British Columbia Hansard — Monday, March 3, 2008

H0303pm-07

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Fourth Session, 38th Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (HANSARD) Monday, March 3, 2008 Afternoon Sitting Volume 27, Number 7 THE HONOURABLE BILL BARISOFF, SPEAKER ISSN 0709-1281

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Entered Confederation July 20, 1871) LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR His Honour the Honourable Steven L. Point, OBC FOURTH SESSION, 38TH PARLIAMENT SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Honourable Bill Barisoff EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Premier and President of the Executive Council ............................................................................................................Hon. Gordon Campbell Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations .......................................................................................................... Hon.

John van Dongen Deputy Premier and Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for Early Learning and Literacy...................... Hon. Shirley Bond Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation ........................................................................................................ Hon. Michael de Jong Minister of Advanced Education and Minister Responsible for Research and Technology ........................................... Hon.

Murray Coell Minister of Agriculture and Lands.......................................................................................................................................................Hon. Pat Bell Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism............................................................................... Hon. Wally Oppal, QC Minister of Children and Family Development ................................................................................................................Hon.

Tom Christensen Minister of State for Childcare ........................................................................................................................................................Hon. Linda Reid Minister of Community Services and Minister Responsible for Seniors’ and Women’s Issues........................................... Hon. Ida Chong Minister of Economic Development and Minister Responsible for the Asia-Pacific Initiative and the Olympics.................Hon.

Colin Hansen Minister of Employment and Income Assistance ...........................................................................................................Hon. Claude Richmond Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources .......................................................................................................Hon. Richard Neufeld Minister of State for Mining......................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Kevin Krueger Minister of Environment and Minister Responsible for Water Stewardship and Sustainable Communities ...............Hon. Barry Penner Minister of Finance.......................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Carole Taylor Minister of Forests and Range and Minister Responsible for Housing ............................................................................. Hon.

Rich Coleman Minister of Health ......................................................................................................................................................................Hon. George Abbott Minister of Labour and Citizens’ Services ......................................................................................................................................Hon. Olga Ilich Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General................................................................................................................................Hon.

John Les Minister of Small Business and Revenue and Minister Responsible for Regulatory Reform............................................ Hon. Rick Thorpe Minister of Tourism, Sport and the Arts ......................................................................................................................................Hon. Stan Hagen Minister of State for ActNow B.C. ............................................................................................................................................ Hon.

Gordon Hogg Minister of Transportation...........................................................................................................................................................Hon.

Kevin Falcon LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Leader of the Official Opposition .........................................................................................................................................................Carole James Deputy Speaker ....................................................................................................................................................................................Sindi Hawkins Deputy Speaker ...........................................................................................................................................................................

Katherine Whittred Assistant Deputy Speaker.....................................................................................................................................................................Sue Hammell Deputy Chair, Committee of the Whole................................................................................................................................................. Harry Bloy Clerk of the Legislative Assembly .........................................................................................................................E.

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

James Clerk Assistant and Committee Clerk ..........................................................................................................................................Kate Ryan-Lloyd Sergeant-at-Arms............................................................................................................................................................................. A.A.

Humphreys Director, Hansard Services ...................................................................................................................................................................Jo-Anne Kern Legislative Librarian ..................................................................................................................................................................................Jane Taylor Legislative Comptroller...............................................................................................................................................................................Dan Arbic

Party Standings: Liberal 46; New Democratic 33 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS Abbott, Hon. George (L) .................................................................... Shuswap Austin, Robin (NDP)............................................................................. Skeena Bains, Harry (NDP).................................................................. Surrey-Newton Barisoff, Hon. Bill (L)..........................................Penticton–Okanagan Valley Bell, Hon.

Pat (L) .............................................................Prince George North Bennett, Bill (L) ........................................................................ East Kootenay Black, Iain (L) ............................................................ Port Moody–Westwood Bloy, Harry (L)................................................................................Burquitlam Bond, Hon. Shirley (L).....................................Prince George–Mount Robson Brar, Jagrup (NDP).....................................................Surrey–Panorama Ridge Campbell, Hon.

Gordon (L) .........................................Vancouver–Point Grey Cantelon, Ron (L)..............................................................Nanaimo-Parksville Chong, Hon. Ida (L) .................................................... Oak Bay–Gordon Head Chouhan, Raj (NDP) ...........................................................Burnaby-Edmonds Christensen, Hon. Tom (L) ................................................. Okanagan-Vernon Chudnovsky, David (NDP) ......................................... Vancouver-Kensington Coell, Hon.

Murray (L) .....................................Saanich North and the Islands Coleman, Hon. Rich (L)...........................................Fort Langley–Aldergrove Conroy, Katrine (NDP) .......................................... West Kootenay–Boundary Coons, Gary (NDP) ....................................................................... North Coast Cubberley, David (NDP)............................................................Saanich South de Jong, Hon.

Michael (L) ...................................Abbotsford–Mount Lehman Dix, Adrian (NDP) .........................................................Vancouver-Kingsway Evans, Corky (NDP).................................................................Nelson-Creston Falcon, Hon. Kevin (L) .......................................................

Surrey-Cloverdale Farnworth, Mike (NDP) ...............................Port Coquitlam–Burke Mountain Fleming, Rob (NDP) ..............................................................Victoria-Hillside Fraser, Scott (NDP) ..............................................................Alberni-Qualicum Gentner, Guy (NDP).......................................................................Delta North Hagen, Hon. Stan (L) ................................................................ Comox Valley Hammell, Sue (NDP) ................................................... Surrey–Green Timbers Hansen, Hon.

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

Gordon (L).....................................................Surrey–White Rock Horgan, John (NDP)......................................................Malahat–Juan de Fuca Horning, Al (L)........................................................... Kelowna–Lake Country Ilich, Hon. Olga (L)...............................................................Richmond Centre James, Carole (NDP).......................................................Victoria–Beacon Hill Jarvis, Daniel (L)..................................................

North Vancouver–Seymour Karagianis, Maurine (NDP) ........................................... Esquimalt-Metchosin Krog, Leonard (NDP)......................................................................... Nanaimo Krueger, Hon. Kevin (L) .....................................Kamloops–North Thompson Kwan, Jenny Wai Ching (NDP)........................... Vancouver–Mount Pleasant Lali, Harry (NDP)........................................................................

Yale-Lillooet Lee, Richard T. (L)....................................................................Burnaby North Lekstrom, Blair (L).............................................................. Peace River South Les, Hon. John (L)............................................................... Chilliwack-Sumas Macdonald, Norm (NDP).................................... Columbia River–Revelstoke MacKay, Dennis (L)....................................................

Bulkley Valley–Stikine Mayencourt, Lorne (L).......................................................Vancouver-Burrard McIntyre, Joan (L).................................................West Vancouver–Garibaldi Neufeld, Hon. Richard (L) .................................................. Peace River North Nuraney, John (L).............................................................Burnaby-Willingdon Oppal, Hon. Wally, QC (L).......................................... Vancouver-Fraserview Penner, Hon. Barry (L)...........................................................

Chilliwack-Kent Polak, Mary (L) ....................................................................................Langley Puchmayr, Chuck (NDP)...................................................... New Westminster Ralston, Bruce (NDP) ............................................................. Surrey-Whalley Reid, Hon. Linda (L) ................................................................ Richmond East Richmond, Hon. Claude (L).............................................................

Kamloops Robertson, Gregor (NDP) ................................................Vancouver-Fairview Roddick, Valerie (L).......................................................................Delta South Routley, Doug (NDP)..................................................... Cowichan-Ladysmith Rustad, John (L) ........................................................

Prince George–Omineca Sather, Michael (NDP).........................................Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows Simons, Nicholas (NDP) ...................................Powell River–Sunshine Coast Simpson, Bob (NDP)..................................................................Cariboo North Simpson, Shane (NDP) ....................................................Vancouver-Hastings Sultan, Ralph (L) ....................................................West Vancouver–Capilano Taylor, Hon.

Carole (L).....................................................Vancouver-Langara Thorne, Diane (NDP) .................................................Coquitlam-Maillardville Thorpe, Hon. Rick (L).......................................................Okanagan-Westside Trevena, Claire (NDP) ..................................................................North Island van Dongen, Hon. John (L)............................................ Abbotsford-Clayburn Whittred, Katherine (L)........................................

North Vancouver–Lonsdale Wyse, Charlie (NDP) .................................................................Cariboo South Yap, John (L)...................................................................Richmond-Steveston LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDING Abbotsford-Clayburn....................................................Hon. John van Dongen Abbotsford–Mount Lehman .......................................... Hon. Michael de Jong Alberni-Qualicum..........................................................................

Scott Fraser Bulkley Valley–Stikine ...........................................................Dennis MacKay Burnaby North ...........................................................................Richard T. Lee Burnaby-Edmonds........................................................................Raj Chouhan Burnaby-Willingdon................................................................... John Nuraney Burquitlam.......................................................................................Harry Bloy Cariboo North..............................................................................

Bob Simpson Cariboo South..............................................................................Charlie Wyse Chilliwack-Kent ..................................................................Hon. Barry Penner Chilliwack-Sumas...................................................................... Hon. John Les Columbia River–Revelstoke................................................. Norm Macdonald Comox Valley........................................................................ Hon.

Stan Hagen Coquitlam-Maillardville..............................................................Diane Thorne Cowichan-Ladysmith ................................................................. Doug Routley Delta North ...................................................................................Guy Gentner Delta South ............................................................................. Valerie Roddick East Kootenay................................................................................

Bill Bennett Esquimalt-Metchosin.........................................................Maurine Karagianis Fort Langley–Aldergrove ..................................................Hon. Rich Coleman Kamloops.....................................................................Hon. Claude Richmond Kamloops–North Thompson ............................................Hon. Kevin Krueger Kelowna–Lake Country.................................................................. Al Horning Kelowna-Mission ......................................................................

Sindi Hawkins Langley ...........................................................................................Mary Polak Malahat–Juan de Fuca .................................................................. John Horgan Maple Ridge–Mission ................................................................ Randy Hawes Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows ..................................................... Michael Sather Nanaimo......................................................................................

Leonard Krog Nanaimo-Parksville .....................................................................Ron Cantelon Nelson-Creston .............................................................................Corky Evans New Westminster .................................................................. Chuck Puchmayr North Coast....................................................................................

Gary Coons North Island ...............................................................................Claire Trevena North Vancouver–Lonsdale................................................Katherine Whittred North Vancouver–Seymour..........................................................Daniel Jarvis Oak Bay–Gordon Head ........................................................... Hon. Ida Chong Okanagan-Vernon......................................................... Hon. Tom Christensen Okanagan-Westside..............................................................Hon.

Rick Thorpe Peace River North.......................................................... Hon. Richard Neufeld Peace River South..................................................................... Blair Lekstrom Penticton–Okanagan Valley .................................................Hon. Bill Barisoff Port Coquitlam–Burke Mountain ............................................Mike Farnworth Port Moody–Westwood.................................................................... Iain Black Powell River–Sunshine Coast ...............................................

