British Columbia Hansard — Wednesday, February 11, 2009

H0211pm-04

British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)

Fourth Session, 38th Parliament o FFicial rePort o F Debates of the Legis Lative a ssemb Ly (hansarD) the honourable bill bari So FF, SPeaker iSSn 0709-1281 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Afternoon Sitting Volume 37, Number 4

Pro Vince o F britiS h colu Mbia (entered c onfederation July 20, 1871) lieutenant -Go Vernor h is h onour the h onourable Steven l. Point, obc Fourth Session, 38th Parliament SPeaker o F the leGiS latiVe a SSeMbl Y h onourable bill barisoff eXecutiVe council Premier and President of the executive c ouncil ......................................................................................................h on. Gordon c ampbell Minister of State for intergovernmental r elations ...........................................................................................................h on.

Joan Mcintyre Deputy Premier and Minister of education and Minister r esponsible for early l earning and l iteracy .........................................................................................h on. Shirley bond Minister of a boriginal r elations and r econciliation .................................................................................................. h on. Michael de Jong Minister of a dvanced e ducation and l abour Market Development ............................................................................. h on.

Murray c oell Minister of a griculture and l ands ..................................................................................................................................... h on. r on c antelon a ttorney General and Minister r esponsible for Multiculturalism .......................................................................... h on.

Wally o ppal, Qc Minister of c hildren and Family Development ..........................................................................................................h on. t om c hristensen Minister of State for c hildcare ................................................................................................................................................. h on. l inda r eid Minister of c ommunity Development ............................................................................................................................. h on. k evin k rueger Minister of energy, Mines and Petroleum r esources .....................................................................................................h on. blair l ekstrom Minister of State for Mining ................................................................................................................................................ h on.

Gordon h ogg Minister of environment and Minister r esponsible for c limate a ction .......................................................................h on. barry Penner Minister of Finance and Minister r esponsible for the o lympics .................................................................................. h on. c olin h ansen Minister of Forests and r ange ....................................................................................................................................................... h on.

Pat bell Minister of h ealth Services ................................................................................................................................................h on. George a bbott Minister of h ealthy l iving and Sport .....................................................................................................................................h on.

Mary Polak Minister of h ousing and Social Development .................................................................................................................h on. r ich c oleman Minister of l abour and citizens' Services ................................................................................................................................ h on. iain black Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General .........................................................................................................h on.

John van Dongen Minister of Small business, t echnology and e conomic Development and Minister r esponsible for the a sia-Pacific initiative .................................................................................................. h on. ida c hong Minister of t ourism, c ulture and the a rts ...........................................................................................................................h on. bill bennett Minister of t ransportation and infrastructure ...................................................................................................................h on. k evin Falcon leGiS latiVe a SSeMbl Y l eader of the official o pposition ...................................................................................................................................................c arole James Deputy Speaker ..............................................................................................................................................................................Sindi h awkins Deputy Speaker .....................................................................................................................................................................k atherine Whittred a ssistant Deputy Speaker ...............................................................................................................................................................Sue h ammell Deputy c hair, c ommittee of the Whole .......................................................................................................................................... h arry bloy c lerk of the l egislative a ssembly...................................................................................................................e.

George MacMinn, obc, Q c c lerk a ssistant ..................................................................................................................................................................................r obert Vaive c lerk a ssistant and l aw c lerk................................................................................................................................................. ian D. izard, Qc c lerk a ssistant and c lerk of c ommittees ................................................................................................................................. craig h.

James c lerk a ssistant and c ommittee c lerk .................................................................................................................................... k ate r yan-l loyd Sergeant-at-a rms .................................................................................................................................................................................

Gary l enz Director, h ansard Services ............................................................................................................................................................Jo-a nne k ern l egislative l ibrarian ............................................................................................................................................................................ Jane t aylor l egislative c omptroller .......................................................................................................................................................................

Dan a rbic

alP habetical liS t o F MeMberS a bbott, h on. George (l) ........................................................................ Shuswap a ustin, r obin (nDP) ................................................................................ Skeena bains, h arry (nDP) ....................................................................Surrey-n ewton barisoff, h on. bill (l) ............................................Penticton–o kanagan Valley bell, h on.

Pat (l) ...............................................................Prince George n orth bennett, h on. bill (l) ...................................................................e ast k ootenay black, h on. iain (l) ......................................................Port Moody–Westwood bloy, h arry (l) ....................................................................................burquitlam bond, h on. Shirley (l) ....................................Prince George–Mount r obson brar, Jagrup (nDP) .....................................................Surrey–Panorama r idge c ampbell, h on.

Gordon (l) .........................................Vancouver–Point Grey c antelon, h on. r on (l) ......................................................n anaimo-Parksville c hong, h on. ida (l) ..................................................... o ak bay–Gordon h ead c houhan, r aj (nDP) ........................................................... burnaby-e dmonds c hristensen, h on. t om (l) ..................................................o kanagan-Vernon c hudnovsky, Dave (nDP) ........................................... Vancouver-kensington c oell, h on.

Murray (l) ....................................Saanich n orth and the islands c oleman, h on. r ich (l) ............................................Fort l angley–a ldergrove c onroy, katrine (nDP) ...........................................West kootenay–b oundary c oons, Gary (nDP) .........................................................................n orth c oast c ubberley, David (nDP) ..............................................................Saanich South de Jong, h on.

Michael (l) ................................... a bbotsford–Mount l ehman Dix, a drian (nDP) ............................................................Vancouver-kingsway e vans, c orky (nDP) ..................................................................n elson-creston Falcon, h on. k evin (l) ..........................................................Surrey-c loverdale Farnworth, Mike (nDP) ............................. Port c oquitlam–b urke Mountain Fleming, r ob (nDP) ................................................................

Victoria-h illside Fraser, Scott (nDP) ...............................................................a lberni-Qualicum Gentner, Guy (nDP) .........................................................................Delta n orth h ammell, Sue (nDP) .................................................... Surrey–Green t imbers h ansen, h on. c olin (l) .................................................. Vancouver-Quilchena h awes, r andy (l) ............................................................

Maple r idge–Mission h awkins, Sindi (l) ..................................................................k elowna-Mission h ayer, Dave S. (l) .................................................................... Surrey-t ynehead h erbert, Spencer (nDP) ..................................................... Vancouver-burrard h ogg, h on. Gordon (l) ......................................................

Surrey–White r ock h organ, John (nDP) .......................................................Malahat–Juan de Fuca h orning, a l (l) .............................................................k elowna–l ake c ountry ilich, o lga (l) .......................................................................... r ichmond c entre James, c arole (nDP) .........................................................Victoria–b eacon h ill Jarvis, Daniel (l) .................................................... n orth Vancouver–Seymour k aragianis, Maurine (nDP) ............................................e squimalt-Metchosin k rog, l eonard (nDP) ........................................................................... n anaimo k rueger, h on. k evin (l) .....................................k amloops–n orth Thompson kwan, Jenny Wai ching (nDP) ...........................

Vancouver–Mount Pleasant l ali, h arry (nDP) ........................................................................... Y ale-lillooet l ee, r ichard t . (l) .......................................................................burnaby n orth l ekstrom, h on. blair (l) ....................................................... Peace r iver South l es, John (l) ............................................................................c hilliwack-Sumas Macdonald, n orm (nDP) ....................................c olumbia r iver–r evelstoke McGinn, Jenn (nDP) .........................................................

Vancouver-Fairview Mcintyre, h on. Joan (l) ........................................ West Vancouver–Garibaldi Mack ay, Dennis (l) ....................................................... bulkley Valley–Stikine n uraney, John (l) .............................................................. burnaby-Willingdon o ppal, h on. Wally, Qc (l) ........................................... Vancouver-Fraserview Penner, hon. barry (l) .............................................................c hilliwack-k ent Polak, h on.

Mary (l) ...............................................................................l angley Puchmayr, c huck (nDP) .......................................................n ew Westminster r alston, bruce (nDP) ................................................................

Surrey-Whalley r eid, h on. l inda (l) ...................................................................r ichmond e ast r ichmond, c laude (l) .........................................................................k amloops r oddick, Valerie (l) ..........................................................................Delta South r outley, Doug (nDP) ......................................................c owichan-l adysmith r ustad, John (l) .......................................................... Prince George–omineca Sather, Michael (nDP) .........................................

Maple r idge–Pitt Meadows Simons, n icholas (nDP) ................................... Powell r iver–Sunshine c oast Simpson, bob (nDP) ...................................................................c ariboo n orth Simpson, Shane (nDP) .....................................................Vancouver-hastings Sultan, r alph (l) .....................................................

West Vancouver–capilano Thorne, Diane (nDP) .................................................c oquitlam-Maillardville Thorpe, r ick (l) .................................................................. o kanagan-Westside t revena, c laire (nDP) .................................................................... n orth island van Dongen, h on.

John (l) ............................................a bbotsford-c layburn Whittred, k atherine (l) ........................................ n orth Vancouver–l onsdale Wyse, c harlie (nDP) ...................................................................c ariboo South Y ap, John (l) .......................................................................r ichmond-Steveston Vacant .............................................................................................. c omox Valley Vacant .......................................................................................Peace r iver n orth Vacant ....................................................................................

Vancouver-l angara liS t o F MeMberS bY riD in G a bbotsford-c layburn .................................................... h on. John van Dongen a bbotsford–Mount l ehman ...........................................h on. Michael de Jong a lberni-Qualicum .............................................................................

Scott Fraser bulkley Valley–Stikine ...............................................................Dennis Mack ay burnaby n orth .............................................................................. r ichard t . l ee burnaby-e dmonds ..........................................................................r aj c houhan burnaby-Willingdon .....................................................................

John n uraney burquitlam .......................................................................................... h arry bloy c ariboo n orth ................................................................................ bob Simpson c ariboo South................................................................................. c harlie Wyse c hilliwack-k ent.....................................................................h on. barry Penner c hilliwack-Sumas ..................................................................................

John l es c olumbia r iver–r evelstoke .................................................. n orm Macdonald c omox Valley..............................................................................................Vacant c oquitlam-Maillardville............................................................... Diane Thorne c owichan-l adysmith ...................................................................

Doug r outley Delta n orth ......................................................................................Guy Gentner Delta South..................................................................................Valerie r oddick e ast k ootenay .......................................................................... h on. bill bennett e squimalt-Metchosin .........................................................Maurine k aragianis Fort l angley–a ldergrove ...................................................h on. r ich c oleman k amloops ................................................................................c laude r ichmond k amloops–n orth Thompson ............................................ h on. k evin k rueger k elowna–l ake c ountry ................................................................... a l h orning k elowna-Mission .........................................................................Sindi h awkins l angley.......................................................................................h on.

Mary Polak Malahat–Juan de Fuca ....................................................................John h organ Maple r idge–Mission ....................................................................r andy h awes Maple r idge–Pitt Meadows ........................................................Michael Sather n anaimo ......................................................................................... l eonard k rog n anaimo-Parksville .............................................................h on. r on c antelon n elson-creston ................................................................................ c orky evans n ew Westminster .................................................................... c huck Puchmayr n orth c oast.......................................................................................

