that is good in the world was no longer in this world. Jim Deva had died. It’s been hard to process the loss of a man who was always a pillar of strength in times of pain, a man who did what he had to do to allow us all to love freely, to embrace sexuality without hiding it, to fight censorship, and to fight for free speech and equality.

Jim and his partner, Bruce, founded Little Sister’s bookstore in the ’80s, a time when people couldn’t get access to products and books for lesbian, gay, bi and transgender people because of fear and discrimination. In the first few years, indeed, the store was bombed three times because of hatred. But he continued on.

He also had to face a Canadian government keen to ban and censor books being imported for gay and lesbian people. With Janine Fuller, Bruce and a growing community, he fought back all the way to the Supreme Court and won for free speech, won for liberty and won for equality. Jim was vindicated, and Little Sister’s thrived.

It is hard to process the life and the loss of a man so full of life and passion and love, but Jim would not want us to focus just on him. For Jim, it was always about encouraging a community to lead. Indeed, I likely wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Jim’s encouragement, and so many have similar stories.

If you had a dream, Jim would ask you why you weren’t working hard to achieve it. We all have a life to live. We all have so much to give in this fleeting brief moment in this world. Now is the time to do it.

I will miss you, Jim Deva. I don’t believe you are gone. Jim, thank you for being you, all of you, so we could be all we are. Rest in peace, Jim, and love.

Oral Questions

COMMENTS BY PREMIER ON LNG

DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCE INDUSTRIES

J. Horgan: No one in this House is better than the Premier at knowing what people want to hear and sounding sincere when she says it. But there’s a lot more than just saying the right things to helping B.C. families in a difficult economy. You have to deliver as well.

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Three years ago the Premier told B.C. families that she would make B.C. a leader in private sector job creation. Three years later we’re No. 9. When it comes to LNG, three years ago she said we’d create 100,000 jobs, we’d eliminate the debt and we’d eliminate the sales tax. And where are we today? A throne speech two days ago that made no mention of the debt, made no mention of a prosperity fund, made no mention of eliminating the sales tax.

So when it comes to LNG — to the Premier — how can families take her seriously when she’s put British Columbians right where Petronas wants us? What can she say to British Columbians when she can’t deliver a tax bill to this House because Petronas hasn’t written it yet?

Hon. C. Clark: We are currently in negotiations with Petronas and a number of other companies with whom we’re working on their project development agreements. Those project development agreements will determine the next step and will help companies decide if they want to move to a final investment decision. Petronas, Shell, Woodfibre and other companies — we’re working with them all.

I should say that all of the LNG companies in British Columbia will be expected to live up to the five conditions. The five conditions are this. You have to pass your environmental review. There has to be the best environmental protection on land and on water. There has to be First Nations involvement, and there has to be significant economic benefit for British Columbia.

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We are currently in negotiation, and we are going to deliver on these outcomes for the people of this province.

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

J. Horgan: Again, no prosperity fund, no debt-free B.C., no end to the sales tax — just more talk, more talk.

The Premier also talked about opening up new mines. When I became Leader of the Official Opposition, I travelled to Tumbler Ridge. I don’t know if the Premier has been up there lately, but 750 workers — operating engineers and steelworkers — are no longer working in the mining sector in Tumbler Ridge. In fact, by the end of this year the only people working in the mining sector in Tumbler Ridge will be temporary foreign workers that the Premier supported in coming here.

It’s not just the mining sector. The Premier took the photo opportunity to be at a mill in Nanaimo to talk about jobs in the forest sector just before the last election. That very same mill in Nanaimo where the Premier stood and talked about growing the forest economy is shutting down. It’s closing.

My question to the Premier is…. You were there before the election with what you thought people wanted to hear. Will you go there today to that shuttered mill in Nanaimo and tell those workers what the plan is for them?

Hon. C. Clark: Let me say this first. In the course of working to create a brand-new industry in British Columbia, we are focused on making sure that British Columbians are first in line for those jobs. That is what the skills-for-jobs blueprint is all about.

I would remind the member that many of the folks who are in the gallery that they took the time to introduce today might be among them. Many people who come to this country seeking better opportunities decide to stay and, just like our forbearers, work shoulder to shoulder to build this country. They were once foreign, and now they are Canadians.

Third, I’ll say this. We are currently in negotiation with a number of companies to try and land these deals. There are 15 companies who have expressed interest in being in British Columbia. Not all of them will succeed, but many of them will, because we are good at negotiating.

We’ve negotiated with 200,000 public sector workers. We negotiated an agreement with the teachers union that the opposition said we would never, ever achieve. Now, I’m sure that the next question from the Leader of the Opposition will be: why do you negotiate when you could have binding arbitration? But I’ll tell him this: we’re good at it, we’re going to get it done, and we are going to land these deals.

Madame Speaker: And through the Chair, Leader of the Opposition.

J. Horgan: Hon. Speaker, she knows what to say, because that’s what she thinks people want to hear.

I asked her a question about mining and forestry, as mining executives and forestry executives and mine workers and forest workers have been doing for the past 18 months. What did they get back? Liquefied natural gas. There’s something else in British Columbia that’s driving the economy. It’s traditional industries that you’ve ignored at the expense of just one — just one pipedream.

TAILINGS POND BREACH

AT MOUNT POLLEY MINE

J. Horgan: I have many questions, but I don’t know when I’ll see the Premier again, so I’ll focus this time on Mount Polley. On August 4, 25 metric litres of toxic tailings left the tailings pond at the Mount Polley facility and went into the pristine watershed of the Quesnel Lake district. I immediately went to the region. I talked to people, I talked to workers, I talked to businesses, and a few days later the Premier arrived with the cameras. She came and met a woman named Peggy Zorn.

Peggy Zorn has been running a tourism operation on Quesnel Lake for decades. The Premier clasped Peggy

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Zorn’s hand, and she looked her in the eyes and said, “I’ll stand with you shoulder to shoulder till we get this lake cleaned up,” and then she left and didn’t come back.

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The future at Mount Polley for steelworkers, the future at Mount Polley for residents and the future at Mount Polley for tourism operators is as cloudy as the toxic plume that is at Peggy Zorn’s watershed.

Will the Premier put the words aside? Don’t say what people want to hear; do what they need. Back up the people in Likely, get up there and get boots on the ground, and fix the biggest environmental disaster we have seen in my lifetime.

Hon. C. Clark: Let me start, again, in this House by offering our condolences from every single member and every other British Columbian for what has happened to the people of the region and the people of Likely. It is a terrible environmental tragedy, and we are doing everything we can to stand with the community and work with them to ensure that they find their way back to their feet and making sure that all of the environmental impacts of it are mitigated.

Then second, let me say this, because the member has gotten up on three questions and talked about the economy. He’s talked about how we need to say what we mean. Well, I can tell you this. He gets up and he talks about how he supports resource industries, forestry, mining, natural gas. That’s what he says. But it’s not true, because what he does is all about “no.”

What he does on natural gas is all about a moratorium on extracting it. It’s all about stopping it from getting to the coast. It’s all about stopping the shipments from going off across the ocean. It’s all about making sure there’s a regime in British Columbia that is so hostile to resource industries that not only would those industries find themselves in trouble, but more importantly, all of those families that depend on them would find themselves in trouble.

If you want to walk the talk and you say you believe in resource industries, the answer sometimes has to be yes.

COMMENTS BY PREMIER ON LNG

AND NEGOTIATIONS ON LNG DEVELOPMENT

B. Ralston: The Premier promised that LNG would wipe out the province’s debt, B.C. Ferries’ debt, B.C. Hydro debt and do away with the PST forever. But all of that is slipping away as potential LNG developers use her grandiose promises against her in the negotiations she referred to, threatening to bail if they don’t get exactly what they want.

The Premier said: “We have to land that tax at the right spot that’s economic for the investors.” Translated, that means she’s going to drop the tax rate even if it means revenue to the province is barely enough to keep the lights on.

Will the Premier admit that her pre-election promises won’t happen and that they have hurt B.C.’s bargaining position in the negotiations she referred to?

Hon. C. Clark: We are working very hard in the course of this negotiation with all of the companies. As I said, there are about 15 in the race. We’re working with all of them. Some of them are farther advanced than others to make this investment in British Columbia, but we are working with all of them.

Not all of those investments will be realized. The commitment we’ve made is that we want to see five LNG facilities up and running in British Columbia. We are working every day to make sure we get there. That means ensuring that they adhere to the five conditions, ensuring that British Columbians get real benefit from the resource that they own, ensuring that the regime works for investors so that the investors will come and ensuring that our environment is protected.

We are working very hard to make this happen. We are good at negotiating. We have a proven record of negotiating agreements at the table, even when the opposition said that it was absolutely impossible. We are going to continue to do that. I promise the member that we are going to reach those goals that we’ve set. We are going to reach them because we’re going to negotiate hard, we’re going to work hard, we’re going to be focused, and we’re going to be fair.

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Madame Speaker: The member for Surrey-Whalley on a supplemental.

B. Ralston: It’s very difficult to take the Premier at her word, especially when it comes to her far-fetched, pre-election LNG promises. She talked about a race. The tax framework was promised by the end of 2013. It still isn’t here. When it finally arrives, she said it’s going to be lower than the government originally signalled last spring. A couple of companies have walked away — Suncor and Apache — and Petronas is now threatening to do the same thing unless they get a tax framework low enough that will surely mean the Premier’s revenue promises are shattered forever.