Nicholas Simons Prince George North.................................................................... Hon. Pat Bell Prince George–Mount Robson ............................................Hon. Shirley Bond Prince George–Omineca................................................................ John Rustad Richmond Centre......................................................................Hon. Olga Ilich Richmond East........................................................................Hon.

Linda Reid Richmond-Steveston...........................................................................John Yap Saanich North and the Islands ............................................ Hon. Murray Coell Saanich South ........................................................................ David Cubberley Shuswap............................................................................Hon. George Abbott Skeena.......................................................................................... Robin Austin Surrey-Cloverdale............................................................... Hon.

Kevin Falcon Surrey–Green Timbers ................................................................Sue Hammell Surrey-Newton............................................................................... Harry Bains Surrey–Panorama Ridge.................................................................Jagrup Brar Surrey-Tynehead ....................................................................... Dave S. Hayer Surrey-Whalley...........................................................................Bruce Ralston Surrey–White Rock ............................................................Hon.

Gordon Hogg Vancouver-Burrard..............................................................Lorne Mayencourt Vancouver-Fairview.............................................................Gregor Robertson Vancouver-Fraserview .................................................Hon.

Wally Oppal, QC Vancouver-Hastings .................................................................Shane Simpson Vancouver-Kensington.......................................................David Chudnovsky Vancouver-Kingsway ......................................................................Adrian Dix Vancouver-Langara ........................................................... Hon. Carole Taylor Vancouver–Mount Pleasant........................................ Jenny Wai Ching Kwan Vancouver–Point Grey ................................................Hon.

Gordon Campbell Vancouver-Quilchena.........................................................Hon. Colin Hansen Victoria–Beacon Hill...................................................................

Carole James Victoria-Hillside ...........................................................................Rob Fleming West Kootenay–Boundary........................................................Katrine Conroy West Vancouver–Capilano...........................................................Ralph Sultan West Vancouver–Garibaldi ........................................................Joan McIntyre Yale-Lillooet..................................................................................... Harry Lali

CONTENTS Monday, March 3, 2008 Afternoon Sitting Routine Proceedings Page Tributes ....................................................................................................................... ............................................................ 10133 Dempsey Collinson Hon. G.

Campbell Introductions by Members ....................................................................................................... ............................................ 10133 Statements (Standing Order 25B) .............................................................................................................................. ........... 10134 Colorectal cancer A. Dix International Women's Week M. Polak Nile Creek Enhancement Society S. Fraser Festival du Bois H. Bloy Kootenay Lake ferry initiative C. Evans Coalmining in East Kootenays B.

Bennett Oral Questions................................................................................................................. ....................................................... 10137 Forest industry jobs in B.C. C. James Hon. R. Coleman C. Evans Forest land sales in Kamloops area K. Conroy Hon. R. Coleman Government support for forest workers B. Simpson Hon. R. Coleman Haisla First Nation and B.C. Utilities Commission decision-making process R. Austin Hon. R. Neufeld S. Fraser J. Horgan Private resort in Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park N. Macdonald Hon. S.

Hagen Petitions...................................................................................................................... ............................................................. 10142 S. Fraser G. Coons J. Horgan Tabling Documents.............................................................................................................. .................................................. 10142 Public Service Benefit Plan Act, annual report for year ending March 31, 2007

Budget Debate (continued)............................................................................................................................... ...................... 10142 G. Robertson Hon. R. Neufeld S. Hammell Hon. G. Abbott A. Dix R. Lee C. Evans Hon. C. Taylor

10133 MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 The House met at 1:33 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Tributes DEMPSEY COLLINSON Hon. G. Campbell: Today it's with great sadness that I inform the House of the passing of Dempsey Collinson, a hereditary chief of the Haida First Nation, Chief Skidegate. Dempsey was 78 years old. He lost his life in the waters off the Queen Charlotte Islands while preparing to go by boat to the ghow fishery this past weekend. For all of us who know the Haida, he was a strong and a passionate defender of their culture and their people.

He was one of the elders who went dressed in Haida garb to New York City to retrieve and reclaim Haida human remains that were there. At that time he said: "Now we have all of them home, and I'm happy they're all here." I know, for all of us, our thoughts go to the Haida First Nation, who are wrestling with this loss. I would ask that the House send their condolences to the first nation and to the members of the family of Chief Skidegate. Introductions by Members G. Gentner: It is a pleasure to introduce to the House today a long-term friend of mine, Gwen Swecter and her husband Norman.

Gwen and I go back to the heritage days. She took a more lofty position and stayed with heritage, and I got involved with politics. Gwen has been a known historian, well-renowned in her work with women's histories. She's rewritten histories of Ladner and many other stories in Delta, and of course, she's a strong advocate of heritage. Her husband is a world-famous helicopter pilot. He takes us around and shows us what's going on in Burns Bog once in a while. Could the House please give them a very warm welcome. [1335] Hon. G.

Campbell: I am pleased today to recognize here in the precincts the reci pients of the first Premier's awards for teaching excellence: Margaret Penny from Strawberry Vale Elementary School in Victoria, Elaine Jaltema from Confederation Park Elementary in Burnaby, Deborah Koehn fr om Glenview Elementary in Prince George, Sandra Santarossa from Cleveland Elementary in North Vancouver, Elizabeth Blake from Winston Churchill Secondary in Vancouver, Lyn Daniels from Burnaby Mountain Secondary in Bur- naby, Nellie Dionne from David Hoy Elementary in Fort St.

James, John Harris from the Lochiel U-Connect Education Centre in Langley, Denise Milne of the EBUS Academy in Vanderhoof, Maye Davis from the Lake Trail Middle School in Courtenay.

There's Jennifer Murdie from Irwin Park Elemen- tary in West Vancouver, Linda Firbank from Howe Sound Secondary in Squamish, Gary Wall from Sardis Secondary in Chilliwack, Joanne De Guevara from Sensisyusten House of Learning in Westbank, Jeffery Weaver from Central Middle School in Victoria, Dale Kerr from Tatla Elementary–Junior Secondary in Tatla Lake, Nader Mirhady from Vancouver Technical Secondary School in Vancouver, Russell Stasiuk from Penticton Secondary in Penticton and Peter Vogel from Notre Dame Regional Secondary in Vancouver.

They are joined by the members of the selection committee, who are in attendance today: Geoff Jopson, the president of the B.C. sc hool superintendents; Doug Lauson, the president of the Federation of Independent Schools; Kim Howland, the president of the B.C. Con- federation of Parent Advi sory Councils; and Sabine Lague, who is a student representative. They are also joined by someone who is not a member of the selection committee, Les Dukowski, who is the president of B.C. Principals and Vice- Principals Association. I hope the House will make them all welcome and give them our thanks. R.

Chouhan: Today we have Job Pozos-Avila in the gallery. Job has been working since January as an intern at the Washington State Senate. He's a student at the Evergreen State College in Olympia. He's a great supporter of the cause of farmworkers. He's travelling today with the other 15 interns from Washington State. Please join me in welcoming him and the others. Hon. S. Bond: Two things today. Joining us in the gallery are two students from the Vancouver Island North school district. They are here in Victoria to attend our Interactive Innovations conference.

We want to give a warm welcome to Shawn Cowan from Sointula and Kerry Anne Stouffer from Alert Bay. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly today. September 21, a historic day in Prince George, was when northern residents opened the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre at UNBC. There were thousands of people in that building for the opening. On Saturday, March 1, more than 2,000 of us packed the sports centre to cheer on the UNBC women's basket- ball team, our Timberwolves. I want you to know that we are delighted. That building has been open for less than six months, but we already have our first championship banner.

It was an exciting game. On behalf of my colleagues from Prince George North and Prince George–Omineca, I want to congratulate tournament MVP Laurel Wallace and tournament all- star Jaclyn Nazareno. They're both fourth-year arts major students at UNBC. But special congratulations to coach Loralyn Murdoch. She' s been involved in the UNBC women's program sinc e 1997. Our first banner, with many more to come. Congratulations, UNBC Timberwolves. C. Wyse: Today I would ask the House to join with me to make welcome John Kerr, along with my wife,

10134 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 Sheila Wyse, who have joined us here today, partly in celebration and recognition of Dale Kerr's award, which the Premier has alread y referred to. At times I think that they may be here to check to make sure that I'm still doing my job. I would ask the House to join me in making them both welcome. [1340] Hon. G. Campbell: I'm pleased to say today that w e h a v e 4 0 s t u d e n t s v i s i t i n g u s f r o m U n i v e r s i t y H i l l Secondary School, a place where I spent six years of my life. It is in my constituency of Vancouver–Point Grey.

They're grade 11 students travelling with some parents and their teacher, Mr. Louis. They're here to experience the history of th e buildings and to see what really happens in the Legislature. I hope we'll all make them feel welcome, because I'm sure many of them are going to want to sit here someday themselves. D. Routley: Six years in high school is pretty impressive, I must say. [Laughter.] My apologies. I'm hoping that the House, after that remark, will help me welcome a friend of mine, a constituent, Harry Brerbreyer. Harry is a library technician devoted to life- long learning and a terrific guy.

We all hope that people will be engaged in our communities. Harry is one who shows up at all the community meetings and has a v e r y g o o d p o i n t o f v i e w t o o f f e r . H e ' s v e r y e n g a g e d , and I celebrate any constituent who participates the way Harry does. Hon. G. Campbell: Mr. Speaker…. Interjections. Hon. G. Campbell: I know you're all pleased to have me here today. I wanted to explain, though, to the member opposite that actually when I went to school, it wasn't just 50 miles uphill both to school and home from school, but secondary school went from grade 7 to grade 12. Hon. L.

Reid: I would like the House to welcome Iain MacDonald today. Iain is my work experience student this week. He'll be in this building with us Monday to Friday. He's from Gulf Islands Secondary School on Saltspring Island , a constituent of my hon. colleague. His teacher is Carol Arnold, and the work experience coordinator is Maggie Allison. I would ask the House and the members particularly, when you see him in the halls, to give him a very warm welcome. C. Evans: Visiting us today for lunch and I hope in the gallery… I can't see him, so maybe he's over my head. Interjection. C.

Evans: Yeah, like much of what happens here. …is Gerald Rotering. Gerald was the mayor of Nelson in 1982. You'll remember that the sawmill went broke, the plywood plant clos ed, the university closed, the town fell apart. Gerald as mayor invented the heri- tage program and mortgaged the town's electrical system to work with the business community and the province to build the heritage theme that has made the town so successful today that I don't think Gerald can afford to buy a home there. Would everybody please welcome Gerald Rotering, the guy that saved Nelson. Hon. G.

Abbott: In the gallery today are the parents of my ministerial assistant in Health, Joanna Richards. They are Bonnie and Stuart Ellis, and they are visiting here from Port McNeill. I ask the House to please make them welcome. Hon. R. Thorpe: I'm pleased to introduce Mike De Guevara. Mike is a councillor with the Westbank First Nation, and he's here to celebrate with Joanne. Wel- come to the House. Hon. J. van Dongen: Visiting us in the Legislature today are 22 Washington State legislative interns, and they are here to learn more about our system of government in British Columbia.