Gary c oons n orth island .................................................................................. c laire t revena n orth Vancouver–l onsdale ............................................... k atherine Whittred n orth Vancouver–Seymour ...........................................................

Daniel Jarvis o ak bay–Gordon h ead ............................................................ h on. ida c hong o kanagan-Vernon ..........................................................h on. t om c hristensen o kanagan-Westside .........................................................................r ick Thorpe Peace r iver n orth ......................................................................................Vacant Peace r iver South ...............................................................h on. blair l ekstrom Penticton–o kanagan Valley................................................... h on. bill barisoff Port c oquitlam–b urke Mountain ...........................................Mike Farnworth Port Moody–Westwood .............................................................h on. iain black Powell r iver–Sunshine c oast ................................................. n icholas Simons Prince George n orth .......................................................................h on.

Pat bell Prince George–Mount r obson ............................................h on. Shirley bond Prince George–omineca ................................................................. John r ustad r ichmond c entre ................................................................................. o lga ilich r ichmond e ast ..........................................................................h on. l inda r eid r ichmond-Steveston ..............................................................................John Y ap Saanich n orth and the islands ........................................... h on.

Murray c oell Saanich South ........................................................................... David c ubberley Shuswap ...............................................................................h on.

George a bbott Skeena .............................................................................................. r obin a ustin Surrey-c loverdale .................................................................h on. k evin Falcon Surrey–Green t imbers ..................................................................Sue h ammell Surrey-n ewton ................................................................................. h arry b ains Surrey–Panorama r idge ...................................................................Jagrup brar Surrey-t ynehead ...........................................................................

Dave S. h ayer Surrey-Whalley.............................................................................. bruce r alston Surrey–White r ock ............................................................. h on. Gordon h ogg Vancouver-burrard ....................................................................Spencer h erbert Vancouver-Fairview .......................................................................Jenn McGinn Vancouver-Fraserview ...................................................h on.

Wally o ppal, Qc Vancouver-hastings ....................................................................Shane Simpson Vancouver-kensington ........................................................David c hudnovsky Vancouver-kingsway..........................................................................a drian Dix Vancouver-l angara ....................................................................................Vacant Vancouver–Mount Pleasant ......................................... Jenny Wai ching kwan Vancouver–Point Grey .................................................h on.

Gordon c ampbell Vancouver-Quilchena ..........................................................h on. c olin h ansen Victoria–b eacon h ill .......................................................................c arole James Victoria-h illside ..............................................................................r ob Fleming West kootenay–b oundary ........................................................ k atrine c onroy West Vancouver–capilano ............................................................. r alph Sultan West Vancouver–Garibaldi ................................................h on.

Joan Mcintyre Y ale-lillooet ......................................................................................... h arry l ali Party Standings: l iberal 42; n ew Democratic 34; Vacant 3

CONTENTS Wednesday, February 11, 2009 a fternoon Sitting Routine Proceedings Page introductions by Members ................................................................................................................................................... 13627 t ributes ................................................................................................................................................................................... 13628 Jim Fulton G. c oons Statements (Standing order 25 b) ........................................................................................................................................ 13629 e xpansion of r idge Meadows h ospital r . h awes h enry n edergard S.

Fraser Diabetes h. b loy a. Dix c anada e ducation Park J. l es e lizabeth k elliher J. kwan oral Questions ....................................................................................................................................................................... 13631 o lympic Games contract with Fortress investment Group c. James h on. c. h ansen a. Dix o lympic Games security costs h. b ains h on. c. h ansen J. h organ Staffing of integrated child protection teams M. Farnworth h on. J. van Dongen r edeployment of police and justice system resources M. Farnworth h on. J. van Dongen S. Simpson h on.

W . oppal Public release of report on gun violence r . Fleming h on. J. van Dongen r edeployment of police and justice system resources J. kwan h on.

M. de Jong Petitions .................................................................................................................................................................................. 13636 c. t revena r eports from c ommittees .................................................................................................................................................... 13636 Special c ommittee to a ppoint a Police c omplaint c ommissioner, report for the fourth session of the 38th Parliament J. r ustad l. k rog h on. W . oppal

Second r eading of bills ........................................................................................................................................................ 13637 Finance Statutes (Deficit authorization and Debt elimination) a mendment a ct, 2009 (bill 48) (continued) J. Y ap S. Fraser h on. k. Falco n n. Simon s h. b loy h. l ali J. l es J. h organ r . Thorpe

13627 WeD neSD a Y , Februar Y 11, 2009 The h ouse met at 1:33 p.m. [Mr. Speaker in the chair.] Prayers. Introductions by Members J. Horgan: a lthough it's delightful to see the c anucks on a three-game winning streak, if they ever need a backup goalie, i see in the gallery today bill Goodacre, a former member of this place from bulkley Valley– Stikine. if l uongo goes down, next time i'm certain bill will get the call. Hon. G.

Abbott: a s members of the assembly know, we have been graced today in the l egislature and in the precincts and in Victoria by many vol- unteers and leaders from the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation. i wasn't able to attend the breakfast this morning, but i know a number of members were and were very pleased by that opportunity. i want to take an opportunity to introduce some of the guests we have in the gallery today from the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation. i know other members will be introdu- cing guests as well. [1335] i want to begin by introducing a constituent who is a volunteer extraordinaire and has been recognized as such by the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation.

She regu- larly attends my constituency office and is a relentless and fearless advocate on behalf of the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation. n el Peach is from Salmon a rm. She's the president of the Salmon a rm branch of the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation. Welcome, nel. a lso from the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation, Jean blake, the executive director for the Pacific region, is here.

We are also joined by a number of b.c.'s regional directors for the cD a, including Julie h older, t om orie, Donna van Welligan, Jane Glenn and Fiona k night. i'd ask the h ouse to please make them all welcome and thank them for their great work. M. Karagianis: i have some guests i'd like to intro- duce today in the h ouse. They are here again to help promote the c anadian Diabetes initiative that's taking place in the l egislature.

From my constituency i have the bleseki family: Maureen, her husband Mark and their daughter r achel. i'd like the h ouse to give them a warm welcome. i see my friend Des Mcc ambridge is here as well. h e's been a tireless advocate on behalf of diabetes and solu- tions to help especially young people. i'd like the h ouse to make him especially welcome as well. Hon. S. Bond: We're always delighted to have north- ern constituents join us here in the precinct. on behalf of my colleagues from Prince George n orth and Prince George–omineca, we want to welcome three guests to the l egislature today.

They're also here celebrating the good news about insulin pumps in the province. We want to welcome Darwin c assidy and his daughter Dezirai, a young woman who uses an insulin pump, and also Paula bass. Paula is the mother of a child who has type 1 diabetes and recently received an insulin pump. So on behalf of my colleagues, welcome to the precinct today. S.

Fraser: Similarly, from Port a lberni today we have r udi van den broek and his son William, who also lives with diabetes and is using an insulin pump himself. i'd like everyone to help them feel welcome. i notice the member from n anaimo is not here, so i will take the liberty of also welcoming brian Petit and his son ian, who are here today. brian is a well-known n anaimo writer and avid history buff. They're also here because of the issues of diabetes awareness. Please make them all feel very welcome. Hon. W .

Oppal: a lso with the Diabetes a ssociation are three people from my riding: l esley l opez and her two daughters Mya and Marissa. i want to thank them for what they're doing in the Diabetes a ssociation. i very much appreciate you attending and all that you're doing. Would the house please make them welcome. C.

Wyse: Via modern technology, friends of Gloria l oewen, who was a longtime employee in the Williams l ake forestry office, are joining us today, along with Gloria's mother h elen in Prince George, to celebrate Gloria's life. i would ask the h ouse to join with them in recognizing this longtime employee of government services, and do make them welcome. Hon. J. McIntyre: it's not too often that i have visitors here in the precincts from the Sea to Sky corridor. t oday, by coincidence, i have two visitors i'd like to introduce and hope that the h ouse will make them feel welcome.

First is William r oberts, who is an acquaintance of mine from Whistler. h e leads the Whistler Forum for Dialogue, affiliated with the a spen institute in c olorado. William has made some very interesting links with c hina, among other activities, but is really helping to support our a sia-Pacific gateway. Welcome, William. Peter Gordon from c ascadia consulting is also join - ing us today from Squamish. Peter's daughter h eather worked briefly here at the l eg., i think, one summer and is now a teacher in Squamish. i'm delighted to have them both join us today. [1340]

british c olumbia Debates13628 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Hon. M. Polak: i am pleased to be joined in this h ouse by a visitor from l angley. l ike previous guests who have been introduced, Sheila Jack is here to help raise awareness about diabetes, and i'd like us to thank Sheila for her efforts and those of the group around her. Will the h ouse please make Sheila welcome. R. Hawes: Well, not to be outdone by those who have already made introductions, i, too, would like to make some from the group that was here today.

This morning in our caucus we had a number of very, very moving presentations. one that was particularly, i think, mean- ingful — all of them were meaningful — was one from c atherine t urner, who is the chair of the board of direc- tors for the n ational a boriginal Diabetes a ssociation. She did point out how diabetes among the aboriginal community is a particularly troubling disease. a lso, there are two children here that were introduced to caucus this morning.

Fiona k ern, age 7, whose life has been dramatically improved because of the insulin pump, is here with her siblings and her mom. a nd at the expense of a double introduction, William van den broek made an unbelievable speech to our group — very, very moving. This is a young man who, i think, is going to be sitting in this chamber maybe ten years from now. h e is an unbelievable young man whose life has been changed also through the use of an insulin pump. With that, please make them welcome. J. Nuraney: i, too, want to add my welcome to the members who are visiting us today.

We have in the gallery n igel t errett. n igel t errett is the senior vice- president and the interim general manager of l ifel abs, which was formerly known as MDS, british c olumbia's largest medical lab. With 85 collection sites around the province, l ifel abs does more than three million blood lab tests every year. l ifel abs is also working with the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation to draw awareness to the struggle against this global disease.

Mr. t errett is here today with the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation delegation, which has done blood testing and measuring of sugar levels in the blood for all Mla s. i ask the members of this l egislature to please accord him a very warm welcome. Hon. R. Cantelon: i was apparently 24 hours early in my introduction yesterday. h owever, that should not diminish our welcome to these people who i'm about to introduce.

They have been mentioned, as well, by the member from Port a lberni-Qualicum. but let me further extend our welcome to r udi van den broek and his son William from Port a lberni, and brian Petit and his son ian from n anaimo. These two families know firsthand the challenges with diabetes. i would also like to welcome c atherine t urner, chair of the n ational a boriginal Diabetes a ssociation, who is joining us from c ourtenay. i've been to one of her pre- sentations.