Will the Premier admit that her specific pre-election promises will never happen and that she sold B.C. citizens down the river?

Hon. C. Clark: Well, the member should wait a moment before he puts on his party hat and starts singing: “Guess what. They failed. Guess what. The economy failed. Guess what. We weren’t able to create these jobs for British Columbians.”

For heaven’s sake, we should all in this House be working toward a similar goal, and that is a better future for

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British Columbia families. But I only take his words of advice…. I do take them with a grain of salt.

This is, after all, the same member who said we couldn’t balance the budget once. He said we couldn’t balance the budget twice. He said we couldn’t negotiate agreements with the public sector. He said we had to go to binding arbitration, run the white flag up the pole, before we could get to an agreement with the teachers. He has been wrong on every single one of those pronouncements, and he’ll be wrong on this one too.

COMMENTS BY PREMIER ON

FOREST AND MINING INDUSTRIES

C. James: I heard the Premier’s words again say that British Columbians should benefit from our resources, so let’s take a look at forestry for a minute. In 2011 the Premier did a photo op at the opening of the Kitwanga sawmill in the northwest. The mill later shut down with logs that could have fed the mill being bound for export. Also in 2011, the Premier did another photo op at Western Forest Products in Nanaimo. Yesterday we heard that that mill is being shut down with logs that could have fed that mill also bound for export.

When the Premier talks about forestry, she talks about the value of exports, but according to respected natural resources professor George Hoberg, the number of jobs in forestry is down 40 percent under the Liberals.

My question is to the Premier. When will she stop with the photo op politics and get on with the real business of creating jobs for British Columbians with a resource that belongs to all British Columbians?

Hon. C. Clark: I have to admit I’m a little taken aback at the member’s line of questioning today.

In forestry, the number of workers has increased by 13 percent — 58,200 people working in B.C.’s forest sector in 2013. Softwood lumber exports to China reached $1.4 billion. The forest product exports in 2013 were up 53 percent, and they now constitute 33 percent of B.C.’s total exports. We have increased, by the way, I should say on China, the amount that we export by 3,300 percent since her party was last in power.

Forestry is doing well in British Columbia. We have diversified markets. We worked hard to make sure that those markets happened. The forest industry and forest workers have worked hard to make sure that we have one of the most competitive, sustainable industries you will find anywhere on the globe.

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Madame Speaker: Victoria–Beacon Hill on a supplemental.

C. James: I would say to the Premier that exporting raw logs is not sustainable. It does not provide sustainable forestry. I haven’t seen the Premier back in Kitwanga. I haven’t seen the Premier in Nanaimo at Western Forest Products, back for the photo op in front of all the workers who have lost their jobs.

Here’s another promise that the Premier made that — surprise, surprise — didn’t make it into the throne speech this week. The Premier promised eight new mines and nine expanded mines by 2015. Well, 2015 is three months away. We’ve seen three mines close in the northeast just since the spring, nearly 1,000 jobs lost in Tumbler Ridge alone — Wolverine, Trend and Brule mines, all closed.

The Premier is good at saying what she thinks people want to hear, but she doesn’t deliver. My question to the Premier: has she abandoned mining, or is she content to let the only jobs in mining go to temporary foreign workers?

Hon. C. Clark: A forest industry that was close to bankrupt after the last NDP government, a mining industry that existed in the most hostile environment in North America when the NDP last left government, a party that opposes every aspect of extracting and exporting natural gas to Asia, and now the member is on to mining.

I hope the member can answer this question for me. Fifteen new and expanded mines in the province — we are extremely supportive of that. We are working very hard to try and make sure…. I hope the member can stand up and tell us which mines she’s in favour of.

Is she in favour of the Ajax mine? Is she in favour of the northwest transmission line? Is she in favour of any of the things that the government has done, any of the investments that the government has made to try and expand the mining business? Every single….

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members. Order.

Hon. C. Clark: Thank you, Madame Speaker. I think, as the Minister of Finance says, we’ve hit a mining vein here with the opposition, quite clearly.

The tragedy of this discussion in the House is this: that the members stand up and they say that they support resource development at a very high level. They say it every day, and they think that that’s going to convince people.

But when it comes down to the details of what’s actually happening on the ground, when it comes down to actually supporting things project by project, when it comes down to supporting things like the northwest transmission line and other investments that government is making and that are crucial to growing our economy, every single time they stand up and they oppose it. That will not grow the economy.

We on this side of the House want to grow the econ-

[ Page 4586 ]

omy. The 15 new and expanded mines will support thousands of jobs all across the province. An LNG industry will support thousands of jobs, supporting our forest industry to expand markets in Asia — again, work we’re doing every single day. It’s all about the difference between us and them. They’re all about no; we’re all about yes.

COMMENTS BY PREMIER ON JOB CREATION

S. Simpson: Stats Canada tells us that B.C. has the second-worst record on private sector job growth in this country, despite the Premier’s promises on September 11 that we would lead the country in private sector job growth. I assume that’s what the Premier means when she calls for people to walk the talk. That’s that job loss. That’s what she means.

Now in the throne speech we’ve seen the Premier run away from the claim of 100,000 jobs for British Columbians in LNG. In fact, the government is signing deals with China that will increase the number of temporary foreign workers working in that sector. What we know now is that none of the Premier’s claims around jobs are founded in fact — not one of her claims.

Why should British Columbians have any confidence in the Premier’s claims that jobs will be for British Columbians when the record is so, so dismal with this government?

[1420]

Hon. C. Clark: Well, the picture that the member paints is obviously very, very bleak and, of course, one that comes from someone who’s affiliated with a party that had the highest income taxes in Canada, made British Columbia a have-not province, made B.C. last in job growth in Canada for five years straight, made us last in private sector investment in Canada.

Here on this side of the House we have worked very hard to create a different future for the province. That’s meant that minimum wage has increased, that earnings have gone up. It’s meant that unemployment has gone down. We are lower than the rest of the country. We are doing well in British Columbia in job growth, but we need to do better.

Doing better means planning, it means sticking to your plan with real determination, and it means making sure that you deliver on the steps of that plan that will get you to job growth.

When I say we want to support an LNG industry, what I mean is we need to support all the steps along the way that will get us there to make it happen — not trying to step on all the opportunities along the way. It’s a little rich to stand here and listen to the NDP, who oppose every single proposal for economic development, and hear them say they’re worried about slow economic growth.

We are concerned about that. The difference between us and them is we’re doing something about it.

HEALTH MINISTRY INVESTIGATION

INTO ALLEGED PRIVACY BREACH

AND ROLE OF RCMP

J. Darcy: Yesterday in this House we asked the Health Minister about the status of government’s investigation into the fired health researchers. The minister dodged the question and then told reporters that “there was no call to the RCMP to take action.” However, according to the government’s own September 6, 2012, press release, his ministry asked the RCMP to investigate.

To be clear, not only did the ministry call the RCMP; it announced it was doing so in a press release sent to every media outlet in the province, a press release issued after a deliberate media leak, a press release that to this day remains on the government’s website.

To the Premier, will she finally do the right thing, call the RCMP and tell them that the government was wrong to suggest that they needed to investigate these dedicated public servants?

Hon. T. Lake: To the members opposite and to remind everyone in this House: 2½ years ago the private, confidential health information of more than 30,000 British Columbians was compromised. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner did an investigation. From Ms. Denham’s report: “Unencrypted portable storage devices were used in all three disclosures. Governmentwide policy on use of portable storage devices states that they must be encrypted.” Ministry employees downloaded “large amounts of personal health data onto unencrypted flash drives” and shared it “with unauthorized persons.”

The now Leader of the Opposition expressed concern about the seriousness of this breach of information — as he should, as we did. There was a breach of confidential health information. The RCMP were made aware of the investigation that the ministry was doing at the time. It is up to the RCMP to decide whether or not to take that up with a criminal investigation. That is their purview, and that’s where we believe it is appropriate to leave it.

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

J. Darcy: Well, let’s just be clear that the minister has not answered the question directed to the Premier. The minister said yesterday that, in fact, the RCMP had not been asked to investigate by this government, and in fact they were. So it’s still up to the minister or the Premier to answer that question.

[1425]

Maybe the government can get this question right. Yesterday also, when asked whether Marcia McNeil would be investigating the past actions of the Premier, of John Dyble, of Athana Mentzelopoulos and of former

[ Page 4587 ]

cabinet ministers in these firings, the Health Minister said: “This review has a very broad mandate. It will look at all of the events that occurred from the time of the allegations through to the disciplinary actions.” In other words, yes.

To the Premier, can she confirm for this House that she has made an appointment to be interviewed by Ms. McNeil, and can she confirm that she has instructed her subordinates John Dyble and Athana Mentzelopoulos to do the same?

Hon. T. Lake: Firstly, this is not a process that is directed by an elected official. It is a process directed by the head of the Public Service Agency, Ms. Tarras. I’m advised that it is not a judicial or quasi-judicial process, but I’m also advised that Ms. McNeil is authorized, through the terms of reference, to interview anyone she deems appropriate.

I can assure this House that those working for the provincial government will be expected to cooperate with this review, which we expect to be completed by the end of the month.