We told them that question period was a very important part of gov- ernance in British Columbia. They had meetings today with yourself, Mr. Speaker, with the Deputy Premier, with the Minister of Environment and with me. I ask the House to please make them all very welcome. [1345] J. Rustad: Today I'm also very pleased, along with Denise Milne from the EBUS program who was intro- duced earlier…. Her husband Gordon Milne has travelled down and is with us here today. Recently he retired from his position as the superintendent of school district 91. I would ask the House to please make him welcome. Hon. P.

Bell: Not to be outdone by my colleague, I guess I should also be introducing Kim Koehn, who is husband to Deb Koehn, who is down visiting us today as part of the teacher awards. Welcome, Kim. Statements (Standing Order 25

B) COLORECTAL CANCER A. Dix: March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. I think members of the House will know, because many people have come and advocated to many of us in recent times on the subject — that an estimated 1,100 British Columbians will die of colorectal cancer this year. It's the second leading cause of ca ncer death among men, and the third leading cause among women. I wanted to pay tribute today to some of the people I've met. I know that the advocates I've met — I know that the Minister of Health would agree with this — do an extraordinary job in bringing this issue to govern- ment's attention and to the public's attention. I think of

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10135 Ruth Tremblay of Vancouve r, who says: "Early detec- tion" — because 90 percent of colorectal cancer deaths are preventable — "would have saved me 14 months of surgery, tests, radiation, surgical complications and chemotherapy." Lynn Newbury from New Hazelton talked mov- ingly to me about her 50 percent chance of survival, and yet she is spending so mu ch of that time talking to other people, helping them to take the prevention steps they need to take to prevent colorectal cancer. Ten years ago last week my mom was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Through a combination of really good primary health care and advocacy, through surgery, and through good luck, she survived. Now ten years later, at 72, she's putting in a longer day at work than I am. I know there's a lot of ta lk about the costs of health care, but how I feel about it…. The savings to me, to the family, to her clients, to people in her network, and the fact that she survived, are incalculable. To everyone in the House, particularly those people over 50: get tested. Take the FOBT test now. Get it d o n e .

T o a l l o f u s a s l e g i s l a t o r s : l i s t e n t o a d v o c a t e s f o r colon cancer, and put in place, if we can do it collectively, a provincewide program that will help eliminate, or limit, anyway, the number of deaths from colorectal cancer in British Columbia. This is a great month to do it. It's Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and I ask all members of the House to take the opportunity to get this done now. INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S WEEK M.

Polak: In its early days the women's movement, with its focus on female suffrage, sought to advance the role of women in society as a means of strengthening communities and the world at large. Women who engaged in those early struggles did so because they believed the world would be a better place if women were given a voice. While embracing their roles as caregivers, homemakers, mothers and wives, these women recognized that the world needed to hear the voice of women in work, in government, as entrepreneurs and as leaders. As we recognize International Women's Week, I think of my daughter's generation.

To them, women's rights are simply human rights. They see women and men working together to ensure that families around the world can have the same opportunities as those fortunate enough to live in a developed western democracy. As women in British Columbia, we are fortunate indeed. Since 2001, 43 percent of the new jobs created in B.C. have been filled by women, and 76 percent of those jobs are full-time. The number of women working in B.C. is at its highest level ever, and B.C. boasts the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs in the west.

Yet for many women around the world, the oppor- tunities we take for granted are only a dream. Interna- tional Women's Week is a time to reflect on the many positive changes that have improved the lives of women and girls in North America and around the world. It is also a time to remember that by continuing to advance the role of women, we are building a brighter future for ourselves, men and women alike. Strong women make a strong world. [1350] NILE CREEK ENHANCEMENT SOCIETY S. Fraser: The Nile Creek Enhancement Society in my constituency has the ri ght formula.

Founded by Rod Allan and currently led by the acclaimed artist Ken Kirkby, the Nile Creek Enhancement Society took charge to rehabilitate their own local watercourse. I should mention that Mr. Kirkby is the recipient of the Governor General's Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confeder ation, and this was due to his nation-building work in the Arctic. He has taken on his newer role with the same zeal, and we should all be happy for that. Nile Creek was once a hyperabundant salmon stream but was essentially killed by human activity.

The Nile Creek Enhancement Society took the bull by the horns — the salmon by the gills, I guess, would be more appropriate — and boldly restored Nile Creek to its former glory. The Nile Creek Enhancement Society is continuing with the restoration of other streams and the restoration of kelp beds along the inner coast of Vancouver Island. As Ken explained to me, it's about having the wisdom and the will. We in this province are often fixated on two mighty rivers, the mighty Fraser an d the mighty Skeena. They are vital, of course.

However, the great fishery that sustained our entire economy relies also on a multitude of smaller streams. The Nile Creek Enhancement Society have offered their vision and experience to train others and to involve students in their exciting rehabilitation work. The Nile Creek Enhancement Society has partnered with Trout Unlimited in a fi ve-year project to ensure a vibrant future for pink sa lmon and sea-run cutthroat trout, the precursor to all salmon that remains the ultimate indicator species. Ken describes this cutthroat trout as the holy grail of fish.

The Nile Creek Enhancement Society has won the prestigious Canadian environmental stewardship award. Through their restoration projects, they are in the business of manufacturing hope for future sustainable generations, and we all ow e them our congratulations and our support. FESTIVAL DU BOIS H. Bloy: Bonjour, hon. Speaker. It is a great privilege to speak in the House today and at an event I attended this past weekend in Coquitlam. It was the Festival du Bois, put on every year by the Société francophone de Maillardville. I have always enjoyed attending this event.

It is a great opportunity for families across the Tri- Cities and all of British Columbia to enjoy good music and good food. This year was different. We were able to support the festival with a provincial grant of $50,000 to the city

10136 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 of Coquitlam and the Festival du Bois organizers. I am so pleased with this government's ongoing support for francophone programs and fo r events like the festival, which exhibits our province's unique francophone heri- tage. The festival is a special event unlike many others in B.C. At the Festival du Bois you can taste a variety of new and different foods, like I did, and listen to some of the best folk music in British Columbia. Once again at the festiv al, francophone Scouts put on an incredible display of history, as they've done for many years.

This year they built a boat, they had period costumes for fairgoers to dress in, and they were taking pictures. Also, the francophone Scouts built a geographical map of British Columbia, complete with water running down the Fraser. It was very competitive, and I entered the boat race and lost to Monique Powers. I can tell you, the display was so impressive that the Burnaby heritage museum wants the display so that they can use it in their facilities. I am very proud of my community's Franco- Columbian heritage. In case the House isn't familiar with the "Franco-Columbian" term, let me explain.

Franco-Columbian is a unique term which describes French speakers in British Columbia. British Columbia's vibrant and dynamic French Canadian presence is proudly represented in Maillardville. The French community at Maillardville and events like the Festival du Bois only further show how varied and multicultural we are in British Columbia. Please join me in congratulating them for a great event. KOOTENAY LAKE FERRY INITIATIVE C.

Evans: I rise to inform the House of a wonderful initiative in my constituency, an initiative to reduce atmos- pheric carbon by 800 tonnes a year and at the same time benefit business and citizens and public transportation. The story begins over a year ago, when workers — from deckhands to engineers to captains — on the Kootenay Lake ferry began to think about how they might reduce their carbon output in keeping with the province's reduction targets.

The workers experimented with various engine speeds, and they calculated that they could cut their fuel consumption by 23 percent and fuel costs by $340,000 a year by marginally reducing their operational speed. [1355] The crew's proposal, essentially, would slow down a crossing of Kootenay Lake so that instead of every 50 minutes it would leave every hour. The operational hours would be extended every day so that the ferry made the same number of crossings, just at a lesser speed. The proposals met with massive public support. Environmental groups love it because of the reduction in greenhouse gas production.

Loggers and commuters love it because it gets them to work earlier in the morn- ing. Chambers of commerce like the hourly

schedule because every hour on the hour is something tourists can actually understand and remember. Regional district directors like the plan because their citizens like the proposed

schedule and love the green outcome. All in all , I have y et to f ind a single citizen who does not endorse this environmental initiative. We in the region, though , can't build a complete business case for the changes without help to determine total environmental, social and fiscal costs and benefits. So we request assistance and/or support from all members and ministers to advance our community's carbon-reduction objectives. COALMINING IN EAST KOOTENAYS B. Bennett: The previous member talks about a very good idea. I'm pretty sure in the East Kootenay we would have thought of that quite a while ago.

Today I'm talking about something here that I've talked about many times before, but not recently, and that is coal and coalmining. Although coalmining in B.C. is currently a bit like that cr azy uncle in the attic that we don't like to talk about, I'm actually proud to speak about it here today. We wouldn't have our hybrid cars or our low-fat lattes or our laptops, for that matter, if it weren't for metallurgical coal . B.C. has been receiving benefits from coalmining in the East Kootenay for over a hundred years. Today the coal industry up there pumps over a billion dollars a year into the B.C. economy.

Today Elk Valley Coal accounts for one-half a percent of Canada's total GDP. It directly employs 2,800 people at an average salary of $94,000. It accounts for 32 percent of rail traffic in B.C. and 30 percent of B.C.'s total port activity. Elk Valley Coal is the world's second-largest exporter of metallurgical coal, which is a low-sulphur coal. It's metallurgical coal. It's not used for generating electricity. I've said all this in this House before, Mr. Speaker, so why am I talking about it today? Well, I'm glad that you asked.

Last Thursday in Cranbrook the Mining Association of B.C. presented Elk Valley Coal's Fording River mine with the annual sustainable mining award. Fording River mine is the second-largest met coalmine in the world. It makes a huge effort to ensure the sur- rounding water and land are separate from the mining operation, and they do pull that off. The coal industry in the southeast does a superb job of reclaiming the land that is mined.

Fording River mine has its own greenhouse and its own tree nursery for planting the reclaimed slopes that support large populations of elk, deer, grizzly bear, moose and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. I've been there. I can attest to that. The Fording River, which runs right through the mine site, supports a healthy population of Westslope cutthroat trout. The Fording River mine and their employees take great pride in how environmentally responsible the operation is. Coal is washed with water. It's not washed with the ch allenging chemicals that are often used in the refining of minerals. I've got more.

I see the red light on. It's always a pleasure to stand up and talk about a great industry in the southeastern part of this province. Mr. Speaker: J u s t a r e m i n d e r , M e m b e r s , t h a t i t i s two-minute statements.

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10137 Oral Questions FOREST INDUSTRY JOBS IN B.C. C. James: Ten thousand — that's the number of jobs that have been lost or scaled back in B.C.'s forest industry in just this past year. One year, 10,000 jobs. And we know there are thousands more jobs at stake in commu- nities across this province who are losing their mills. From the south coast to the interior to the north, families and communities are suffering. What was the response from this government and this Premier? No plan, just a round table that hasn't met.

