Third Session, 42nd Parliament

(2022) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Monday, February 28, 2022

Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 159

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

Statements (Standing Order 25B)

Black History Month and prevention of racism

R. Leonard

Boogie the Bridge event in Kamloops

T. Stone

Association des Francophones et Francophiles du

Nord-Ouest

J. Rice

Growth and economic development in Central Okanagan area

B. Stewart

B.C. Farm Museum in Fort Langley

M. Dykeman

Museum of North Vancouver

K. Kirkpatrick

Oral Questions

Pension fund investments in Russia

K. Kirkpatrick

Hon. J. Horgan

S. Bond

Action plan for implementation of Indigenous rights legislation

A. Olsen

Hon. M. Rankin

Resource management and conservation funding

A. Olsen

Hon. J. Osborne

International energy supply and B.C. LNG projects

E. Ross

Hon. J. Horgan

T. Stone

M. de Jong

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate

(continued)

R. Merrifield

Hon. J. Whiteside

B. Stewart

J. Brar

L. Doerkson

H. Sandhu

E. Ross

B. Bailey

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022

The House met at 1:33 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

M. Dykeman: I rise today to wish a very happy birthday to one of my constituents

who is watching at home. Elizabeth McLagan is 100 years old today. It’s her

100th birthday. I was wondering if the House could please join me in wishing

her a very happy birthday.

Hon. M. Dean: It’s my absolute pleasure to introduce to the House today Sylvia

Mangue Alene. Sylvia is the founder of Kulea Culture Society, which raises

awareness about ethno-racial prejudice and discrimination and advocates for

equity, diversity and inclusion. She is also the president of the British

Columbia Black History Awareness Society, which is dedicated to highlighting

the historical and ongoing contributions and achievements of Black British

Columbians.

[1:35 p.m.]

In partnership with the Royal B.C. Museum, Sylvia and the society

helped curate the Hope Meets Action exhibition that celebrates the many

contributions of persons of African ancestry to B.C. and Canada. The Hope

Meets Action exhibition is on display until March 31. I encourage everybody

to visit it and have a look at it.

She’s joined here today by my wonderful and amazing constituency

assistant, Nubwa Wathanafa. I would ask that everybody welcome them both to

the building.

Hon. D. Eby: There’s a community member in the gallery today who wanted to join us

for the tabling of Bill 1. The reason for that was that he has a particular

interest in history. He wrote to the Ministry of Attorney General to raise

his concerns about some inaccuracies in the Bill 1 reading speech…

[Applause.]

Hon. D. Eby: Yes, absolutely.

…related to how calendars were read and who was, in fact, in charge of

England at the time, so some basic stuff. I’m very grateful for his

corrections, his commitment to historical accuracy. Further to that, I

introduced him as a law student at UVic. In fact, he is a student at

UVic.

Please welcome Lucas Kam, our resident historian this

afternoon.

B. Bailey: I would like to wish my mother a happy 75th birthday today. In fact,

it is today. I’m so very proud of my mom. She had to leave high school

before she had graduated, due to family circumstances, but didn’t let that

slow her down. She started a very successful literary press in Nanaimo,

B.C., and then later went on to her master’s degree in publishing and became

an instructor at Vancouver Island University. I’m eminently proud of her,

and I hope the House will help me celebrate her 75th birthday.

T. Shypitka: In the gallery, virtually, here today we’ve got the U15 AA East

Kootenay Avalanche team, who on the weekend just clinched the OMAHA

division, which is a hockey association for amateur double-A hockey members

from all over the Okanagan and in the Kootenay region. They just won the

banner for the year, the yearly banner. They came first place.

Congratulations to coach Dean Kletzel, assistant coach Johnny Taggart,

trainer Chris Andrews and the whole East Kootenay Avalanche team.

Would the House please congratulate them.

Statements

(Standing Order 25B)

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

AND PREVENTION OF

RACISM

R. Leonard: It’s the last day of Black History Month, a time for pride,

acknowledgment and encouragement as we value the role that Blacks have

played in our nation. It’s also a time to focus on ending

discrimination. We need to recognize and celebrate Black heroes who have

been leaders and firsts in various fields, but we should also celebrate

our everyday Black neighbours, the heroic people who have endured the

bruising and brutality of racism every day, everywhere, as they have

forged their lives as proud Canadians.

Racism has many faces. We witnessed the hatred and violence. On

the more subtle face of racism, our first female MLA who was Black,

Rosemary Brown, referred to Canadian racism as “polite, denied and

accepted — and no less hurtful.”

I’m heartened to know that people and organizations in my

community continue to take action wherever and however racism appears.

One month ago our school district 71 board adopted its

anti-discrimination policy. Trustees showed great leadership in moving

this forward, and they acknowledged the valuable input from our Comox

Valley Community Justice Centre. The SD 71 diversity committee’s

greatest asset has been the voices of lived experiences from across the

community.

It’s not over yet. Implementation and vigilance are always

required. Last week the Welcoming Communities Coalition presented on

employment equity, unconscious bias, inclusive workplace cultures and

reframing conversations. Julie Keumbehdjian, from the Immigrant Welcome

Centre, recommends their website for videos of personal settlement

stories called #TheresMoreToMe.

Let’s make every tomorrow another day of getting to know and

appreciate our fellow Black Canadians and help our whole community grow

more equal and just, a place we can all be proud of.

[1:40 p.m.]

BOOGIE THE BRIDGE EVENT

KAMLOOPS

T. Stone: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken many things away from us. For the

last couple of years, it has taken away the familiar sea of red that

winds its way through the city of Kamloops every April.

I’m talking about Boogie the Bridge, a running event that

emphasizes the joy of movement and raises signifi­cant funds for a

different local charity every year. It’s quite a sight: thousands of

people decked out in red T-shirts with smiles bigger than you can

imagine, thanks to the energy and positivity of the event’s founder and

organizer, Jo Berry.

Jo is a force. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Running into her when

you’re out and about in Kamloops will immediately make your day

brighter.

While COVID disrupted both the 2020 and 2021 Boogie events, it

didn’t keep Jo and her fantastic team of volunteers down. They held the

8 Days of Boogie, where people could complete their chosen distance over

the course of eight days.

Here’s something else. A local woman wrote a book about our city’s

beloved Boogie to raise additional funds for the Kamloops charities that

normally benefit when the full event is up and running — pun fully

intended. Marcy Beauchamp’s book C’mon Everyone, Let’s Boogie

is available for purchase online, and the group Literacy in Kamloops has

purchased a copy for every school in our district to help inspire

students.

I encourage Kamloopsians and others to visit

boogie­thebridge.com to check out the book and, importantly, to

register for this year’s Boogie, which also happens to be marking its

25th year. We’ll see you there.

ASSOCIATION DES FRANCOPHONES

ET FRANCOPHILES DU

NORD-OUEST

J. Rice: Je me lève aujourd’hui pour parler au sujet d’une association

d’importance dans ma communauté, l’Association des Francophones et

Francophiles du Nord-Ouest.

[French text provided by J.

Rice.]

AFFNO, as it is known locally, is an organization committed to

representing francophones and francophiles in northwestern B.C. Their

organization was founded in the year 2000 by a group of francophones who

moved to Kitimat for work, led by founder and first CEO Odette Tremblay.

In 2010, AFFNO moved the office to Prince Rupert, where they provide

services to francophones and francophiles from Smithers to Haida

Gwaii.

Northwestern B.C. is home to about 5,000 francophones, many

attracted to the area by the sense of community, abundant natural

beauty, mild climate and industry. These francophones form an integral

part of our communities, and organizations like AFFNO are there to offer

services such as tax clinics, a mobile library, French classes, a French

coffee club and settlement services for newcomers.

Another prominent role of the group is supporting and nurturing

Franco-Canadian culture by organizing a variety of cultural events.

These events, such as the Franco-Fun Festival in Kitimat, the Franco-fun

Ski Day in Smithers, Saint-Jean Baptiste in Terrace and the

Multicultural Fair in Prince Rupert, contribute to vibrant communities

not just among francophones but also among other members of our

community.

I’m looking forward to the Sugar Shack Festival in Prince Rupert

next month. Sugar shacks, or cabanes à sucre , are a tradition

in Franco-Canadian culture that goes back hundreds of years. These

cabins are used to collect sap from maple trees and boil it into maple

syrup. Boiled maple syrup can then be placed on fresh snow to create

delicious maple toffee.

I’d like to express my gratitude to AFFNO for not just the

contributions they make to the francophone community but to our

communities at large.

Merci.

GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

IN CENTRAL OKANAGAN

AREA

B. Stewart: In my home region of the Central Okanagan, we are known for fruit

growers, world class wine and beautiful scenery. While these are vital

to our local identity and worthy of our growing reputation, our region

has grown dramatically over the past two decades, and we have become a

hub for economic development and technological innovation in our own

right.

[1:45 p.m.]

Back in 1999, the National Research Council cluster economic study

identified key economic drivers and areas of future growth within the

Okanagan, including value-added forest products, innovative technology,

aerospace and, of course, the wine industry. Most of these areas have

exploded in prosperity, leading to many new opportunities.

The Central Okanagan is now Canada’s fastest-growing metro area,

seeing a 14 percent population growth between 2016 and 2021, outpacing

both provincial and national rates. We’ve seen a 22 percent increase in

the young professional demographics.

Not only are the opportunities and lifestyles attractive, but we

also have two incredibly successful post-secondary institutions

producing new talent — Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan. These two

schools deliver a first-rate education to more than 10,000 students

each. There are also plans in place for a $2 billion investment in a new

private university in the region of Peachland, called New Monaco, which

will bring further skilled people to the Okanagan to begin their

careers.

The Central Okanagan is home to the successful aerospace sector,

including KF Aerospace, Canada’s largest maintenance, repair and

overhaul provider.

Additionally, our tech sector, which is comprised of 694 different

companies employing over 12,500 people, has witnessed 15 percent

year-over-year compound growth since 2013 and contributes $1.67 billion

in economic impact.

While the Central Okanagan has no shortage of beautiful beaches

and excellent fruit producers, we have so much more to offer. We are a

hub of innovation, an area where companies want to invest and, most

importantly, a place where people want to live and raise their

families.

B.C. FARM MUSEUM IN FORT LANGLEY

M. Dykeman: It is a privilege to rise today in the House to talk about a

museum that’s so important to my community.

Located in historic Fort Langley, the B.C. Farm Museum’s history

started on May 23, 1953, when Bruce Coleman, on behalf of his family,

presented his father’s high cut plow to the University of British

Columbia. It soon became apparent that UBC was not a suitable site for

such a museum, and a site was finally chosen at Fort Langley, near the

Hudson’s Bay Farm, a community with strong agriculture and pioneer

roots, known as the birthplace of British Columbia.

Fast-forward to June 6, 1966. After nine years of hard work of

raising capital, Archie Stevenson, president of the British Columbia

Federation of Agriculture, turned the first sod for the

8,000-square-foot B.C. farm machinery museum. The B.C. Farm Museum

evolved over the years and has turned into a total pioneer life

collection. The museum association owns and operates over 20,000 square

feet of exhibit space for over 5,000 artifacts of historic farm

machinery and pioneer life. The reference library contains over 5,000

volumes of books, pamphlets and manuals.

Today the museum is managed and operated successfully by a

dedicated and knowledgable team of volunteers — president Karen Long,

vice-president Sandy Hope, treasurer Henry Schaafsma, recording

secretary Hilary Ruffini, with directors John Bekkers, Jim Cress, Vaughn

Erickson, Melanie MacInnes, Grace Muller, Fred Pepin, Syd Pickerell,

Mike Prangnell and Jack Stetz.