A. Dix: A question to the Premier. This matter…. Her minister yesterday said that the decision to fire these public servants was the result of heavy-handed decisions and a rush to judgment. The Premier is ultimately responsible. Her deputy is head of the public service. She’s responsible for him in this House. The head of the Public Service Agency and the then Deputy Minister of Health were the key people involved in this decision.

The government claims its review of this matter ended in 2013. It claimed on Friday, in fact, that Mr. Brown’s review had ended and the investigation ended in 2013.

Given that the government smeared these people through a leak about an investigation to the RCMP, has the Premier — the person in this House responsible for the public service, whose deputy is responsible for the public service — ensured the RCMP received that report so that people who were smeared could somehow be unsmeared?

Hon. C. Clark: First, let me again reiterate on behalf of the government and myself our deepest, heartfelt sympathy and apology to Linda Kayfish and her family. It is a terrible, tragic loss to lose anyone to suicide. In these circumstances, it was very appropriate that government apologize for what the Health Minister I think appropriately characterized as very heavy-handed actions. I’m glad that we were able to do so, and I’m very grateful, as well, that Ms. Kayfish has accepted those apologies as graciously as she has.

But this is also a matter where there was a very serious breach of the public’s privacy. Over 30,000 records were downloaded unencrypted to mobile devices. That’s something that the government takes very, very seriously, because people trust us with their privacy and with their information.

This review is going to be complete at the end of October. It is being directed by the public service. The terms of reference have been written by the head of the Public Service Agency, Lynda Tarras, and I have no doubt that it will be conducted thoroughly.

As the Health Minister said, the investigator has full authority to speak with anyone that she wants in the government. I have directed all members of the government, and this certainly includes myself, to speak to her if requested. I have full confidence, as well, that people who once worked for government who no longer do will also make sure that they participate, cooperate and speak with her.

It’s important that this review be thorough. It’s important that we get to the bottom of it, and that is what, by the end of October, we hope we’re able to do.

[End of question period.]

Petitions

B. Ralston: I table a petition signed by over 1,000 people, largely in Surrey, asking the B.C. government to follow the compassionate example of the Ontario government and bring seriously injured children from Gaza to B.C. hospitals for treatment.

[1430]

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. de Jong: Madame Speaker, continued debate on the throne speech.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

J. Kwan: I continue my debate in the response to the throne speech.

[D. Horne in the chair.]

The other issue that I want to highlight around the throne speech, of course, is something that this House worked on prior to us recessing for the summer. In this House we collectively made an apology to the Chinese community for historical wrongs. The very many years of historical wrongs, actions, policies, legislation enacted that was discriminatory towards the Chinese community were finally recognized in this House.

At the time, the Minister for Multiculturalism also said that the government was committed to bringing forward a series of legacy projects as part of the apology. I was looking to the throne speech in terms of the government’s commitment around these legacy projects,

[ Page 4588 ]

because what the minister released a couple of weeks ago around the legacy projects, in my view, is wholly insufficient.

I think it is very important — very important — to do the work that we need to do to ensure that those legacy projects come to their completion — not just talk about it, not just indicate that we would do something and then not really follow up.

The reason why I say that the Minister for Multiculturalism’s plan is deficient is severalfold. Let me start with this issue. The legacy projects — there were eight items that the Minister for Multiculturalism had identified. In these eight items, the government had allocated a very meagre budget to materializing these legacy initiatives. The meagre budget is meant to complete these eight items.

It is my belief, and many people in the community share this belief with me as well, that the budget that the minister had allocated is insufficient. The $1 million in getting these legacy projects done is completely insufficient. If the legacy projects do not have the funds to proceed beyond their initial planning phase, then these projects would not be completed and the apology, quite frankly, would be meaningless.

If the government wants to ensure that the projects are a success, they need to indicate, I think first in the throne speech, a sincerity in ensuring that these legacy projects come to fruition and then to follow up with that in the budget in February with moneys allocated beyond this initial phase to ensure that the legacy projects are completed.

Now, the opposition has indicated to the minister and to the government at all times that we are more than willing and ready and able to help, to work, to ensure that these legacy projects are completed to their fruition.

Now, I note also that the document that the Minister for Multiculturalism had released says: “Chinese Historical Wrongs Legacy Initiative.” That’s the title that the minister adopted for her legacy projects. The title in itself, in my view, is completely inappropriate.

[1435]

The phrase itself makes you believe that it is the Chinese community who had done the historical wrongs, as opposed to the community who received policies and had to face policies and endure policies and legislation that had done them wrong. Even in this work it shows, I think, the sloppiness, unfortunately, of the follow-up from the apology that came out of this House on that momentous day when the motion was passed unanimously.

The opposition had also submitted three names for the Minister for Multiculturalism to consider for the advisory committee to ensure that these projects come to fruition and completion. These names are Bill Chu, the Canadians for Reconciliation Society chair…. Bill, as we know, has done much work in the promotion of reconciliation of historical wrongs for both the Chinese community and the aboriginal communities.

He had been a leader on the call for the curriculum changes and historical site preservation. He has successfully led and continues to lead various delegations to visit the various sites as educational tours for both students and adults alike on these different sites throughout British Columbia. He had also led the discussion when the B.C. School Trustees Association adopted a motion to call on the province to adopt curriculum changes to reflect the history of historical wrongs towards the Chinese community.

Bill has done so much work in this regard, and in my view, he would be an excellent candidate for the government to put on the advisory committee to ensure that the legacy projects are done and done correctly and come to their full completion. I hope that the Minister for Multiculturalism will, in fact, choose to have Bill on this committee, who has volunteered his time and effort all these years. In fact, he took an early retirement from his job to embark on this work on behalf of the community.

The other person that the opposition has suggested to the minister to be on the advisory committee is someone that many members in this House already know and also recognize has done tremendous work in our community, and she’s Thekla Lit. Thekla Lit, of course, is the chair of B.C. ALPHA.

Thekla has a wealth of experience and knowledge in working with the ministry staff in the creation of learning resources and educational materials, especially for the Asian holocaust, back in 2001. Those materials were generated from the government support, in partnership with B.C. ALPHA, with Thekla in the lead there on behalf of B.C. ALPHA.

The learning materials that were adopted were not only utilized here in British Columbia in the classrooms, but they were also adopted by other cities, as well, in Canada. In fact, they took British Columbia’s learning materials and devised their own study materials and educational materials and curriculum in other cities across Canada. Thekla, with B.C. ALPHA, took teachers on study tours so that they could learn more about this material and then be able to effectively teach this material in the classrooms.

Thekla has had experience around curriculum changes and resource material development related to these kinds of historical issues. She would be, in my view, a tremendous contribution towards this committee. I hope that the Minister for Multiculturalism will also select Thekla to be on this committee towards the advisory committee for the legacy projects.

Finally, the third name that we submitted for the minister’s consideration is actually somebody from the aboriginal community. We submitted Don Bain, who is the executive director for the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, to be on that committee. The reason why we chose somebody from the aboriginal community is that, of course, as we know, when we talk about historical wrongs, the

[ Page 4589 ]

community who’s experienced perhaps the most historical wrongs for the length of time since non-aboriginals came to British Columbia and to Canada would be the aboriginal community.

[1440]

I actually think that Don Bain, in association with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, would have a lot to contribute towards the legacy projects advisory committee. Their long journey on reconciliation and their experiences would also contribute greatly towards this work. We have a lot to learn from the aboriginal community in this regard. There’s no question about that.

I hope that the minister will put Don Bain on this committee. All three candidates will contribute and add much value to this work. I have no doubt in my mind that in their efforts they would be providing the expertise, the experiences and, at the same time, would work hard towards making sure that all of these legacy projects are completed and not just not see it to a finish.

Now, on the legacy projects, though, I do want to highlight a few other things too. One of the items that the minister had identified would be the historical sites and artifacts preservation. The document that the minister put forward talks about surveying the sites and determining their historical significance. There is no question that work needs to be done, and I would say that that’s your first phase of the work. But beyond that, we need to dedicate resources to ensure that the artifacts are found, are actually dug up and preserved and stored so that we can actually showcase the artifacts down the road.

In fact, as the first phase of the work, beyond determining the significance of these sites, I think resources need to be found so that these artifacts can be identified and stored. Then, with a longer-term plan, properly showcase these artifacts for both economic development purposes and for educational use.

I was hoping that maybe the throne speech would have some mention around this vision of where we would go with regards to this. Unfortunately, the throne speech did not provide any information, not a mention of this issue.

The component of the legacy project that I put forward for the minister’s consideration was centred around clan associations. Now, clan associations are, as we know, these old associations that were established by members of the Chinese community. They were established back in the day when there was rampant discrimination and racism and segregation that took place.

Many of these associations were established so that members of the Chinese community would have a place to go for access to housing, for social activities, for meals — all of those things that we now take for granted in our communities. Back in the day those things were not available to members of the Chinese community because of the discriminatory policies that were in place.

The preservation of these clan associations today is very significant. Now, the commitment to say that we would do a feasibility study is an important start and is the first step. But beyond the feasibility study, what else are we going to do?

I was hoping that the throne speech would have some mention in recognition of that, say that there would be efforts made to preserve these clan associations — in some cases to provide dollars to renovate these clan associations, perhaps for housing and for other uses that would be needed in our communities today. Again, unfortunately there is no mention of this in the throne speech.