She's done such excellent work in promoting diabetes awareness among first nations. i'd like to thank these individuals for being with us today and for creating awareness of diabetes. i'd like to add my welcome to those in the h ouse, and i invite you to join us in welcoming them. Hon. I. Chong: i, too, would like to join with others in welcoming a number of individuals from greater Victoria with the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation — certainly a very active

chapter here in greater Victoria. i've met with them a number of times and personally know people who have benefited from the use of insulin pumps. So it's a very good initiative, and i'm sure one that all in the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation families appreciate. From greater Victoria, i would like to introduce and have the h ouse welcome Zoe MacDonald, r owan MacDonald, k erry Walsh, erin Thorpe, a rt Penson and Genie Wright. Would the h ouse please make them all very welcome. Hon. M.

Coell: i, too, would like to welcome two guests to the l egislature from the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation: Meredith Scroggins, who is a youth volun- teer; and Susan l ui, who is a pharmacist and diabetes educator from Sidney. Would the h ouse please make them welcome. [1345] R. Lee: i, too, would like to recognize n orma Page, a volunteer from the Diabetes a ssociation. She is from burnaby n orth. a ctually, she took my glucose meter reading and also my blood pressure. Tributes JiM Fulton G.

Coons: it's an honour for me today to rise and pay tribute to a friend, a distinguished man and a great par - liamentarian: Jim Fulton. Jim, who was 58, passed away just before c hristmas on December 20 after a three-year battle with cancer. h e was Skeena's Member of Parliament from 1979 until retiring from politics in 1993. in his 14 years, Jim was shocking but always fearless. h e was an environmental activist and a huge advocate for first nations rights.

The outspoken former nDP MP will always be remembered when he threw a dead salmon on then Prime Minister brian Mulroney's desk during a debate about the sockeye fishery in the Skeena V alley in 1985. i'm sure he'd be throwing more than that these days in the house in ottawa. Jim had a deep sense of humanity. h e was respected by all, and he will be truly missed.

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13629 Statements (Standing Order 25b) eXPanS ion o F riDGe MeaD o WS hoSP ital R. Hawes: on Thursday, January 29, the Premier and the Minister of h ealth were on hand in Maple r idge for the official opening of the new Greg Moore emergency department and the betsy bilodeau a mbulatory c are c entre in the r idge Meadows h ospital.

This wonderful 45,000-square-foot addition to the hospital is already making a tremendous positive difference to patient care in the Fraser Valley. it was made possible thanks to the incredible work of the r idge Meadows h ospital Foundation and the many donors, big and small, who raised $3 million towards the overall $21 million cost of the project. o f particular note are the extremely generous donations from r ick Moore on behalf of his son Greg and from the estate of betsy bilodeau. e ach donated $500,000.

What's particularly noteworthy about this new addition is the planning process that went into its construction. a s noted by Shauna a rchibald, patient care coordinator in the ambulatory care centre, and by Sandra c hosevelt, emergency room rn , there was complete consultation at the ground level to ensure the new space would be as functional as possible. "if we said a wall switch should be in a certain place, it quickly appeared there," Sandra told me. it was like that through the whole process. i'm told that morale is up, patient flows are much better and overall care is improved.

The r idge Meadows area has much to be proud of, from its generous community- minded citizens to its dedicated hospital staff. This is a community that has it together. Watch for the soon to be opened expansion of the psychiatric department that's made possible through an incredible $1 million dona- tion from Mr. r on a ntalek. c ongratulations, r idge Meadows, and i'm extremely proud to have represented you for the last eight years. henr Y neD erGarD S.

Fraser: on January 8 the a lberni Valley suffered a tremendous loss. h enry n edergard passed away, survived by his wife of 50 years, Gunber; two daughters, brigit and Glenda; two grandchildren, Matthew and Sarah; two brothers, e lmer in Vancouver and h erbert in Finland. h enry n edergard will be dearly missed but never forgotten. h enry moved to the a lberni Valley from Finland in 1951, where he worked in the forest industry. h enry served as a union officer with the iWa, as president of the Port a lberni and District l abour c ouncil. h e also served on city council and as a representative on the central Vancouver island health authority.

Public health care was a passionate cause for h enry. h e fought hard when local representation was being diluted at the time when Viha was taking over from the central Vancouver island health authority. h enry n edergard helped bring us the new hospital in Port a lberni, although he would never take credit for that. it just wasn't his style. h enry was recognized two years ago as a lifetime member of the nDP . a nd putting aside politics, that sort of dedica- tion — lifetime — for any political cause is rare. h enry was a founding member with Wolfgang Zimmerman of the n ational institute for Disability Management and r esearch, or ni DMar . l ast year h enry was able to see ni DMar receive formal recognition and university status through this l egislative a ssembly in one of the few bipartisan efforts that i've seen or been involved in, in this h ouse. i know h enry was very pleased to see that happen and witness it. [1350] h enry n edergard set the bar to its highest level when it came to community activism, and his efforts shine far above and beyond the Port a lberni area. h enry n edergard will be missed but never, ever forgotten.

DiabeteS H. Bloy: i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 15 years ago. it's a daily challenge to keep your blood sugar regulated and stay healthy. i don't shy away from talking about it. i believe my experiences help a lot of other people. i have a very simple solution to this: eat less food, eat better food and exercise every day. but today i and other members of the h ouse had the pleasure of having a healthy breakfast with members of the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation.

W e had the opportunity to hear about what they are doing in communities across our province. i met a young man, William van den broek — type 1 diabetes — who spoke about his experiences. h e's already been mentioned as a great speaker, and i was very impressed with his composure. in n ovember of 2008 our government provided $1.5 million to b.c. Pharmacare to enable 200 children like William to have access to insulin pumps and supplies.

The c anadian Diabetes a ssociation has quite the legacy of providing healthy living and delivering programs and services for people affected by diabetes. i also had the opportunity this morning to speak with Jean blake, executive director of the c anadian Diabetes a ssociation. i appreciate all the hard work that she, her volunteers and staff do for all people of our province. a t the meeting this morning, at the breakfast, a number of our members had the opportunity to have their blood sugar tested, courtesy of n igel t errett of l ifel abs, a company from my home city of burnaby. i'd like to leave you with one final thought from a fellow diabetic: life is not over because you have diabetes.

Make most of what you have and be grateful.

british c olumbia Debates13630 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 A. Dix: l ike many members…. a nd i think we heard it during introductions today. We just heard it from my colleague from burquitlam. Many members have been impressed by the extraordinary advocacy of parents of children with diabetes and of children with diabetes today. a quarter of a million british c olumbians are like the member for burquitlam and myself. We suffer from this disease, and i think it's an extraordinary thing when parents and children who struggle with it themselves come and speak to us and advocate for others.

The lead advocates to get insulin pump coverage in british c olumbia were parents who themselves had provided the insulin pump to their children and felt that that shouldn't be based on income, just as it should not be based on income for adults and other people. i think it's an extraordinary thing. We witnessed an extraordinary thing this morning and over the past several years, as parents and children and people in the community have advocated to extend coverage. So we celebrate that today.

This morning members on our side of the h ouse and on the government side of the h ouse heard from brian Petit, who's one of those advocates, from n anaimo. h is son ian was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, he says, on July 27, 2007. h e remembers the day; he'll remember it his entire life. h e asked himself that day: who will advo- cate for children such as my son? a nd then he became one of the leading advocates on Vancouver island in the last two years, painting n anaimo blue during diabetes month. h e does an extraordinary job.

We heard, as the member for burquitlam said, from William van den broek, who is in grade 6 — he's 11 years old — and who also uses the insulin pump and talked eloquently about his daily struggles with diabetes. it almost cost him his life in a drowning accident, and the insulin pump makes him able to live a life like all his friends. c atherine, brian, ian, William and all the advocates we heard today suffering from type 1 and type 2 diabetes remind us that the equipment, the nutrition and the supplies that children with diabetes need should not be based on income.

We thank them for what they told us today. [1355] cana Da e Ducation Park J.

Les: t oday i would like to update members of the h ouse of the progress that's being made in the develop- ment of the c anada e ducation Park in c hilliwack. a s members may know, the property i'm referring to was once known as c anadian Forces base c hillwack. h owever, today it is becoming a major centre for educa- tion, but in a way and perhaps of a scale that we had not dared hope for at the time. the rcMP have established their Pacific regional training centre on approximately 60 acres of the land. every day many hundreds of rc MP officers from across c anada receive their in-service training at this facility, which includes classroom space, tactical training facilities, hotel accommodation buildings and other facilities. r ecently the federal t reasury board has advanced $15 million for the construction of a new indoor firing range.

The u niversity of the Fraser Valley was next on site, as it acquired 85 acres of land with some of the excel- lent buildings that were there for their new c hilliwack campus. They immediately converted what had been a massive storage facility into western c anada's largest trades training facility, which opened in September. The university's long-term plans indicate the potential for approximately a million square feet of classroom space at this campus. n ext on board was the Justice institute of british c olumbia, when they recently purchased six acres of land at the park.

They will be building in the near future and, as with all other users at the park, availing themselves of the significant collaborative opportunities that exist between themselves and the other agencies on campus.

More recently the c anadian border Services a gency has established their western c anadian learning centre there. a lready they are accommodating 10,000 student days per year, and they, too, have opportunities to collaborate with other campus agencies. a s well, discussions are underway to attract a foreign university to the campus in conjunction with the u niversity of the Fraser V alley, building on our province's gateway initiatives and asia-Pacific economic opportunities. u ltimately, it's anticipated that as many as 10,000 stu- dents will be receiving education on this campus on a daily basis.

The c anada education park represents the opportunity of a lifetime for students of all ages from across the province, the country and abroad. eliZ abeth kelliher J. Kwan: l ast Sunday at a small c atholic church in the Downtown e astside on c ordova Street, the organ music that filled the room for the congregation was played by a very special woman. Sister e lizabeth k elliher, an 85-year-old nun with the Franciscan Sisters of the a tonement, was about to end her hunger strike calling for the re-establishment of a national housing program.

She had just gone through seven days on a liquid diet as part of the 2010 h omelessness h unger Strike r elay. Sister e lizabeth is a pillar in the Downtown e astside, where she tirelessly gives of her time and continues to be a source of inspiration for many, many people. She operates a soup kitchen that feeds between 300 and 500 of the city's most poverty-stricken people each day.

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13631 The Franciscan Sisters of the a tonement have been living in and serving the people of the Downtown e astside for over 80 years. The sisters first arrived to serve the Japanese community, which was then living around Powell Street. When the internment of their neighbours occurred, the sisters opened their convent for safe storage of goods and possessions belonging to those families being sent to the prison camps.

Some of the sisters accompanied the internees to Greenwood, b.c., and stayed with them. a fter the service on Sunday, Sister e lizabeth took time to eat and then marched over to the second annual Poverty o lympics at the Japanese language school, where she was recognized by her community. Some of those in attendance included itchy the bedbug and c hewy the rat. a sked privately how she felt during her fast, she said: "i didn't even get hungry." in the Downtown e astside we're now calling this a miracle.

