Fourth Session, 42nd Parliament

(2023) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 266

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Orders of the Day

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

R. Russell

T. Wat

K. Greene

S. Bond

H. Sandhu

J. Rustad

A. Walker

J. Sturdy

J. Routledge

M. Starchuk

Hon. N. Cullen

Question of Privilege (Reservation of Right)

M. Lee

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2023

The House met at 1:33 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Orders of the Day

Hon. R. Kahlon: I call continued address in reply to the throne speech.

Throne Speech Debate

(continued)

R. Russell: It’s my privilege to rise in the House to speak in favour of the

throne speech, so I’m pleased to be here.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

I will start by saying the Minister of State for Workforce

Development, in his response to the throne speech, opened, which I think is

fitting, with comments about how much this work takes us away from our

families and the people who really support us. Especially on Valentine’s

Day, I think it’s appropriate to recognize the fact that the burden of this

place is placed on us, but it is also very directly placed upon our

families, and they carry a lot.

So I will start by giving a shout-out to my wife — Happy Valentine’s

Day — and just thanks for everything that she and my children carry for me

while I am in this place. Thank you.

[1:35 p.m.]

In the same vein, the member for Langford–Juan de Fuca a couple days

ago mentioned his immense privilege in being able to be in this place

representing his community. I certainly share that gratitude and want to

make sure that I have a chance to articulate that as well and just recognize

how much of a privilege….

It doesn’t seem to matter what day it is when I show up to work in

this place. It is a pretty remarkable feeling to be able to come here and

advocate and represent on behalf of those constituents, to try to help

improve whatever it may be that is on their minds and what they need help

with. Immensely thankful for that.

In the same way, there are a lot of people that are here that help

support us to make this happen. I have a long list here. I won’t go through

it all, but first I would shout out to my CAs back in the home office. I

have two in my own office as well as one that works remotely, given the

scope of my riding. To Sarah Dinsdale, April Lebedoff and David Lubbers:

thank you for keeping everything on track and helping advocate for our

constituents. I know that they are very thankful, and I am probably more

so.

Likewise, there are many volunteers that help out on the home front.

Thanks, particularly, to people like Char Thiessen and Ian Mitchell, who

have been helpful in the office, and the many more who I won’t name

here.

Then, of course, in this place in particular, there are a lot of

people that help me to do this work. Thank you to them. Thank you to my LAs

Paige Falkins as well as recently — I’ve gone through a few — Andrew

Christie and Patrick Vachon. Hopefully, that’s not a statement to my HR

skills, but I thank them all for the work that they’ve done.

On the other side of my work, thanks to Molly Wilkins, Niki McVicar,

Nina Karimi, Kassandra Lawal. There are a lot of people there that help

enable me to do the work I do, which I love. And especially to Jesse

Gervais, who is at my side when I am out on the road. I’m immensely thankful

for having that ability to have somebody like him to share the challenges

with and to help navigate through this work. Thank you to all of

them.

The member for Richmond-Queensborough, in his address, I think had a

fascinating anecdote — I’ll call it an anecdote — which was a reference to

the question: when do we decide that civilization began? From an

anthropological perspective, what is the moment that we decide, that we

identify in the record as that occurring? He made reference to Margaret

Mead’s answer to that question, which is: the moment that we see a femur

that has healed. The rationale for that is that prior to us helping each

other out, if you broke your leg…. Any animal that broke their leg would

die, because you cannot access the supports you need and you are too

vulnerable.

I think it is a fascinating point to make, to set the stage for a

conversation around this throne speech in terms of: what are we doing in

this place? I really appreciate that grounding to recognize that we’re in

this place because of our ability and the requirement that we have for

society to take care of one another. I use that as a bit of a metric of the

work that we’re doing and how successful we are doing that.

In the conclusion of the throne speech, I think that there were a

number of points that were made that, for me, capture much of the same. What

is it that we are striving to do here? And what is it that we are striving

to accomplish? I think at the heart of it, a lot of it has to do with taking

care of one another.

The statement was around closing comments, where it was said, “Your

government believes B.C. should be a place where everyone can build a good

life,” which I think we all would agree on. Maybe the how is different. The

following bullets were things such as where you can afford to buy or rent a

decent home.

[1:40 p.m.]