My question is to the Prem ier: when is he going to admit that he's failed B.C.'s forest-dependent commu- nities and that his only plan is to stand by and watch as more mills go down and more jobs are lost? [1400] Hon. R. Coleman: The member knows, and we all know, that right now B.C.'s forest industry is facing one of the most difficult ti mes probably in the history of our province. Prices are at 1991 levels. The dollar is at par with the United States . The market in the United States has collapsed. The reality, hon.

Member, is that I guess you can get up and politicize this, but what we're doing with forest communities is trying to find long-term solutions with them today. We've put together the $129 million fund for transition and bridging to pension and working with communities day to day. It's an ongoing, 24-hour-a- day relationship that's going on between communities and us every single day to try and find solutions. Sitting down with industry executives and companies and unions in the last couple of weeks…. They all know one thing. They know we can't control the marketplace.

If you wish to think that we can, all you do is undersell the hopes and the future of B.C.'s forest sector and the workers. Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a supplemental. C. James: If playing politics means standing up for the forest industry and fo r jobs and for communities, then the people on this side are going to continue to play politics with this issue. A round table is no plan. A round table isn't going to stop mills from closing. It isn't going to help workers get their jobs back.

The round table is simply a knee-jerk reaction from a Premier who was attending the confer- ence and didn't have anything to say about this industry. It's been seven weeks since that announcement was made, and so far, we have no terms of reference, we have no membership, and we have no meetings. Their first report is due out in a few weeks. Meanwhile, the industry is facing the worst crisis in our province's his- tory — 10,000 jobs in one year.

My question, again, is to the Premier: if the round table is something more than a knee-jerk reaction, then why won't he put out the terms of reference, the mem- bership, and when they're going to meet? Hon. R. Coleman: The people that let down the forest sector in British Columbia with bad forest policy were the NDP in the 1990s. You put a billion dollars of additional cost on our industry during that time with all your forest practice and code. You had a phony jobs and timber accord promising 21,000 jobs that it never delivered. And you went out and did a number of other silly things with regards to our sector.

We actually modernized this in 2003, and today we're the only competitive forest sector in Canada — in British Columbia. With regards to the round table, the terms of refer- ence are done, and the phon e calls are actually being made to ask the people to serve right now. By the end of this week, the members of that round table will be announced. Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental. C. James: That really shows the urgency that the other side takes about the forest industry. Forty-six days and they're starting to make the phone calls now. What happened to urgency?

What happened to actually doing something for those communities? The minister says that everything's fine. Well, let's take a look: 34 mills down, 23 with scaled- back operations. Prince George, Mackenzie, Terrace, Port Alberni, Campbell River, Kamloops, Midway, Castlegar and Cranbrook. Those are just some of the communities that are hurting, some of the communities that have faced huge job losses, and all the Premier is doing is making those communities wait while he's making phone calls for a round table. Seven weeks and nothing has happened. Again, my question is to the Premier.

Will he stand up and admit that his stalled round table is an admission of failure and that he has no plan to help B.C.'s forest- dependent communities and workers? Hon. R. Coleman: Nonsense. You know what?

When you have over a hundred people who actually submit their names because they have an interest in the future of the forest sector, you owe them the courtesy to vet them in order to see who can be at the round table — who might have time, whose resumé might fit with certain skill sets you might want to have at the round table, and do the work so that the round table works for the future of the forest in British Columbia.

I know you don't like it, and I know you're going to sit there and say that the 10,000 jobs out there are the fault of a government, which is absolutely wrong. [1405] The fact of the matter is there were 2.1 million housing starts in the United States a year ago. It's ex- pected to be between 700,000 and 900,000 housing starts in the U.S. in 2008. Do you think we can make them build more houses in the United States? Do you understand that 85 percent of your forest products in B.C. are shipped to the United States? Mr. Speaker: Thank you, Minister.

10138 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 Hon. R. Coleman: Do you understand the market? I suspect you don't, and you don't care about forest sector workers, because you simply ignore them when it comes to us working with communities. Mr. Speaker: I remind members: through the Chair, please. C. Evans: I would imagine that it is the easiest job in the world to be in charge of something which you don't actually have to do anything about, because no matter what happens, you blame it on events in a previous century. There is no moment of accountability. There's no moment of responsibility.

There's no moment where you actually have to take charge, because no matter what happens, no matter who loses their job, you blame it on a previous century. When the loggers in my community were going bust, I asked the minister to take charge and come and see them, and he didn't go. When the workers in Midway were losing their jobs, the member for West Kootenay– Boundary said: "Could you come?" And he didn't go. When it was out here in Sooke, the member from Sooke — whatever you call that — got up and said: "Would you come and talk to my people?" He didn't go.

It's my understanding that when Canfor calls or West Fraser calls, he goes. My question is: what is the matrix by which the minister actually does his job? How does he pick those communities or corporations that he will show up and assist and those that are wr itten off and on their own and go down? Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Hon. R. Coleman: I'm sure this answer will send the member for Nelson-Creston into even more high- flying rhetoric in a second.

Last fall he was demanding that we take back a forest licence before it could be sold to a company that wanted to continue to open and op- erate two mills in the Kootenays. If I followed his advice at that time, Interfor would not have bought the company, would not have saved the jobs. The mayors of the communities affected actually phoned me and asked me not to listen to the member for Nelson-Creston, because they wanted an opportunity for Interfor to actually make an invest- ment in the Kootenay for the future, for the forestry of the Kootenays. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. C. Evans: Hon.

Speaker, is "balderdash" parlia- mentary? How about "horse puckey"? Everything the minister just said isn't true. Mr. Speaker: Member. C. Evans: Okay, it's balderdash. Is that nicer? Mr. Speaker: Member, use your choice of words carefully, please. C. Evans: What the minister said about my posi- tion six months ago is conf used, hon. Speaker.

What I actually said is: "Would the minister stop the sale of private land out of tree farm licence 23?" I actually said: "Would the minister see to it that the TFL didn't transfer until the loggers wh o put the wood in the lake got paid?" If that's wrong, then I don't know how to do my job. Is there anybody that works here that's not here to stand up for the people who live in their constituency — who do work, get up in the morning, put the wood in the water?

Is there anybody who wouldn't say: "Why not pay the workers before the corporation?" It is my understanding that when the minister won't come and talk to the workers who live in Nakusp, he will go to visit the owners of Canfor and West Fraser and change their stumpage. Hon. Speaker, you know, because you live in Boundary, that when he changes their stumpage, it goes up everywhere else. We call that the waterbed. Mr. Speaker: Question, Member. C.

Evans: Will the minister please explain, so everyone will understand, how the waterbed works and how, when he meets with a corporation that's in his favour, it assists to bankrupt all the other, littler companies that ever ybody in this room repre- sents? Hon. R. Coleman: Well, thanks, and that's rich. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. [1410] Hon. R. Coleman: Let's be clear, hon. Members. Who was it that intervened in the courts on behalf of the contractors in the Kooten ays in the issue with the CCAA with regards to Pope and Talbot? The government of British Columbia intervened, hon. Member.

The courts ruled against it. The courts…. Interjections. Hon. R. Coleman: No, that's not…. See, you can't…. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Hon. R. Coleman: You haven't even got the right sync, my friend. But that's okay. Recently they looked at the contractors. We intervened on behalf of the contractors. The courts ruled no — not us. We had no control of it. It's federal statute, as you know, not under our control.

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10139 But we've been there in the Kootenays working with the company and trying to find solutions so that…. You know what? The mill in Grand Forks will still operate. The mill in Castlegar would still operate. The chips would still be there for the pulp mill in the future, because you know what? You still need forestry in the Kootenays. We're hopi ng, quite frankly, that the arrangements are being made and that the company that has purchased is going to commit to that area so that you'll have a sustainable forest sector in that area of the province.

FOREST LAND SALES IN KAMLOOPS AREA K. Conroy: Those mills in the West Kootenay are still struggling today and are not opening. I'd love to talk about that, but I want to talk about another part of the province. Of the 10,000 forestry jobs that have been lost, 200 of them were lost in Kamloops when Weyer- haeuser announced the permanent closure of its mill there. However, in this case, the company also announced that they sold their public forest licences to West Fraser who then turned around an d sold them to Interfor.

The people of Kamloops and especially the Shuswap First Nation were not consulted prior to the sale, and West Fraser won't reveal the terms of the sale to the public. To the Minister of Forests: when did public forest lands become private holdings that can be bought and sold behind closed doors with no requirement to consult with impacted communities? Hon. R. Coleman: That sale has not been approved as yet. As a matter of fact, I have to take into consideration the log supply, the markets, the competitive nature…. And if there's a subdivision, it also has to go to first nations consultation and accommodation.

None of that has taken place; none of that has been completed yet. So you're precluding a decision that the minister has not made as yet. Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental. K. Conroy: With the track record in the Kootenays, when we look at the CCAA on the website, all those lands…. There are millions of dollars that say they've been sold. People have put out big money to buy land, so they're all assuming it's going to be approved.

So I think these people are just assuming that it's also going to be approved because you don't put out millions and millions of dollars to buy land if you don't think you're going to get approval. These are public lands, and one of the roles of the Minister of Forests is supposed to be to protect public lands, protect the public interest. Yet when asked what he will do, he's been told that his hands were tied. He said he was hamstrung. That's simply proof that this government and this Premier have privatized B.C.'s forests.

If I'm wrong, will the Minister of Forests commit today that he will make the terms of the deal with West Fraser public, and will he commit to conduct full public hearings so that the people of Kamloops and the first nations groups can come and put in their two cents' worth and be heard? Hon. R. Coleman: The first nations get consulted. That process is going to be ongoing. It has not come to me as yet. The measurements will be in a number of areas, and I'm actually in discussions with the companies that could be affected by chip supplier logs right now.

They're making submissions to the minister, and we'll deal with that in due course. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR FOREST WORKERS B. Simpson: We're talking about 10,000 workers who have been impacted. The spinoff of that on any calculation is about 40,000 B.C. workers who have been impacted by this fundamental restructuring in the forest sector. [1415] These are real workers. I met with a millwright on the weekend who was in tears.

He's having to leave the community that he grew up in and wants his kids to g r o w u p i n , t o m o v e d o w n t o V a n c o u v e r , b e c a u s e h e cannot sustain the uncertainty right now in the industry. That's bad for the company that he's leaving, because he's a skilled worker, and it's not good for his family, because they don't want to go. I talked to a young logging contractor who has $10,000-plus in equipment payments per month and cannot work. He has five young children, and he's quickly becoming a very angry young man. My question to the minist er is very simple.

Where's the website that I can direct them to, to apply for support from this government to get them through this tough time? Hon. R. Coleman: The member opposite is well aware that the $129 million that he alleged has already arrived in the province has not. He knows that we're working on an MOU with the federal government on the program. We've identified the people in govern- ment and how we're going to deliver that, and we would expect within the next couple weeks to have that entire program in place. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. B.