I was hoping, too, that the government might seize on the opportunity to create partnerships with other levels of government. We know that the city of Vancouver has put some financial support toward clan association preservation projects in the city of Vancouver. Perhaps we can partner up with the city of Vancouver and other municipalities in this regard and also with the federal government, as another means to ensure that the legacy project coming out of the apology motion comes to its full completion.

[1445]

Again, I want to table this for the minister’s consideration. Given it wasn’t recognized in the throne speech, perhaps in the budget coming up in February there will be recognition of this and a budget allocated towards the legacy project.

The education component of the legacy project. I do want to just mention it for a moment. I think it is important to ensure that the learning materials are not just focused on broad statements and federal policies. The reason why, in this very Legislature, it was important for us to make the apology motion was because there were a lot of discriminatory policies and practices and legislation that this very Legislature had embarked on and adopted back in the day. So we need to ensure that that educational material goes beyond the federal policies and is actually made in B.C. and, very specifically, with B.C. materials.

I know that I only have about a minute left now of my time to speak to the throne speech. I’m simply going to wrap with this.

These are all important projects, all important proposals. I was hoping that they would be recognized in the throne speech, and they weren’t. The Premier and the minister talked a lot about it, with a lot of fancy words and a lot of commitments. All of those commitments mean nothing if they’re not followed up with actual actions — and actions that will bring it to its full completion and not just the initial phase and then after it’s all said and done, it’s forgotten.

If that happens, then the faith in this Legislature and in government would be lost by the members of the public. We cannot afford and we cannot allow for that to happen.

I hope that the Premier’s approach of simply saying the right things will be actually followed up with action so that it’s not just empty words that are meaningless, in

[ Page 4590 ]

reality, for members of our community.

With this throne speech, I’m very afraid that that might be the trajectory we are going down. I am raising these issues in this House in response to the throne speech to urge the government to take real action and not just simply offer empty words for members of the community.

M. Dalton: I’m happy to stand in support of the Speech from the Throne.

It’s always appropriate to give a few words of thanks, first of all. I would like to thank my constituents in Maple Ridge and Mission for again re-electing me for a second term to represent them in the Legislature. It’s a tremendous honour, and I’m happy to work within the communities to make a difference.

I do want to say a special thanks to my constituency assistants — Carly Fedyshen, Mark Duyns, Brenda Sieg — also to a new legislative team and, of course, to my lovely Marlene, my wife. The member here always refers to her as the lovely Marlene.

I’ve heard many remarks here from the opposition about just how short the throne speech is. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think the Premier and our government are focused on getting some key legislation in, particularly with regards to the LNG projects.

It’s been criticized as pie in the sky. I respectfully disagree with the opposition. I believe we have a real vision. It’s a quality good leaders have, as far as vision, and it’s being demonstrated by our Premier and our government. We can all think of examples of people who’ve had vision and through perseverance have made their vision…. They’ve overcome the obstacles, whether it be in sports or in business or almost any success story.

One that I can think of offhand is one that transpired just a few years ago. I refer to the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympic Games. That took determination and commitment and quite a bit of time. Now, there were many naysayers, and there was a lot of political opposition. But it was, I must admit, one of the times I’ve been most proud.

[1450]

I’m sure millions of people across Canada and this province felt the same way — most proud to be Canadian. You know, singing O Canada on the street — this is an electrifying experience. I think of the Torch Relay going throughout the province in Maple Ridge and in Mission, thousands attending and showing off our maple leaf mittens.

Jack Poole was one of the people that really pushed this forward, the Olympic Games — the plaza downtown in Vancouver, by the torch, has been named after him — but he died right before the games. It was a vision that was worked on and persevered, and we saw these games accomplished.

It was more than just the great memories we have. We also have tremendous infrastructure projects: the Canada Line; the convention centre — people have criticized that, but it’s brought billions of dollars worth of investment and tourism and conventions into the Lower Mainland, to Vancouver and British Columbia; the Sea to Sky Highway; the Richmond Oval and the Fort St. John oval and other infrastructure projects.

Another example of vision I would like to speak about deals with one of our oldest industries, and that’s forestry. It’s an important economic driver and has been for over a century, a century and a half, throughout B.C., including in Maple Ridge and in Mission. The member for Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows and myself toured Hammond Cedar. Actually, it’s the largest cedar mill in the world. It’s an Interfor plant in Maple Ridge.

I was just amazed as far as the technology and the complexity, how every single log is X-rayed as it goes through just so they can achieve the best cuts and no waste of the fibre. In Ruskin, also, there have been cedar mills there.

There are 58,000 great-paying jobs in the forestry industry. It adds $5.9 billion to our economy. It’s up 35 percent since the recession in 2009. B.C. is the largest exporter of softwood lumber in the world. We have 110 lumber mills, 27 veneer and plywood and oriented strand board mills, 80 other primary processing plants.

This industry could have been in a lot more dire of a situation today if it wasn’t for vision and perseverance. This would have been the case because of the deep recession that was worldwide, but especially in the United States, which cut deeply into our exports.

The number of housing starts in the States was down to half a million a year from about two million to three million normally, in the past. Compare that to Canada, which has about 200,000 starts with only one-ninth of the population. Our exports to the States have really suffered, impacting the number of people employed in the industry and also just the production, but we’ve been able to grow this industry in the past number of years. That has taken perseverance, and it has taken vision.

As was mentioned by the Premier earlier, in question period, in 2003 softwood lumber into China was $69 million. In the past decade it’s grown to $1.4 billion, or 20 times. That hasn’t just happened. It’s taken trade missions, face-to-face meetings and building trust.

I was speaking a couple of evenings ago, after an event, with the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. He told me that the next morning, which was yesterday, he was on his way to China once again to have discussions with people in the industry in China. These are not relaxing trips. These are gruelling trips, but they’re paying dividends in spades. We are benefiting, British Columbians are benefiting, and communities are benefiting.

If I had to choose one word to describe the government’s efforts to grow the economy and create well-paying, rewarding jobs through LNG, it would be “perseverance.” Developing an export industry from the

[ Page 4591 ]

ground up, under the pressure of international competition, is not an easy task. It takes vision. It takes time. Above all, it takes perseverance, no matter how many roadblocks one encounters along the way. I have to give credit to the Premier for her vision and persistence.

The natural gas industry is nothing new in British Columbia. It currently employs about 13,000 employees and generates considerable revenues for the province. Over the past decade, it has paid some $8.6 billion in royalty to the people of British Columbia.

In June I was on a tour, along with other MLAs, of our natural gas sector in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek. It was a tremendous eye-opener. I must say, I didn’t really understand the industry prior to going there. I’d read about it, certainly, and was aware of its importance.

[1455]

I wasn’t really aware of fracking. I know that some people get the heebie-jeebies when it’s mentioned, but, actually, it’s a good thing. It’s environmentally safe and has been around B.C. for over 50 years, I believe. They have a zero-spill policy of no water contamination. They’re very careful about this.

I thought essentially that, well, you drilled, you went into pockets where there’s natural gas, and it just kind of came up. That’s not the case. Extraction happens from the rocks or the shale. It’s split up in the ground, and the gas comes from the actual rock.

It’s caused a buzz of activity for a number of years up in that sector, and many young families are there. This revenue that’s been generated has been used to pay for things that matter to people in British Columbia, especially in health care and in education — in Vancouver, in the Fraser Valley, in Victoria and across British Columbia. It helps pay for facilities like the Residence in Mission.

The Residence is a brand-new, 195-bed complex care facility right next to the Mission Memorial Hospital. That’s actually part of the complex. That’s an amazing place. It has amazing staff. It’s segregated, if you want to call it that, into what they call neighbourhoods — just a place where there are relationships. In spite of people suffering from dementia and other challenges, other complex care needs, there’s a community. It’s a great place. It’s cutting edge.

Last year at the same Mission Memorial Hospital site we opened a 27,000 square-foot, $12 million facility for day patients. It has a diabetes centre and a seniors health centre. It’s a real win for Mission residents, Missionites.

There was a lot of concern just a few years back when I first got elected about what would happen to the hospital if it was on the verge of closing down. They were talking about the emergency room at that time that was being looked at and a number of other issues there. It’s so good right now to see that quite the opposite has occurred, that this is a growing facility as far as medical attention. It’s very positive for Mission.

The money has to come from somewhere. The resource sector provides a tremendous amount of revenue that helps cover these costs, but we do have a problem. It is a big problem. That problem is that our primary, and virtually our only, market for natural gas is the United States. Because of fracking, the U.S. is awash in natural gas and, for that matter, oil production. It’s skyrocketing.

As a matter of fact, this year the United States became the world’s number one fossil fuel producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia. U.S. production, our number one producer, our primary market…. They are needing less and less of the very important resource, natural resource — natural gas and oil from Canada.

Domestic prices are flat, and they’re not expected to grow any time soon. We can’t just sit where we’re at, on our laurels, and think things are going to just remain as they are up in the northeast sector and all British Columbia, as far as this industry.

Just a few years ago the province was paying down debt, and we had billions of dollars in surplus. Compare that to now, where we are above water; we are managing a surplus. It’s a tremendous task, and I commend the Minister of Finance and all the ministers for just keeping us on track. It’s tough.

What has been the difference? What has been the difference between just a few years ago and now? I would say that the primary difference is how much revenue that we are receiving from natural gas — the difference of about $3 billion a year.