Thank you to the hard-working volunteers who dedicate so much time

to this important part of both Langley and British Columbia history,

providing hands-on learning opportunities for youth while preserving and

telling the story of our agricultural roots.

I encourage all to come out to Langley to learn about these

important stories of B.C.’s history.

MUSEUM OF NORTH VANCOUVER

K. Kirkpatrick: My riding of West Vancouver–Capilano stretches across the North

Shore and includes much of the district of North Vancouver as well as

the district of West Vancouver. The whole North Shore has a deep, rich

and shared history.

My sister, Nancy Kirkpatrick, was the former director of the North

Vancouver Museum and Archives for 12 years. She was and is a tireless

advocate for the celebration and preservation of North Vancouver’s

history. In recent years, the museum has undergone a major

transformation and is now located in a beautiful new permanent home in

the shipyards district in the city of North Vancouver.

It was with great pleasure and pride that I joined my sister,

Nancy, for the grand opening of MONOVA, Museum of North Vancouver, in

December, a state-of-the-art, 16,000-square-foot museum filled with

stories of the North Shore’s past, present and future.

[1:50 p.m.]

MONOVA also offers digital and interactive exhibits, and once a

month, they open for an hour before their regular

schedule to give

families and caregivers of children with autism and neurological

differences the ability to visit in a calm and relaxed

environment.

MONOVA also has an extensive Indigenous collection and works

closely with local members of an Indigenous voices advisory committee to

develop exhibits and stories. Recently, the museum signed memorandums of

understanding with the Squamish and the Tsleil-Waututh First Nations to

strengthen their relationships and frameworks for the work

ahead.

The restored Streetcar 153 sits in the lobby. It originally

travelled up and down what is known as the Lonsdale line, part of a

13-car electric street railway that went across Vancouver’s North

Shore.

Congratulations to people like my sister, Nancy, and the MONOVA

staff, volunteers and everyone who made the dream of capturing the rich

history of the North Shore come to life.

I highly recommend a visit to MONOVA.

Oral Questions

PENSION FUND INVESTMENTS IN RUSSIA

K. Kirkpatrick: We have all watched with horror the unprovoked invasion of

Ukraine, and people across the province have attended rallies and

actions in solidarity with its people. All British Columbians want to

ensure that we are providing no comfort — no aid — to Putin and his

authoritarian regime. Halting the import and sale of Russian liquor

products was a positive step, but we must continue to do whatever we can

in British Columbia.

This afternoon the government pension fund confirmed they continue

to hold hundreds of millions of dollars of Russian state-owned

corporations, and they have no plan to divest.

My question is to the Premier. Does he support this

decision?

Hon. J. Horgan: I thank very much the member’s question.

It has been a traumatizing time for all citizens of the world. The

events unfolding in central Europe between the government of Russia and

the people of Ukraine are appalling and unacceptable by any measure. It

is one of those rare occasions when all 87 of us stand united in that

regard.

With respect to steps that we can take, we have already, through

suggestions from the other side — again, working collaboratively to find

a way where we can, with common purpose, send a clear message from

British Columbia to Russia — suspended the sale of Russian products

within our government liquor stores. We have also put $1 million in play

in encouraging people to make contributions to the Red Cross so that we

can assist people in real time.

I would also recommend, if those people do have disposable income,

that they look at the UN High Commission on Refugees. We are going to

have a refugee crisis in Europe, and we need to be part of that here in

British Columbia. We welcome people from around the world to Canada and

to British Columbia, and I have said very clearly to the Prime Minister

and his team: whatever steps we can take to assist with sanctions,

whatever steps we can take to assist with resettlements, we are there as

a group — all of us together and all British Columbians.

With respect to the B.C. investment vehicles, these are not

directed by government. These are directed by trustees of pension funds,

and those trustees would have heard and seen the horrors that are

emerging from Ukraine. I would hope that they would take their authority

and direct the finance administration to take steps to divest, but it’s

not a call by government. But it is, I suggest, a call that British

Columbians would want them to respond to. It’s in the hands of those who

make those decisions, I’ll leave it up to them to follow the ball and

make the right choice.

Mr. Speaker: Member for West Vancouver–Capilano, supplemental.

K. Kirkpatrick: Thank you to the Premier.

The sale of vodka is largely a symbolic gesture. We’re looking for

real action. The minister does have a say. Government does have a say in

the overall investment management framework and eligible investments of

the pension corporation. The Minister of Finance is the sole shareholder

of the pension fund, and British Columbians are looking for transparency

from this government.

This is what we know: the inventory of holdings a year ago

included over $100 million in shares of state-owned bank Sberbank; $84

million in Lukoil; $19 million in Gazprom; $32 million in Rosneft, which

is the main supplier of oil for the Russian military.

[1:55 p.m.]

Again to the Premier, does he support the public pension plan

holding investments in Russian state-owned enterprises?

Hon. J. Horgan: Again, if the members on that side want a briefing on how BCIMC

works, I know that they could get one from the member for Abbotsford

West, the member for Prince George–Mackenzie. Perhaps then we could have

a more detailed discussion about what role politicians should play in

the management of pension funds — not on behalf of us but on behalf of

working people throughout the province.

I agree with the member, and her inventory of those funds that

BCIMC is invested in would not be choices I would make. Certainly not

today. But the trustees have the authority and the ability to manage

those issues, and I’ll leave it up to them to do that.

S. Bond: As we sit here today, a democratic country is being invaded. I

appreciate the offer of a briefing from the Premier, but I do know this:

that the Premier and his government have the opportunity to set the

mandate, to have a conversation about what the mandate looks like and

what is acceptable. We’re not suggesting that the Premier or the

minister are involved in specific transactions, but of course this

government has a role to play.

I think there’s something else all of us can agree on in the

House: that no British Columbian wants their pension fund invested in

fueling tanks and jets and artillery. That is unacceptable. We

understand that there are protocols in place, but we also know that

Europe has not seen an invasion of this severity since the Second World

War.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Other

countries realize this. Norway’s sovereign fund is divesting from

Russia. Last week, Quebec’s pension fund, Caisse de Dépôt, sold their

Russian-linked asset securities saying: “As from today and for the

future, we decided to sell.” The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

says it has no holdings.

Will the Premier at least take the steps necessary to make sure

the mandate is clear? That is clearly within his purview, and it is time

that he took that step.

Hon. J. Horgan: You’ll get no quarrel from me, Member. The events that are

unfolding in Europe right now are unprecedented in our lifetimes, and it

needs to be stopped. A message, a clear and united message, from all

Canadians has to go forward.

The whole point of sanctions is not to divide us. It is to make

with one voice a call to the international community to stand up to a

brutal dictator. The federal government is primarily responsible for

that, and I know all members will want to support the current government

in every initiative that they put forward.

With respect to how BCIMC manages its funds for its pensioners, I

think reviewing the discussion today will be clear direction that this

is not something that any of us believe…. Based on the clapping and

based on the questions coming from the opposition — and the responses,

quite frankly, from my colleagues when we discussed this — this is

something we would want them to act upon. But we would not want to

interfere in a fund that is designed to protect trustees and pensioners.

They have people elected to those positions that can make those calls,

and I’m hopeful that they do.

Mr. Speaker: Leader of the Official Opposition, supplemental.

S. Bond: The Premier, once again, misses the point. The Minister of Finance

sets the mandate. The Minister of Finance actually sets the overall

management framework and lays out eligible investments. I don’t think I

need to repeat the fact that British Columbians do not want their

pension funds fueling jets, tanks and artillery. The Minister of Finance

is the sole shareholder. She also appoints the chair, two of the

directors who make up the board of directors, and she sets the

mandate.

[2:00 p.m.]

Last week’s budget devoted a significant number of pages to

championing the values in ESG: environmental, social and governance

standards for investing. It is very hard to reconcile that while holding

any investments in state-owned enterprises linked to Vladimir

Putin.

In light of the invasion of Ukraine, how does continuing to hold

these investments fit with the social and governance standards that were

touted by this Minister of Finance just last week?

Hon. J. Horgan: I appreciate the enthusiasm with which the member puts the

question, but it doesn’t change the reality that we’re living in, that

those choices are made by people who are not in this House

today.

Have we made it clear? Certainly, the Leader of the Opposition has

made it clear by the force of her questioning, and I would hope that my

response was equally forceful, that I would not make those investments,

were it my choice to make.

There are trustees that are elected to protect the interests of

pensioners. They make these choices. They would be aware of the debate.

They would be aware of the international circumstances with which we are

living right now, and I’m hopeful that they will make the right

choice.

Wishing it were so, like the member from Kamloops wants to do, is

all well and good, but I don’t believe it’s our role to get and

intervene in the return for pensioners across this province.

Do I agree with the member’s question? Absolutely, 100

percent.

ACTION PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION

OF INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

LEGISLATION

A. Olsen: If what we’re doing in question period here today is indicating to

the trustees that this House is unanimous behind the call from the

official opposition, then count the B.C. Green caucus as making this

House unanimous.

This government shows their priorities in how they spend the

money. In this budget, I’m looking to how this government is

meaningfully advancing reconciliation. In Budget 2022, we finally see

this government reorganizing how ministries interact through the

Declaration Act secretariat. However, the $4 million per year to create

the secretariat appears to be just enough money to administer and to pay

the salaries of the staff that are in that secretariat, so where is the

priority in this budget for action on reconciliation?

Last summer the Minister of Indigenous Relations and

Reconciliation published a 79-point action plan required in

section 4 of

the Declaration Act. This action plan encompasses the work of every

single one of the minister’s colleagues.

The Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation is

responsible for his colleagues in cabinet to deliver on our commitments

that we made to Indigenous people over two years ago, yet there doesn’t

appear to be any money in the budgets of the ministries for the actions

laid out in the plan.

To the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, where

is the money in this government’s plan to finance progress on the DRIPA

action plan?

Hon. M. Rankin: Thank you to my colleague across the way for the

question.

We’re very proud of the work that the secretariat will do in

implementing DRIPA, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Act. We’ve appointed, as associate deputy minister, Si Sityaawks,

Jessica Wood, to serve in that historic role to lead the government’s

response to the alignment of our laws, both existing and new, with the

declaration commitments that are part of that act.

We believe that the money to do that will be found in the mandate

plans for each and every ministry and their actions going forward. The

action plan to which the hon. member referred will be before this House

within the next few weeks. We’re very proud of the concrete actions of

that action plan that will make a tangible difference to the lives of

Indigenous peoples across this province.

Mr. Speaker: Member for Saanich North and the Islands, supplemental.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

AND CONSERVATION

FUNDING

A. Olsen: I thank the minister for his response.

I think that it’s important to acknowledge that I also have an

incredible amount of confidence in Jessica Wood in navigating the

creation of the Declaration Act.

Indigenous leaders like the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president,

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, have been critical of the provincial

government’s all-talk-and-little-action approach. Specifically, they’ve

been calling for conservation financing, which would protect endangered

species and build economic opportunities to logging-endangered,

old-growth forest.

[2:05 p.m.]

In Budget 2022, there does not appear to be any money set aside

for conservation financing, even though last summer the federal

government put more than $160 million on the table for Indigenous

protected and conserved areas. This provincial government has asked

First Nations to pause the logging of old-growth forests but hasn’t

given them any funding to compensate their potential losses. Budget 2022

was an opportunity, a missed opportunity, to fix that

mistake.