Simpson: Well, the minister talks about phony programs in one of his firs t answers today and said in that same answer — and I think he should go check the Hansard — that this program has already been defined, that there's going to be pension bridging and that there's going to be retraining and all of that. Now he's telling us that he's still working on it. He's still working on the memorandum of understanding. What is it? All we get from this government is a round table, which is an excuse not to act. We get ad

10140 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 hoc forest policy from this minister that impacts other areas of the province, that ca uses this structural change t o g o d e e p e r t h a n i t h a s t o b e c a u s e h e d o e s n ' t d o h i s homework before he makes the changes, and we get this bombast in here when we're talking about real people and real communities. A year and a half this restructuring has been going on. Two months we've known that this money is on its way. By the way, where's th e provincial money? These are provincial people.

These are people of the province of British Columbia, citizens that have paid their taxes here. Where is that money? So again to the minister: where is this program, and why after two months do you not have something that we can give as answers to these people that are losing their jobs today? Hon. R. Coleman: If the member would read Hansard, I did say pension bridging. I did say retraining. I did say those things because that's the intent of the plan. That's the work we've done internal to government. We're just finalizing the MOU for th e transfer of the funds.

Maybe you can't put the two together, but I certainly can. Through to the members opposite, though, it's not about…. I mean, the members are getting up and saying: "It's your fault, your fault, your fault." I get the fact that you don't like the fact that the market has gone in the tank, and the dollar is up an d all of those things. I've sat down with industry ov er the last number of months, and you know what they say to me? They tell me….

The member opposite who actually claims to have some knowledge of the forest sector should know where the markets are, wher e the price is, when you can operate and when you can't operate. When you're down around $200 a thousand, you know darn well that you've got to take some product out of the marketplace because the market isn't buy- ing your product at a price you can make a profit at. This means you do have to actually have some layoff and adjustments. And I don't like it. It's not fun be- ing the Minister of Forests and having to deal with situations that affect people.

But know full well that everything we can do, we are doing to protect the long-term form of forestry in the province of British Columbia. HAISLA FIRST NATION AND B.C. UTILITIES COMMISSION DECISION-MAKING PROCESS R. Austin: Last December Chief Steve Wilson of the Haisla First Nation wrote to the Premier. Chief Wilson s t a t e s i n h i s l e t t e r : " I h a v e m o r e t h a n l i v e d u p t o m y promise, and I expect the province to live up to what it has promised me." So my question is to the Minister of Energy and Mines. What did he promise to Chief Wilson? Hon. R. Neufeld: You ought to ask Chief Wilson.

Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental. R. Austin: This letter contains serious allegations, allegations that were made not by an enemy of the government but by one of their friends. [1420] Chief Wilson states, and I'll continue to quote from the letter: "I have more than lived up to my promise, and I expect the province to live up to what it has promised me." He goes on to say: "That includes what B.C.

Hydro has promised for the Haisla, to take a neutral position on the electricity purchase agreement at the British Columbia Utilities Commission oral hearings." My question to the minister is: why did the minister and this government try to subvert the B.C. Utilities Commission process? Hon. R. Neufeld: If anybody tried to subvert the BCUC it was the NDP when they were in power, when they removed B.C. Hydro from its responsibility. We have never interfered with the BCUC process. In fact, we strengthened the BCUC pr ocess many times in this House to make sure they were back in charge of B.C. Hydro.

As far as the Haisla is concerned, we've worked with Chief Wilson a lot. I worked with Chief Wilson to make sure the LNG project actually happened on their reserve so that they received the taxation for it. This government has done a lot of things with Chief Wilson to make things happen for that band as we move for- ward and as we will continue to do. We have never done anything to subver t the BCUC's decisions. S. Fraser: Well, I think bluster understates it, so I'm going to go with the bombast term also. The minister didn't answer the question. The quote is specific.

"I have more than lived up to my promise, and I expect the province to live up to what it has prom- ised me. That includes what B.C. Hydro has promised for the Haisla, to take a neut ral position on the EPA at the BCUC oral hearings." The question again — it's very specific: what did the minister promise Chief Wilson so that he would support the government and Alcan in their position at the B.C. Utilities Commission hearings? Hon. R. Neufeld: I think the members should actu- ally start being a little careful here with accusations that they're making about this government and the B.C. Utilities Commission.

We have worked with the first nations across the province. We've worked with Chief Wilson closely. Chief Wilson has an opinion. He's quite welcome to that opinion, but at no time did this government — like the previous government, the NDP — subvert any deci- sion from the B.C. Utilities Commission on any decision that the B.C. Utilities Commission has made at all. We will not do that. We have said we won't do that. We'll empower the B C U C .

W e c o n t i n u e t o e mpower the BCUC, and they will make their decisions on merit and what's based in the Utilities Commission Act for the best result for all British Columbians, regardless of who they are.

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10141 Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. S. Fraser: I do. I want to read another quote. I have the letter right here. "In pa rticular, Minister Neufeld has not been helpful to mo ve B.C. Hydro where they need to go. I thought that when I went out of my way to support the province by travelling to Alaska we made progress, but that is definitely not the case." Now, there's consistency here. This is a bit of an omen. The minister isn't being helpful right now either. The question: what exactly did the minister promise Chief Wilson? Hon. R.

Neufeld: I don't know how many times I have to tell the member opposite that we have committed to work with Chief Wilson closely on a number of issues. One was the LNG project, which we have. One is the en- ergy corridor, which he came to government with, which we have. There are other issues, I'm sure, that MARR has worked with Chief Wilson on, on many occasions. Chief Wilson is a leader in his own right in the northwest. We appreciate that, and we understand that. That's great.

But at no time — and I'll say it again so this person, this MLA, gets it if he can — did this government have intention to, or did before or will in the future, subvert any decisi on that the B.C. Utilities Commission makes on behalf of British Columbians for the betterment of all British Columbians. [1425] J. Horgan: Well, Chief Wilson's letter was addressed to the Premier, and we've hear d the quotes. I'll read it again for the record.

"I have more than lived up to my promise, and I expect the province to live up to what it has promised me." This is a letter from a senior first nations representative in the northwest of British Columbia to the Premier of this province. The Alcan deal has been contentious. It was overturned once by the Utilities Commission and not a second time, as Mr. Wilson points out in his correspondence. My question is to the Pr emier. If these allegations are false, will he stand in this place and say so today? Did this happen, or did it not? Hon. R.

Neufeld: You know, Chief Wilson can have opinions of his own, as I said before, and should have opinions of his own and should state his opinions of his own when he writes to the Premier or to a minister or anyone else from the Crown about issues that he or his band feel should happen. We have met the requests of Mr. Wilson, in rela- tionship to the LNG plant… Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Hon. R. Neufeld: …to working with them on the energy corridor through the northwest part of the province of British Columbia. We have done many other things. But in no way have we ever….

And the accusation — it's actually just a little bit hard for me to take, coming from these members across the way, about the B.C. Utilities Commission. Never have we ever subverted any decision made by the B.C. Utilities Commission, whether it was the Alcan agreement or anything . We actually depend on the B.C. Utilities Commission to make decisions for us — a l l o f u s , r e g a r d l e s s o f w h o w e a r e i n t h e B r i t i s h Columbia — for the best interests of everyone in the province. We will continue that. We have empowered the BCUC to do that, and they will continue that process. Mr.

Speaker: The member has a supplemental. J. Horgan: It says here — delivered by hand: "Dear G o r d o n . " I t g o e s o n t o s a y : " T h a t i n c l u d e s w h a t B . C . Hydro has promised for the Haisla, to take a neutral position on the energy purc hase agreement at the B.C. Utilities Commission oral hearings." Again, a very straightforw ard question. If this was delivered by hand to the Premier, what is the Premier's response? Will he tell this House now? Will he protect the integrity of the Utilities Commission and flatly deny these allegations from Chief Wilson? Will he do that right now? Hon. R.

Neufeld: Again, I know the member has a problem listening. He has a problem understanding some of these things, but we have worked with first nations. You know, we're the first government that decided we'd work with first nations for the positive outcomes of first nations in the province of British Columbia. It was this Premie r that actually put out the first nations trust. A hundred million dollars…. Interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Just take your seat for a second, Minister. Continue. Hon. R.

Neufeld: The $100 million to recognize first nations across the province of British Columbia, to help them with capacity-building — we have done that. We've worked with many first nations. I know my ministry has personally worked with an awful lot of first nations across the province of British Columbia. You know what? We're darn proud of it. That was one thing that that government never did, but we will not subvert any decision made or influence any decision made by the BCUC in regards to anything in favour of anyone. PRIVATE RESORT IN PURCELL WILDERNESS CONSERVANCY PARK N.

Macdonald: I only get one question, and it'll be this. I asked the Minister of Tourism five days ago whether a ski operation was moving into the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park. If that's the case — and I believe it is the case — then there are big problems

10142 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 with that. The people of the Columbia Valley have been clear. They do not support the Jumbo project. The reason this would be moved is to move ahead on the Jumbo project. So I have three questions. The minister rarely answers one of them, so I'll give him three not to answer. And if any one of them…. Does this minister intend to ignore the wishes of the people of the area, who voted 79 percent against this project? Does the government intend to break their word of October 4, 2004, and remove locals from decision- making?

Does the government intend to contravene the master plan for a Kootenay treasure, the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park? I can tell you… [1430] Mr. Speaker: Member, questions. N. Macdonald: …if any one of those are yes, then you have a fight on your hands. Hon. S. Hagen: There's been no application made. [End of question period.] S. Fraser: Permission to seek leave to submit a petition. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. Petitions S. Fraser: I have petitions from hundreds of residents of British Columbia asking for support on the safe anti- freeze bill. G. Coons: I have a petition. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. G.

Coons: It's a petition from close to a thousand businesses and residents on Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Gwaii, expressing concerns about dramatic increases to ferry fares and requesting a moratorium against fares until a committee is enacted to review the Coastal Ferry Act. J. Horgan: I seek to present a petition. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. J. Horgan: I have a petition here signed by 182 members of the community of Malahat–Juan de Fuca calling on the provincial government to amend the education funding formula an d ensure that Glenlake Elementary School remains open. Tabling Documents Hon. I.

Chong: I have the honour to present the annual report of the business done pursuant to the Public Service Benefit Plan Act for the year-end of March 31, 2007. C. Evans: I ask leave to make an introduction. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. Introductions by Members C. Evans: Everybody heard me introduce Gerald Rotering and tell you how cool he was and everything he ever did for Nelson. Now he's actually sitting there. Thank you for coming here. Orders of the Day Hon. M. de Jong: I call continued debate on the budget. Budget Debate (continued) G.

Robertson: I rise today to respond to the budget speech as put forward from the government. I would like to start by recognizing that we're on the traditional territory of the Songhees Fi rst Nation and by giving respect to the first nations of B.C. for welcoming us all to their traditional territory. [K. Whittred in the chair.] I just want to start by a warm thanks to all the people that make it possible for me to represent Vancouver- Fairview, starting with my family — my wife Amy and my kids Johanna, Satchel, Terra and Jinagh and the rest of my family — who has been great support for me over these past years.