I’m glad to hear from the opposition, clearly very passionate, about

helping move us forward in terms of that initiative to try to supply more

and more homes and to help provide homes to those people who otherwise might

not be able to afford that opportunity, where you feel safe in your home and

your community.

The throne speech mentioned the safer communities action plan. This is

another example of how government is supporting people in the ways that they

need it but that won’t happen on their own accord. It’s not just dealing

with crime and the roots of crime — which has been, obviously, a focus of

conversation recently — but I would extend that to disasters, and much more

about what it is that makes us feel secure and comfortable in our homes,

where health care and public services are there when we need

them.

I certainly have spent time living in the United States. I know what

it’s like to live in a place where the health care system doesn’t support us

in the way that we do here. It is dramatic to witness that firsthand and see

people that are making choices that we don’t have to make here because of

the health care system that we do have, where there are training

opportunities for young people to pursue their dreams.

I think about this, particularly in the context of rural communities

and decisions, for example, around adult basic education — which, a few

years ago, the previous government had made a decision to stop funding, to

pull the rug out from under those communities. My community that I live in

has a branch campus of Selkirk College. The primary purpose for that to

exist is to be able to provide people that adult basic education, which

gives them the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

It’s astounding to me that we would see a government say: “We don’t

think that that’s worth supporting, and we’re going to remove funding.” With

the reinstatement of funding, that directly — in a community like mine and

in rural communities, particularly — has an enormous impact on opening the

door to those educational options where our beautiful natural heritage is

protected for future generations.

Anyone who has a sense of the tragedy of the commons, the concept of

that, has, I think, a good sense of the challenges that we face in that

space to manage our natural environment in a way that works well for us.

This is why the dedication of government to things like a CleanBC plan that

is ambitious and complex in how it’s delivered becomes enormously important

for the future of our children, for example, and our children’s children,

where our economy is cleaner and fairer, rewarding those who work hard and

play by the rules.

I think about the vision that that opens up for us and the kind of

place that we can brand British Columbia as, a place where people want to

come for a fair and reasonable opportunity to invest in a province that

takes things like environmental and social governance objectives

seriously.

We see that the investment community around the world is looking for

that. There’s a huge opportunity there to do what, I think, most of us would

recognize as the right thing and, at the same time, attract investments into

our province, where we always work in true partnership with Indigenous

people.

I applaud the House. It occurred before my time, but I think most of

us are still…. I’m certainly astounded by the forethought and the action to

actually pass DRIPA. Doing that ahead of the rest of the country, ahead of

the country itself, is a pretty remarkable accomplishment, moving in that

direction to deliver on values that we all share and on obligations that I

think we feel.

I think that those wrapping comments on the throne speech, to me, are

a good testament back to that analogy of the broken leg. It’s back to the

notion that we take care of people. That’s why we’re here. I really think

that’s of fundamental importance to understanding what our purpose to be in

this place is.

I will take the opportunity, also, to say that in the responses that

I’ve heard…. I come from a rural community. I represent a riding that has

only small communities in it, none of them much larger than 5,000 people,

and I have the privilege to work on the government side, in being the

Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development.

[1:45 p.m.]

I’ve heard a fair bit of push-back from the opposition, in response to

the throne speech, around a rural vision and what they see. Frankly, from my

perspective, what I hear is a very uninspiring vision for rural development

from the opposition, which is focused on natural resource development and

very little more.

For me, when I hear the throne speech, when I hear references to

things like the delivery of a rural strategy, and I hear the references to

the many different ways in which we support rural communities, I think it

does represent our passion and our recognition that we do care about rural

communities. That vision for rural communities goes well beyond a vision for

what rural communities were 100 years ago, which is I think the much less

inspired version of what that is.

Interjection.

R. Russell: Thank you.

I hear, for example, yesterday one of the members of the opposition

was talking about how he was hearing that forestry is a sunset industry,

which is disappointing to me, given how much time I spend on the road

talking to people in rural communities. I don’t ever hear that from those

people in those communities. Nobody is saying forestry is a sunset industry

in the conversations they’re having with me. Nor do I hear that amongst my

colleagues, so I’m curious where that commentary is coming from.

It’s disappointing. For us, I think that there is a pretty clear

recognition that forestry is a foundational part of our province and will

continue to be so. The question is: how do we make sure to do so in a way

that is going to continue? It’s a sustainable industry, and it’s something

that is going to continue to provide good jobs in our communities. That

means figuring out how we do more with less. How do we do a better job of

extracting the value from those resources?