The first item in the new Minister of Land, Water and Resource

Stewardship’s mandate letter is to “develop a path forward with First

Nations to build a co-managed land and resource management regime that

will ensure natural resources are managed effectively…into the

future.”

My question is to the new Minister of Land, Water and Resource

Stewardship. Will she act on the first item in her mandate and secure

the desperately needed funds for conservation, as was requested by

Indigenous leaders in British Columbia?

Hon. J. Osborne: Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

First of all, let me say I am incredibly proud to be asked to lead

this new ministry, one where I will be working with my colleagues, with

industry, with First Nations and with communities to help transform the

way we work with First Nations to seek environmental stewardship and

conservation, economic sustainability and, most importantly, true

reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

We all want our natural resources sector to support reconciliation

with Indigenous peoples. We know we seek the balance of environmental

sustainability and economic benefits. Our government has been working

towards these goals, but we know there have been huge changes in the way

natural resource ministries have been set up, the way the sector has

played out, and we have an incredible amount of work to do.

I am very proud to be leading this ministry and very much looking

forward to the work ahead. I look forward to more conversations with the

member opposite in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY SUPPLY

AND B.C. LNG

PROJECTS

E. Ross: If the B.C. government wants to get serious about the grave

situation facing Europe and the world, there are options at its

disposal.

Today two major energy companies, BP and Shell, have made the

enormous decision to cancel their energy investments in Russia — $3

billion, just for one company alone. Countries around the world are

already taking active steps to address this threat, and they’re doing

that by accelerating LNG development and production.

My question is to the Premier. Considering the extraordinary

circumstances and the obvious need of Canadian allies, will this B.C.

government accelerate LNG development to supply secure and ethical

energy for the world?

Hon. J. Horgan: Again, I thank the official opposition for focusing on these

extraordinary events that are shaping not just today but our future,

going forward.

There will be upheaval in many, many sectors. As the member

outlined, certainly, energy security is now very much at risk in various

parts of Europe and, indeed, will have knock-on effects here in British

Columbia, in terms of the costs of supplies to meet our needs — not so

much on the natural gas side, because we have that in abundance, but on

refined products and so on, which, again, has been a topic of discussion

in this House in previous weeks.

What I can say to the member is that British Columbia does have a

storehouse of natural resources that have been, by and large, there to

benefit British Columbians for many, many, many years. It is our

intention, based on the plans that we’ve put forward, to make sure that

continues now and into the future, ensuring that we do so under the

framework of a climate action plan that is world-leading — or certainly

North America–leading.

I believe we need to do all of those things at the same time.

Issues like

article 6, which was part and parcel of the Paris accords,

are critically important to getting other jurisdictions off more noxious

forms of energy, like coal and more carbon-intensive natural gas.

British Columbia can play a valuable role there, but the international

community, working in concert, needs to come to a place where we can do

that.

I’m hopeful that the premise of the member’s question was just

that — that perhaps the international community, in the current crisis,

will understand that we have more than just the obvious crisis of a

rogue dictator trampling on the rights of citizens of Ukraine but also

the consequences of climate change and a host of other initiatives that

all of us collectively have to work on.

[2:10 p.m.]

Mr. Speaker: Member for Skeena, supplemental.

E. Ross: The crux of the question was whether or not this government will

actually accelerate the development of LNG projects here in B.C.,

because Russia’s greatest lever is the threat of cutting off energy

supplies to Europe, specifically LNG, and Russia isn’t going anywhere

soon.

The global liquefied natural gas industry is already close to

producing its limits. They can’t produce any more. But here in B.C., we

have a huge source of clean, safe, ethical LNG — clean LNG. Even the

United States declares that our LNG is clean.

Right now on the books for the last number of years, five years,

are Nisg̱a’aa LNG; Woodfibre LNG; Haisla’s Cedar LNG; Chevron’s KLNG,

which was recently bought by Enbridge; Skeena LNG; Totem LNG; Port

Edward LNG. They’re all projects waiting for permits — seven LNG

projects in B.C. that are waiting for permits here in B.C. — all at a

time when countries are crying out for a secure source of clean and

ethical LNG.

My question is to the Premier. What is this B.C. government doing

to make sure that B.C. is part of the solution in terms of energy needs

for the world?

Hon. J. Horgan: One of the first things we did was put in place a framework for

the largest private sector investment in Canadian history. I thought

that that would have been apparent to the member whose constituency is

benefiting from that. There’s a range of other initiatives that we’re

working on, with our international partners and the federal government,

to make sure that Canada and British Columbia have a key role to play in

the economic and energy future, not just here in North America, not just

in Asia but indeed in Europe as well.

Events in Russia have materially changed decisions for the people

of Germany, for example, who are now holding off on decommissioning

their nuclear capacity, and there’s a range of other initiatives that

governments and peoples are going to have to make as a result of the

appalling behaviour of Vladimir Putin.

I hope that the member is not leaning too hard in this direction.

We started this question period together, 87 people. We need to continue

to focus on the problem, and the problem is Vladimir Putin.

T. Stone: With all due respect to the Premier — I’m sure that he would agree

with this statement — the world has changed. It has changed dramatically

in just the last few weeks. So the world is looking at British Columbia

and wants to know if British Columbia is going to fast-track the supply

of safe, secure and ethical natural gas to meet the needs of Germany and

our other European allies.

Against the backdrop of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine,

the German chancellor made two very bold, significant moves in recent

days. Germany halted the Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline that

directly links Russia and Germany, and Germany has accelerated work to

build two of the world’s largest LNG import terminals. Phase 1 of LNG

Canada has a capacity of 2.1 billion cubic feet per day. Phase 2 would

double that capacity to four liquefaction trains.

Our allies in Europe are urgently looking for this safe and secure

energy supply, and we have those natural gas reserves here in British

Columbia.

The simple question to the Premier is: will he and his government

set about to immediately fast-track further capacity at LNG

Canada?

Hon. J. Horgan: A final investment decision by the joint venture at LNG Canada has

not been made. If the members are suggesting that we intervene and take

an equity share, they should say so. There’s nothing simple about what

the member is suggesting, and he knows that.

[2:15 p.m.]

The challenges in the international community are stark, and they

will be changing by the minute and by the day. A declarative statement

by the government of British Columbia on what our future energy plans

are will not be helpful until we have a better understanding, first of

all, of where the private sector capital will be. If it is going to be

flooding in, I look forward to that.

I certainly was excited about some of the opportunities that were

presented when we came into government, but over the past five years,

we’ve discovered — as, I’m sure, most people of the world have — that

markets are unstable. The former administration in the United States, I

think, relished destabilizing events. I know that people on the other

side like to quote legislators in the United States. Apparently, a

couple of them think that Canada needs to have a talking-to, as well,

based on how we’re trying to conduct our affairs here.

The world is a complex place. Is it going to get more complex?

Yes, it is. What we need to do together is to hold fast with the common

values that Canadians have always brought to these situations. We band

together, brothers- and sisters-in-arms, to take on the real enemy,

which is Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Speaker: Opposition House Leader, supplemental.

T. Stone: Look, we are trying to reflect what so many British Columbians are

saying: they want their government to do everything it possibly can to

send the strongest message possible to Vladimir Putin and the Russian

authoritarian regime that their actions in Ukraine are completely

unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Today in question period, we’ve actually suggested two practical

items, one involving the B.C. Investment Management Corp., of which the

government sets the investment criteria and the overall management

framework. Perhaps it would be a more productive and immediate action

for the government to actually update that investment management

criteria and framework.

Secondly, we’re saying: against the backdrop of signifi­cant

natural gas reserves here in British Columbia, is the government

prepared to step up and work with the private sector, work with these

seven-plus LNG projects to fast-track them to bring this secure, ethical

supply of natural gas from British Columbia online?

What immediate steps is this government taking to get these LNG

projects built so that Germany and our other European allies can access

that safe, reliable supply of natural gas?

Hon. J. Horgan: LNG Canada, phase 1, began in 2018. It’s 2022, and it’s not done.

That’s four years. The horizon for other investments of that kind would

be of a similar duration, if not longer. Again, in many instances,

permits are not yet in place, when I think of the inventory that the

member for Skeena brought forward. I’m hopeful that the members on the

other side want us to continue to, certainly, ensure that we’re

protecting the public interest by regulating this resource, to the best

of our ability, in the interests of all British Columbians.

We also recognize and understand…. I thank the member for bringing

us back to a place where useful suggestions are being put forward by the

members on the other side, and we will certainly look at them. We have

already looked at the BCIMC question and come to the conclusion that as

it stands right now, the trustees and the chief investment officers are

the ones that make the decisions on when to invest or divest. That’s as

it should be to protect the literally thousands and thousands of

pensioners who depend on that income and that revenue stream.

Does that not give us the opportunity as legislators to stand with

one voice and say: “We should divest”? We’ve done that today, I think,

pretty categorically, and I’m hopeful that the trustees and the

management group will understand and reflect on our comments

today.

We also have a host of other initiatives that we’re working on

with the federal government. Over the course of the next number of days,

I hope those will become available for all of us to fully understand,

but what we’ve said quite clearly to Ottawa — our national government,

responsible for international relations — is that British Columbians, to

a person, stand ready to do what we can to assist the people of Ukraine

and push back Vladimir Putin.

I know that that’s the sentiment and intent of the members on the

other side. I don’t want to make this about: “Why are you not doing

something?” I know that’s not the intent that’s coming. But we need to

watch that fine line, because the theatrics of this place sometimes put

a curtain across the real intentions of all of us, which is to stand

united against a foe that we’ve never seen in our lifetime.

[2:20 p.m.]

M. de Jong: Well, it’s not a day that the opposition or, I think, anyone in

this House wants to see characterized by bickering and negativity. I

probably am not the only member of this chamber who is still staggering

and staggered by the fact that we are using terms like “allies” and

“war” and “invasion” in circumstances that I don’t think any of us

thought we would be confronted by.

British Columbians don’t want their pension funds helping to

finance Russia’s invasion, and they are counting on the government to

ensure that that doesn’t happen. To the Premier’s point, if the

government and the Premier and the minister require the granting of

specific powers to ensure that that doesn’t happen, I think this House

is of a mind to grant them those powers quickly.

You have heard that people appreciate and support the symbolism of

the decision to take Russian products off the shelf of our liquor

stores, but the message we need to send to Vladimir Putin is not going

to be delivered in an empty vodka bottle. It is going to be delivered by

ships taking an alternative LNG energy supply to the countries in Europe

that Mr. Putin is trying to hold hostage and trying to bully to look the

other way while he conquers Ukraine.

Other countries are stepping up. The U.S., Australia — they are

all increasing their LNG production. Every freedom-loving jurisdiction

on the planet — no matter how big, no matter how small — can contribute

to the defeat of Mr. Putin’s aggression. We all know that this province

is blessed with an abundant supply and the means to contribute in a

significant way to permanently removing that energy club that Mr. Putin

is waving in the face of European democracies.

What we are asking, what we are signalling our support for is for

the government to act boldly, to act decisively, to act immediately to

increase B.C.’s LNG production capacity and demonstrate to the Ukraine,

demonstrate to our allies and demonstrate to the world that British

Columbians and Canadians will do more than just talk. We will take

active steps and remove the single biggest lever of intimidation that

Vladimir Putin possesses. I hope the government will take that advice

seriously.

Hon. J. Horgan: I thank the member for Abbotsford West for his thoughtful

intervention. He and I have had discussions over, now, far too many

years, around issues like this. We find ourselves increasingly of one

mind. I think that might be frightening for him and his family. It

certainly would be for mine. Nonetheless, it is the truth.