I want to really send a sincere thanks out to my staff in Vancouver-Fairview, Ma ria Dobrinskaya and Joni Sherman, working hard for the community in Vancouver- Fairview; and here in Victoria, Anne Paxton, Jeff Dean and Cara McGregor. Great support for me in the job that I do. All of the opposition caucus staff here in Victoria do a phenomenal job in supporting us and helping us hold this government accountable, despite the challenges we have with resources and the challenges that we have in looking over the vast detail of business that this government looks after.

We have incredible support from our staff here in Victor ia and in our constituency offices, and here's a big shout-out to all those people that make it possible. I also want to say thanks to my constituents in Van- couver, who have for almost three years now flooded me with their ideas, input and critiques by e-mail, phone, town hall meetings — never hesitant to con- tribute and support me in my work and ensure that I'm hearing the voices of the community. I do appreciate that and take my responsibilities as their representative very seriously and couldn't do my job without that.

With regards to this budget, government at its core must be dedicated to sustainability, which means

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10143 balancing social, environmen tal and economic needs. A balanced budget should be balancing these needs, and this budget is not. Despite the merit in a few of the initiatives in this budget, I cannot support a budget that doesn't deliver on balance and sustainability. [1435] I want to address the nickname of this budget, the so- called green budget. As with previous budgets we've seen in these recent years, the names given to the budgets have been a lot more about spin than about substance.

With regards to this budget, the so-called green budget, I just want to start by addressing the green that supposedly pervades this budget, starting with the cover and mate- rials. Once you crack that open, you see one step forward on green measures and two steps back. We have the beginnings of a carbon tax. It's a fuel tax. It is a good step, but it'll have minimal impact on the emissions that we so desperately need to reduce here in B.C. Part of this is the fact that it's starting out so small — a very small increment of what we already charge as a provincial fuel tax of about 30 cents a litre.

Partly, its failure is resulting from failing to tax emissions. It's taxing fuel consumption, not emissions. This is a fuel tax. It shouldn't be confused with a true emissions or carbon tax. The other sources of emissions that are not affected by a fuel tax — and what this government hopes will be a reduction in the consumption of fuel — are getting off scot-free. The big emitters, big industry, that are pumping emissions into the atmosphere from smoke- stacks…. I'm talking about the oil and gas plants, the pulp and paper plants, al uminum, cement industry. They don't pay.

They will continue to use the atmos- phere as a free dumping ground. This tax, the so-called tax, only applies to fuels as a gas tax. A billion dollars is forecast in this budget each year for the three years. That's just about a billion dollars in the fuel tax forecast. That's revenue flowing from the 30-cent fuel tax. There's no decline built into this budget for the revenues flowing from that fuel tax. Therefore, we can put a fuel tax in place at 2. 4 cents a litre to start with. Clearly, the government doesn't believe it's going to do any good.

It's not going to reduce the revenues that flow from the consumption of fuel. Go figure. If we look at what is ne ces s ary here, the b ig qu es- tion is: where are the prog rams to reduce emissions dramatically? Both sides of the House agree in setting significant and challenging targets to reduce our emis- sions — 33 percent by 2020 and 80 percent of 2007 emissions by 2050. But this ca rbon tax or fuel tax is only projected to reduce emissions by three million tonnes at best. That's about 14 percent of the way to the goal, to the big goal.

It's an insignificant investment in environmental measures that would actually dramatically reduce emis- sions. That's the problem here. There is no significant investment in measures that will reduce emissions. So what does this tax achieve? This tax achieves a transfer of funds into the pockets of British Columbia without any support, as the Finance Minister had said, on the education side or on the incentive side to actually target that funding into measures that will reduce emissions. We may even see increases in emis- sions resulting from the hundred-dollar climate action dividend.

That won't be doin g anything to achieve the goals that we're setting out for ourselves. More details that are challenging here. Revenue- neutral. We on this side of the House agree in principle with revenue-neutral. We've stated that. But since this proposal has come forward in the budget, we're hearing from the people of B.C. saying: "Revenue-neutral. We need to take on these emissions. We need programs. We need incentives. We need some help reducing our emis- sions. We don't just want some cash coming back in a so- called revenue-neutral transfer.

W e w a n t h e l p r e d u c i n g our emissions and minimizing our impact on the envi- ronment." The budget doesn't deliver on that help. [1440] Beyond the revenue-neutral issue, we see this gas tax unfairly punishing residents in rural B.C. who have no alternative, in many cases — whether they're in business, in the resource industry or in agriculture. At this point they rely on fuel to do their work, to live their lives the way they're living them.

The gas tax, in the absence of measures that would help people reduce their emis- sions and their impact, is effectively punishing people in rural B.C. who rely on fuel for their livelihoods. They don't have choices, and that's a big failing within this budget. An additional challenge here — and this affects all the people in the province — is the fact that this whole process for over a year now has been shrouded in secrecy. The people of B.C. have this so-called carbon tax thrust upon them. They'v e heard lots of promises. They've seen legislation come through to set targets. But where's the buy-in?

Where's the inclusion? Where's the process that actually brings the people of B.C. to the table in a meaningful way to talk about what impact this will have on their lives and how they can make the changes they need to make? That's not happening from this government. It's not happening within this budget. There are no measures laid out in this budget to take the process public and make sure that people are heard from and that people understand and embrace the changes we need to make. That's a failing within this budget as well. Two steps back. The contradictions in this budget are massive.

The contradictions of $327 million in sub- sidies to the oil and gas industry — almost a billion dollars in subsidy to the oil and gas industry over the next three years. At the same time, no responsibility for whatever increase in emissions results from the oil and gas accelerating in terms of extraction. If we put that much money in subsidies to the oil and gas industry, one would expect they'll increase their output. One would expe ct that when they in- crease their output, they will increase their emissions. How does that jibe with a 33 percent reduction over the next 13 years? It doesn't jibe.

Here's the massive contradiction. Add to that a billion dollars in the sale of shale gas

10144 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 leases last year, and we see…. I can't wait to see the next result from the Minist er of Energy here and can't wait to see how significant these sales continue to be in the early part of this year. There's effectively a shale gas rush happening in B.C. Do we know what it's worth? Do we know what the impact on climate change is going to be? Do we know what the impact on our emissions is going to be? Are we comfortable taking no responsibility for the emissions from our fossil fuel extraction for the rest of the planet? They don't count?

They don't go into the balance of this budget? Apparently not. We'll do everything we can to sell that stuff off at whatever price we can get for it today. That seems to be the strategy that really punctuates the contradiction of this budget. How can you say one thing out of one side of your mouth and then deny it with actions — with a billion dollars in taxpayers' money over the next three years — to undo the goals that are being set? There are a lot of other environmental measures to complement this budget that are missing — the so-called green budget.

We're not seeing significant funding for community transition. What are these great communities going to do when the oil an d gas, the shale gas, is gone? What are they going to do next, once their source of revenue and their economies are on the line? What are we going to do about the fish-farming indus- try? This Legislature had a special committee to look at the future of fish farming and sustainable aquaculture in this province. A thorough report was made with massive input from the coastal communities of B.C. We've seen no action on it.

We've seen no funding flowing for closed- containment projects, for really helping to transition the aquaculture industry into sustainability. What do we see for wilderness protection? Minimal. In contradiction to what is there, we see huge impacts from the small hydro projects all around the province — power plants, roads, transmission lines — that are going to carve up wilderness around this province, and im- pacts on the fish and all th ose creeks and small rivers from the over 500 that have been leased out now and sold off.

The impact on th e fish and wildlife and those rivers is not taken into consideration here. [1445] Species at risk. Well, there's a pretty short list. Some good movement on caribou in this last year. What about the rest of the roster? We've got species at risk not being factored into this budget in a meaningful way. B.C. parks — t h e p r o u d e s t l e g a c y t h a t w e h a v e i n protected areas in B.C. What do we see to support parks in this so-called green budget? Pretty much zilch. It's a thin gruel for the legacy of B.C. parks.

I'm disappointed that the gr een is splashed all over in the promotional materials and the spin. Really, it is effectively greenwashing. This was a huge opportunity to do more — to be holistic, comprehensive and vision- ary on the environment. Compared to the early years of this B.C. Liberal administration where they were bashing Kyoto and denying climate change, there has been progress here. We'll give you some credit for that, but much more is needed, and this budget falls short. In terms of balance, I want to move to talking about the social side of this budget.

We have a brutal record as a province when compared to the rest of our coun- try. We're among the worst in Canada on many of the metrics on social condition. This budget somehow, shockingly, when you're in last place on a number of fronts…. To ignore it for another year is atrocious, and that starts with child poverty. It starts with the kids in gen- eral. How can you ignore a problem as critical as the highest child poverty rate in the country? There are no meaningful steps here, from child supports to addressing welfare rates and increasing minimum wage.

Beyond this unbelievable failing on child poverty, we see our education system continue to be strained, especially for kids with special needs, with English- as-a-second-language need s. Seismic upgrading is stalled out, moving slowly. Kids are not safe in many schools of this province. School boards are under enormous budgetary pressure, and this government continues to play games with the school boards and their funding. Child care is grossly underfunded. The province has failed to take serious steps to address the federal dollars shortfall. Clearly, child care is not even on the radar.

It is not a priority of this government and cer- tainly doesn't show up in this budget as a priority. Kids are worth the inve stment. It astounds me that any government in this day and age can take an approach that actually undervalues, undercuts and undermines our kids. Our ki ds are our future. From child care to education to eradicating child poverty, we need to significantly improve the prospects and potential for our kids, and this budget does not do that. Tragically, this budget ignores the homelessness crisis. Some $39 million is labelled in this budget for homelessness, dropping to $31 million next year.

You compare that to $38.5 billion in revenues coming into this treasury. That's ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of a percent; ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of the reve- nues are being dedicated to deal with homelessness. W h e n w e h a v e , b y b e s t e s t i m a t e s , w e l l o v e r 1 0 , 0 0 0 citizens in this province without a home — thousands of them are in my city alone…. These people need permanent housing. They don't need a tiny do llop of funding to address emergency shelter funding. It does not address the problem. It is absolutely disrespectful of what's hap- pening on the streets and in the towns around this province.

It's a band-aid — a band-aid that ain't going to stick for long. I understand that in the city of Van- couver, the minister has had challenges working with the city of Vancouver, and it 's very disappointing that the city is not cooperating on identifying sites as read- ily as they might. I t i s a n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n — and perhaps there are others around the province — that is not wholly com- mitted to ending homelessness. Clearly, there needs to be a stronger commitment fr om both the city and the province to achieve the goal of ending homelessness. [1450]

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10145 Affordable housing is a big piece of that, and the province is not coming to the table with anything significant to address affordable housing. The social housing programs cancelled by this government in 2002 have failed to re-emerge despite the crisis in hous- ing and affordability. The $375-a-month shelter allowance doesn't cut it, doesn't even begin to cut it in a city like Vancouver. Rent supplements, while they 're a piece of the puzzle, don't cut it either. They don't help when the vacancy rate is almost zero in the city of Vancouver.