Back to our StrongerBC plan. Clean and inclusive future growth is

really part of what that represents, what we’re moving towards. That

recognizes the challenges that the industry faces, recognized through things

like our commitment to streamlining permitting in some of these natural

resource sectors, through opportunities like an ESG Centre of Excellence,

and through investments in the private sector like the B.C. manufacturing

jobs fund, saying: “We know that sometimes there are challenges with

capitalizing on those innovative ideas, so we’ll help support.” The B.C.

government is going to help support the industry deliver on that.

At the same time, again, coming back to that vision for what rural

communities are, I think there’s a recognition that’s it is a lot more than

just that natural resource sector, which is why programs such as our rural

economic diversification and infrastructure program help support communities

to chart that path forward and determine, based on their own ideas, where

they want to go. It’s trusting in rural communities to have the faith in

their creativity to chart their own paths forward.

In the process, I spent a fair bit of time thinking. I’ve read a lot

of rural development plans for a lot of different places, and given, again,

how uninspired the old narrative that I’m hearing about rural communities

being nothing but natural resource extraction, what really is our vision for

rural communities?

Certainly, for myself, I think there are a number of different

components to that. It’s things like recognizing that our rural communities

are diverse and inclusive and making sure that we’re making the most of

people’s talents in those communities and opening doors. Back to, for

example, the adult basic education comment. It’s recognizing rural

communities as providers of goods and services, that natural resource

extraction piece, but more than that.

It’s also food security. It’s also technological innovation. It’s

things like regenerative agriculture, which hopefully I will have time to

touch on. That vision for me includes things like recognizing that rural

communities are full of innovative and entrepreneurial people. These are not

communities that don’t have the capacity to navigate those

challenges.

In a conversation that we were having at one point with some

colleagues and some rural health professionals recently, there was

conversation, for example, around handheld ultrasounds for physicians to be

able to utilize when they don’t have access to an ultrasound tech nearby.

The example was proposed as a demonstration of where the challenges of

resource limitation in some of those communities necessitates

innovation.

[1:50 p.m.]

Innovation is integral, I would say, in a great deal of what happens

in these rural communities.

Likewise, I’ve been in conversations with the rural colleges around

their challenges, making sure that they can deliver the best supports

possible to rural communities, even rural communities that are very, very

small. This is all about innovation in those rural communities.

In my mind, a vision also includes the idea of rural communities being

champions of natural systems and our connections there. I think that those

people that live in communities that are very small have more likelihood to

be connected deeply in terms of their natural system around them. That

recognizes that we as humans are part of that system, but it’s something

that we are intimately connected with in those rural communities, whether

it’s forests or otherwise.

Things like recognizing that the rural communities are equally

privileged digital citizens, that commitments like our connectivity

commitments…. To say that we’re going to connect all communities in rural

B.C. by 2027 — that is an ambitious target, and that’s to help make sure

that those rural communities, where they want to go down that path of

innovation and development of whatever way, shape or form that looks for

them, have the capacity. The infrastructure is there. The scaffolding is

there for them to be able to move forward with it.

I had some fascinating conversations in places like Haida Gwaii about

just what that looks like and how that will be delivered through things like

Connected Coast.

I see rural communities as a fascinating demonstration of how we

deliver creative governance structures, and those of us that live in rural

communities, on both sides of the House, I think recognize how challenging

it is in a rural community when who is making decisions always changes. In a

place like…. Whether that is regional models, local models in terms of

municipal governments, regional districts, Indigenous governance models or

people in terms of opportunities like planning, like community

planning….

Sometimes maybe the chambers are the lead, maybe the Community Futures

organizations. I think it’s something to recognize — that value in fluid and

dynamic governance models that are a necessity in rural

communities.

Finally, I would say that rural communities are resilient and

adaptive. We look at examples like disaster recovery in my own community of

Grand Forks or Princeton. We see how creative those communities have to be,

to be able to be resilient and to deliver those skills. Those are the sorts

of enterprises that we certainly, on the provincial government side of

things, are trying to figure out how to best support, and that’s been our

model. Community guides what that process looks like.

On that note, I would talk…. The throne speech also mentioned our new

Emergency Program Act, our new suite of legislative changes that will be

forthcoming around how we navigate disasters in this province. I think most

of you probably have heard me speak in favour of this before.