In situations like this, all of our character is tested. All of

our resolve needs to be on the line. What so moved me over the weekend

is tens of thousands British Columbians coming out of their homes in

communities right across the province and Canadians from coast to coast

to coast speaking with one voice in a time of fractured politics and a

time when we have never been so disunited in many, many ways.

Just weeks ago all of us were shaking our heads, concerned and

questioning what had happened to the decency of Canadians, that we were

at each other. Now we have a common purpose, which is to stand together

— regardless of our political perspective, regardless of where we come

from, regardless of how we were brought up — and speak united with one

voice against Vladimir Putin and his illegal attempted occupation of the

sovereign state of Ukraine. That’s where we’re all at.

Again, I want to thank the members for their questions today. We

will certainly be following up with BCIMC. It is absolutely clear — the

intention of the people in this House and those that we represent. But I

want to caution that I don’t believe it’s something that we should

arbitrarily say as a response to a question in question period that

we’re going to throw out the arm’s-length relationship that currently

exists. That’s not to say we can’t continue to use our influence on this

side and on that side to make the message abundantly clear.

[2:25 p.m.]

When it comes to supplying energy, again, if we could do it

tomorrow, that would be one thing. But we can’t. The best efforts of

British Columbians would not achieve what you’re asking for in three,

four or five years. So instead, I think the better role for British

Columbians to play is to say to the international community: “We are all

in this together.”

We have abundant opportunities to bring alternative energy online,

to address climate change and to create economic and energy sovereignty

for not just the people of Europe but the people of Asia, the people of

Canada, the people of North America. That’s what we have at our disposal

right now. Working together, responding to an international crisis,

creates another opportunity to address the big international crisis that

led to heat domes, people dying in hundreds from weather that we had

never experienced before. We need to do all of those things at the same

time.

I believe that there’s enough confidence in the people in this

House — all of us, from our different places with our different

backgrounds — that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can

stand up to a dictator. We can stand up to climate change. We can stand

up to an illicit drug supply. We can have reconciliation as well, if we

focus on doing it together.

The intent of the questions today from the opposition did just

that, and I thank you all very much for doing it in the way that you

did.

[End of question period.]

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued debate on the budget.

[2:30 p.m.]

[R. Leonard in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

R. Merrifield: It’s truly a privilege to rise in this place to represent the

extraordinary people of Kelowna-Mission.

As I watched the Finance Minister deliver her budget speech, I

reflected just on the amount of work that it takes to prepare that budget

document. I want to acknowledge, first and foremost, the staff that worked

tirelessly to assemble our provincial budget, and I thank them for their

efforts on behalf of B.C.

I knew not to expect a true budget, one that was detailed and attached

to financial statements and predictions, one that could be read in a

comprehensive and thoughtful way, one that you would expect from any company

in the private sector. It’s really more of a communications

exercise.

This communications exercise, known as Budget 2022, completely missed

the conversation that British Columbians are having, the conversations that

happen outside of these walls and are far more important, sometimes, than

the ones happening inside — ones like the cost of living and inflation,

COVID and what happens next, and fear.

You see, people can’t afford groceries right now. People can’t afford

to fill their gas tanks. People can’t afford clothing for their kids. Even

as I stand here today, it’s a difficult time in history to even deliver a

speech like this, because while we might sit here in the comfort of this

House and its walls, there’s a war going on outside.

This budget communicated absolutely nothing towards the conversations

that are happening outside. This budget was not about making life more

affordable for British Columbians. If anything, it actually promised that

life is about to get more expensive. Let’s hope this is yet another promise

broken by the NDP government, but I fear that it won’t be in this

tax-and-spend budget.

You see, British Columbians were told that it will get more expensive

with the addition of three new taxes: a brand-new tax on online

marketplaces, increasing taxes on used-car sales and increased taxes on the

purchase of home heating systems that use fossil fuels, like natural gas

furnaces.

When questioned about the announced used-car tax, the minister

shrugged it off as “closing a loophole.” Well, the minister can call it

closing a loophole, but if all you can afford is a used car, this tax

prevents you from getting a good deal. Ding-ding. This tax is going to cost

British Columbians $30 million annually and affect the lower socioeconomic

groups in greater measure. Those are the NDP’s words, not mine.

Or what if you’re unable to afford the conversion to electric heat?

Now you’re going to have to pay more for natural gas. And this is huge. Home

heating systems that use fossil fuels — natural gas, for example — will have

their sales tax increased from 7 percent to 12 percent. Ding-ding. Ring up

another $9 million annually from the taxpayer.

Or what if you can only buy used products because you can’t afford

new? What if your online marketplace is literally your lifeline? But now?

Now you’re going to be taxed on goods that were already taxed. Ding-ding,

another $100 million annually out of the pocket of the taxpayer.

[2:35 p.m.]

It’s very important to remember at this point that there is only one

taxpayer. There aren’t any new budget items that make life more affordable

for the taxpayer — just the opposite.

Surely this NDP government is going to address the cost of housing.

They promised, twice. Nope, not in this budget. There’s nothing to help

people desperate to buy a home as prices skyrocket except for the NDP

praying for high interest rates and — get this — a slowdown in housing

starts.

Think about that for a moment: a slowdown in housing starts. What? We

have a massive supply issue that the minister finally acknowledged, and we

want housing starts to slow down. How are we going to house the 40,000 new

immigrants that are coming? It’s exactly the opposite of what we need. So

the NDP’s housing plan is based on what — hope, prayer?

In the Central Okanagan, the average price of a single-family home is

now over $1 million; last year, $829,400; and in 2019, it was

$667,700.

This NDP government would love to blame that on the B.C. Liberals and

our time in government — which I like to call “squirrel” — but it’s not. I’d

like to remind us all that in 2001, our economy was in the tank. Housing

prices hadn’t risen in many, many years, not because B.C. wasn’t a desirable

place to live, but because you couldn’t find a job, because no one wanted to

buy a home, because nobody wanted to live in B.C. In fact, Alberta was the

No. 1 place for net in-migration.

It took us five or six years to actually get an economy back up and

running, but once we did — yes, housing prices have taken off. This NDP

government promised to fix them, in 2017, and promised again to fix them in

2020. So I would ask: is this what the NDP considers success?

When I started my election campaign in September of 2020, I got

together a young group of individuals from our local college and university.

I asked them: “What do you want from your elected officials? What do you

want from government?” One said: “I will vote for whoever lowers my rent.” I

said: “Really? That’s where you’re going to stop — lowering rent? What about

housing? What about overall housing and opportunities in

housing?”

This group of 20-something-year-olds said it’s no longer a dream. They

no longer believe. They are simply hopeless when it comes to housing. Now,

at that time, average house prices weren’t $1.1 million, as they are today.

So is this what the NDP considers success — hopeless generations of

university students? No, the NDP consider it revenue.

Richard Zussman: “…High revenues are driven in part by the

double-edged sword of housing. Buying a home has beyond increasing

unaffordable while the increase in property transfer tax continues to

support the province’s bottom line.” The NDP are profiting from the housing

market. Last year the NDP collected more than $3 billion in revenue from

home sales through the property transfer tax.

Where is the NDP’s promise of 114,000 new homes after five years?

Well, it’s about 5,000 actually open and occupied. At this rate, it will

take the NDP over 100 years to open up all of those affordable units.

Renters are still waiting for the $400 rebate that was promised in 2017 to

help cope with soaring rental rates. But this promise was also made in 2020,

so that’s a promise made twice, a promise broken twice.

Then there’s just British Columbians that want to go to work, that

want to build and grow and afford a life and get ahead and make ends

meet.

[2:40 p.m.]

We know that in order to be serious about rebuilding the economy

post-COVID, we must get both parents into the workforce, because without

both of them working, they’re not going to make it. Without an affordable

and accessible child care plan, it is not possible.

Door-knocking a year ago, the number of parents that I talked to….

Some had tears streaming down their face, begging for child care spaces,

begging for a space. They’re desperate to find child care and get back into

the labour force. These are highly trained, qualified professionals who are

opting out and staying home because they can’t find a daycare space. Why

don’t we have child care to help them? Has this government kept its promise

from back in 2017 for $10-a-day daycare? Nope, $10-a-day daycare is not here

when people need it the most.

In fact, children born when the NDP formed government will likely age

out of child care before they’re eligible for any supports, but the story

also just keeps changing. Now it’s not $10-a-day; it’s $20-a-day-average

child care funding. It doesn’t take a math wizard to figure out that an

additional 5,000 spaces on top of 6,300 net new spaces that we have opened

doesn’t even touch the 25,000 spaces that are needed today or the 40,000

children that are born every single year in B.C. We are so far behind. We’re

not going to catch up at this pace, but that’s if they could actually open

5,000 new spaces.

Mark my words: this government isn’t even going to come close. So how

are we going to take care of our kids? Well, how important is education to

this NDP government? Schools? Not in this budget. This budget doesn’t have

anything more than a proportional increase relative to the increase in the

number of kids. What? That doesn’t make any sense. We’re already

overcrowded.

Stephanie Higginson, BCSTA president:

“We’ve called on the province to fund the cost of portable classrooms

for some time, and we are disappointed to see this request ignored. We’ve

also asked for assistance with the cost of maintaining aging buildings and

are concerned that this cost pressure remains for boards of education….

Without a recognition of the cost pressures faced by school districts, we

will have to make difficult decisions at the board table instead of

investing in the innovative educational programs students deserve.”

In my riding, we are at the breaking point of overcapacity. Schools

are bursting at the seams with portables at brand-new schools. When we’ve

introduced cutting-edge, thoughtful, amazing, un-siloed approaches that

could actually enhance schools, enhance affordability in my community, we’re

met with: “Oh no, that’s not how we do it.” Does this budget address that?

Does this budget address actually dealing with the overcapacity? Nope, not

at all.

This budget isn’t even engaged in the conversation. When it comes to

what’s happening outside these walls, when it comes to inflation, when it

comes to the cost of living — it doesn’t matter if it’s child care, if it’s

housing or if it’s education — this budget completely ignores it. But it

even goes so far as to exacerbate it.

Teri Mooring noted a number of concerning omissions from the budget.

It “disproportionately affects disabled students and learners with diverse

needs. No meaningful changes to address the systemic underfunding of

inclusive education to support equitable access and outcomes for students

with disabilities and diverse needs.”

I can’t ignore the voices that are on our lawn from parents with

autistic children — demanding, begging, pleading, sobbing — asking

government just to keep the system that is in place, in place. Sure, expand

it. Sure, get rid of the knotholes in terms of the actual diagnosis, but

please do not take away their funding. What does this budget do? It’s

actually going to spend $114 million just to make the transition

happen.

[2:45 p.m.]

That’s not on funding for kids. That’s not on their special needs. So

what is this government spending on? Well, they’re forecasting a $5.5

billion deficit in 2022, of which $3 billion is in contingencies. This is

despite Budget 2021 promising a “specific timeline, approach and plan” to

balance the budget. There’s no path to a balanced budget. Oh, wait. This is

just another broken promise.

So what replaces the promise? Taxpayer-supported debt. Well, that’s

expected to grow by $29.1 billion over the fiscal plan, nearly $6,000 per

British Columbian. That’s a $6,000 credit card bill per person, one that

they didn’t ask for and didn’t choose.

If this budget is talking about lowering the cost of living, it must

be laying out the road map for economic recovery, right? Spoiler alert: it

isn’t. Rather than show British Columbians how we’re going to get back to

normal and see our economy grow, this budget is mute and not involved in the

conversations happening outside of the walls.