Rents continue to skyrocket. People continue to get pushed out. The bottom line is that to end homelessness and deal with the affordable housing crisis, we need housing — bricks and mortar — and this budget does not deliver. Keeping in the frame of social bottom lines here, I can't not address the challeng es that we're seeing in health care. My riding is home to Vancouver General Hospital, Children's and Wo men's hospital, and many of the exceptional organizations and services that provide health care to the people of British Columbia.

People come from all over the province to Vancouver-Fairview for health care and support. Given the unbelievable strains on the system that I see in my community and that I hear echoed by others here in this House, it's very disappointing that there isn' t more in this budget to support our health care system. The staff that work in our health care system have an unreasonable workload and have incredible stress on them to keep the syst em going. The inadequate funding and the government's management of our health care system clearly isn't working. Clearly, there's huge room for improvement.

The public is forced to deal with unreasonable wait times, backups in emergency rooms, inadequate home care and long-term care. Clearly, much more needs to be done. Given the stories that we hear every day and that the members bring into this House on a regular basis, why doesn't this budget address health care in a mean- ingful way? It's like a footnote in this budget. Moving to the economy and the third piece within what should be a balanced budget, again we see in small business some very minimal steps.

Small business, I think everyone in this Ho use will acknowledge, is the foundation of our economy with a majority of the jobs and a significant contribution to GDP. Over 95 percent of the businesses in this province are small business. There are minimal steps here. Again, there's been some movement. At last the small business tax rate is being reduced. It's taken seven years for this government to step up and give small business a break in terms of tax.

But if you con- trast the tax break — $255 million over three years to small business — with the $415 million to big business and the corporate income tax, you see…. How does small business end up getting the short straw again? I mean, small business is dominant in this province and deserves a lot more support from this government. Basically this government gets lip service for small business, and we'd like to see a lot more support on this side of the House flowing to small business. The budget doesn't deliver on that.

The forest sector in this province, the biggest sector of our economy, now in turmoil as we heard again today in question period — there's no action coming from this government. There's no uptake of a very well-designed plan put forward by the Leader of the Opposition. There's no uptake there, and there's nothing in the budget to address an unbelievable challenge that the forest industry faces right now. I could say the similar gap occurs here with agricul- ture — the lowest funding per capita in Canada here in B.C.

It's a huge piece for the agriculture sector to adapt to climate change, to reduce emissions, to continue to grow more food locally and make a difference in terms of our carbon footprint as a province. It's a crucial sector for our economy.

This budget doesn't answer for the agriculture industry and does not really deliver anything in a meaningful way to help the agricultural sector transform and continue to contribute in a bigger way to the province's economy. [1455] So if you contrast going AWOL on forestry, going AWOL on agriculture, short-changing small business with, as I mentioned before, massive subsidies to the oil and gas sector and shale gas sales — like, blow it out with fossil fuels, give away the fixed assets at an unbelievable rate right now — it doesn't add up.

Is this the vision for our economy — take it from the balance sheet, blow it out the income statement in one year and forget about all the industries that are renewable year after year? They grow product. Every year, if they're managed carefully and sustainably, they will continue to deliver, and they will continue to contribute to our economy. Green energy — again, another missed opportu- nity on the economic side here. The government is relentlessly pursuing priv atized power. We're not seeing wind turbines. It's 2008 now, and we don't have a wind turbine in the province of British Colum- bia.

Yeah, they're coming; they're coming. We see it in the power call, but we do not have one. It is an inter- national embarrassment. This government has had seven years to deliver on wind power, and where is it? It doesn't exist. Run of the river. Look at the impact on the over 500 rivers sold for a song. Look at the impact. Due to Bill 30 that this government rammed through, local communi- ties have no input on what energy is developed in their jurisdictions. It's been slow motion — slow motion on renewable energy more broadly.

We've got little bits and little bites here and there, but we're not seeing a massive shift into renewable energy — one that could r e a d i l y b e f u n d e d b y t h e h u g e f l o w o f r o y a l t i e s f r o m non-renewable resources. More broadly on the economy, where is the signifi- cant investment in the knowledge-based economy? We all recognize that resources, particularly non- renewable ones, have a limite d ability to contribute to our economy here. We have to be investing in the knowledge-based economy. That i s t h e f u t u r e o f t h i s province; it's the future of this world.

10146 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 We're not seeing a significant investment to incu- bate, to cultivate, to grow rapidly our knowledge- based economy in B.C. We contrast the investment in the knowledge-based economy to the oil and gas sector. Again, are we putting a billion dollars in the next three years into the knowledge-based economy? Not according to this budget. We're seeing $220 million going into the banks, the financial institutions. Is this more critical than child poverty?

As an economic measure, who's going to contribute more to the future of B.C. — the banks and financial institutions or the kids of this next genera- tion? Again, it's a failing in terms of big picture for this government on the economy. Post-secondary education. It's shoved to the side again. In this budget there's no significant deliverable on post-secondary.

Despite the funding that was invested in Campus 2020 and a new look at where post-secondary education is headed in this province, and despite huge workforce needs and big challenges in the system, with the highest student debt in the country and accessibility very limited for people on low incomes and from low- income families, post-secondary education is clearly not a priority for this government. Extend that into the broader sphere of literacy. Lit- eracy, which was a pet project of the Premier, doesn't even show up here. It's critical to economic growth.

There's demonstrable proof that literacy rates are directly tied to economic growth. Another botched priority in this budget for the economy of B.C. Clearly, this government with this budget is not focused on the fundamentals of our economic health and the future of B.C.'s economy. This budget is based on a big sell-off of hard assets, of non-renewable resources with an inadequate focus on the key drivers of our current economy and the key steps required to build our knowledge-based economy. The big question is: what does this budget mean to Vancouver-Fairview?

As the representative for Fairview, w e h a v e a r e a l c r u n c h h e r e i n h o u s i n g i n V a n c o u v e r . Affordability is an issue. I spoke about homelessness and housing and the lack of support in this budget for it. It will continue to be a problem for my constituents in Fairview. There's nothing in this bu dget to address the unbe- lievable impact of the Canada line on the small businesses along the Cambie corridor. Again, we have over 60 businesses now closed along that corridor.

There's noth- ing in the budget here to address it. [1500] There are big expectations that this government has put forward in their transit plan to run a rapid transit line out Broadway to UBC. A huge budget is being built into that for tunnelling, saying that it won't have any impact on those small businesses in the Broadway corridor. The Broadway corri dor is the second biggest so-called downtown in th e province, and there are thousands of businesses along the Broadway corridor that could be affected here.

I don't think the businesse s on Broadway are going to take it too lightly when promises were broken on Cambie, no compensation has been delivered and now this government is proposing: "Oh, don't worry. We'll run it your way, but it won't even affect you." There's no way to not affect the small businesses along a megaproject corridor. Something needs to be delivered on Cambie. The budget doesn't do that, and clearly, there have to be significant consultations and a mitiga- tion plan in place for Broadway. Transit needs continue to be high in my riding. Service is not keeping up with the demand.

We need to have U-passes for students at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, for VCC, for the other campuses in Vancouver. Affordability is a really critical issue, and this budget is not strong on that. In closing, we're living in very tumultuous times. We live in great affluence and, at the same time, with intolerable poverty. We have a growing gap between rich and poor that undermin es us as a province.

We have unsustainable consumption and emissions to deal with — ecosystems under siege, extinctions spiking, erosion, loss of forest cover, an epic challenge of climate change — and a significant transformation of our economy that's needed. This budget doesn't address the colossal challenges that are facing us. For every positive step, there are two backward steps, with the contradictions and with no resolve to address the social, environmental and economic needs. In the big picture, th is is not a balanced budget. Therefore, I cannot support it. Hon. O. Ilich: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Deputy Speaker: Proceed. Introductions by Members Hon. O. Ilich: I have a friend in the gallery who has just joined us. He's from Richmond. His name is Peter Raju. Peter is president of the Rotary Club. This next month he's putting on a tribute to seniors in Richmond. He's very active in our community and is a great asset to our community. He is joined today by Len da Silva and Susan Stein from YVR, who I used to work with many years ago. So please make them feel welcome today. Debate Continued Hon. R. Neufeld: I take my place in the House to speak to what I think is a great budget.

Again, a budget which, contrary to what the last member talked about — not being balanced — is fully balanced. In fact, three years hence, we'll be balanced every year. We have a law in British Columbia that says we must balance the budgets. [H. Bloy in the chair.] I know the member opposite probably wouldn't recognize a balanced budget if it landed in his lap in front of him, but that's to be expected. They never had

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10147 the benefit of having a balanced budget for ten years while they were in opposition. All they were able to do was drive up expenses. I'm proud to stand up an d support a budget, again, that's got an estimated 1.8 percent growth annually, each year forward. We have revenue of $38.5 billion this year, with expenditures at $37.7 billion. I think, in anybody's arithmetic, that that would add up to a bal- anced budget, one with some surplus.

Before I go too far, I want to take the opportunity to thank the people in Peace River North for electing me to this fourth term here in this Legislature. When one looks around the Legislat ure and the work that is entailed in the Legislature, one has to be in awe when you sit in this particular room thinking that you're one of the people that can actually help make changes, help those people in need, help those people that need jobs and to actually help the province become self-sufficient and self-suppo rting again. We are proud of that. [1505] We have a strong economy.

We inherited an econ- omy that was at the bottom of the basket in jurisdictions across Canada and in this year, this budget, finally bring — or have brought, for a number of years now — a balanced budget and an economy that's second to none across Canada. When you look at 400,000 jobs, I believe, created in British Columbia — with 85 percent of those being full- time, permanent jobs — it's remarkable. In fact, that's better than any other jurisdiction around. If the member chooses to vote against it, he can do that. I would vote for it, and so would the people that actually have jobs in this economy we have.

The expenditures are prud ent. Our Finance Minister since 2001 has brought us to a place with a triple-A credit rating. That is much better than the credit rating we got when we were elected in 2001 — and what a difference from the 1990s. Having been elected here since 1991, I sat in those ten miserable years, that decade of decline in the province while we went downhill. In jurisdictions around us th eir economies were rising and they were moving forward. Alberta was moving forward at a pace where we were as fast going down- hill as they were going uphill. It's not a matter of just British Columbia.

It was, in fact, a matter of the government and the policies of the day that drove us there. But I would much rather have this budget today, this expe cted growth, than what we received in the 1990s. This is a bold move on the climate. It's a bold move, because this province has moved ahead under the leader ship of our Premier to deal with greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia. Someone had to do it, and when you look around across Canada or even in the Pacific Northwest, the states that we trade with a lot will tell you the same thing. It is a bold move, and we're leading.