Part of the reason why I come to this House — I went to my

constituents to ask for that privilege — is because I recognized in 2018,

when my community was underwater, that we had a great response system there.

We had very little of a roadmap, on the provincial side of things, in terms

of how we navigate recovery.

There are a lot of changes that are necessary there, and things like….

The provincial government, at around the same time, in 2018, adopted the

Sendai framework, which basically frames up things like that to be able to

recognize that emergency management is about disaster risk reduction. That’s

really the target, and therefore, we can’t just look at response. We need to

be able to take into account response and recovery but also mitigation and

preparedness. Those kinds of changes have very far-reaching impacts in terms

of the legislation and the requirements.

[1:55 p.m.]

Part of that framework also recognizes that disaster risk reduction is

a shared responsibility, everyone from the federal government through the

provincial government, down to regional and local governments, Indigenous

governments, and even to individuals. Recognizing that shared responsibility

is certainly key.

Probably part of that community-led recovery model…. A great example

is working with a community like Lytton. I heard one of the members

yesterday speak about how it doesn’t look like much is happening there. I

was there a week or two ago, and certainly, a lot has happened since I was

last there.

I would, again, give thanks to the local government, the local

leaders. They’re the ones, in this model of recovery…. They know best, and

it’s figuring out how best to support them. The provincial government has

invested over $50 million in helping to address the needs that have been

identified by that community, which, in my mind, is as it should be. The

community leads. The provincial government plays a supporting role to make

sure they have what they need, which is different in different

communities.

I would talk a little bit about connectivity as well. In terms of that

commitment that I mentioned earlier, this is one of those pieces. This is

part of our vision for rural B.C. This is part of our strategy for

supporting rural communities.

It doesn’t directly tie to natural resource development in the way,

certainly, that the opposition is framing, but it absolutely does connect to

whether those rural communities are in a position to thrive. Certainly, if

you are in the natural resource sector, you’re going to recognize the value

of those investments for, even, the delivery of those major projects in

those communities.

I applaud the very ambitious commitment to connect all of B.C. by

2027. It has an enormous impact on the future of those rural communities. It

is one of the number one items, in conversations with rural communities,

that they bring up again and again.

There was a study done last year through the Ministry of Citizens’

Services and B.C. Stats that looked at: what is the economic return on those

investments? The results were pretty profound, in terms of the magnitude of

investments. On a roughly $20 million investment, the short-term payback was

about five times that. The medium- and long-term payback, in terms of

economic return to that community, was 14 times that.

When we talk about rural development, when we talk about supporting

rural communities…. In a case like that, it’s not just the connection with

friends and family. It’s not just the ability to engage in remote education

opportunities and those kinds of supports. It’s direct economic returns, in

addition to that.

I will talk a little about our support in terms of…. The throne speech

also identified the value of being safe and healthy in your community.

That’s certainly something…. Rural health care, particularly, is a challenge

for those of us that live in those communities. We recognize

that.

We see initiatives, here and now, that are being implemented to help

support those rural communities. We see things like the announcements for

the north Island around the recruitment and retention of those health care

professionals. Those are the sorts of steps that need to be taken in order

for those health care systems to thrive.

Again, likewise, in Grand Forks, we recognized the Boundary Hospital

there, which serves a fairly large number of rural communities. The risk of

closure is enormous. The risk, for service that people receive, of closure

is enormous.

And so, likewise, there was action. There was a response. A system was

put in place to help ensure that we had the capacity to keep them — in that

case, it was nurses, particularly — and ensure that we could attract and

retain those nurses, given how much work was taking place and, particularly

in the last couple of years, how much work our health care professionals had

done.

[2:00 p.m.]

Those are, again, I would say, the kinds of investments that are rural

development and that matter in those rural communities.

I will speak a little bit about forestry particularly. In my own

riding, we have the community of Midway. We have a mill there that is

struggling right now. They’ve laid off about a third of their workforce with

an expectation that they’re going to have to lay off more. In that

community, we’ve seen the support of the community action team in the rural

development public service team, as well as Community Futures, to really

help mobilize to say: “How do we best support this community? How do we help

the community imagine what the future might hold and what that looks

like?”