We have an economic plan that was finally released after five years in

government, and it’s nothing more than recycled promises and a plan to plan.

Well, let me tell you: that doesn’t work. Rather than try to stimulate the

private sector economy and restore dreams for our next generation, this

Fiona Famulak, who is the CEO of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, says it

is “disappointed that the government did not take steps to address the high

operating costs associated with doing business in British Columbia, some of

which are the result of government policies.” This budget was an opportunity

for government to help businesses navigate through and beyond a very

difficult two years. The opportunity was missed.

We’ve got $7.2 billion, though, in general operating contingencies

that’s been included over the fiscal plan for public sector bargaining and

caseload growth. However, no negotiating mandate has been published. The

StrongerBC economic plan? Well, that only got $11 million in direct funding

last year. That’s less than the Premier’s office.

There’s no relief for key competitiveness issues facing businesses.

There’s no employer health tax relief, despite other provinces taking action

to reduce theirs. There’s no action on split assessments. There’s no relief

for energy-intensive, trade-exposed industries, which provide good jobs and

stable revenue for the province — oh, yeah — and bring wealth that helps to

fuel things that we love, like health care, our environment and our social

infrastructure.

This government brags about how great our recovery has been, how many

jobs are back and how strong we are, but I would beg to differ. If our

economy wasn’t built on the back of the taxpayer through government bloat,

well, we’d have revenues to match. We’d have revenues that are going up, not

going down, in our industries and in our revenue generators and not through

additional taxes but through corporate personal taxes.

We’d have a surplus if we were the strongest, like other provinces,

but instead, this government is predicting more public sector jobs, rather

than stimulating the private sector and creating real jobs. Ding-ding,

another $12 million bill. Oh, I am mistaken. A $12 billion bill for our poor

taxpayer. So there are now over half a million taxpayer-funded public sector

jobs, up 116,000 people, a 30 percent increase. Private sector? It hasn’t

recovered yet.

How about more trades to help lower the cost of construction and help

with housing affordability? Nope. That’s not part of this government’s

conversation. They aren’t talking about it. In fact, that’s where they’re

cutting from, because despite there being a one-million-jobs shortage over

the next decade, the ITA budget for training investments is actually

decreasing by $8 million over the course of its fiscal plan.

What else are people outside of these walls talking about? Fear, and

what getting back to normal looks like.

[2:50 p.m.]

We’re desperate for more capacity in our hospitals and are concerned

that it’s not enough. That was certainly made evident in the last two years

of the pandemic, but in the last year, we’ve seen no investments in more ICU

beds. Our ICU beds almost shut down our entire society. Last year the budget

had $250 million extra for surgical renewal, and we did 12,648 less

surgeries than the year before. This year we’re going to put $300 million

into surgeries. How many less will we do this year?

Have the front-line workers been asked about what they need, about how

they would solve the problems? How about getting more family physicians?

There are 800,000 unattached patients in B.C., and there’s nothing in this

plan to get more. Each and every single week, my office and I are contacted

by people desperate to find a family physician. We have a lot of future

promises that aren’t even going to address the needs of today.

The Richmond Hospital has been delayed from 2029 to 2031, despite

promising shovels in the ground from the NDP in 2021. The Surrey hospital

has had only $2 million spent on planning, and it’s estimated to be open at

the same time as St. Paul’s, which is 2027. But don’t worry about it,

because the Surrey hospital, the second hospital, only has 168 beds, and

there’s no additional ICU capacity.

Despite promises of a Kamloops cancer centre, it’s now just in

preliminary planning, according to the budget, with no funding or timelines

to be seen. That’s just one small part of the cancer needs of our province.

You see, we’ve been promised a ten-year cancer plan for the last three

years, but we don’t have one yet. I can tell that you in Kelowna our cancer

centre was built in the early ’90s and is in desperate need of just a simple

renovation.

Yes, we also need more people, more equipment and more capacity. Do

you know why? It’s because the conversation, outside these walls, is about

the fact that one out of every two people is going to have cancer in their

lifetime. Are we ready? No, not even close. Is this what causes us fear? For

sure. People are not getting taken care of. They’re not getting their

surgeries. They’re in a holding pattern, waiting.

I have constituents that have been delayed surgical times, four times,

after having a date. When I reached out to one of them last night, she

responded back to me: “I am in a constant holding pattern, waiting for the

cancer to get me.” Does anxiety grow in the absence of communication?

Absolutely.

Do you know what else grows, especially after social upheaval,

isolation, division and uncertainty? A mental health tsunami. Yes, it

manifests as we lose British Columbians every month to opioid addictions,

but it’s also about the mental health illnesses in our youth — eating

disorders, depression, anxiety. The only increase to the Mental Health and

Addictions budget is for communications and advertising. It’s the same

amount of money that could be actually used for 200 treatment

beds.

Treatments are where the real conversation is happening. Out there —

outside of these walls, at the UBCM, the Urban Mayors Caucus — well, they’re

screaming for treatment beds. This NDP government had better deliver more

than a communications plan. They need to get into the conversation about

complex treatment facilities and mental health supports. My riding is one.

We’re desperate, and we have not seen one funded.

If we choose not to act, the stakes are too high. We’re going to

continue to lose our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, dear friends

and co-workers — and not just today, because the mental health tsunami in

our youth is our overdoses of tomorrow.

Well, I’ve heard a lot of fancy speeches in the last little while

about the environment and our environmental plan and how much money this NDP

government is spending on it. It’s not the conversation that happens outside

these walls.

[2:55 p.m.]

Outside these walls, we talk about the cost of living, the fear,

disaster and calamity. We talk about 500 lives lost. We talk about wanting

to get through COVID, and this budget isn’t talking about our environment.

The big number the government likes to tout is the $1 billion in new funding

to continue existing CleanBC measures and implement new initiatives

identified in the road map. But a lot of it is just about moving money, like

axing CARIP and now adding $76 million over three years to establish a new

local government climate action program.

At this time, there’s no timeline provided as to when this is coming.

When is it going to be up and running? The funding for this program falls

under the communities and land base bucket. What about urgency, priority? If

you’re spending money — right? — that makes it a priority.

Well, the performance measures under CleanBC are not about urgency.

For the current year, the target for emissions is 7 percent below 2007

levels and then 10 percent the next year. This NDP government promised and

bragged about being at 40 percent below by 2030, but it’s unclear how this

will accelerate to that point over the next eight years when we’re just at 7

percent this year.

Additionally, in the discussion part of the implementation of the

CleanBC Roadmap , it’s itemized that 2030 policies have not

begun. But planning and consultation…. What? This NDP government was a year

late in getting the road map out, and they still have yet to implement

anything. But we did add a tax to those that are already not able to afford

anything more, while giving breaks to those that can afford expensive

electric vehicles.

There is money to help with the rebuilding of communities, but

Professor Jean Slick from Royal Roads University says the B.C. climate

change initiative needs to look further than recovery: “What we really want

to see going forward is that we take action to stop creating disaster

risks.” But there isn’t money for that.

Speaking of urgency, the money that is in this budget for B.C.

wildfire services came out of a report in 2018, finalized in 2019, planned

for in 2021 and, now, funded in 2022. One can assume that this was actually

because of the fires in 2017-2018 but was not ready in time to help us

through the fires of 2021. So now we’ve spent another $649 million in 2018

and $881 million last year of unbudgeted amounts to fight these fires —

never mind the pollution that these created and the money to recover from

them.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t spend this money to help those

communities who are devastated by these fires. But I would argue that if

this NDP government had done its job, we wouldn’t be spending so much on

recovery, and we could spend more on climate change planning and resiliency.

No urgency or priority or action from this government — lip

service.

In Kelowna, we want to get back to normal. But people are full of fear

and angst, not about what wearing a mask looks like or not having vaccine

passports anymore but about what our economy is going to become and if we

have any reserves if there is a World War III. My constituents care about

the economy, about driving an actual plan for recovery. My constituents care

about mental health and getting treatment facilities and complex care

facilities for those that need it.

My constituents care about health, getting critical surgeries and

cancer treatments done, having a family physician while planning for the

future. My constituents care about having affordable and accessible child

care. My constituents care about the environment and not choking from smoke.

My constituents care about being together and removing division. My

constituents care about the cost of living and inflation and having a

responsible government. My constituents care about hope.

We don’t have any margin right now. The margin has all been spent. The

surplus that was left for this government is long gone, and this NDP

government isn’t planning to have any in the future.

[3:00 p.m.]

Rather than join the conversation about the cost of living, economic

recovery, mental health, environment, health care or child care — the

conversations that are happening outside of these walls — what do we have?

Pretty speech that is as deep as the page it was written on by the

communications department.

This budget proves that this government doesn’t want to engage in the

real conversation of life happening outside these walls. Worse, this NDP

government isn’t listening to the conversations that are taking place

outside these walls, even the ones that are on our front steps. It’s time to

listen. It’s time to take action. It’s time.

Thank you for the time today to represent the riding of

Kelowna-Mission and all of the amazing people within it.

Deputy Speaker: Recognizing the Minister of Education.

Hon. J. Whiteside: Well, thank you very much, Speaker. Nice to see you in the chair

there. It is such an honour today to stand before you today in strong

support of our government’s Budget 2022 as the MLA for New Westminster, as

B.C.’s Minister for Education and soon to be the Minister of Education and

Child Care.

There is a lot to celebrate in this budget and in our government’s

plan to build a stronger British Columbia for everyone. We are supporting

people now while building the strong foundation for a strong recovery. This

includes record investments for children and youth in our education

system.

I say that indeed this budget is about helping people now, about

setting our province up for a strong economic outlook as we come out of the

pandemic. I want to start, just for a moment, by talking about how I see

these choices play out. Indeed, budgets are about making choices, and we

will always choose people and their communities. I see how that rolls out in

my own community of New Westminster, which has, as many communities across

the province, come together to support each other through the pandemic. New

Westminster is a beautiful, resilient community.

I wanted to talk about how our government has been there to support

people and communities and businesses in my local community and how

inspiring it’s been to see how everyone has come together. Whether it’s been

through COVID support for small and medium-sized businesses….

I want to say that more than 100 businesses in New Westminster were

able to benefit from that program. I want to thank the Downtown Business

Improvement Association, the uptown business improvement association, the

folks at the River Market and the chamber of commerce for their support of

businesses in New Westminster during this extremely challenging

time.

I’ve seen, as well, how our community has come together and how our

government has supported not-for-profit organizations, community-based

organizations, whether in the arts or organizations that deliver services,

to provide services to people. Those organizations have also appreciated the

support and the relationship that we’ve had over the course of the

pandemic.

I think about organizations like New West Family Place and their team,

led by Dana Osiowy, who is so passionate about the work that they do,

providing services for children and families. Dana will tell you that it’s

all about the early years. They are so passionate about providing the

opportunity for kids and families to come together — whether it’s outdoor

play sessions, whether it’s the beautiful new space they’re using in the

Massey Theatre for drop-in for kids and parents, whether it’s all of the

parenting support that they provide for parents and children.

[3:05 p.m.]

They really know that it is all about the early years. What Dana said

is that the early years are so much more than just child care. It is about

having a government that has entrenched the importance of the early years

and the incredible early childhood educators who are doing this work and

really supporting the development of those services and the workforce that’s

providing those services.

I can tell you that my great-niece and goddaughter, Abby, who is just

14 months, has started to go to the drop-in centre and absolutely loves the

opportunity to engage with the other children. I know that these programs

made a huge difference for parents during the pandemic.