We have to get other markets. We have to reach other markets where natural gas fetches a higher price because demand for the product is increasing. Specifically, as we know, these markets are found in Asia, with the rising economies of China, India — where the Premier is leaving for tomorrow — South Korea and Japan.

[1500]

That’s why the government has devised a strategy to attract international investment to British Columbia and build the facilities that we need to export natural gas in liquid form. A lot of effort is being put into this, including in this session.

There’s another reason why we have attracted so much attention to this industry. It’s because British Columbia sits on 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that’s known to this date. That’s 12 followed by 11 zeros. That’s enough to supply us domestically for generations and still have plenty left over for export. What customers abroad are looking for is a safe, clean and uninterrupted flow of energy. That’s what British Columbia is offering the world.

I’d like to compare what we have and our ability, our credibility, as opposed to other jurisdictions that have natural gas. One that comes to mind is Russia, which is Europe’s primary source of natural gas. There are a number of European countries, I’m sure, that wish they weren’t so beholden to Russia for their energy supplies. So that will be another market that will be a consideration.

[ Page 4592 ]

The government is committed to providing the cleanest LNG facilities in the world, primarily because we want to preserve and protect B.C.’s pristine environment. That’s a concern also for First Nations, and it’s a concern of government too. As some of you may know, I am Métis. I take significant interest in knowing that First Nations benefit from resource development.

First Nations participation is vital. For one thing, the aboriginal population is the fastest-growing and youngest population in Canada and in British Columbia. There are 200,000 aboriginals in British Columbia, of which about 70,000 are Métis. They live across the province, but the highest ratios are in rural B.C., where most of our resource industry is located. Many First Nation communities and leaders are interested in knowing how they can participate.

I met with a chief this week from the west coast of Vancouver Island who is working along with a company called Steelhead to bring an LNG proposal forward. They’re in the early stages of doing due diligence, but this demonstrates the interest, even among the First Nations communities, to participate in our economy, including the LNG economy.

Recently I also met with a First Nations youth. Well, he’s 27 years old. His name is Patrick. He’s in his mid-20s. He got heavy-duty-operator training with Kiewit when they were involved with building the bridges — the Port Mann Bridge and also the Pitt River Bridge.

Now he’s no longer with Kiewit, and the accountant can’t believe how much he is earning. I’m happy for him, but at the same time I’m a little disappointed in the fact that he’s attaining this wealth by flying to Fort McMurray for ten weeks and then eight weeks back to British Columbia. I’d like to see him. I’m sure he’d rather be working closer to home.

As a matter of fact, there is a very serious LNG project right next to his territory, his community. That’s Woodfibre, near Sechelt. If it gets going, it would just be a short drive from where he lives.

This year the government is targeting an additional $40 million for high-demand occupations and for programs for aboriginal youth — seeing them participate in the economy in these important jobs. We want to see more opportunities for our youth here. Our economy is growing. We have a 5.8 percent unemployment rate, but we want to have the best economy and the most opportunities that we can muster, that we can achieve.

That’s what we’re all here for, as far as MLAs — to see improvements in people’s lives and in the economy so that people can benefit. Yes, there are many detractors who say that British Columbia is just too late, we’ve waited too long and the competition is too great. Mr. Speaker, in the past decade alone the global demand for LNG has doubled worldwide. In the next five years the demand is expected to increase by 50 percent.

By taking advantage of our proximity to Pacific nations, British Columbia has a unique opportunity to develop a resource that will eventually exceed all of our current exports of forest products, minerals and agricultural goods combined. Our B.C. Liberal government wants to do all it can to seize the opportunity. It’s important for all of B.C., and all of B.C. will benefit — including Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, which are growing.

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Maple Ridge has about 80,000 people, and Mission has 38,000. Just my constituency alone has grown from, in the 2009 election, about 50,000 to now, last year, 58,500. So there’s great growth, and it’s a very desirable place to live. Maple Ridge and Mission are affordable and provide us direct access to world-class recreational opportunities. Think of Golden Ears Park, which is in the neighbourhood, and wilderness. It’s just a beautiful area.

I actually, a couple of weeks ago, had some neighbours that moved in next door, and my wife and I went over just to introduce ourselves. Their names are Mark — that’s a name I won’t forget — and Jennifer. I asked where they were from. They’re from South Carolina. “Okay, what brings you to Maple Ridge?”

They said they were in a position to go anywhere they wanted to, to set up a business, to live or for quality of life. They said: “You know, we looked everywhere, and we felt that it was this area right here — Maple Ridge specifically — because of the cost of housing and also just the opportunities in this area.”

I think that’s great. That’s something that’s right next door to me. I think that’s what we want to see. We want to see people moving in and establishing themselves. We have just a great province to live in that we’re all proud to be in.

People have been choosing British Columbia for generations. Maple Ridge actually just celebrated its 140th anniversary. It’s the seventh-oldest community. In August my caucus colleagues came and the Premier came to announce that the district of Maple Ridge would be changing its designation from a municipality to a city — B.C.’s 50th city. This designation recognizes the coming of age for Maple Ridge.

We’ll never leave our rural, agricultural heritage. This is my backyard. I’m not on the outskirts of town, but we have bears that just march by our backyard, and raccoons and deer and elk have actually started to come into the community. I hear even the grizzlies are starting to move more down this direction.

Maple Ridge and Mission are strong and vibrant because of their people — people like Val Hundert and Marco Terwiel, both strong community volunteers but who passed away. They made a tremendous contribution to the life of our communities, and they’ll be sadly missed.

Municipal elections are coming. I want to thank the mayors, Ernie Daykin of Maple Ridge and Ted Adlem, for their work, and also their council members. There are several of them that will not be seeking re-election:

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Cheryl Ashlie, Judy Dueck and Nelson Tilbury. I do appreciate their efforts, and I do look forward to working with the new mayors and council over the next term after the elections.

C. James: I’m pleased to rise with my response to the throne speech, which is a rare thing in the fall here in my community of Victoria–Beacon Hill. As people know, I have the luxury when the House is sitting to be able to walk back and forth to work each day. But I also have the luxury of being able to stay completely connected to my community each and every day as people stop me on the way to work and on the way home to talk about the issues going on in the community. It is a privilege to be able to do that and to be able to have that strong connection.

I also know that there’s a great deal of discussion about whether the Legislature sits or doesn’t sit in the community of Victoria. I think certainly the public expects that we will take our time, that we will look at the legislative calendar and that we will meet in this place as an accountability to them, the public — an accountability not simply for government but for government and opposition, an opportunity for the public to be able to have that accountability from their elected representatives.

I think for the public, knowing there was going to be a sitting, a rare sitting, here in the fall and then hearing that there was going to be a throne speech — which, again, is even rarer…. A fall session is rare to begin with, but to have a throne speech in the fall is also rare.

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What the throne speech does for the public is build up expectations. When the public hears there’s going to be a throne speech, the public expects that that throne speech is going to have things in it, that there’s going to be an issue addressed, that the government is going to respect and see the challenges that British Columbians are facing, that the throne speech will lay out a government direction, that a throne speech will lay out a government’s priorities.

A throne speech, most of the public expects, will speak to the challenges, as well as the opportunities, that are faced by our province and the people of this province. I’ve been in this Legislature now almost ten years, and I’ve heard a lot of throne speeches. I’ve heard throne speeches with lots of promises. I’ve heard the great golden goals. I think that was kind of the theme in the beginning when we first came into the Legislature in 2005.

I heard a lot about the most literate jurisdiction in the world. I heard a lot about big global kinds of great goals and commitments. But I have to say that this throne speech really does stand out in the midst of all of those throne speeches. It stands out for its emptiness and lack of goals, for its lack of focus on the issues that are facing families and individuals all around our province.

I think that really says something about a government and a Premier, when we’re already a year and a half into the government’s term. When they have an opportunity — when the public is watching, when the press are watching — through the Legislature to bring forward a throne speech and talk about all the priorities and to acknowledge and recognize the challenges faced by families in British Columbia, they don’t do that. That throne speech didn’t do any of that, and I’ll get a little bit into the specifics as we go along.

There’s no question that, to me, this throne speech certainly spoke to the government being completely out of touch with the reality that families and individuals in British Columbia are facing. But I actually believe that it’s more than that. It’s more than just being out of touch with the reality that individuals are facing. I believe that when the Premier and this government stand up and make grandiose promises about things that they’re going to do…. That’s what we’ve seen. That is really what the Premier is about.

They make grandiose promises to the public, and then they go off and do what they want themselves. They say one thing to the public when they think the public wants to hear it, and then they go off and do whatever they want to do. They’re breaking a fundamental trust with the public. I know there’s a lot of cynicism about politics. People don’t trust politicians. It is something….

People think every politician is the same. “None of them listen to us.” None of them do the kinds of things that they want to do. From the public’s perspective, when they see a Premier and a government stand up and make big, grandiose promises and then they’re completely gone a year and a half later when the throne speech comes forward, it’s no surprise to anybody that you see that kind of cynicism out there and that you see that people believe they can’t trust the people they vote for.

It’s the worst of the worst of politics. To me — I get angry about that, because I truly believe that being a politician is about public service. It’s about giving back to your community. It’s about providing your time and your energy and your commitment to the public who voted for you.

That doesn’t mean that we’re always going to agree. That doesn’t mean that everybody in a community is going to say that you as a politician are going in the right direction. But what it does mean is that you have the courage of your convictions — when you say something to follow through on it — and stand in front of the public and tell them if something is not able to be done.