It touches again on that notion of communities being the champions of

their own futures and being able to say: “Maybe the path is the forest

industry. Maybe it’s something else.” That’s not, I don’t think, for us in

this place to say. It’s for those collective conversations on the ground in

those communities to help identify. I think that there are a lot of steps

there to take, but we’re moving in the right direction,

certainly.

I have the privilege also of sitting with a group of agricultural

champions for the Minister’s Advisory Group on Regenerative Agriculture and

Agritech. For the last handful of months, that group has been working very

ambitiously to provide a set of recommendations to the Minister of

Agriculture around how we do this.

I flag that because of the value in regenerative ag, broadly, and the

merging of that with agricultural technology to be able to help address some

of our climate challenges and some of our carbon budgeting in a way that is

creative and that the agriculture sector has been engaged in forever,

frankly — recognizing that and actually embracing it and bringing it into

the fold in terms of what our direction is for agriculture, and regenerative

ag specifically. How best do we support those producers and develop markets

for them or enable them to thrive where they might not otherwise?

One of those agricultural sectors that I feel privileged to have in my

own riding is the wine industry. The South Okanagan and Similkameen,

specifically, make some very tasty wines, which many of you will have

tasted. Even working with the wine industry has been really fascinating. The

regenerative piece….

I was visiting one winery, and they were showing me how they had

decided to utilize some regenerative practices in their vineyard. They were

explaining to me that it was a bit of a challenge at first, but then they

realized, when the heat dome hit recently, that that regenerative practice

approach that they had taken meant that the impact on their production was

much smaller than many of their counterparts. It’s neat to see that

translation into economic returns on investment in things like regenerative

ag.

I have a lot more to say, but I don’t suspect that I will get a lot

more time to say it in. I will leave it at that and, I guess, just say again

that I’m proud of the commitments in that throne speech to supporting rural

communities in real ways that matter for people.

Hon. S. Robinson: I seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. S. Robinson: I’ve just noticed that we have a group of school children here. I’m

not 100 percent sure what school they’re from, but it was really interesting

to see the intensity with which they were listening to the

proceedings.

I thought I would just take a moment to explain to them that what you

have before you are people that are elected from right around the province

who are speaking to the throne speech. That was a speech that was made by

the Lieutenant-Governor just last week, talking about what the government’s

plans are for the coming year to deliver for people in British Columbia,

people just like you. So what you’re hearing now are members providing their

response to the throne speech.

I wish you a wonderful tour today of the legislative

buildings.

[2:05 p.m.]

Deputy Speaker: Welcome, indeed, to everyone. Thank you for coming to your

House.

Debate Continued

T. Wat: I’m pleased to rise and respond to the Speech from the Throne. I’m

grateful for another legislative session where this House has the privilege

of working together in pursuit of a better British Columbia for

all.

I appreciate all the comments shared by my colleagues on the floor and

would like to highlight some important matters to my constituents in

Richmond North Centre, in my capacity as a shadow minister of

multiculturalism, Anti-Racism Initiatives, Arts and Culture.

First, I would like to acknowledge the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations

upon whose lands we gather here today. I would also like to extend my

gratitude to the Lieutenant Governor for delivering the Speech from the

Throne and sharing the government’s vision for the year ahead.

The throne speech is an opportunity for the government to provide

long-awaited answers to the problems that British Columbians are facing.

Anyone can look around and realize that here in B.C., housing prices and

rents are higher than they have ever been. The cost-of-living crisis is

punishing families and making life less affordable every day in B.C. A

collapsing health care system sees one in five people without a family

doctor.

It doesn’t end there. Six years into this NDP government, the

Premier’s failed catch-and-release system continues to see four people a day

randomly attacked and an overdose crisis that is only getting worse with the

same old approach.

The throne speech was full of problems but empty of solutions. It

failed to address critical issues that are top of mind for families, and

people deserve answers. So what did the government fail to include in the

Speech from the Throne? Despite over 11,000 lives being lost since the

overdose crisis was declared a public health emergency, there was no mention

of accelerating B.C.’s response to the overdose crisis or making the

dramatic shift necessary to an accessible, low-cost recovery-oriented system

of care that we have called for.

The decriminalization of hard drugs like crystal meth, fentanyl,

heroin and cocaine with limited access to treatment and recovery is causing

a great deal of stress and concern for families as they look for information

and answers. Disappointingly, there was also no mention of decriminalization

once in the throne speech. It is almost as if they are embarrassed by

it.