I also wanted to, at the other end of the age continuum, just talk

about some of the other important services provided by groups like the

Seniors Services Society. Now, they have been providing…. As we know,

seniors were particularly impacted by the pandemic. Organizations providing

services to seniors had a really difficult time pivoting and continuing with

their important work of providing connection, fighting isolation of seniors

throughout the pandemic.

The Seniors Services Society has continued to help assist seniors with

improving their digital literacy so that they could participate in

connecting with the outside world via Zoom and other online platforms.

They’ve continued to help with housing navigation, with outreach. They were

able to outfit their vehicles so that they could continue to safely support

grocery shopping and meal delivery to seniors.

They’re expanding the work that they do under the SHINE program, the

Seniors Housing Information and Navigation Ease programming, which will

support directly, at the Ross Towers project in New Westminster, services

for seniors, including light housekeeping, meal delivery, a shuttle bus,

support calls. All of these are really important services that try to

support seniors to stay in their own homes and also prevent the

isolation.

Whether it’s direct-service providers or not-for-profits or

organizations like the Lookout Society and the Purpose Society, who are key

organizations on the ground providing affordable services, working with

government on making sure that those with low incomes, those people who are

homeless, have the services and supports that they need….

Whether it’s those organizations, or groups like the Fraser River

Discovery Centre that provide such an important focus on one of the most

important natural resources, economic resources, that we have in the

province…. That is the Fraser River. The Fraser River Discovery Centre

supports our knowledge. They are interested in environmental stewardship,

and they perform a very important educational role in the community by

teaching children, youth, families and everyone in the community about the

importance of the river.

The common thread throughout what happens in my community and what I

see directly in my community is that the investment that this government

makes in people is definitely translated into this strong resiliency on the

ground. I think we really see that in terms of our government’s investments

in education as well.

We all know that at the heart of any great community is a great

school, a great school with a great team of staff, with educators who are

beloved by their students, where communities can really come together. We

heard about that a little bit earlier when the member for Courtenay-Comox

was talking about the work of the school district in her community and about

the welcome centre. Many schools now have welcome centres that work to build

outreach with newcomers to their communities.

[3:10 p.m.]

That is, I think, a very important thread through all of this. That is

the relationships that are built in community that support people, whether

they’re already in a community or whether they’re newcomers. We see those

schools using an emphasis on not just being a place of learning and

intellectual development but also providing that very important role of

being a community hub — being the heart of a community.

We know that schools are certainly places of intellectual development,

but they are also really important places of mental and emotional support

for children and youth. They can be safe havens for children where they also

access food and mental health supports and where they grow, learn, thrive

and achieve their best. Schools are places where students are mentored and

begin their journey in life.

I want to take a moment just to recognize the incredibly important

work that the staff in our schools do, from teachers to educational

assistants to clerical workers and bus drivers; custodians and maintenance

workers; the principals and the vice-principals; district administrators;

and of course, the trustees, as well, on our boards of education — the role

that parents play through the DPACs; the role, also, that rights holders

play in our education system.

I mean, it takes a village, for sure. It takes a strong team of

dedicated professionals to make our education system among the best in

Canada and the world. I want to thank them not only for their extraordinary

work during the pandemic but also for their ongoing leadership in classrooms

and school communities.

I think particularly, really, about the challenges that we have been

through collectively, in British Columbia and Canada and, now, in the world.

We have had some very dramatic and traumatic experiences, whether it is the

uncovering of unmarked graves on former residential school sites or whether

it is the war unfolding in Ukraine right now. All of those situations show

up in classrooms, because kids have questions.

Kids may feel insecure about the news that they hear and about events

unfolding close to home and far away from home. Schools play a very

important role. Educators and staff play a very important role in providing

assistance in kids interpreting, understanding and feeling safe about the

events around them. So I’m particularly grateful for the work that I know is

going on in schools across British Columbia, as school staff and educators

are supporting children and youth to understand what is happening globally

today.

I am so proud of the work that our government is doing to build new

schools; to strengthen our programs; our commitments around diversity,

anti-racism and mental health; and to enhance child care programs within

schools. These important investments are moving forward and have moved

forward despite the incredible challenges placed on our schools during the

COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, I would say that an investment in children and

youth and our education system is a critical part of how we build back

better in a post-COVID world.

Over the past year, we have navigated the pandemic. We have adapted to

the new challenges across our system. Throughout, we have been united. We

have been united in an understanding that keeping kids connected to their

schools and connected to their teachers and to the staff is critical. So we

prioritized in-class learning for students, because we know how important it

is, not only for their intellectual growth but because of their mental and

emotional well-being and because of the important connection to programs and

supports that they access through schools.

[3:15 p.m.]

We worked with all of our partners across our education system to

ensure that a range of supports and health and safety plans were front and

centre so that students could continue to learn safely in schools. We know

the sacrifices that everyone has been making this year and over the last two

years. Those sacrifices will have such a long-term, positive impact on

students, because we were able to keep our schools open and keep them

safe.

I think that probably one of the things that characterizes our

collective experience in the pandemic the most is a sense of uncertainty. I

know that for many students and families, school was one of the only

constants and their only sense of normalcy. The importance of that we saw

reflected in work done by the BCCDC in an assessment of the impact of that

short period of time in the early days of the pandemic when we closed

schools for a short time. But we saw the analysis of the negative impacts of

school closures on children and youth repeated in study after study, in

Canada and internationally. So that sense of stability and normalcy was

absolutely critical to maintain.

Students in British Columbia have spent more time learning in class

than their peers across the country during this pandemic. That is due to the

extraordinary work of staff on the front lines of our education system, the

support from advocates and trustees and parents, and we all owe them more

than a huge thank-you for their work in making that possible, because that

is going to make all of the difference in the future for this generation of

kids who have experienced this pandemic.

Of course, to support all of that required significant investments. So

we did make significant investments in schools to make sure our system was

supported to do this work. Beyond the operating and capital investments that

you will see in Budget 2022, we’re also working with school districts to

ensure that they’ve used the 2021 COVID relief funding to, indeed, hire the

additional staff, make the improvements to ventilation, support remote

learning where it has been needed and to increase the cleaning protocols in

schools. That was all really important work that was supported with

significant investments from the federal government and from our

government.

In fact, before the pandemic even began, our government had invested

$50 million to support HVAC and ventilation upgrades and improvements to the

infrastructure of our schools. Since the pandemic started, we’ve invested

$114.5 million to support school districts in upgrading ventilation in

thousands of classrooms across British Columbia.

Just recently we made additional funding available to school districts

to implement targeted improvements with a focus on deploying portable HEPA

filtration units in classrooms that don’t have access to mechanical

ventilation systems. Just to give you a sense of how districts are using

those resources, we had the Richmond school district purchase 293 HEPA

units; Burnaby school district purchased 350; and in the Central Okanagan,

school district 23 used funds to assist with utility costs, filters and

system controls. We have been there to support these important investments

directly around dealing with the pandemic.

As we continue to support school communities, Budget 2022 ensures that

our K-to-12 education system will have the highest-ever school operating

funding. Budget 2022 ensures that our education system also has the

highest-ever budget of $8.2 million to support students and invest in

schools and child care. It transfers the responsibility for child care from

the Ministry of Children and Family Development to the Ministry of Education

to become the Ministry of Education and Child Care on April 1, 2022, and

I’ll talk a little bit more about that in a bit.

[3:20 p.m.]

I want to say that our funding commitments to the operating, to the

capital, investments in our schools, to child care…. Our investments in

Budget 2022 hit a record level of $27.3 billion over three years. That is a

direct investment in the children, the youth, the communities of our

province. That includes the move of $2.259 billion in operating funds for

child care programs over the next three years.

I think we all know that, really, education is about people. About 90

percent of what we spend in our education system is related to people — to

teachers, to education assistants, to support staff and all of the staff who

provide the education and deliver the services.

Government is providing school districts with $511 million over the

next three years for enrolment growth. In Budget 2022 alone, there’s $250

million more for funding of public schools compared to last year. Our

government’s budget includes funding boosts to expand early learning and

on-site school child care programs to the tune of $105 million in increases

in child care funding. Overall, our government’s budget offers record high

investments at a time when students and staff are looking to us for steady

leadership, for ongoing and increasing financial stability, for the supports

that they need so that they can be launched for the most success possible in

their lives.

There are a number, of course, of…. It’s been discussed here, and it’s

clear that we know the pandemic is taking a toll on the mental health of

students and staff. We have been there to support them and will continue to

be there to support them. Our government’s budget this year includes $2

million, through multi-year funding, to continue to support critical student

mental health initiatives in schools, building on our $5 million investment

in mental health funding provided in 2021 and our $24 million equity of

opportunity supplement provided to school districts to support children and

youth with mental health needs and those living in low-income

families.

Our mental health in schools strategy embeds mental health and

substance use programs and services for students throughout the education

system and expands on Pathway to Hope, our government’s strategy to

transform mental health and substance use care for children and young

people. Navigating the pandemic has been, no question, challenging for

everyone in B.C., and we know there have been impacts on everyone’s health.

Our province also offers a range of supports that all education staff can

access to help with anxiety, stress and worry, including free access to

phone-based supports, with a counsellor network, through the B.C. COVID-19

Mental Health Network.

What happens in terms of how we can provide such wonderful education

and supports to students? Well, we need the infrastructure. We need the

schools, the places to do that. Indeed, the places in which students learn

are critical to their intellectual stimulation but also to supporting their

mental and emotional well-being.

The places in which students learn are important to support student

and staff safety as well. Our government continues to make historic

investments in schools so that communities and families have access to the

safe space they need to thrive. We continue to make record investments —

$2.65 billion in provincial funding budgeted over the next three years for

new and expanded schools, for seismic upgrades and replacements, maintenance

programs, accessible playgrounds and property purchases for future

schools.

Our budget’s three-year capital funding of $2.65 billion includes $1.3

billion for expansion and replacement projects that address enrolment growth

and reduce portable use, $793 million to accelerate the seismic program and

$554 million for routine capital to maintain and improve schools throughout

the province.

[3:25 p.m.]

In the coming year alone, the ministry plans to invest a total of $930

million in capital funding, because we are building schools. We are

providing safe spaces for children to learn. We are maintaining and

improving existing schools. This amount is more than double what the

previous government spent on capital prior to 2017.

If we look at how this investment plays out in a community like

Surrey, where we know it has experienced dramatic growth over the last

number of years, we continue to work to make investments in new and improved

schools in that community. In fact, since September 2017, the Ministry of

Education has approved more than $475 million in major capital projects in

the Surrey school district, along with $85 million in routine capital

spending to improve and maintain existing facilities for students and

staff.

Over the last 11 years, student enrolment has increased 11 percent,

from 65,000 students in 2010-2011 to 72,000 in 2021-2022 in the Surrey

school district alone. That enrolment is expected to continue to grow at an

average of more than 1,000 students per year for the next five years.

Indeed, our government has been working very closely with both the city of

Surrey and the Surrey board of education to make up for lost time, to build

new and expanded schools where they’re needed.

Just last week the school district hosted the member for

Surrey-Cloverdale to the official opening of Maddaugh Elementary, which has

given more than 600 students a better place to learn. Two weeks before that,

the school district held the official opening for the Grandview Heights

Secondary school, which added 1,500 new student seats to South Surrey. For

the first time in recent memory, the Surrey school district hasn’t had to

purchase portables, either in the 2020-21 or 2021-22 school years, to manage

enrolment growth. So, yes, capital investments in Surrey are working, will

save the district millions in portable costs that they had to endure under

the previous government.