We don’t see that. We don’t see that with the Premier or with the members on the other side — that they actually stand and deal with the issues that are there.

[1515]

There was an interesting line in the throne speech that says: “Leadership means being consistent…not saying what is politically convenient.” That’s a line in the throne speech.

I have to say I find it a bit rich that that’s the line the

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Premier decided to put in the throne speech because that’s exactly what the Premier and this government do. I guess they are consistent. They consistently say what they believe is politically convenient. That’s what we see. I found it incredible when I saw that line in the throne speech, when I saw the line that we believe leadership isn’t saying what is politically convenient. Well, that’s exactly what we see.

I want to look at the specifics that actually show that. Let’s start off, of course, with the key focus of this Premier, which is the issue of LNG.

What has the Premier said about LNG over the last couple of years? What are the specifics that she laid out for the public to say: “Here’s my commitment to you, as leader of this political party, as going to be your head of government. Here are my commitments when it comes to LNG”?

Well, let’s see. The Premier promised 100,000 jobs would come from LNG. The Premier actually promised that LNG would eliminate the provincial debt. “Debt-free B.C.,” if I remember correctly, was the slogan across the bus — that that was going to happen. Has debt been eliminated? No. In fact, debt’s going up. The Premier promised LNG would eliminate the provincial sales tax. The Premier also promised the cleanest LNG facilities in the world.

When we talk about cynicism in politics, those are the kinds of things that the Premier has been putting out there around LNG, telling the public that those are the commitments, those are the kinds of things that are going to happen.

Well, here we have a throne speech. Here we have a throne speech that came forward. I would have expected, if the Premier was continuing on with actually sticking to her word, that this throne speech would have come forward and talked about those 100,000 jobs and that this throne speech actually would have talked about the elimination of the provincial debt.

After all, those were promises the Premier made only a year and a half ago. I would have expected that this was the throne speech, the opportunity for government to talk about their promises and commitments, so this throne speech would have been full of those kinds of promises and those kinds of commitments.

Instead, what is the exact quote from the throne speech? The quote is that LNG is “a chance, not a windfall.” The next quote is that LNG is an opportunity to “maintain the same…services we rely on.”

Wow. We’ve gone from LNG solving the world’s problems and solving everything that happens in British Columbia to: “LNG. Hopefully, it’s a chance. Hopefully, we’ll get this chance. And if we get this chance, we’ll be able to maintain the kinds of services that we have.” Not add, not create, not get rid of debt, not get rid of sales tax. We’ll actually maintain the services that we have. Well, that’s a long way from solving all the problems that British Columbia has.

No more eliminating debt; no more eliminating sales tax. Now the government’s scrambling, hoping that they’re going to get LNG to simply maintain services. I find that incredible in a year and a half. That’s not leadership. That is political expediency — say one thing when you think that’s what the public wants to hear, and then do another. That’s what we see in this throne speech.

What kind of hope does that give to British Columbians? What kind of hope can British Columbians have when the government says we hope that we’ll get LNG so that we can maintain services — which certainly the people in my community, and I believe the people in most communities across this province, know aren’t sufficient services to begin with, in most areas aren’t services that are adequate for the pressures that British Columbians are facing.

I think that’s pretty sad. I think that’s a pretty sad statement, that in simply a year and a half that’s where the public sits — maintaining services on a hope that we’re going to grab on to something.

[1520]

Is there a plan B? No. Is there any other opportunity that the government talked about in this throne speech? No, and I’ll talk a little bit about that as we continue on. No, there’s just a chance that we’re going to grab onto something to maintain services that we know aren’t adequate already.

The throne speech mentioned other things about leadership. It said we have to be “determined and unwavering” in our pursuit of opportunity. Again, words on paper, certainly not the reality in this government’s actions.

I have to say that I believe in the pursuit of opportunity. But I believe I have a different version of what opportunity is and the pursuit of opportunity than this government does. I believe in opportunity for every British Columbian, that everyone has something to offer, that everyone brings a skill in this province. Some people need a hand up to be able to utilize that opportunity and to be able to grab onto it, and that is the responsibility of governments.

I have to tell you that I am really humbled and honoured to serve the people of Victoria–Beacon Hill. It’s a rare thing to be a representative for a community that you’ve grown up in, a community that I have raised my kids in, a community that I now have grandchildren in. I feel very connected to this community, and I feel very fortunate to be able to represent it.

I also feel very proud of the extraordinary community that I see each and every day. When I look at opportunity, I see people in my community working to create opportunity and to grab onto opportunity every single day. I see not-for-profit organizations. I see individuals. I see small business owners. I see people coming together to do just that: to work together, to support each other, to

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provide that hand up to those people who need it.

I see people in my community every single day seeking out innovation, seeking out partnerships to make things work, putting a focus on sustainable economic development. I certainly see that kind of leadership, not the throne speech leadership, real leadership happening in my community every single day.

I also hear from people in my community that they don’t expect government to do it all. They don’t expect government to come in and solve all of the challenges. They don’t expect government to come in and fix all the problems. They’re more than willing to do their part. They’re more than willing to take personal responsibility and responsibility for our community. That’s what they do.

If I take a look at something like the Coalition to End Homelessness in greater Victoria, that has covered across a region and set a goal to actually make things happen for people who are living on the street, to do what they could to be able to resolve the issue of homelessness. They’ve actually been out there doing the hard work that needs to be done, working with other groups and organizations, pulling people together.

There’s something extraordinary that happens in our community in October each year called Project Connect. It’s provided at Our Place, one of the amazing community organizations here in greater Victoria.

Our Place is like a service fair. Project Connect that happens there is like a service fair. It provides an opportunity for every group and organization in our community to come together to be able to provide links and services for people who are living on the street, people who are at risk of homelessness or people who are living in poverty.

There’s everything from a chance for people to be able to get clothing, to get medical supports. My office helps out with ID, to help people be able to get ID and fill out the forms they need to. There are work and employment opportunities.

There are some personal connections there as well. There is a photo group, a business in our community who offers to do family portraits and portraits of individuals while they’re at Project Connect. I have to tell you, the tears that I’ve seen from individuals who’ve never had a portrait done, who’ve never had somebody take a professional picture, who know that they can go and bring their family, like most of us have done all the time…. They can go and bring their family on Project Connect day and get that done.

[1525]

Those are the small things and the really big things that are real leadership. That’s real leadership in our community. I would have expected that a throne speech from a government would recognize that leadership and would support it.

That’s what people expect government to be there for them. They don’t expect it to solve all their problems. They expect it to be there when people need it — support the good leadership that’s going on, support the positive things that are happening. I didn’t see anything in this throne speech that addresses those issues in my community.

I had the privilege this week of attending a breakfast launch by the Victoria Foundation. The Victoria Foundation provides something called Victoria’s Vital Signs each year. It’s a massive research effort that is done and provides a report that highlights the vital issues that affect the well-being of our entire region. It covers all of greater Victoria, and it looks at everything from indicators of wellness to what are the top issues that our community and our region believe are important and need to be paid attention to.

While I certainly recognize that every community has their own issues and there are things that are going to be different region to region, I certainly also know that there are commonalties across this province. I am certain that if you did vital signs, and perhaps they do in other communities, you would see some similarities of issues that are there.

For me, Vital Signs is always a really good touchstone. We all believe certain things about our community. We’ve lived here. We know the people in our community. Vital Signs reinforces that. It provides you with the data, the research, the hard information that actually shows: what are the most important things to people in this region? Where are the real challenges? What are the strengths, and what are the challenges in the community?

Again, if I look at my job as representing my community, this is a critical report. It’s an important report to take a look at because it reflects the views of my community, just as I would expect that a throne speech would be a reflection of the views of the people of this province. If a government was truly representing the people of this province, a throne speech would be a reflection of the views of the people of this province.

I want to take a couple of minutes just to look at the issues and then again take a look back at the throne speech and see whether they actually meet any of those.

What were the top issues facing our region in this year’s Vital Signs ? As I said, it’s recent, just came out this week. The first one, I think, would be no surprise to anybody who’s spent time in greater Victoria, and that’s the issue of cost of living. That’s a huge crisis point for people in our region.

We live in an amazing place. They love greater Victoria. People are thrilled with living here. But it’s a huge challenge for families.

Cost of living is a massive issue when you take a look at the data and the hard research that came forward. What did the throne speech do to address that? Where in the throne speech did it say that cost of living puts great pressure on families in British Columbia and we’re going to

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address that, we’re going to begin to work on that, we’re going to help families with the challenges that they face? Wasn’t there. There wasn’t a reflection at all.

In fact, if we go back to February’s throne speech and budget, the government is going in the opposite direction. They are, in fact, making it more difficult for families. They’re making the cost of living worse for families with everything from increases in hydro, raised medical service premiums, increase of ferry fares, ICBC rates, tuition — you name it. The government, in fact, is making that situation worse.

At a time when that’s a top issue facing, I would guarantee, not simply people in greater Victoria but, I would imagine, British Columbians, the throne speech, the major document that shows a priority for this government, made absolutely no mention of the issue of cost of living and, in fact, has made it worse and done just the opposite.

What was the second most important issue that was identified by our region as something that needed to be paid attention to? It was housing, the issue of affordable housing.