We will hold off calling for the beatification of Sister e lizabeth and everyone else at the Franciscan Sisters of the a tonement while she's still performing miracles right here in british c olumbia. i ask all members of the h ouse to join me in recogniz- ing Sister e lizabeth, an inspiring woman who continues to be a trail-blazer in her 80s. Oral Questions ol YMPic GaMeS contract With Fortre SS in Ve St Ment Grou P C.

James: b.c. taxpayers are demanding that the b.c. l iberals finally come clean with the real cost of the o lympics. in Vancouver, as we all know, city tax- payers are paying hundreds of millions to get out of a bad deal with a n ew Y ork hedge fund.

That same hedge fund owns intrawest, and intrawest controls the use of Whistler and blackcomb mountains. [1400] t o the minister responsible: with a year to go until the first competitor skis down the face of Whistler, why is the deal with Fortress still incomplete, and why has the government once again put b.c. taxpayers at the mercy of Fortress investment Group, the troubled n ew Y ork hedge fund that is behind the athletes village fiasco? Hon. C.

Hansen: Y ou know, we all understand that the l eader of the o pposition did not support the o lympics from day one. but i think it is unfortunate when the l eader of the o pposition continues to denigrate the good work that's being done to organize the o lympics by spreading the kind of misinformation that she spread just now in her question. W e gathered in this h ouse.

W e sat around the clock to pass emergency legislation to empower the city of V ancouver to actually go out and borrow money to ensure that the taxpayers of the city of V ancouver were not put at risk to any extent that would be otherwise necessary. i can tell you that…. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Minister, take your seat. Sit down. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. c ontinue, Minister. Hon. C. Hansen: i can tell you that John Furlong and his team at Vanoc are doing a first-class job of organizing what will be the most successful Winter olympics ever.

That team at Vanoc has responsibility for making arrangements with all of the partners, including intrawest, and i have every confidence that they will do that in the best interests of all. Mr. Speaker: l eader of the o pposition has a supplemental. C. James: This sounds familiar. it's the same answer we keep getting from this minister and this government, which is: "t rust us. e verything will be fine." interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. C. James: "Don't worry, taxpayer. it's only $600 million." interjections. Mr. Speaker: Please take your seat. Members. c ontinue, Member. C.

James: We hear it again and again and again from this minister — whether it's security costs, whether it's the o lympic village. now it's the rental of the mountains. My question again to the minister: is the agreement in place, and if not, why not? a nd how much will it cost the taxpayers? Hon. C.

Hansen: Vanoc just recently released their latest budget, their latest financial report. i would sug- gest that the l eader of the o pposition actually read it, because what she will discover is that out of a budget of $1.7 billion, there is a very small portion that is funded by the taxpayers either federally or provincially. The vast majority of the revenues that flow into the operating

british c olumbia Debates13632 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 budget for V anoc come from ticket sales, from the international broadcast rights and from private sector sponsorships that Vanoc has lined up. Vanoc is doing a first-class job of managing their budget and delivering on what will be the best Winter o lympics ever. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. The l eader of the o pposition has a further supplemental. C. James: W ell, the minister either knows and won't tell, or he doesn't know. e ither way the taxpayers are on the hook, and they want to know the truth from this minister.

We're talking about negotiating with Fortress, a troubled n ew Y ork hedge fund in desperate need of cash. Their ownership of intrawest is at risk. They're laying off employees. Their stock value has hit bottom, and the minister is saying to us today: "Don't worry. The negotiations are ongoing." Well, they now have taxpayers over a barrel because of this government's incompetence. So tell us today: what is the cost of that contract, and when will it be completed? Hon. C.

Hansen: Vanoc has responsibility for nego- tiating with all of their partners and all of their suppliers that will be tapping into their operating budget. [1405] What we have committed to as a provincial government, for the obligations that we have to deliver on, on the staging of the games…. First of all, we are providing half of a $580 million budget for venues around the province, and i can tell you that every single one of those sports venues is now finished and complete and ready for the celebration.

That is the first time in the history of the o lympic movement that we have actually seen the sports venues finished so far ahead of the official opening ceremonies of games. The o lympics are going to be a tremendous economic generator for british c olumbia. There is not a jurisdiction in the world that wouldn't give their eye teeth to be hosting the o lympic and Paralympic Games in 2010. A.

Dix: So what the minister is telling us today is that he's been Minister r esponsible for the o lympics for, oh, the last three years — and i use the term "responsible" loosely…. is the minister saying to us today that there's no deal on the mountain? is that what he's saying today? This is the minister who said, until a couple of months ago, that o lympic security costs were $175 million. That's what he said until a few months ago. n ow here he is today.

This is the minister who says that o lympic secretariat costs are not an o lympic cost. if South k orea had won the bid, presumably we'd still have an olympic secretariat. The question is very simple to the minister. is there a deal on the mountain, and how much does it cost? Hon. C. Hansen: a s i have indicated, V anoc is a federally incorporated, not-for-profit corporation.

They have responsibility for negotiating with all of their suppliers, including the mountain at intrawest, including other facilities that they are negotiating with or have contracts in place with. but i think it's incumbent on this opposition to actually state for once: are you in favour of the o lympics, or are you opposed to the o lympics? a re you in favour of the jobs, or are you opposed to the jobs? interjections. Mr. Speaker: Sit. c ontinue, Minister. Hon. C. Hansen: We know where the l eader of the o pposition stood in 2002.

She opposed the games. on this side of the h ouse we support the games, because it will be the best shot in the arm that this province has ever seen and a great economic stimulus for british c olumbia. ol YMPic Ga Me S Securit Y co St S H. Bains: Wow, a year to go, and we still don't have…. it's very clear right now, listening to the minister, that we don't have any clue how much it's going to cost us to rent the mountains. it's clear. it's very clear that we don't know what the total security cost is going to be. it's very clear.

W e don't know how much we're going to get fleeced on the Vancouver village deal. on Monday the minister said that the security budget will likely go below the o lympic budget. Y esterday he backed away and said it was very complicated and couldn't say. My question is very simple to the minister. c an the minister assure this h ouse that when he finally comes clean on the security budget, it will include every security- related cost in that budget? Hon. C.

Hansen: i find that question both troubling and surprising, because this member purports to be the o lympic critic for the official opposition, and i would have thought that by now he would know that it is the rcMP and the federal government that have respon- sibility for the security budget. if he would like a briefing, i will arrange it for him. [1410] but the member is right on one thing. it's one year to go. it's one year to go until 8,000 of the world's best athletes are going to be descending on british c olumbia. it's one year to go until 10,000 journalists from around the

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13633 world are going to be coming to british c olumbia. it's one year to go until 250,000 visitors are going to come to british c olumbia to help us celebrate, and it's one year to go until approximately three billion people will be watching the british c olumbia winter games. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. The member has a supplemental. H. Bains: Y ou know, with answers like those, no wonder people are worried sick about the total o lympic costs. They're worried sick out there.

They continue to get surprises after surprises on the o lympic costs from this minister. it's a complete b.c. l iberal runaround. it's about time that that stopped. a gain to the minister, and i'll be a bit more specific this time. This is a clear question. Will b.c . Gas customers pay more to cover the security costs — yes or no? interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Hon. C. Hansen: i think the question was: will b.c. Gas customers pay more for the o lympic Games? i have no idea what he means by that question. J. Horgan: h on. Speaker, let me help out the minister a little bit on this one... interjection. Mr.

Speaker: Member. J. Horgan: …because goodness knows, he needs it. in o ctober t erasen Gas applied to the b.c . u tilities c ommission to create a deferral account to cover unknown security costs as a result of the Paralympic and o lympic Games. They said: "large-scale events such as the 2010 Winter o lympics and Paralympic Games present unusual and discrete challenges over and above the normal level of security and reliability for our utilities." The commission said, "c reate a deferral account for $3.8 million" — at a bottom, at a base of $3.8 million.

What that says is that the commission has approved security costs to the ratepayers of b.c. Gas or t erasen Gas, and this minister didn't even know about it. When is it going to be b.c. h ydro? When is it going to be t ransl ink? it's $3.8 million and counting for customers in this province. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Hon. C. Hansen: let me share with the member some of the benefits that are going to flow from the games.

Y ou're going to have 250,000 visitors coming to british c olumbia. it is estimated that the winter games in 2010 will pump about $6 billion worth of economic activity into the b.c. economy. We also know that this is going to be a tremendous showcase, as we broadcast british c olumbia to the television sets of three billion viewers around the world to showcase what british c olumbia can offer. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. J.

Horgan: i know that will be cold comfort to those who have to increase their gas bills as a result of o lympic security costs. t erasen further wrote to the commission in response to the approval for the deferred account, saying: "t erasen Gas has confirmed that there is no likelihood of recovering these costs from any external agency. Vanoc has advised that it does not have any financial resources to contribute to the utility provider's games operational costs." My question, again, is to the minister. When he finally comes clean and tells us the honest cost of security, will it include the cost to t erasen Gas?

Will it include the cost to b.c. h ydro? Will it include the cost to t ransl ink? When will he be honest with the people of british c olumbia? What's the bill? Hon. C. Hansen: if the opposition critic wants to have a briefing arranged for him, i'd be pleased to include the member as well. i think, as i explained earlier, the security plan and the security budget for the o lympics are the responsibility…. [1415] interjections. Mr. Speaker: Minister, just take your seat again. c ontinue. Hon. C.

Hansen: The security plan and the security budget for the o lympics and Paralympic Games are the responsibility of the rcMP and the federal government. The provincial government, under the security agree- ment that we have signed with the federal government, has a 50 percent responsibility for a small portion of those costs. i invite the member to go onto the website and read the security agreement, and he will see exactly the provisions that are provided therein. Sta FFin G o F inte Grate D chilD P rotection teaMS M.

Farnworth: c an the Solicitor General confirm that the integrated child exploitation team, which was planned to have 54 members working for it, actually

british c olumbia Debates13634 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 only has seven people working for it? a nd can he also confirm that the integrated sexual predator observation team, which is supposed to have 16 positions filled, only has eight positions filled? Hon. J. van Dongen: i don't know the details. i'll take the question on notice. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. reD eP lo YMent o F Police an D Ju Stice SYSte M re Source S M. Farnworth: The government announced those programs with great fanfare over a year ago. Mr.

Speaker: Member, just to remind you that the minister did take the question on notice. M. Farnworth: This is a new question, hon. Speaker. Mr. Speaker: o kay. M. Farnworth: The government announced these programs with great fanfare over a year ago — resources to protect children from exploitation in internet pornog- raphy, resources to be able to monitor sexual predators. They are failing in that commitment.

Y esterday the Premier stood in this h ouse and said that he was going to redeploy police resources to fight gang warfare. if they can't honour that commitment that was announced last year, how can the public have faith that they're able to honour this commitment that the Premier said yesterday? My question to the minister is this. What other areas of public safety are going to be affected by the Premier's redeployment comments of yesterday? Hon. J. van Dongen: When it comes to policing, let's look at the record. o ur government since 2001 has increased provincial policing by 89 percent.