Once complete, in 2025, projects funded by government since 2017 will

have created 9,425 new student seats and resulted in the district not having

to use approximately 380 new portable classrooms. Families in Surrey are

seeing the results of this investment. We’ve had to play catch-up, but as

Surrey continues to grow, we’re continuing to work with our partners to

expand access to education in Surrey.

When it comes to the issue of climate change and the environment,

which is very much on all of our minds and very much a priority for

government, our investments through schools, again, come through. Our

government’s priorities, again, you can see in how we are investing in

education. In CleanBC, we are reducing pollution and powering our future and

K-to-12 education by providing $23 million for the carbon-neutral capital

program, which supports a wide variety of green and environmentally friendly

projects in school districts, and $15 million for the bus replacement

program, which is helping to bring more electric school buses to

communities.

In May and June, we were excited to see the first electric school

buses hit the streets in 13 districts, including Sooke, Vernon, Nanaimo and

Ladysmith. Many more are coming in the months and years ahead. We’re also

building schools to adapt to climate change. For example, the new secondary

school in West Kelowna is being designed with future climate impacts in mind

and will incorporate non-combustible materials in construction.

[J. Tegart in the chair.]

We are investing in accessible playgrounds, $5 million to build modern

accessible playgrounds — already, through the playground equipment program,

which has provided playground sites for 49,000 children, 200 playgrounds

across the province.

These are all very important initiatives. I’m going to leave it to my

fabulous other colleagues to comment on other areas of investment that we

are making that improves communities, but I do want to make a comment about

our government’s commitment to reconciliation and how that plays out in the

work that we do in education and in our investments. We know that education

has an important role to play in reconciliation.

[3:30 p.m.]

I was very struck when I had a chance to visit the Mill Bay Nature

School in December in Mill Bay, close to Duncan, and see the work that we

are doing, that educators are doing, on the ground with children to provide

a sense of what reconciliation really looks like in a community. That school

operates on the principle of Q’shintul, of walking together. They are in

relationship in a very profound way with their natural surroundings and with

each other and with the land — the First Nations on whose land they

operate.

That has stayed with me in a really profound way. I think about that

experience when I think about all of the work we’re doing: the 18 First

Nations languages approved and taught in schools, the increase in targeted

funding for Indigenous learners at $98 million, all of the work we did to

support First Nations through COVID, all of the work we’re doing on

supporting Indigenous education and also addressing anti-racism throughout

our education system.

Through this budget, we’re supporting people now. We’re building the

foundation for a strong recovery. Our investments in K-to-12 education and

child care will set students up for success in school and in life. The

leaders of tomorrow are in our classrooms today. That’s why this investment

is so important for us.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the budget on behalf of my

constituents and in my role in education. Thank you very much.

B. Stewart: It’s a pleasure to rise in this House again on such an important

topic, the budget. This is the sixth budget that I’ve had the opportunity to

observe as a member of the Legislative Assembly of B.C.

I guess the thing about it is that British Columbians, when they

elected this government, had high expectations and hopes that things that

were promised would be something that would come forward and be a part of

the budget process. No doubt COVID has had an impact on some of those — the

focus, etc. But I think that the fact that we’ve been at this a couple of

years…. One of the things I think any good business or government would have

is a very clear, precise strategy, knowing that there are certain

achievables and measurables in terms of what it is that they’re trying to

achieve.

If we go back…. We’re talking about the uncertainty that British

Columbians face. It wouldn’t be appropriate to not talk about the

uncertainty that the world is facing today with the crisis in the Ukraine

and all of the people across British Columbia that were here on Saturday in

Victoria. I think that there are certainly a lot of things we need to do in

regard to that. The budget obviously isn’t about that, but I do think that

it’s important to know that those people are looking for certainty. As best

they can, they need to know the direction of their government.

I was reading some of the reports about their prime minister

yesterday, and he really clearly is trusted by a lot of people. I see in the

last election he garnered over 72 percent of the vote. I’m thinking that

this is a person that resonates and strikes with people, and he actually

does what he says. This is more challenging because he’s in a totally

different situation than what we face here in British Columbia. But on the

other hand, there is a responsibility for government to at least attempt to

do what they say that they’re going to do.

I think that probably it’s pretty clear that in the 2017 election,

which they were successful in, six budgets ago, they wanted to effect change

and affordability. They immediately…. We heard it yesterday. We saw that the

minister was talking about the fact that people that are foreign buyers are

the problem: “So let’s increase the foreign buyer tax to 20 percent. Let’s

add the speculation and vacancy tax. Let’s add the school tax. Let’s add

more taxes so that we can make certain that we knock the stuffing out of

those people that think that they should have a second home or be a

foreigner that’s investing here in British Columbia, because they’re the

ones that are taking.”

[3:35 p.m.]

We heard the numbers: 18,000 units that are now put back into the

marketplace because of contracts or renting, etc. — 18,000. We have 60,000

people a year moving to British Columbia. We’ve got a refugee crisis in

several places in the world, and we just opened up our borders today. We’re

going to fast-track refugees, and no doubt many of them are going to find

their way to British Columbia. Where are we going to put these

people?

The problem with the budgeting process that the government uses is

that it’s aspirational — a lot of words, a lot of talk about how we’re going

to have not only the affordability but things that are going to help people

being able to know that they can rebuild, get back to work, to being able to

afford.

As a former Housing critic, I know that that seems like it’s

unattainable. I can tell you, as somebody that started working a long time

ago, it seemed like it was unattainable, but I was successful in gathering

together enough for a modest down payment — albeit it was at a different

point. I’ll tell you what, though: inflation was like what’s coming around

the corner.

When I started working, inflation was in the teens. Wage and price

controls existed. My first job, outside of jobs that I had during school

work, which were modest…. I remember them telling me that my wages were

going to be suppressed by this federal program of wage and price control. I

only made $500 a month. You can only imagine how far that went. But I had a

friend. We rented a place together, and I bought a car and bought my

insurance on a payment plan. It’s what you do. The bottom line is that I got

by, and I was successful enough to learn how to manage my money.

I was taken aback, looking at this budget and thinking about the

aspirational promises and the amount of money that we’ve heard the previous

member go on about, and there’s no doubt. The government is spending money;

they’re spending tons of money. But one of the things that we have to look

at is: are we getting the results? Are we getting the progress that we need

in terms of the projects that they all talk about? Everybody wants to be

part of that success.

Having been a former member of the executive council, of course I like

the idea that we were going to have connectivity to every last place in

British Columbia. I travel to some pretty remote places. Connectivity was

different back in 2009, when I was first elected, to what it is today.

Nobody talked about 5G. They didn’t even talk about 4G. They didn’t talk

about the download speeds we’re talking about. It costs money, and I

understand that we need that. That’s an infrastructure that I’m glad the

government is continuing to add to.

I am concerned about the things that they’re not really addressing. As

I drove to the airport last night, I couldn’t help but notice — because I’d

been off the streets for a day or two — that the gas prices in my riding

were, all of a sudden, almost at $1.70. I’m thinking: “$1.70? It was like

$1.55 last week.” I know that in this House, we’ve had questions about

surcharges on trucks bringing fuel from Alberta. We don’t want

fuel.

Well, let’s be realistic here. We saw what happened in the November

tsunamis that we had come through, and the fact that the TMX was down. No

gas coming into the province from Alberta. We had to get it and import it

from Washington state. We’re not self-sufficient. We don’t have the refining

capacity. The bottom line is that it’s unrealistic. I know that there is an

agenda about fixing things around emitting carbon and things like

that.

I don’t think there’s anybody in this House that has spent as many

days living in a polluted country like China, based in Beijing, going around

and looking at what hap­pened in Japan after Fukushima, after they

shut their nuclear reactors down. They shut 51 of 54 reactors down, just

like that. These are reactions to things….

They want clean energy — don’t get me wrong — but they’re using what’s

cheap. That happens to be just the soft coal that puts out high emissions.

Now, we can clean that up for a cost. At least, I’ve been told that. I’m not

an engineer. But I can tell you that the question from the member from

Skeena earlier today was about expanding LNG. Well, you know what? LNG is a

huge reduction in terms of their overall emissions.

[3:40 p.m.]

It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to have cleaner output.

We’re already a relatively…. I mean, we embrace electric cars. We embrace

higher miles per gallon, better transit — even in a fairly low populous

province like we have — but the situation is we’ve got to be realistic about

what we can achieve and what we can’t.

If we can influence something like China or Vietnam or these other

countries to suck up and use LNG in place of that…. And they will, because

the bottom line is that there’ll be a limitation on where they can get coal,

unless they want to buy it from places like Russia — which I’m sure that

they’ll continue to sell, as a willing buyer, willing seller. The bottom

line is that it is very much a part of what I think our cleaner energy plan

should be.

I know that in this budget there’s a penalty against fossil fuels on

heating devices. The advertising had even got to me. I had problems with my

furnace in January. I’m surprised, because it’s a very high-energy-efficient

furnace, but it was 26 years old. Needless to say, this furnace…. I had it

explained by the technician. I thought we could just kind of keep replacing

parts and keep it going. He said, “No. These are the things that wear in a

furnace,” etc., and had to explain.

I said: “Well, okay. Should we look at a heat pump?” He said a heat

pump will not work in this climate. I said: “Well, why not? I’m told that

there’s rebates, etc.” This whole idea that I’m going to be able to save the

planet by putting in a heat pump…. We hit minus 23½ at my house during the

wintertime — colder than that at the Kelowna Airport, north of that, and I’m

sure much colder in the Peace River and places like that. It is not a

solution that’s practical. It’s idealistic.

It works in the Lower Mainland, where these tempera­tures work.

It’s great because during the heat dome it would have given some of those

people the ability to have cooling as well as heating, etc. I think it’s a

great idea. But this is a big province, and the reality is that we’re

sitting here talking about stuff that is not really practical for the

climates that some of us in this province represent.

I know that we do want to make certain we address this. I know we have

to build more resiliency. I think the government did a great job in kind of

getting back to helping restore things in Sumas Prairie, on the Fraser

Canyon and the Coquihalla. I know that the Speaker’s riding…. They have a

very difficult situation. They have a whole highway that services five

communities that’s been obliterated. It doesn’t exist. There’s nothing left.

There are little patches, etc. How do you rebuild that? You have to go back

to the drawing board, and you have to kind of find a new alternative. I

don’t know what that is.

I do think that people were expecting in this budget, not only for

their priorities and the government priorities, to have a clear strategic

plan, but the one that continues to surface is the affordability crisis. The

rising cost of housing…. I know on the weekend I was looking at some new

rental units that have come on in my riding. They start at about $1,350 for

a single bedroom and rising to about $2,000 for a three-bedroom, but there

is availability. As I said before, when I first moved away from home, I was

quite happy to share a trailer with two other working friends or whatever.

We split it up, and we got by.

I do think that things that people really besides affordability…. Part

of that is the affordability of child care. I know that the minister has

made a lot of statements in this House about how affordable child care is

going to happen, but it’s a big task. It’s not as simple as converting and

putting it into the public school system, bringing early childhood educators

in. The reality is you’ve got to have capacity.

The 60,000 people that are immigrating here every year, growing every

year, are likely going to be people that need child care. They would love

that, so that both parents could maybe work, make things a little bit

affordable. The reality is that in the five years since this was promised,

and now the sixth year, it looks like that we’re not getting $10-a-day

daycare. It looks like that we’re getting closer to maybe $20-a-day daycare,

and it’s for a fraction of the people that really need it.

[3:45 p.m.]