Despite many communities and stakeholders pressuring the government

for updates, there was no mention of our LNG sector. We need more clean,

ethical and world-leading resource projects like LNG Canada phase 2, Cedar

LNG and Tilbury LNG to fund the social programs we need. There was no

mention of the softwood lumber agreement, no vision for forestry and nothing

about a long-term fibre supply solution.

We cannot leave our workers in the dark as the government’s lack of

care threatens even more jobs. Despite the deeply damaging impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic, there was also no mention of supporting B.C.’s tourism

industry. The $400 rental rebate promised by the NDP in the last two

elections is still nowhere to be found, nor was it even mentioned in the

throne speech. We cannot expect results or for promises to be kept under the

current leadership.

[2:10 p.m.]

No mention of promised schools like Olympic Village elementary or

Mission high school. Parents, growing communities and families are again

left in the dark.

No mention of urgent primary care centres that have been paraded

around by this government as if it improves our health care system. It did

not.

No mention of increasing access to health care in rural areas, the

overdue ten-year cancer action plan and nothing related to seniors health,

long-term care and assisted living.

Gender equity is left out as there’s no mention of making birth

control free, as promised, and no plans for improving women’s health

resources.

The NDP are good at making announcements but not at delivering for

people. Governing is hard, but the Premier needs to get on with it. Whether

it is the housing crisis, the health care crisis, the overdose crisis or the

failing catch-and-release justice system, people expect real results that

they can see and feel. After all, nice words and empty promises from

government will not address the challenges people face every day.

The Premier’s first throne speech is simply more of the same tired NDP

rhetoric that has failed to improve the lives of British Columbians. All it

takes is to have one look around.

With top economists projecting that B.C. will be facing a recession in

2023, under the NDP government, I would like to address the economy. The

fact is this government hasn’t done enough to protect families and small

businesses, with 44 percent of British Columbians reporting they are $200

away, or less, from being unable to pay their bills at the end of each

month. Instead of helping, the NDP has introduced 29 new or increased

taxes.

A strong government that is fiscally responsible would focus on

industry that drives this province and pays down our debt, like our LNG

sector — except, unfortunately, these projects were absent from the throne

speech. We want more clean, ethical and world-leading resource projects like

LNG Canada phase 2, Cedar LNG and Tilbury LNG to fund the social programs we

need.

My riding of Richmond North Centre is one of the province’s

fastest-growing communities, with its own housing crisis, as with

communities across B.C. The reality is that housing has never been less

affordable under the NDP. We have the most expensive housing market ever. It

now requires $268,000 in income to afford a home in Vancouver, according to

RBC.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s annual Rental Market

Report shows that British Columbia is the most expensive place to

be a renter in the country, with B.C. renters now paying $4,332 more a year

under the NDP. Vancouver has the least affordable rental markets in the

country, while Victoria and Kelowna are No. 3 and No. 4.

We know things are looking rough when the Minister of Housing has

already admitted defeat, saying: “In two years, we are not going to solve

the housing crisis.” I would even remind the House that the Premier, too,

has admitted that under the NDP, the Downtown Eastside is “worse than

ever.”

[2:15 p.m.]

I have had the opportunity to witness extremes of a housing crisis

during my many visits to especially impacted areas such as Chinatown. From

2001 to 2017, when we were on the other side of the aisle, we completed

close to 24,000 new, affordable housing units. More than 2,000 units were in

development or under construction when we left office. Yet the latest

progress report from B.C. Housing shows that just 11,898 units are actually

open. That means that just 10.4 percent of the 114,000 homes promised by the

NDP in the 2017 election are actually open today.

Let’s talk health care. While the Premier tries to blame the federal

government for the province’s shortcomings, the throne speech had no plan to

address the crisis in our health care system. This is unacceptable when

considering that a new report for Medimap shows that wait times for medical

clinics in B.C. have literally doubled since 2019. British Columbians have

to wait more than triple the amount of time — 79 minutes — to see a

physician at a walk-in clinic, compared with Ontarians who wait an average

of 25 minutes. It’s 79 versus 25.