Since 2001 we've put 950 additional police officers on the street. We have invested $66 million in integrated police teams. a nd all of these increases the nDP opposed. S. Simpson: This minister and this government can't even honour the commitments they made a year ago to protect children. h ow can we believe they can honour these commitments now? before the last election the government made a number of promises on crime.

What we know now is that they don't amount to much — over the last ten years from ten gangs to 129 gangs in this province. n ow the Premier is talking about redeployment that will draw away from already understaffed policing and prosecu- torial services. My question is to the a ttorney General. Which pros- ecutions will be dropped so that staff can redeploy for the Premier's plan? Hon. W .

Oppal: Y ou know, i've listened to some of the questions and some of the rhetoric that's taken place in this h ouse the last three days. in my previous life i prosecuted probably 40 to 50 murder cases. i sat on the Supreme c ourt, and i heard that many or more. i was on the Supreme c ourt in the 1990s, which was a decade that saw incredible violence take place on our streets. [1420] interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. c ontinue, a ttorney. Hon. W . Oppal: The 1990s saw the infamous Dosanjh- Johal murders take place in broad daylight.

There were shootings taking place at 33rd and Victoria, 33rd and Main. interjections. Mr. Speaker: c ontinue, a ttorney. Hon. W . Oppal: There was an innocent man walking his dog, who was killed. Y ou know, i listen to the puffery from the other side, and i wonder where they were in the 1990s, particularly the member for Port c oquitlam–b urke Mountain who huffs and puffs here every day. h e was a member of that cabinet. if he has that expertise now, where was the expertise then? Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental. S. Simpson: h on.

Speaker, 129 gangs in this province today, weekly if not almost daily occurrences of gang violence on the streets. Maybe this a ttorney General, since he doesn't seem to be prepared to do this job, could go help out with prosecutions, because he's not acting as an a ttorney General to protect british c olumbians. o ur commun- ities deserve to know that they're safe from dangerous, violent criminals, but all this government has offered to do is shift resources that are inadequate today. My question to the a ttorney General is this.

Was there any research done at all into the effects of the Premier's so-called redeployment plan? if there was research, release it to this h ouse today. or is this another fly-by- the-seat-of-the-pants exercise of the Premier that he does on every issue of significance?

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13635 Hon. W . Oppal: i'll tell the h ouse about the research. in the mid-1990s, that government…. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. c ontinue, a ttorney. Hon. W . Oppal: The government of the day asked me to conduct a commission of inquiry into policing. a t the conclusion of that we made 222 recommendations. Some of the recommendations dealt with deployment of poli- cing, regional policing and integration of policing. That government of the '90s ignored those recommendations. They ignored the recommendations on regional policing. interjections. Mr.

Speaker: We're not going to continue until we have some silence. Y our choice, Members. Public relea Se o F rePort on Gun Violence R. Fleming: Y ou know, a year ago we were standing in this very h ouse demanding answers from the govern- ment on criminal gangs. Since then, this crisis has gone from bad to worse. There's a report on gun violence that's gone before cabinet. The minister said he'd release it. What possible reason can he offer to keep sitting on that report, given the current daily crisis that's going on in british columbia on gun violence? My question is to the Solicitor General.

Will he table that report today? Hon. J. van Dongen: i said i would release the report this week, and that's what i will do. [1425] Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental. R. Fleming: Mr. Speaker, you know what? interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. R. Fleming: What this government doesn't get is that when the Premier stood up in the hallway the other day and said, "The answer to gang violence is redeployment," we the public of british c olumbia deserve to know if a report that the government has in its possession agrees with that or whether that's something that the Premier made up on the fly.

So my question again. it's not good enough for the Solicitor General… interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. R. Fleming: …to keep delaying on this. The public deserves to know. The Premier has outlined a plan. l et's see if the Premier's plan that he made up in the hallway, which he blurted outside these walls, agrees with the recommendations of the report's authors. l et's have that report tabled today so the public can know. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Hon.

J. van Dongen: The Premier has made it clear that our government will invest whatever dollars are necessary to deal with the serious gang and illegal gun crime issue that we have. We have put more money into policing, Member. We intend to put more money into policing. We have put money into specialized crown prosecutors, and we have put significant new money into prisons — $185 million. but if the opposition is to have any credibility on the crime issue, they better get their position straight on the construction of new prisons in appropriate locations such as the Willingdon facility in burnaby. interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. reD eP lo YMent o F Police an D Ju Stice SYSte M re Source S J. Kwan: The Premier has said that there would be redeployment. My question to the minister is this. h ow many people would be redeployed, from what sector, and where are they going to come from? interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. Hon.

M. de Jong: it's because i know the importance that all members attach to this question that perhaps i can be very clear about how the government intends to respond and how it has been responding — a recipe that includes more police, more prosecutors and more jails to put the unsavoury characters that engage in illegal activities in british c olumbia streets in jail. i have also seen the theatrics in this place. i know a thing or two about theatrics. it's easy to come here and talk the talk.

Sometimes it's tougher to walk the walk. i have trouble reconciling what i hear from this oppos- ition and this opposition leader with what the member

british c olumbia Debates13636 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 for burnaby-e dmonds says when he writes to his paper: "a s the Mla for burnaby, i will continue to fight against the plans for a new jail." Y ou can't have it one way out there and one way in here. More police, more prosecutors and more jails will get this done. Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental. J. Kwan: c oming from a government that closed ten correctional centres, that closed 24 courthouses, it is just a bit much for them to suggest that they're on top of the game. l et us be clear.

The Premier said that he was going to redeploy the resources. So my question is this to the Solicitor General, who supposedly is on top of this file. Where are the deployments going to come from? interjection. Mr. Speaker: Member. J. Kwan: is it going to be from the local police force? is it from school liaison officers? is it from the theft depart- ment? is it from traffic? is it from community crime? is it from property crime? [1430] Which sector are those officers going to come from to address the gang violence problem that's happening right under this government's nose? interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. M. de Jong: it actually speaks volumes that for nothing more than theatrical reasons, members opposite would try to equate a minimum security work camp with the kind of maximum security facilities that are required to put these characters away in. This component of a complex problem is actually pretty simple. if you want to talk the talk, walk the walk. Will this l eader of the o pposition say to her member of caucus that the time for talk is over and end his opposition to the facility we need to put unsavoury criminal elements away in british c olumbia? That's what we're going to do.

That's what we have been doing, and we're going to continue doing it. [end of question period.] Petitions C. Trevena: i'd like to table a petition from 220 people from Malcolm island and other north island communities, who are requesting a change in the b.c. Ferries

schedule so that Malcolm, c ormorant and Vancouver islanders have access to early morning employment opportunities and early morning medical transportation supports. Reports from Committees J. Rustad: i have the honour to present the report of the Special c ommittee to a ppoint a Police c omplaint c ommissioner for the fourth session of the 38th parliament. i move that the report be taken as read and received. Motion approved. J. Rustad: i ask leave of the h ouse to permit the moving of a motion to adopt the report. l eave granted. J.

Rustad: i move that the report be adopted. in moving this motion, i'd like to make a few brief comments. it was a great pleasure to chair the Special c ommittee to a ppoint a Police c omplaint c ommissioner. i'd like to take this opportunity to thank the committee members for their work and commitment. i'd also like to thank the c lerk's office for the work that they did. it was outstanding. i'd also like to thank all of those who had submitted their resumés and applied for the position. interjections. Mr. Speaker: Members, it's really hard to hear. c ontinue, Member. J.

Rustad: We had a great field of candidates that applied, and i'd like to thank all of those who did apply. l astly, i'd also like to thank Dirk r yneveld, who did an outstanding job as our current Police c omplaint c ommissioner for a number of years. With that, i'm also very pleased to say that Mr. Stan l owe, who is the candidate we have selected, is an outstanding candidate. h e comes with a great back- ground, and i think he'll make a great Police c omplaint c ommissioner. L.

Krog: i just want to rise to support the motion. a s vice-c hair of the committee, i think it's also appropriate to thank the c hair who conducted the hearings in an efficient and timely manner. i think british c olumbians, who were very well served by Mr. r yneveld, will be equally well served by Mr. l owe. h e has an outstanding record of public service in british c olumbia, and we are fortunate to have him in this position.

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13637 Hon. W . Oppal: i just want to thank Stan l owe for his service to the Ministry of a ttorney General. h e joined the c rown office in 1991. h e was involved in some major criminal cases. h e worked with the public. h e was a communications officer. Many members of the public have grown accustomed to seeing Stan over the years. [1435] i want to congratulate him and thank him for the many years of service that he gave to the ministry. J. Rustad: Mr. Speaker, i believe the motion is to adopt the report. Motion approved. J. Rustad: by leave i move that this h ouse recom- mend to the l ieutenant-Governor-in-c ouncil, pursuant to

section 47.1 of the Police a ct, RSBC 1996, c. 367, the appointment of Mr. Stan t . l owe as the Police c omplaint c ommissioner in the province of british c olumbia. l eave granted. Motion approved. J. Rustad: i ask for leave to do an introduction. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. Introductions by Members J. Rustad: i would ask that the h ouse please welcome our new Police c omplaint c ommissioner, Mr. Stan l owe. Orders of the Day Hon. M. de Jong: i call continued second reading on bill 48. Second Reading of Bills Finance Statute S (De Ficit a uthori Zation an D Debt e li Mination) aMenDMent a ct, 2009 (continued) J.

Y ap: i rise to take my place in this debate on bill 48, the Finance Statutes (Deficit a uthorization and Debt e limination) a mendment a ct, 2009. t o say that we live these days in extraordinary global economic times is probably an understatement. t erms and words like l ehman brothers, credit crunch, financial meltdown, sub-prime mortgages, stimulus package…. t hese are words that are now in the common lexicon for british c olumbians and all c anadians who follow the news. [k.

Whittred in the chair.] We're in an economic recession globally, and as a country, as c anada, british c olumbia as an open trading province is not immune. This is a serious global economic downturn, which no one — no experts, no prognosticators — predicted would have the scale, the severity and the synchronicity that it has. We've heard how quickly and sharply revenues have fallen. We've heard, for example, that in one day the revenues for the province shifted downward by a scale of $300 million — something unheard of in our history.

While the economic measures, the statistics and indicators can seem the focus, we're really talking about people, about families. People are worried.

They're concerned about their jobs, about meeting their mortgage payments and looking after their families. a s other members have, i'm sure, i've heard from my constituents as i travel through my riding, as i talk to the people of r ichmond-Steveston. a t the doorstep with constituents, the number one issue that's on people's minds when they have the opportunity to talk directly to their Mla is the economy and concern about their jobs. o ur government is responding to reassure british c olumbians. With bill 48, the provincial budget will be allowed to run at an operating deficit for two fiscal years.

This, as has been noted by my colleagues who have spoken, is a departure from our traditional approach. This is an exceptional change for our b.c. l iberal government. Generally, our philosophy is to abhor, to not accept operating deficits. but now with exceptional times calling for exceptional policies and leadership, we find that we have to make this change. h ence, we are here to debate bill 48, which i support.