They will be following in many ways as we move forward. We have to think of not just today, not just a few months out and not just a few years out. We need to think about our children and our grandchildren, those that are not yet here. I remember clearly that when we released the energy plan in February 2007 — and I went back and took a clip of what I said, just one small short piece — I said: "Climate change is real. What effect human activity is having is, I believe, in part real. We need to do our part for those yet to come." I think those are serious words.

Those are words that we have to actually embrace in British Columbia. I understand the member for Vancouver-Fairview doesn't want to embrace climate change. He talks about it all the time. He doesn't want to embrace ideas about how we can deal with climate change in the province. He would rather have business as usual, and I mean busi- ness as usual as it was in the 1990s. If you don't have enough money, just go out and borrow it and create more programs. Who cares?

That's what they were very good at, and that's what I would assume the member for Vancouver-Fairview was talking about when he said he couldn't support a budget that actually deals with climate change and the economy, that deals with those that need a hand up, that deals with health care and education. He clearly said, as many of them on that side of the House have said, that he's opposed to it. It's interesting; they all approved the supplemen- tary estimates. You know, when the vote came, when those in favour were called and there was a division, who stood? Everyone that was in the House, including the NDP.

But the next day all they could do was bad- mouth it, just like today. He can't support it. So it's understandable that they'r e not sure what they can support and what they can't support. That shouldn't surprise us at all. [1510] When we look at the leadership on that side of the House, one has to wonder, because one day the leader- ship says, "I support climate change; I would actually not do things much different; I would not change the cost of it," and then comes in the House and talks about how terrible it is.

You just never know what they're g o i n g t o b e i n f a v o u r o f o r w h a t t h e y ' r e g o i n g t o b e opposed to. I just want to read a few things from the backgrounder. It was pretty easy reading, even for those people across the way in opposition. If they don't have good research, they could actually remove those documents and have a look at it. We'll just go th rough a few of them, and I'll remind everyone that the people who say they don't want to support the budget , they're opposed to these things.

I know we are in support of a billion dollars in operat- ing and capital expenditures over four years to support a comprehensive approach to reducing B.C.'s greenhouse gas emissions. We're for it. They're against it. We heard a member just talk a while ago about how we should be doing it. Well, we're for doing it. They're against it. An estimated $1.8 billion in personal and business tax reductions over three years to return revenue gen- erated by a carbon tax. That's revenue-neutral. We're for it. They're against it.

10148 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES M ONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 They stood before the bu dget was even laid down before the House. They said: "We want a revenue- neutral carbon tax if it's going to come." We brought it. Now they're against it. An additional $2.9 billion — $2.9 billion additional — for enhancing health care , for a total funding in- crease of $4.9 billion or 19 percent over three years and an additional $543 million in capital spending over four years to be provided for major health facilities expansion. I'm for it. They're against it. In that number is a new hospital plan for Fort St.

John, a new seniors care complex. I'm for it. This government's for it. They're against it. Absolutely unbelievable. Now, $144 million over three years for K-to-12 edu- cation funding and StrongStart centres. This side of the House, we're for it. That side of the House, they're against funding for schools. And $346 million over four years for new invest- ments in the economy and communities. We're for that. They're against it. An additional tax redu ction of $481 million over three years. We're for it. We have the lowest personal income taxes for below $110,000 earnings of any juris- diction in Canada.

We're for it. They're against it. I could — in fact, I am going to — go on with a number of other things: $1 billion for climate action; $98 million for a new LiveSmart B.C. efficiency incentive program and other initiatives to encourage individuals and communities to make more energy-efficient choices in their homes, businesses and vehicles — $98 million. We're for it. They're against it. Now, $370 million for capital and operating ex- penses to improve and expand public transportation in British Columbia. We're for it. They're against it.

And $57 million for bioene rgy and alternative energy solutions such as establishing a bioenergy network, intro- ducing a biodiesel production incentive, expanding solar thermal energy systems and supporting the innovative clean energy fund. We're for it. They're against it. Ten million dollars over three years for incentives to actually build a biodiesel plant likely will happen in the Peace. It was brought fo rward by the Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Forests and myself, by this government of British Columbia. Again, they don't want a hospital built in the northe ast.

They don't want a bio- diesel plant built in the northeast. They don't want an ethanol plant in British Columbia, but they all want to talk green. The only thing green about them is that they don't understand anything about how you actually get an economy to be green. You have to invest some dollars in that economy to make sure it happens. We're invest- ing in spades. We're for it. They're against it. [1515] Then I listened to the Wizard of Oz over there talk — the fellow that's planning to move over to lead Vancouver. Vancouver-Fairview — I forgot his con- stituency name.

I'm sorry; I had to use another acro- nym. The member for Vancouver-Fairview who talks about…. The small business g u r u o f t h a t g r o u p — he never came forward with a solid suggestion yet. Nothing, nothing but compla ints. He can't support a balanced budget, can't support health spending, can't support looking at how you actually make an economy green and will look at keeping economic competitive- ness. You need that. So $112 million to enhance the basic and regional film tax credits to support B.C.'s film industry.

That means giving credits out in the rural part of B.C. to actually encourage filming in the rural part of B.C., not just Vancouver. We're for it. They're against it. Twelve million dollars for Geoscience B.C. for oil, gas and mineral exploration and to further develop geoscience data to support the mineral exploration, I should say, in the mountain pine beetle–affected regions. That's something that has been a standard around British Columbia. In fact, when they were in office, although they cut down the geoscientists' funding dramatically… That's something that's kin to all of us.

Anybody that knows anything about minerals, or oil and gas…. You actually have to do some in-ground work. This helps. This is mainly going in the Nechako and the Bowser basin and those areas hard hit by pine beetle to actually create jo bs, wealth and investment in the province of British Columbia rather than some other place. We're for it. They're against it. They're against jobs in th eir communities that they represent by saying no to this kind of investment — each and every one of them.

Now, I can see the folks in Vancouver Island saying no, but I cannot see the peo- ple in the Cariboo and those re gions saying no to this. I would expect the two members from Cariboo are going to stand up and vote for this budget just for that $12 million in their region. The list goes on and on of great benefits for the prov- ince, regardless of where you live. Some $30 million to endow the Terry Fox research centre to be headquar- tered in B.C. for transitional research to help the fight against cancer. What's the matter with that? You're against it. You'll vote against it. We're for it.

We're for more research into cancer. We're for those kinds of things in health care. The NDP is completely opposed. In fact, the other day the member for North Is- land said she was elected to oppose everything. I was astounded at that statement. There must be some things that she can find in her little, old heart that she could actually support for some of the people she represents on Vancouver Island. You would think there would be a few things that she could find in her heart to say: "My goodness, I think that's not bad for the people I represent.

I ought to be there to support that so I can have jobs and econ omic activity happening in my area." I'm disillusioned and disappointed at how some of these members actually rail against the budget, when it's probably one of the better budgets we've had for all across British Columbia. Let's also look at some of the things that are coming around now in regards to…. I want to deal with elec- tricity, IPPs, rates, oil and gas, some of the mainstays of the province, some of the things that we would like to actually keep operating, and I guess I can only

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 B RITISH COLUMBIA DEBATES 10149 understand that the NDP does not want to see continue to operate. I read the newspapers, and I see members opposite, from the NDP, talking abou t the rate increases that took place. I won't go into the rate increases, but I'm going to go around them a little bit, because those rate increases are right now before the B.C. Utilities Commis- sion for their decision. But to say they're attributable only to independent power producers or purchases is entirely incorrect. [1520] There is an awful lot of work going around in British Columbia. B.C.

Hydro is working on its own systems to upgrade a system that was left to die on a vine for ten years so it could return money to the NDP so that they could come in here and expand it. Or, heaven forbid…. They built a couple of plants — one of them was in Pakistan — when we needed electricity in British Columbia. But I guess that's NDP logic. It's a way to go. They're still trying to figure out the undersea cables to get it over to Vancouver Island. We'll let them continue to figure that out. Do you know what's sad?

During the ten years that the NDP were here, with the increase in consumption in British Columbia, the new electricity…. They did create some new electricity. They were in favour of IPPs at one time. It was when th ey were doing it, though. No one else can do it, becaus e only they can do it. For the growth in consumption of Hydro customers in the province, the NDP managed to build just 11 percent of that new consumption.

I s i t a n y w o n d e r t h a t w e h a v e t o g o o u t n o w a n d build an awful lot of electricity generation in British Columbia, when you take ten years that they didn't build enough generation to look after only 11 percent of the growth? We have to build that today, and we have to build it for a thriving economy. They had a lousy economy, driven by them — not by anyone else, by them. I remember that Ralph Klein, when he was the Premier of Alberta, used to say, and I'd read it quite often in th e newspaper: "I don't need an economic development ministry at all.

I just have to keep the NDP in power in British Columbia, and they'll drive all the investment over to me." That's all that was built. What we're doing is em- barking on getting British Columbia back to being self-sufficient, as we once proudly were and as we will proudly be again. I'm just going to read a number of the things that are happening in the…. When Hydro put out the press release about asking for a rate increase. They said, "Here are some of the things that we're doing in the province to upgrade the public system," which was driven into the ground during the 1990s.

What they're doing at Revelstoke generating station unit No. 5 is installing a new unit. It's a $280 million to $350 million investment in the province. You know, that money has to be retrieved some way, and that's through rate increases. The people, the ratepayers, actually have to pay for that. Peace Canyon generating station, $141 million. That means upgrading so that it can actually generate more electricity in British Columbia. Gordon M.

Shrum gen- erating station, the largest one we have in the province, is receiving $100 million in upgrades — $91 million, to be exact — to redo the stators so that it can actually generate more electricity in an economy that grows daily, weekly, monthly and yearly in British Columbia. It's so good to my ears, compared to an economy in the 1990s that went down, down, down and down. What a difference. Mica generating station, another $97 million. Aber- field generating station, $95 million. Coquitlam dam seismic improvement project, $66 million. Interior lower mainland transmission project, $600 million.

Vancouver Island transmission reinforcement, $287 million. The new control centre for BCTC is state of the art. It's something that the world would love to have, and we should be proud of that. That technology was developed here in British Columbia for the benefit of British Co- lumbians. It's another $130 million. The project is on time and on budget and we ought to be darn proud of those kinds of things. That's what's happening to rates in the province. Interjection. Hon. R. Neufeld: Yeah. They're against it, and we're for it. We think we need it. We need to upgrade the systems. B.C. Hydro agrees with us.

The BCUC agrees with it. An independent, quasi-judicial body says: "Yes, you should upgrade those facilities for the benefit of all the people in the province." We're for it; they're against it. [1525] IPPs. It's a great philosophical debate. I just want to clarify a few things. I mean, it depends what day of the week, what afternoon, what evening, or where you're at when you hear some of the quotes come from some of the NDP members opposite about IPPs. There are now a total of 43 — not thousands, just 43. A few of those were built while the NDP were here.

In fact, the largest natural gas–fired generating plant in British Columbia was built by the NDP. Actually, not by the NDP. As much as they rail ag

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	H0303pm-07
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	H0303pm 07
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ec659f80c30c665a1383199b9e97db396497b3a5

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