I empathize with them. When I found out what my daughter was paying

for child care when she was raising her three daughters, I was shocked that

it was over $2,000 a month. That kind of makes you wonder whether it’s worth

working. She did question that. Anyways, they did get through it. There was

help that we provided, whether it was daycare through my wife or other help,

but the bottom line is that it’s one of those barriers to people being able

to make ends meet. I think that it’s a good thing that they’re addressing

it, but I think that their strategic plan is still out of sync with the

reality of what they’re going to be able to deliver.

One of the things that British Columbians are really looking for…. I

think that they don’t want slogans. They don’t want to be pitched or sold or

whatever. People tire of that. What this budget doesn’t do…. It doesn’t

bring the conclusion, in campaign promises that have been promised yet

undelivered. You know, there are lots of things. I talk about child care,

housing, transportation.

We’ve heard a lot about the fact that we’re going to have a new access

to Delta, Tsawwassen and South Surrey. What we have is a delayed plan of a

particular bridge that the government did not like or that somebody…. I know

that they say the Mayors Council said that they don’t really like that. I’m

thinking: “Well, the Mayors Council, of some of those communities” — I think

there are about 30 of them in that group — “what interest do they have in

that bridge for their communities?”

I don’t understand. Personally, if I were the mayor of Delta, Ladner

or other places like that…. What about the border? What about the Peace Arch

border? That is an important international access point for goods and

services to get down into the state of Washington. We have other ones at

Highway 15 and others in the Lower Mainland. However, we still need to have

connectivity. We have not been able to eliminate truck traffic.

We soon found out, with the pandemic, that trucks, unfortunately, are

part of the supply chain, and we need to have them unless we can find a way

to electrify everything and have it so that those vehicles can run back and

forth. Maybe there’s an increase in train traffic. I don’t know the

answer.

The bottom line is that we know that goods and services and traffic

and transportation are going to increase to Vancouver Island. That means

that Tsawwassen is going to get busier. South Surrey is growing, with the

Peace Arch border crossing, as well as some of these other things. I think

the fact that the new tunnel hasn’t got anywhere, other than that we’re in

the planning stage. We’ve got to go through an environmental assessment

review, which is going to take time. I know that the government recently

announced some investment in and around Steveston Highway. The big thing

that people are looking for is: where’s the connectivity?

They would like to see, I think, the SkyTrain going from Richmond. It

makes logical sense to go out that way, to get people out of their cars and

get them into the SkyTrain. But I mean, is that going to be possible in a

new tunnel? I know they have a transit lane. I think that we’ve seen the

success of the Canada Line. I mean, I rode it within opening days, and I

couldn’t believe the traffic counts were exceeded. They were even exceeded

within days of opening, and the Evergreen Line….

The bottom line is that public transit works. We’ve got a barrier.

We’ve got the agricultural land reserve. We’ve got the ocean. We’ve got the

mountains. There are only so many places where communities can grow, and we

need to have these investments. By delaying it, it not only, obviously,

delays the connectivity, but it increases in costs. The fact is that people

have to tolerate hanging out in a tunnel or merging into lanes and stuff

like that.

I think that people are looking for results. After six years, you’d

expect that we’d start ticking boxes: “We’ve got this school built. We’ve

got this hospital built.” We don’t. They’re not happening. There’s lots of

talk, but not much action in terms of delivering. I think that probably,

when it comes to estimates, we’re going to be asking a lot of those

questions — my colleagues, who are working on child care spaces; myself, on

transportation; housing. We’re going to be asking those questions, because,

look, you can’t be spending….

Do you know what the budget was prior to the 2017 election? The budget

for this province was under $49 billion. Well, this budget is over $70

billion. That’s a staggering amount. What do we get for that extra $20

billion a year? I think the situation is that that’s what British Columbians

are asking about.

[3:50 p.m.]

They don’t have the things that they were expecting — affordability,

child care and these other things. Gas prices — now we have the highest gas

prices in North America. I think that it does beg the question about: where

is the money going, and why is it happening? Why is it not resulting in the

result that we’re looking for?

Then we’ve got things that just drive people crazy. We’ve got three

new taxes. That’s on top of the 23 that we had in the prior budgets. But

anyway, we’ve got a tax on the online marketplace. As the minister

described, it’s closing a loophole. But obviously, people are looking for

affordability, shopping online.

I guess my question about the marketplace transactions is: is it going

to be a situation that if we start buying at garage sales, they’re going to

have to pay PST? Are we going to start having auditors running around and

trying to capture that? I guess what we’re looking at is…. I think some of

this is low-hanging fruit.

Increasing taxes on used car sales. Maybe there is a transactional

difference. I don’t know how much is missing there, but I do think that the

situation is that these are for the people. We heard the stories about the

minivan that cost $10,000. The fact is that, “Hey, I got a deal,” or, “I got

it from a friend,” or whatever. “They gave me a bit of a break.” All of a

sudden, when they go to register it, the Black Book value is $11,000. “You

now owe us X amount of provincial sales tax on that.”

I do think that this is a tax that’s directed at the wrong people. I

think that if we’re talking about affordability, we should be looking….

Where are the other loopholes or gaps that we’re missing? I mentioned the

home heating fuel one, which I think is completely founded on the basis that

we’re going to have CleanBC.

I don’t think any one of us would not support having clean energy as

something to augment or replace…. But the idea that we’re going to tax home

heating fuels…. We saw the same thing when we brought the carbon tax in. I

was here in 2009. I can tell you that the carbon tax was evil and was hated

by the rural parts of British Columbia. My colleague Donna Barnett from the

Cariboo loved to talk about the fact that everybody drives a pickup truck in

Peace River and stuff like that. They do. They’re ranchers. They’re farmers.

They work in the oil and gas industry and stuff like that. They’re already

paying that.

We paused on that because when we were here, we had a deal with

Washington, Oregon and California. We also had the hydrogen highway. The

bottom line is that as soon as 2008 hit, they reneged. They backed out of

the agreements that we had to have clean fuels and move ahead. But it was an

attempt. We were investing in clean technology, but now we’re just jacking

it up.

On top of it, as the member for Abbotsford West will remember, it was

revenue-neutral. We returned that money, the carbon tax, back to people. We

encouraged people to invest in their homes, to upgrade their windows, their

roof, their insulation, etc. We did it for schools — the SUCH sector. We

gave them money and resources out of that so that they could meet those

targets and lower their emissions, and here we are. None of that exists.

It’s all at the level of where the ministries and the government make a

decision.

We should really look at this. Unfortunately, I think the fossil fuel

tax and the idea of switching over to heat pumps is just one of those poorly

thought-out…. It sounds great on paper. Probably works in the Lower

Mainland, but it doesn’t work outside of Hope.

What about other tax revenue? I remember when, sitting in government,

we were hoping to eliminate the property purchase tax. It was a goal. It was

aspirational, but we wanted to do that. It was less than $1 billion. Last

year, it brought in $3 billion into the province in the coffers. When

government is spending over $5.491 billion more than they’re taking in on a

$71 billion budget, and they’re getting revenue windfalls like this, I’m

thinking that that’s a lot of spending without the results that I think

people expect.

One of the things that has happened…. There has been a lot of talk

about jobs. I didn’t see anything. I know there is some investment in the

post-secondary education and an announcement at BCIT.

[3:55 p.m.]

One of the things that we need in a province — and part of the reason

we have a housing crisis, in my opinion, is that we think of people that do

land development and buildings and stuff like that…. It should be done by

government, because they’re getting a profit out of it or something like

that. I hate to tell you, but that’s the way a democracy works. They take

that. They pay taxes. They invest in it. They buy more property, and that’s

just the life cycle of that.

I think in the jobs sector we’ve seen the public sector grow by

almost…. I think it’s 150,000 new public sector. We’re over a half-a-million

public sector jobs. What about the private sector? We need immigration. We

need people to come here. We need skills training, etc., and we need it

now.

This budget could have addressed that in the sense that it should have

been paramount that we were going to train more people, attract more people

in to be not only the province that we can be, but the fact that people want

to move here…. We’re building 40-some thousand homes a year. We need 60.

We’re 20,000 homes a year short, just in terms of our overall supply demand.

We can’t build more because there is not enough.

We just had legislation that came out that’s going to increase the

responsibility. I did speak to that, about a couple of European craftsman. I

talked about a fellow by the name of Zeljko Bizecki. He worked for me. His

wife worked for me, and his son still works for me. His son has worked for

me for 30 years, so he’s been around a while. He was a master craftsman,

masonry craftsman.

The bottom line is, are we going to take that person, because he

doesn’t have the red seal or some other certification, and just say: “Well,

you know, you don’t cut it anymore.” I can tell you that this guy could put

anybody that handles masonry products to shame. Anyways, I do think that was

one of the areas that was a missed opportunity in this.

A couple of other things we haven’t seen. I have heard the members

that know more about this, but I know that we’ve talked a lot about the fact

that…. With autism and individualized care, we’ve talked a lot about the

fact that family-centred care has worked, and it was something that was a

change that we made. We do need to put more money. I don’t disagree with

that.

The idea that we’re going to create hubs…. Well, if I happen to live

in 100 Mile House, is there going to be a hub there? Or what if I live in 70

Mile? Or what happens if I live at some place like Sheridan Lake Ranch or

something like that? I mean, there are all sorts of places. There are

thousands and thousands of families that probably need access to that help,

and they’re going to have to go to places. Maybe it’ll be in Williams Lake.

Maybe it’ll be in Vanderhoof. Maybe it’ll be in Prince George.

and families need to have access to that funding so that those children get

a chance to make their way in life.

We heard about another thing, as we heard about the opioid crisis and

the increase in mental health and addictions, and I’m sad to say even the

mayor of Kelowna, who was on the Urban Mayors Caucus…. They wanted to bring

complex care. The fact is that there are two in Vancouver, one in Surrey and

one other in a fourth place. And the money that they’ve got is $8 billion

more — for advertising? I just can’t quite understand that.

People that are in that…. We heard this on the financial service and

government committee that I served on last year. We heard from all sorts of

service providers. They said, clearly, that what they’re providing in terms

of care is not enough to deal with the complex care needs that they have in

their communities. We need to do something different.

I know the minister, during estimates, said that there was going to be

super complex care coming out, and I’m hopeful that these ten will work. But

I do think that we need to get on with it, because we can’t go from six

people a day dying from opioids. We’ve got to find other ways to treat these

people. We’ve got to make certain that they’re safe. I’m sure the government

has heard lots about that, but let’s make certain that we bring results to

the whole idea about this particular opioid crisis.

One of the things that was kind of late in the piece was the fact that

in the budget, government had a holdback system, and as a minister, you only

got this holdback if you delivered your budget within the parameters of what

it was and the government balanced its budget. There was a couple of key

things.

[4:00 p.m.]

Well, that wasn’t legislation that the B.C. Liberals brought in. That

was Paul Ramsey back in 2000. He stood up, and he said that if this

legislation didn’t pass, it was a vote of confidence, and they’d call an

election. It did pass. It was good legislation, and it meant that you had to

live within your means.

I think about a picture that’s in the Vancouver Sun today

about a little girl that has three jars in a kitchen, and it’s got coins,

and she’s got savings and toys and other funds, and she’s divvying up the

way that she manages her money. I can’t help but think now that’s a good way

to teach young people about managing it. I don’t see that that’s being

practised on the government side, in the sense that we need to make certain

that we’re balancing these things.

We’ve taken away that responsibility. That 10 percent holdback is now

actually automatic if the government doesn’t balance its budget. We heard

from the member for Kelowna-M