During this period of economic uncertainty our government will protect the programs that people need, which people have come to rely on — whether it's health care, education or public safety, to name a few. [1440] b.c. l iberals are not turning away from our com- mitment to fiscal prudence. We will balance the budget again when the economy strengthens, but right now the economy and jobs are what my constituents and most british c olumbians are concerned about. We will create jobs with our plan. We will invest in infrastructure.

We have a $14 billion plan to invest in needed infrastructure throughout the province — infrastructure projects like the ten-lane Port Mann bridge, which will produce 8,000 jobs; like the South Fraser perimeter road, which will produce 7,000 jobs; like the Sea to Sky h ighway, which has produced 6,000 jobs — projects, by the way, which the n DP unfortunately oppose.

british c olumbia Debates13638 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 b.c. is well positioned. We have the borrowing cap- acity, whether it's for capital or for operations. Thanks to the fiscal management of the past few years and the hard work of british c olumbians, we have regained a triple-a credit rating, the best possible, as a province. This high credit rating will ensure that we will be able to get good terms when we go to the capital markets.

We will continue to ensure that b.c.'s economy is well managed and competitive. a s my colleague from Maple r idge–Mission talked about yesterday, we have a great professional public service that has really worked hard to try and rein in controllable expenses, to trim discretion- ary spending, to generate efficiencies and fiscal savings to the province.

With all of these efforts, unfortunately, with the serious decline in revenues to the province, any further changes to our expenditures would affect needed program spending. n ow, another way to balance the budget is, of course, to hope for higher revenues, to forecast higher revenues than are realistic, but we will not provide a budget that fudges the truth. We will provide a truthful budget. a bove all, people know that they can rely on the b.c. l iberal government on commitments to the economy. We have the proven record. We will get through this economic downturn. t rade will recover.

The u .S. econ- omy will recover. c anada's and our own economy will recover. it is a matter of getting through this time. in fact, i understand that just yesterday the bank of c anada's Governor c arney predicted, with all of the exper- tise available to the governor, that we may see a recovery in 2010. That was his prediction. i believe many economists and forecasters also expect a recovery in 2010.

We also have, in 2010, the o lympic and Paralympic Games to help our economy at just the precise time when we need, as a province, an economic boost. n ow the opposition, we hear almost on a daily basis, is nega- tive on the o lympics, which is a shame. They should know better. The 2010 games are generating investments and will continue to generate investments and positively impact our economy these next 12 months. The spinoff benefits will be felt throughout the province for years to come. n ow, what about the nDP government record?

What about that record, Madam Speaker? l et's not forget that after ten years of nDP rule, the nDP left a $4 billion structural operating deficit to the province of british c olumbia. They governed british c olumbia with eight consecutive deficit budgets. The nDP had five debt man- agement plans and missed every single one of them. [1445] The nDP doubled the province's debt between 1991 and 2001. They managed to mismanage the economy so badly that b.c. became a have-not province.

During this time there were two credit rating downgrades. of course, as my colleagues have reminded and we should continue to remind british c olumbians, the nDP were responsible for that most deceitful and shameful act, that fudge-it budget, when the nDP misled british c olumbians when they knew they could not deliver a surplus. but on the eve of the 1996 election they put for- ward that fictional budget only to bring in another one, the real one, after the election. What have the nDP planned, if they should form gov- ernment? Well, it'll be equally disastrous.

We know that the nDP want to raise the cost of doing business with a new wage policy, a $450 million impact. We know they want to scrap the softwood lumber agreement, which would cost members of the industry $2.4 billion. They want to ban independent power projects, which will cost $4½ billion in investments throughout the province. They want to increase royalties on the oil and gas sector at a cost of a billion dollars in revenues. They want to tear up the tilMa agreement, costing up to 78,000 jobs. i know that british c olumbians will reject the nDP platform, which is a recipe for economic failure.

With our b.c. l iberal government british c olumbians can have confidence that the budget, which the Minister of Finance will bring in next t uesday, will be credible. bill 48 will allow b.c. to get through these difficult economic times while preserving the programs that our citizens need. bill 48 will require government to main- tain fiscal prudence and, when the economy recovers, eliminate the operating deficit. bill 48 is principled and is right for the times.

We will get through these economic times, just as we got through the economic challenges that were brought on our province by such crises as the tech meltdown, 9/11, SarS, forest fires… R. Hawes: The nDP in the '90s. J. Y ap: …and the nDP in the '90s. We got through that. in closing, british c olumbians can be assured that our government will continue to be the proven, steady stew- ards of their economy, and bill 48 is part of our strategy to move b.c. forward. it has my support, and i will be voting in favour of bill 48. S.

Fraser: i am rising today to speak to bill 48, the Finance Statutes a mendment a ct, 2009. i notice in brackets it has to say "deficit authorization." That's got to be ironic and something of a bitter pill for the gov- ernment members who have been preaching the evils of deficit financing. i understand the turmoil and the volatility of this h ouse during this debate, which i have been watching closely.

Well, we're here, back finally in the l egislature, after the Premier cancelled the democratic parliamentary process known as the fall session during arguably the worst economic meltdown that we have seen in recent history. The Premier cancelled the l egislative a ssembly,

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13639 ducked the responsibility and accountability while the world alarm bells were ringing. They were ringing on the economic front, and it seemed that up till just a few weeks ago deficits were considered evil, even though all over the world we were hearing warning bells ringing.

Throughout this economic meltdown this h ouse did not sit — well, we did; we sat for five days since the end of May — at a time, i believe, when all constituents, regard- less of political affiliation, would expect us as legislators to be here addressing the economic crisis that was loom- ing on the horizon and was being warned about by all kinds of indicators and all kinds of experts. [1450] Throughout, the Premier and the minister respon- sible, the Minister of Finance, kept it simple for british c olumbians. They denied the impending storm cloud. interjection. S. Fraser: h ead went in the sand, i guess.

This was happening while alarm bells were ringing all over the place in local media. a ll over the province, media out- lets were blowing the alarms on this one. on cknW in early January, when there was still denial that there was a problem in the province and still denial that a deficit budget may be necessary, it says — this was a c hristy c lark show, an interview: "There may have been a thought that british c olumbia would be exempt from a severe downturn in the economy. We're not that much better off these days than the u .S. i wouldn't use the language 'good fundamentals' when we're probably in a recession.

The days when the west was sort of riding on the coattails of a global commodity boom have definitely ended." on the radio we were hearing this sort of thing daily. The alarm bells were ringing loud and clear, but all was well according to the Premier, the minister and this government. The Globe and Mail — again, early January: "i t is very conceivable b.c. could be in recession. Forecasters are gloomier today. That tells you how quickly things are shifting." These are quotes from the Globe and Mail. "The economy has slowed. it is a bit academic if it is a zero or a bit below that.

The export sector is struggling, and the pillars that kept us growing, housing starts and consumer spending, are weakening and stalling." These are pretty stark reminders of a potential prob- lem in the province of british c olumbia, but we had no session, except for five days. There was denial from this Premier and the minister and this government, and no planning that took place to address this at all, because there can be no planning when there's denial of an impending disaster.

The Vancouver Sun, January 24: "Given the extraordin- ary rapid deterioration of the economic outlook for all countries, the synchronized nature of a full-scale global recession and all the lingering problems in the financial systems and credit markets, there is nothing that can be done to forestall a recession in c anada over the next 12 to 18 months." "Jock Finlayson, chief economist for the b.c. business c ouncil, said the b.c. l iberal government is just catch- ing up with what business has been coming to terms with for weeks. h e questioned if the province can really rebound in just two years' time." So we in the province, the people of british c olumbia, had plenty of warning and time to plan — a time when we should have been called back to this place, to this l egislative a ssembly, to address the economic crisis.

We've been playing catch-up ever since, according to Jock Finlayson. With bill 48 it's about deficit authorization. it's a col- ossal deficit in leadership.

That's really what this bill is about, and the hallmark of this l iberal government. bill 48 is legislation that allows the Premier to break his own law. it kind of reminds me of Stephen h arper bringing in, if you recall, legislation on fixed election dates, the rationale so that Prime Ministers could not call an elec- tion based on crass political opportunism, and then the Prime Minister turns around and calls an election based on crass political opportunism. i think we're heading down the same road.

There seems to be a parallel there between the b.c. l iberals and a flip-flop on positions, and that was certainly made by the Prime Minister recently. So let's just recap, because we certainly heard some other versions of history here that i'd like to address.

This bill 48 is a l iberal bill to undo a l iberal bill that made it illegal for the province to run a deficit. [1455] This is actually hard to grasp — a l iberal bill to undo a l iberal bill that would do away with deficits. i guess it didn't work, the first bill. h ow absurd is it that we're standing here this week debating a bill to undo a bill brought in by the same government? h ow absurd is that? Just weeks ago this Premier considered a deficit….

Well, it sounded like it was evil. n ow, i understand that he lost sleep over this, twisting and turning in bed, because he had to do a complete and hypocritical back flip. h e didn't mention losing sleep over engineering the worst child poverty rate in the country five years —the sixth year, this year — in a row, according to Statsc an. h e never mentioned twisting and turning at night over 20,000 forestry jobs lost in this province and the families that have to figure out what to do next without any gov- ernment leadership, and denial from this Premier. h e never mentioned any personal insomnia, Madam Speaker, over the quadrupling of homelessness in this l iberal golden decade. i note that the l iberal members and ministers and Premier no longer use that slogan very much at all anymore: this golden decade.

british c olumbia Debates13640 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 l et's look back a bit, Madam Speaker. The previous l iberal bill, which bill 48 is designed to overturn, the bill to forbid l iberal deficits, actually had a loophole when the l iberals brought it in. it was a loophole, a pretty big loophole. it may be a misnomer, but i'll use the term "loophole" because i can't think of another one. The l iberal government brought in a bill to make it illegal to run deficits, but the loophole allowed them to run back-to-back-to-back deficits.

This was a promo stunt at taxpayers' expense, and it was greatly misleading to taxpayers, because it did not prevent this government from running back-to-back-to-back deficits, the highest in history. i believe it was the 2002-2003 budget that was over a $3 billion deficit. So now we are here with bill 48 to bring in the fourth, by my count, l iberal deficit — maybe the fifth, if you take the next year they're planning on a massive deficit. So it appears that the l iberal legacy — the norm, if you will — is running deficit budgets. This government's been in…. This is the eighth year.

This would make four deficit budgets, despite the fact that this government, to much fanfare, brought in legislation, which we are now working to overturn, to make it illegal to run deficits. Didn't work very well.

Y ou know, i know people that are very cynical of this place, the political process in the province, of politicians of all of stripes. i think that's unfortunate, because i believe many of us are here, regardless of political stripes, in an attempt to do something good for this province. but when you bring in vacuous bills to much fanfare which are designed to mislead the public — which have no teeth, which have no meaning — in fact, that leads to not just public apathy but to distrust. i believe that type of action dishonours all of us in this place and the role that we all try to play as Mla s and, i daresay, as ministers. it doesn't serve any of us very well, Madam Speaker. [1500] We're here debating a l iberal bill that overturns a l iberal bill that says it forbids deficits. how ironic. h ow absolutely ludicrous.