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Not simply homelessness — that’s an issue; that actually came in at No. 4 — but the issue of affordable housing, everything from co-op housing to support for families — single families, working families.

I always think it’s important to remind people because I think the face of poverty has changed in our province. I think people often think the people who are poor are the people who use food banks, are the people who you see on the street. Yes, those people are challenged, but more and more you’re seeing working families utilizing food banks. You’re seeing two parents working in the families utilizing food banks — working minimum-wage jobs, working part-time jobs, not able to get full-time employment to be able to support their family, struggling with affordable housing and trying to manage.

Again, I talked about being disappointed and sad about some issues. There are issues that I also have to say I get angry about. The issues I get angry about are the issues when you see families and individuals doing everything they can themselves to get themselves out of the cycle of poverty, to be able to better their lives, to be able to move ahead, to grab onto that opportunity that we saw mentioned so many times in the throne speech.

The government not only does nothing to help them with that; they in fact make it worse and more difficult for those individuals when they’re doing the right thing.

If you’re a single parent, you have a couple of children, you want to go back to school, you get cut off income assistance, you’re told to go and get a student loan to be able to support yourself, and then you lose your medical and your dental support for your children, how would any of us in this House ever be able to manage, ever get yourself out of that cycle of poverty, when that’s the situation you’re faced with?

As I said, that individual doesn’t expect government to do it all, but they don’t expect government to make it more difficult for them. They don’t expect government to get in the way, to take away their ability to seek that opportunity. I have to say that is where I get angry, because I do believe that is one of the primary roles that government has.

Housing links to everything. It’s tough to find employment if you don’t have affordable housing. Pretty tough to be healthy if you don’t have affordable housing. Pretty tough to go to school. Pretty tough, as I said earlier, to look for that opportunity. I look through the throne speech, and was there anything to address housing? No.

The third area that was identified in the Vital Signs report that came forward from Victoria Foundation — and came forward from the members of our region as the third key area that needed to be paid attention to, that was concerning in our region — was the issue of mental illness. Probably, again, I’m sure I’m not unique. I’m sure most MLAs face this as well. If there is an area that is raised more often than any other in our community offices, it’s the issue of mental health and mental illness.

Again, I’ve had the privilege of sitting on the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth, and we’ve taken on a special project to look at the area of youth mental health. We’ve had the opportunity to be able to hear from parents, from youth themselves, from community organizations and from health professionals about the issues that they have seen in the area of youth mental health.

As we know, mental health and addiction often are connected. We’ve had individuals who’ve come forward and just put forward heart-wrenching stories for everyone on that committee to hear, issues about taking your child to find out that there’s a year-and-a-half wait-list, finding out that there is no assessment anywhere in your community. If you have the money to pay for it perhaps, but otherwise no opportunity for assessment. Finding no supports. Trying to navigate a system that isn’t a system.

We know that in the province of British Columbia we do not have a mental health system. We have bits and pieces of services that you hope you can connect with, that you try to connect with. I’ve often used the experience of my own family and some of the challenges we faced with my son in looking for supports. I used to say to individuals in our community that if I can’t find services and supports as an MLA, if I have trouble trying to navigate the system to provide support, think about a parent who doesn’t know anything about the system.

[1535]

Think about an individual who doesn’t know how to navigate, who isn’t sure who to phone, who is already stressed in trying to deal with their child with mental health issues. That’s the reality for most families and most parents in British Columbia today.

I’ve heard stories of bus tickets being given to people

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when they get out of the mental health unit. “That’s your support. Take your bus ticket. Head off somewhere. We can’t have you sitting in emergency the entire time.” Young people end up in the adult psychiatric unit because there isn’t a child service or support bed available.

I would have imagined, again, that there would have been something in this throne speech that would have spoken to those parents and to those children and to the hope that those people need. I didn’t see that in this throne speech either.

Vital Signs doesn’t simply look at the challenges; it also looks at the strengths of a region. I think, again, that’s a very positive message to put forward. It asks people, yes, “What are the challenges in your community?” but also asks: “What are the greatest strengths?” I’m a big believer in the glass-half-full kind of approach. I’ve always believed that you look for solutions, that you look for ideas and you look for approaches to try and improve things. You simply don’t complain without also putting your time and energy into trying to fix things.

I see that in my community every single day. I see people who have every right to be worn down with the kind of work that they’re doing. There’s nothing worse for someone, if you work in a social service agency or a not-for-profit, than to have a client come to you and have to say to them: “I’m sorry. There’s absolutely no service I can send you to. I don’t know of anything that’s available to support you.” That’s heartbreaking.

I think it’s important those people continue to work in a community to provide that leadership, to look for answers and to find solutions despite the challenges.

I expect, again, that a government would do that — that they would look, yes, at the challenges but also at the strengths and build on those strengths, support those not-for-profits, support all those people working hard in communities. But I didn’t see that in the throne speech either.

What did our region say are the greatest strengths? Our natural environment, our climate and air quality. Those were the greatest strengths of greater Victoria. Did I see anything in this throne speech that spoke to that? No. I saw a commitment that eventually we’ll get around to bringing forward the LNG bill, which will have the tax in that was supposed to come a year and a half ago, and we’ll also get around to addressing the environmental area.

Again, nothing around climate change. Nothing around how we’re going to address the legislative targets around reducing greenhouse gases that are in the government’s specific legislation now and that aren’t being addressed.

What opportunities were missed? So many. I know I’ve only got a couple of minutes left, but I think of what could have been in this throne speech. I think about the opportunities that could have been there: investments in education and child care, investments in the traditional industries in our province. That’s what’s missed, and that’s what should have been in a throne speech.

J. Thornthwaite: It’s with great pleasure that I rise in the House today to give support to the throne speech. Like what the member for Victoria–Beacon Hill said — she says that she’s a glass-half-full type of person — I’m definitely a glass-half-full type of person, and I saw a lot of positive things in the throne speech. That’s why I am going to talk positively about the throne speech.

As is customary in speeches when we get up in front of the House, we have some thank-yous to do. I’d just like to thank my three kids because they have to put up with their mother leaving to come over here, which is fine. They accept that, probably are having a nice little party. Bottom line is they will miss their mother. But the good news is that we have Thanksgiving next weekend.

I’d also like to put in a special thanks to my CAs. I have, actually, a new CA, Nick, who’s joined us.

Hi, Nick, and thank you very much for all the work that you do with Alysia back in our constituency offices making sure that everybody from North Vancouver–Seymour is well taken care of.

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Then, of course, we’ve got our team here in the Legislature. I’ve got a new LA, Janta, and of course our communications, Marc Wang; Stephanie for research; and the most important person, actually, in all of our caucuses, our IT guy, Greg Dunn. A lot of people forget about him, but we absolutely know he’s very important to us.

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank my constituents themselves in North Vancouver–Seymour. I feel extremely blessed to live in and represent such a beautiful, diverse and vibrant community. Our region’s geography and natural beauty go hand in hand with our local economy. We are a celebrated tourist destination — Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge and Seymour Mountain, two examples — a hub for local film and television production — more on that in a minute — and a big player in the province’s shipping industry.

Along with the member for West Vancouver–Capilano, on that note, we were very pleased to be able to attend a steel-cutting ceremony at Seaspan a few weeks ago for the new B.C. Ferry cable ferry that will be doing the Buckley Bay–Denman Island route. Everybody was really excited about that — the B.C. Ferry people as well as Seaspan, obviously, because they got the contract.

With regards to film, I just want to mention film, because it’s something very near and dear to my heart, and give congratulations to Thomas FX, which is a special effects company in my riding, which is nominated as best business for the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards.

There are many, many high-calibre businesses that are nominated through the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce under six categories, and this is one of them.

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The highlight of the gala is like the Academy Awards. It’s coming up in November, and I’ll probably be speaking about that at another time. I just wanted to just give them a congrats shout-out because my son, who also is a student at the Capilano University film school is working on the actual video for the Academy Awards for that company, Thomas FX.

Then, of course, we can’t forget that tomorrow the Premier is leaving for India on one of her many trade missions, which have been very successful. But in this particular one I wanted to mention it, because there’s going to be a strong focus on film. I’m very proud to hear that Peter Leitch from North Shore Studios, along with many other leaders in British Columbia’s film industry, will be joining her on her trade mission to do whatever we can. And we will, because we’re buoyed from the TOIFA situation. We’ll be coming back with some great news, I’m sure.

Not to leave film quite yet, I just wanted to share with you how successful the film industry actually is in North Vancouver. My staff, Nick, did a bit of research for me with the district of North Vancouver, and this is what he found out. From September to now the district of North Vancouver has 13 productions. Of those, five were commercials and the rest TV or movie. Some notable examples include Arrow , Once Upon a Time , Falling Skies and 50 Shades of Grey .

The city over the past four weeks has had six productions, and North Shore Studios currently has seven productions ongoing: Backstrom ; Falling Skies; iZombie ; Maple Bay Lodge ; Un-Real ; 50 Shades of Grey , as I said; and Tripwrecked .

To sum it all up, over the past month and currently there have been 25 productions in North Vancouver. The film industry is booming, and we cannot be anything more than super proud.

It’s an honour to serve such a dynamic community, North Vancouver–Seymour, and I want to thank my constituents again for giving me the opportunity to represent them and be their voice in the Legislature.