Where was this government when there was a surplus? because there was a surplus; there were surplus budgets. by my estimation, with this bill and a deficit budget, that would mean that half of the l iberal budgets were arguably surpluses. We remember when world commodity prices went through the roof, and royalties did roll into the treasury, into the government vault.

There is no question. but this government and this Premier were pompously taking credit for international market conditions that they had absolutely no control for. n o wonder this government's credibility is shot. if the l iberals took credit for their few surpluses that they had nothing to do with, then they should take responsibility for deficits too. instead, they portrayed them as evil. Y et they have engineered four or five deficit budgets in the last…. Well, that'll be eight or nine years. What did the l iberal government do to prepare us in british c olumbia for this economic turmoil?

Well, since the minister and the Premier denied that we were going to have a problem, denied that we would even consider a deficit budget, we haven't been preparing at all. if there's denial that there's a problem, that there may be need for a deficit, then that's admission that there was no plan- ning, because you'd have to acknowledge that there was a problem looming on the horizon. This government set us up to wear…. This is what they did with surpluses. They set us up — the public, the taxpayer — to wear the massive costs of botched megaprojects.

Wouldn't $500 million for a building…? it's the overruns on the Vancouver c onvention c entre. Wouldn't that go a long way towards helping the needs of british c olumbians now? n ow, as we saw in question period, we'll probably never get a straight answer out of this government about the massive cost overruns associated with the o lympics. They're in denial there too. They have disagreed with three consecutive a uditors General on that front. The a uditor General, for those who don't know, is the independent, non-political body that oversees public spending and protects the taxpayer of british c olumbia.

So the only response we get — three a uditors General in a row — about massive cost overruns, and i would dare say misleading the public about those…. The only response we've got from the Premier and the minister and this government was denial. a gain, the same sort of denial that denied the impending storm of this eco- nomic crisis and the potential need for deficit financing. This government, when there was a surplus, was spending and mismanaging like drunken sailors, guz- zling from the glass of self-delusion and arrogance. interjections. S.

Fraser: i see i have got the attention of the ministers and members opposite, the government members. That is out of line, i would suggest, but understanding that there are sensitivities, i will qualify that. i meant that, unqualified, with absolutely no disrespect to drunken sailors everywhere.

During the surpluses, this government brought b.c. the dubious and shameful distinction and legacy of having the worst child poverty rate in the country for six years in a row. a complete misuse, i believe, of their public role to protect those that are the most vulnerable in this province. [1505] When there were surpluses, homelessness increased almost 400 percent under this government's priorities — skewed priorities that are not the priorities of british c olumbians. When there were surpluses, this government led us to a position where we have some of the worst crime on

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13641 the streets that we're seeing today — shootings, gangs. n othing to prepare us for that. When this government had surpluses they brought us new terms like "hallway medicine," and these are not things to be proud of.

These are shameful legacies of this government: skewed priorities, mismanagement and spending on pet mega- projects instead of protecting the public interest, which is the job of any government. n ow, i remember the statement from — i guess i can use her name, Madam Speaker — c arole t aylor, the previous l iberal Finance Minister. l ast year she told the media that when it comes to the forest sector, forestry, the l iberal government have been spectators. i always thought that was odd coming from a minister of the c rown, making an admission like that. but that, i think, was the best she could come up with.

That was an optimistic view of how this government handled that sector. They orchestrated and engineered the worst crisis in forestry in the history of this province. So last year she told the media that the l iberal gov- ernment were spectators when it came to forestry, as the crisis for those families that made a living in this supposedly renewable resource were losing their jobs and got no support from this government — not even an admission that there was a crisis. They were spectators, according to the Finance Minister.

Well, i submit that the Finance Minister stopped short, that she never finished the statement. i submit that she meant that the l iberal government has been watching from the bleachers as spectators since they were elected to office instead of protecting the public interest. They have been cheering with slogans rather than acting with substance. When they do act, it is to the detriment of the people of british c olumbia. The fear of british c olumbians that i'm hearing all over the province, certainly in a lberni-Qualicum, in my constituency, is palpable.

When this government had surpluses that had nothing to do…. a n orangutan could have been in office and would have had surpluses when commodity prices were through the roof, but they took credit — fair enough. When this government had surpluses, they did anything and everything but protect the public interest.

So the great fear of the public today in a lberni-Qualicum, in the Pacific r im and across the province, is what will this government do with the authorization of bill 48? i acknowledge that there are times when governments must go into deficit, but this government…. h ow will they manage a deficit budget when, with a surplus, they helped dismantle this great province? That's shameful, and it causes great fear for most people in this province.

What will they do? h ow will they manage a deficit when they did so much damage trying to manage or sit- ting in the bleachers while they had a surplus? in Port a lberni, in the a lberni Valley in 2004 — this is when there was a surplus; i think it was the first surplus of this government — the Forest Minister of the day, now the h ouse l eader of the government, gave away 80,000 hectares out of tree farm licence 44, completely ringing the a lberni Valley with private managed forest land against his own staff 's advice. a nd he waived, against his staff 's advice, the requirement to pay the crown, the community, back, that that company should have done at the time. [1510] h undreds of millions of dollars squandered that could have helped the people of Port a lberni, the industry in the a lberni Valley and the workers of Port a lberni.

So when there was a surplus, they gave it away to friends that paid b.c. l iberals, well, about $500,000. i hope whoever negotiated that great deal for Weyerhaeuser and their shareholders got a bonus for that deal. So $500,000 bought them hundreds of mil- lions of dollars at taxpayers' expense and at the expense of my constituents. That's what this government did when they had a surplus, instead of preparing us for an inevitable downturn in the economy, which has become a storm cloud of unprecedented measure.

When there was a surplus, this government pulled funding from Fir Park, e cho Village, a seniors facility in a complex care facility in Port a lberni. it's a non-profit facility. it's part of the community. That facility, Fir Park, e cho Village…. i met with the residents, the families, the staff, the administration, the community on this. We are losing — what do they call it? — the pink wing, the secure wing for people with dementia, people that wander, people that need that security. We've lost that in the a lberni Valley. This happened when there was a surplus.

They took that away from the people that needed it the most. They abandoned our seniors that helped build the health care system of this great country and this great prov- ince. They cancelled the psych ward at the West c oast General h ospital when they had a surplus. What will they do when they have a deficit? it sends shivers up my spine. i fought hard to get a hospice, a palliative care facility, in Port a lberni open, and i fought hard on behalf of all hospices on Vancouver island.

There are nine stand- alone hospices on Vancouver island — ten if you include Victoria, which has its own separate organizational setup. but this government, when they had a surplus, failed to even provide core funding for hospice, for quality end- of-life care on Vancouver island, for the people that need it most. That core funding — i think it amounted to $450,000 for all the stand-alone hospices on Vancouver island — would have covered all their core costs. This government, when they had a surplus, didn't even provide that amount of money.

That's about the amount of money that the ceo for the Vancouver island h ealth a uthority makes. one wage would fund all nine of those stand-alone hospices on Vancouver island and allow

british c olumbia Debates13642 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 them to not spend their time fundraising but actually help them to provide the quality end-of-life care that our residents and our seniors deserve. When times were good, this government failed to provide even a primary health care facility in Qualicum beach, in o ceanside, on the east side of Vancouver island. The highest percentage of population of seniors in c anada, and there's no primary health care. it's 40 minutes in any direction. i don't know how many times i've raised that in estimates in this h ouse — and noth- ing.

We've got no investment when the times showed a surplus. u nder this government, they abandoned those that needed it most. That's shameful. What will they do with bill 48 and this deficit? n ow, most people understand the need to run a deficit in trying times. The question is: how will this govern- ment manage it when they've mismanaged and they've botched so many things while there was a surplus that they had, that they take credit for and that they had nothing to do with? They took away obstetrics in the t ofino hospital. c layoquot Sound.

The t ofino hospital is the only public health facility on the west coast. That includes all the n uu-chah-nulth communities and, in the summer, sometimes 20,000 tourists. This government wouldn't put enough funds in that hospital so that they could keep obstetrics. [1515] There is some consistency under this government's lack of consideration for public interest. They won't support those that need it most with end-of-life care, and on the other end of the spectrum, they take away the services needed for the beginning-of-life care. a nd that's when they had a surplus.

What will they do with a deficit? it's terrifying. in a time of economic downturn it is so important to invest in our future, in education, in post-secondary education. n ow, this government, when the times were good, made an art form of taking away the availability of that post-secondary education.

They gutted skill- training programs — a scathing report from the a uditor General, which will just be denied by this government, just like they denied the a uditor General's reports on other issues, like the cost overruns on the o lympics. in my constituency there's a college known as n orth island c ollege, in Port a lberni. a s they prepare to train and retrain people for their future education or retraining opportunities that must happen during this time — this economic downturn, with the high rates of unemployment that are being created by this economic catastrophe, by some estimations….

This is the time to retrain them. This government and the minister, who seems to be smiling over there, pulled the 2009-2010 budget of n orth island c ollege. They pulled 2.6 percent out of their budget, based on the five-year plan, weeks before n orth island c ollege had to have its budget in last year. h ow does that help with retraining? it does not. They're doing the exact opposite. They did that with a surplus. What will they do with a deficit?

They need to restore that funding to n orth island c ollege, and they need to provide additional funds. i know n orth island is looking for an additional 5 percent to help address the economic needs of this unprecedented time we're going through, and it's not happening. it didn't happen when they had a surplus. My God, what are they going to do next, when they're authorized for a deficit? n orth island c ollege needs a $1.75 million bump-up, and that'd be the best investment that this government can make in retraining in the a lberni Valley. The a lberni Valley industrial review.

This govern- ment's own report said that retraining was essential, and the response from the minister and the ministry was to cut their budget when they had a surplus. My God, what will they do when they have a deficit? n ow, i would normally be able to support bill 48. i may well vote in favour of it. The great fear is what they will do with that deficit. Hon. K.

Falcon: i am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to bill 48. i can tell you, Madam Speaker, as i've sat here and i've listened to nDP speaker after nDP speaker talk about issues that have absolutely nothing to do with the bill that is before this h ouse…. it is rather extraordinary, because once again i find myself in this bizarre situation in this h ouse. it is rather historically extraordinary that once again we are going to be here listening to the nDP spout off for hours and hours on a bill that they're going to support.

Y ou know, we just went through this recently to deal with the situation with the city of Vancouver. We just went through this in n ovember, when we were talking about the Premier's ten-point economic plan to give a shot in the arm to the economy to make sure that british c olumbia will have the resources and tools it needs to ride out the economic storm. The nDP went on for, i think it was, about 16 hours, and then they voted for it. e ven going back to the t sawwassen treaty, for good- ness' sake, i remember we listened to about 30 or 40 hours of nonsense. a pparently, it was the worst treaty in the world.

What did they do? They ended up voting for it. This is just bizarre. i thought that this chamber was supposed to be about people speaking against some- thing and then following through and voting against it, but apparently, that doesn't work in the nDP world. [1520] So what are we doing here today? We are listening to speeches. We just heard the member for a lberni- Qualicum, on the one hand, say that this was a government that was spending like drunken sailors and then, on the

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13643 other hand, give the Minister of a dvanced e ducation heck because he dared to have a 2½ percent reduction in some dollars that went to a college he mentioned. it is truly incredible. on the one hand, spending too much. on the other hand, "My God, you're not spending enough," and then he listed off a bunch of projects that he thought we should have been spending like crazy on. That is classic nDP , and that's one of the reasons why we're here today.

We're here today to talk about the Finance Statutes (Deficit a uthorization and Debt e limination) a mendment a ct, and why is that? Well, it's because in 2001 our government brought in a bill called the balanced budget and Ministerial a ccountability a ct. We brought in a bill to replace a bill that the nDP , in the dying days of their government back in 2000…. They decided, after a decade of some of the most reckless, irresponsible spending deficits, that they had to pretend that they had suddenly found religion.

So on death's door they introduced what they called — what did they call it? — the b alanced budget a ct. The problem with the balanced budget a ct was you could have driven a truck through all the exemptions that were in that act. o ur government said: "n o. We're going to restore financial credibility to this province.

We're going to introduce a balanced budget and ministerial account- ability act that is actually and specifically designed to be difficult and tough. if a government faces a situation as our government does today, where we are going to have to say to the public of british c olumbia that the situation and circumstances that our province and our country find ourselves in are so significant that we are going to be forced to go before the h ouse and the public and say that we are not going to be able to balance it, we're not going to be able to fiddle with the budget as they did in the 1996 fudge-it budget fiasco.

We're not going to lie to the public and bring forward something that there's no chance on earth that it's going to be honest or going to be balanced. We are going to be forced to come forward and make a very difficult declaration about how we're going to deal with it." We did that because we were trying to restore cred- ibility, especially financial credibility, in the province of british c olumbia. Y ou know, financial credibility is important. Y ou'll remember in the 1990s; most people remember the c linton years.

The economy was boom- ing. it was booming around the world. it was booming everywhere except this one little economic black hole called british c olumbia. a mazingly enough, in a time of economic expansion everywhere else, where President c linton was able to balance his budget…. h e was able to talk about the great strength of the a merican economy. e urope was doing well. a ll around the world everything was doing well. Suddenly, in british c olumbia what happened? What was the record?

The record was that in spite of the fact that in 1991, when the nDP ran for office…. r emember they ran those commercials that said, "We won't spend one nickel more than we take in," and they had a little piggy bank that they dropped that nickel in. a nd what happened? e very single year, deficit budgets. e very single year. it was embarrassing in the scale and the scope of that. Then what did they do? Then they said: "Well, okay." They were getting embarrassed because they were having all these deficits. So then they brought in what they called debt management plans.

They missed every single financial target they set in five debt management plans. a nd you know what they did after that? They just stopped. They scrapped the whole debt management plan completely, as it was becoming so embarrassing for the government. They had two credit downgrades. The triple-a credit that they inherited they managed to downgrade on a number of occasions through the '90s. We also in british c olumbia faced a situation where, rather extraordinarily, if you think about it, because british c olumbia is where everyone wants to move to…. This is the province that everyone really wants to be part of.

They actually managed the feat of singularly driving more people out of the province than were coming to the province. Some of our best and brightest were fleeing the prov- ince — net out-migration in the province of british c olumbia year after year. They managed to put into place…. british c olumbia had the highest marginal personal income tax rate in n orth a merica. l adies and gentlemen, if you wanted to pay the highest rate, almost 54 percent, move to british c olumbia under the nDP , and you were paying it. [1525] That was the situation that we inherited in 2001. So what did we do?

Well, the first thing we did was we introduced the balanced budget and Ministerial a ccountability a ct. The second thing we did is we said we were going to balance the budget within the first three years. n ow…. interjections. Hon. K. Falcon: is there an echo in here? interjections. Deputy Speaker: Minister, would you sit down for a moment, please. Members, order. order, Member. c ontinue, Minister. Hon. K. Falcon: i'm going to address the comments that the member keeps piping up about over there. but i think the critical thing to recognize is that when

british c olumbia Debates13644 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 we brought in the balanced budget and Ministerial a ccountability a ct, we said we would balance our budget within the first three years. n ow, we faced unexpected circumstances. That actually happens in government. a s some other speak- ers have pointed out, we started out with 9/11. That wasn't an easy experience for the economies across n orth a merica. Then we had the SarS situation, a rather extraordinary health crisis that was facing british c olumbia.

We had the avian flu, and then we had forest fires ravaging one end of the province to the other. it was a challenging time. We heard the n DP for the entire time saying: "o h, my God, how dare you think about balancing the budget." i'll even say, in fairness to the n DP , that there were even members of the business community suggesting that they weren't sure we would be able to balance the budget. but i'll tell you this. The Premier stayed committed to that goal. h e stayed committed to the goal, because it's always going to be easy to find excuses not to do the right thing.

We balanced the budget in our first three years, exactly like we said we were going do. That was the start of rebuilding financial credibility in this province. The other thing we did on our first day in office was we cut personal income taxes 25 percent. We did a fur - ther 10 percent tax cut two years later. We just did, most recently, another 5 percent tax cut in the Premier's ten- point plan. For five years i listened to the nDP in this h ouse talk about how we were gutting all the revenues of the province, and we wouldn't have any money for public education.

We wouldn't have any money for health care. i listened to that chant continuously across there. Y ou know what? They were wrong. once again, they were wrong. They only have to go and look at the audited financial statements of this province and look under personal income tax revenues, and they will find that today they are far greater than they were in 2001. i get that that's a challenge, because they still haven't figured out how to read financial statements. i've offered to give a course. i've offered to do it in crayon, if that's helpful. but the point is that they still don't understand basic finances.

So what did we hear? We heard that we needed to spend more. We had to spend on this; we had to spend on that. What have we done? h ealth care. When we were elected, an $8.2 billion budget. t oday it's over $14 billion. a nd what do i hear from the nDP? That appar- ently, in nDP finance, is a cut. Then we've got k-to-12 education, the highest level of funding today than ever in the history of k-to-12 educa- tion funding. a nd what do the nDP …? That's in spite of the fact that there are 60,000 fewer kids in the system. They still talk about cuts to education.

Then we've got post-secondary. if you travel to my old university, Simon Fraser u niversity, you don't even recognize it today with all the new buildings, all the new programs. a 40 percent post-secondary increase in the budget from when we were elected in 2001, and still we'll hear the nDP talk about how there is a cut to post- secondary education. it is rather extraordinary. a fter we balanced the budget like we said we would do within our first three years, we then started running up surplus budgets. What happened when we were run- ning up the surplus budgets?

Well, the hue and the cry from the opposition was that we ought to be spending it. "We should be spending it here. We should be spending it there. We should be spending it everywhere." That's what we heard from the nDP . There was never any talk from the n DP …. n ot once did we ever hear them say: "Maybe we ought to pay down some debt. Maybe we should put some aside for a rainy day." There was none of that. it was all about how we weren't spending enough — not fast enough, not big enough, not soon enough. That's all we heard from the nDP . So what did we do?

We reduced the operating debt…. interjections. [1530] Hon. K.

Falcon: The members opposite should know that they will get their time. i've sat and i've listened to them go on with their drivel hour after hour, and i'm afraid they're going to have to listen to facts. i know that the facts are uncomfortable to the nDP . but these are actual facts, because when the government talks about this, we know we're going to be held to account, we know that it's going to be in Hansard, and we'll say what is exactly a fact. i know it's uncomfortable for the nDP . i know in the dour, negative, unhappy world of the socialists, this is a difficult message to hear. but they're going to have to hear it, because it's actual facts. [S. h ammell in the chair.] So what did we do?

We had surplus budgets. We paid down the operating debt 47 percent. That's $7.4 billion over the last five years. The nDP wanted us to spend all that. They didn't say that was a good thing. They didn't say: "c ongratulations, government, for paying down that operating debt we ran up." They said we should be spending more on every other thing that they could dream up. We created 400,000 new jobs in the province of british c olumbia. We restored british c olumbia's credit rating to triple-a. b.c., a lberta and the federal government are the only governments with triple-a credit rating in the country today.

We are proud of that record. r emember, when the nDP were in power, in addi- tion to having the highest personal income tax rates in n orth a merica, they also thought it made sense to tax

british c olumbia DebatesWednesday, February 11, 2009 13645 the lowest-income people in the province. one of the things we did was eliminate all taxes for those earning $16,000 and less. in the nDP government days they thought it was appropriate to tax a single mother earning $13,000 or $14,000 a year. They felt it was important that they take money out of her pocket and spend it on their wild spending plans that drove this economy into debt and deficit.

We decided that didn't make any sense, and we eliminated all provincial tax for those earning $16,000 and less. a s we go forward, the challenges that we face as a province are real, and they are significant. What is hap- pening around the world today is very, very challenging for governments — not just here, not just in c anada, but in the u nited States, in europe and around the world. but i am amazed to find, as i've listened to the debate, that nothing has changed on the nDP side of the benches.

They're still talking about imposing a billion dollars of new taxes on the oil and gas sector, thereby bringing to the knees one of the great revenue gener - ators for the province of british c olumbia. They're still talking about imposing over $400 million in new costs on small business, therefore just wiping out — chop- ping off at the knees — a sector that is so responsible for instilling confidence and for hiring people.

Just last week i heard their ferry critics, in the wake of our 33 percent fare reduction that we had in place for two months as part of the Premier's economic stimulus plan to try and put a shot in the arm for ferry-dependent communities over the holidays…. interjection. Hon. K. Falcon: Well, we've got a member…. The member from the Sunshine c oast is yammering away over there. This is a member that was coming to me complaining about the fact about fares…. Deputy Speaker: Minister, we don't refer to people whether they're in or out of the h ouse. Hon. K.

Falcon: Some of the coastal ferry-dependent community Mla s have been whining about the fact that as part of the Premier's ten-point plan, we had a 33 percent fare reduction for two months.

When the 33 percent fare promotion ended, there was a further 5 percent reduction in fares — quite happily — on the minor routes, including those from which some of the members heckle. n ot only have all the fuel surcharges been taken off, but there was a further reduction of 5 percent for the benefit of the minor routes. but i heard the ferry critic — in the midst, remind yourselves, of one of the most challenging economic circumstances we've faced — criticizing us for taking it off and saying that it should stay in place permanently.

So in the drop of a hat the nDP ferries critic just made a spending commitment that will be at least $150 million a year. it's like the nDP have their foot stuck on the spending accelerator, and they just don't know how to lift it. They don't understand that the worl

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	H0211pm-04
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	H0211pm 04
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ef2c4bc66f7ff6ecd44190c2615af15185957f49

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