But as we’re approaching a municipal election — I know that some of the other members have mentioned this — I’d like to put a shout-out to our current mayors, Richard Walton and Darrell Mussatto for the district and the city of North Vancouver, who are both seeking re-election, as well as Franci Stratton, who is the chair of the North Vancouver board of education.

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There are some good groups running for council and school board, and I’m wishing them all well, and I know that there will be some changes because people aren’t seeking re-election. I know that municipal elections are a very important time for all of us in British Columbia to pay attention to who we are electing in municipal councils and school boards.

This week’s throne speech was about getting down to business — getting back to work, setting aside our differences and working together to secure future prosperities for British Columbia. The stage for this type of collaboration was set last month when our government and the BCTF were able to come together and negotiate a six-year agreement — unprecedented, a six-year agreement and the longest term ever reached with our province’s teachers.

Franci Stratton, the chair of the North Vancouver school district, and I did a neat little video a couple weeks ago that you can see on my website or Facebook. We thanked the parents and the teachers and all of the staff, the principals and, of course, the students for being patient during the difficult times, the difficult months that went by.

This historic settlement will mean years of labour peace in our schools. It will provide more classroom supports for both teachers and students. It will mean educators will have more latitude to address the unique needs of every classroom, and it will mean a child in grade 8 will be able to graduate, without any disruption in labour, by the time they graduate from grade 12. It will mean that we now get to sit down and roll up our sleeves and begin to build a better relationship between government and teachers.

I always offer to come into schools. In fact, it’s something that I do every year in September. I send out notes to all of the schools in my riding and offer to come and talk to teachers, students and parents about any topic that is of interest to them. Some schools actually take me up on the offer, and it’s kind of fun. I like to sit and watch what’s going on. Mostly the students ask very intelligent, interesting questions, and it’s one of the best parts of my job.

I’m also a parent. As I mentioned, I have three children, so I can definitely appreciate what the parents are doing when they’re helping the schools, as well as the volunteers in the school. As I mentioned before, I was also a chair of the North Vancouver school district.

We have one of the best public education systems in the world, and that’s in large part to the dedicated men and women who are in the teaching profession. This long-term agreement that I just described provides us with a path, moving forward, and an opportunity to work together to enhance our education system and support student success.

There are lots of things going on that are really good in North Vancouver related to schools. Along with my North Vancouver counterparts from North Vancouver–Lonsdale and West Vancouver–Capilano, we were fortunate enough in April to launch, with the Minister of Education, the brand-new Queen Mary School.

Since I’ve been an MLA — I guess I’m on my fifth year — there have been several infrastructure projects that have been completed for schools in North Vancouver — Lynn Valley being one, Ridgeway, Carson, Highlands,

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Westview and the Windsor turf, the famous Windsor turf that has a nice soccer bubble, which was a partnership between the district and a private company and the school district and the soccer community. Argyle is next, and my number one priority right now is to get that one built.

The teachers’ dispute resolution and our ability to pay for the world-class programs and services are directly related to the shape of our economy. It’s fuelled by our resource industry, which is why the focus in this throne speech was on LNG. You can’t spend money until you make money. We are supporting the resource development of our province to boost our economy so that we can pay for education and health and everything else that everybody wants us to spend money on.

Today’s breakfast that I had with the Minister of Jobs, as well as many MLA counterparts, was with the B.C. building trades union. It was good to hear Tom Sigurdson say: “We build B.C. The trade unionists build B.C.” But I also liked when our Minister of Jobs got up and said: “We build B.C. too.” We’re building B.C. together, and that’s what makes B.C. so great.

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What are we building? Lots of stuff. There’s going to be a great announcement occurring in my riding — I won’t give away the big surprise, because I’ll be talking about it later — in transportation in a few weeks.

We’ve got the cable ferry that I mentioned before, as well as, even, bike lanes, the bike lanes that we have in the district of North Van — Lynn Valley Road bike lanes and Mount Seymour Parkway multi-use path. Several hundreds of thousands of dollars were invested to help people in my riding get to and from where they need to go, to make them less reliant on cars.

This throne speech laid out three pillars on which future growth will be built: through a balanced budget and controlled public spending; by fostering new trade and investment ties with the growing economies of Asia; and by developing the industry for liquefied natural gas, the world’s cleanest-burning non-renewable resource.

We are committed to making B.C. LNG the cleanest in the world. That means that it’s not only an opportunity to sell our resources to major consumers in Asia, but it also means that we can help them significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and meet their growing demand for cleaner, greener economic growth.

We’re expecting about one million job openings by the year 2022. More than 78 percent of those will require some form of post-secondary education. Taking advantage of the opportunities of our growing economy means ensuring that British Columbians are first in line for jobs and have the necessary skills that meet the needs of the industry.

As I mentioned before, we talked about that as well at the B.C. Building Trades union breakfast meeting this morning. We want to provide employment for locals first, then regional, then provincial, then national and then international. If we need international…. We need international to fill the jobs, but they come at a priority: local, regional, provincial, national and then international.

Our government is taking the steps to re-engineer education and training in B.C. through the skills-for-jobs blueprint. The blueprint provides a framework that will allow us to provide students with the best possible information about their options, provide more hands-on learning experiences in school and more opportunities for apprenticeships in the workplace. That will re-engineer apprenticeship programs so that we can better match the training and education with the jobs in demand.

Our Ministers of Jobs, of Education and of Advanced Education, as well as First Nations, are working very, very hard to make that all happen as a jelled package. It will also include funding for community-based training to ensure that First Nations are positioned to take advantage of those job openings as well. This comprehensive plan is part of our commitment to support industry and give young people a seamless path from school through to the workplace.

I’d like to talk a little bit about Education because I am the Parliamentary Secretary for Student Support and Parent Engagement. Next month I’ll be going to the BCCPAC convention in Nanaimo. I’m their go-to person when it comes to parent support. I did a video last year, which I will be relaunching, on anti-cyberbullying and educating parents and students on how to be safe on line.

The member opposite, for Victoria–Beacon Hill, mentioned the special project that our Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth is working on with regard to child and youth mental health. Yes, we do have some challenges, and yes, the Ministries of Health, MCFD and Education and others are working to deal with those challenges. But what we also heard is that there are lots of positives.

The interior collaborative is a good example. They were very, very pleased to come and present and say, “These are the types of things that are working, if we work collaboratively with families” — and FORCE and other agencies and volunteers that help to improve the lives of those youth and children who are suffering with mental illness, as well as their families. Obviously, they’re affected.

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I certainly would be remiss if I didn’t mention last week’s grand opening of the new Greta and Robert H.N.

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Ho centre for psychiatry and education, the HOpe centre, which will be a major positive thing for mental health on the North Shore.

At $62.2 million, HOpe centre is located on the grounds of Lions Gate Hospital and replaces the hospital’s aging 26-bed in-patient psychiatric unit originally built in 1929. In addition to the in-patient psychiatric floor, the centre will include mental health out-patient clinics, the Djavad Mowafaghian UBC medical education centre, a clinical research trials unit, a resource centre and a permanent home for the B.C. Ambulance Service.

The HOpe centre will feature a comprehensive range of services, including the Kelty Dennehy mental health resource centre, which will provide information and materials on mental health issues to patients, families and the community, and a peer support program that will help youth, adults and older adults with a serious and persistent mental illness to achieve personal goals, learn new skills and link with community services. North Shore Adult Community Mental Health Services will also be based in the building, bringing more than eight different services and supports under one roof.

I’d just like to give a little plug to the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation. I’m going to quote Judy Savage, who’s the president.

“The concept of a visionary facility that promises to provide compassionate, comprehensive mental health care while also reducing the stigma of mental illness really resonated with our community. We are truly grateful to the more than 5,000 individuals and organizations who embraced our vision and generously supported the foundation’s HOpe centre campaign.”

Good on them, because, with that partnership, they contributed $24 million to this project, which is a humongous contribution. We are so grateful for the foundation and the other donors that helped to make that facility so successful.

Last month we received an update on the B.C. jobs plan. The plan was implemented in August 2011. It was designed to ensure that B.C. has the most comprehensive business environment for investment and that British Columbians are prepared for the expanding workplace over the next decade.

Since the plan was implemented, we have seen $7.2 billion in economic expansion and 50,000 new jobs. We also have single-digit unemployment rates in every region of the province. The jobs plan has strengthened our unique competitiveness advantages and has set targets to help drive new investment and economic growth.

This year there’s a focus on four cross-sector areas of strategic priority: aboriginal peoples and First Nations, international trade, manufacturing, and small business. These four areas work together to help drive economic growth and support the development of our LNG industry, which, as the Minister of Natural Gas described in his remarks yesterday, is going forward. We’ve got a lot of things on the go.

I attended the second LNG conference in May of this year. Apparently the first conference had about 500 participants. This year it was over 1,400. Something’s happening here, and it’s a big, positive step for British Columbia.

I also attended the Find Your Fit sessions with some students from Seycove Secondary from their FLIGHT program, which was kind of neat. I attended a demonstration, also, with the Minister of Jobs and realized that I’m not actually very good at any of the skills, working with my hands, so I’d better stay where I am.

The Premier mentioned several projects when she was asked a question today in question period. She did qualify that we still have — we have not forgotten about — the five conditions for environmental sustainability to ensure that we have the cleanest and the safest LNG industry in the world.

I’m proud of our government’s record. We’ve achieved a lot in this last decade and have much to celebrate. We’ve been able to capitalize on our