Adding salt to the wound, major hospital projects, such as Cowichan

Hospital replacement, are drowning in cost overruns and delays thanks to the

NDP’s CBA program, criticized with NDP-supportive unions over First Nations

peoples. The health care crisis clearly has no end in sight for as long as

we continue with the same old approach of fiery announcements and no

results.

My time spent in the Chinatown neighbourhood also brings me again to

the topic of mental health. Decriminalization is an insufficient response to

the overdose and mental health crisis. Instead of solely focusing on harm

reduction, we need to shift to a recovery-oriented system of care that

emphasizes treatment and recovery. No one can look around and say that the

current approach is working. But better is possible, at least under a. B.C.

Liberal government.

That is why my colleagues on this side of the House and I announced a

change in direction: a plan to overhaul the delivery of mental health

services and to build a recovery-oriented system of care for those suffering

from addiction. As I said earlier in the House, we will build on innovative

models like the Red Fish Healing Centre, located on the former Riverview

lands, in regions across the province so people with severe and complex

needs can get compassionate, 24-7 psychosocial support.

We will eliminate user fees at publicly funded addiction treatment

beds and provide direct government funding for private beds, because money

shouldn’t determine whether or not you get well. We will build regional

recovery communities where people struggling with addiction can stay for up

to a year with individualized holistic treatment support. Although always a

last resort, we will implement involuntary care for adults and youth at risk

of harm to themselves or others.

The status quo is not working. Doing more of the same is not going to

drive better results. People want a different approach, because no one

thinks that what we have right now works. Instead of perpetuating an endless

debate of harm reduction versus recovery, we need to provide all supports

possible to people trying to overcome addiction and give them every

opportunity to get better.

Since 2018, anti-Asian hate crime has increased by 400 percent. It

certainly didn’t help when the Premier, who used to be responsible for

housing, attempted to blame housing prices on Chinese homeowners.

[2:20 p.m.]

Crime and disorder in community have been getting worse and worse

under the current catch-and-release justice system. Violent crimes increased

30 percent while the Premier served as Attorney General, according to new

information released by Statistics Canada. From 2020 to 2021, the violent

crime severity index is up almost 5 percent in B.C. Cities like Kelowna, 14

percent, and Victoria, 12 percent, saw double-digit increases in violent

crime severity.

British Columbia saw 10,860 major assaults last year. Victoria alone,

our capital city, saw a 49 percent increase in sexual assaults. Five years

into the job and violence and random attacks keep getting worse. Four people

a day are facing random attacks and assaults in cities like

Vancouver.

Under the NDP, B.C. has seen a 75 percent increase in the rate of

no-charge assessments and a 26 percent decrease in the number of accused

being approved to go to court, yet the throne speech completely missed the

mark in explaining to British Columbians why we should expect any

improvement this time around. It is time to scrap the catch-and-release

policy and keep prolific offenders off our streets while investing in

much-needed mental health and addiction supports.

The throne speech also reminds us of the responsibility we have for

our constituents and their interests. It is also an opportunity to

acknowledge that there are many actors in our communities. They are working

alongside government with the goal of building better

communities.

The pandemic has been challenging for many in our community in

Richmond North Centre. A survey conducted by the Yorkville University found

that 92 percent of participants agree that the pandemic left traumatic scars

for people across Canada, and more than half said the state of parents’ and

caregivers’ mental health post-pandemic is somewhat or significantly

deteriorating.

In Richmond, we are fortunate to have organizations such as Community

Mental Wellness Association of Canada and Pathways Clubhouse to help those

in need. CMWAC is a registered non-profit charitable organization that was

established in 1995 as a grassroots organization. It serves as a platform

that connects those with mental illness to their family members and other

people with shared mental health concerns via culturally appropriate

counselling services, education and training referrals provided within a

caring community environment.

With the help of volunteers, and in co-operation with other

organizations, CMWAC strives towards the objective of reducing the social

stigma associated with mental illness as part of an early intervention and

prevention strategy.

I have been joining CMWAC’s events in Richmond, and I would like to

thank Ahlay Chin, executive director and founder, and all the staff and

volunteers for their wonderful efforts to build support networks where

people can share their experiences in a nurturing environment that promotes

recovery and well-being.

Pathways Clubhouse is a non-profit organization creating an inclusive

community through meaningful work and relationships, education, quality

housing and a sense of belonging. The organization collaborates with people

and organizations in the broader community to educate and eliminate the

stigma around mental illness while championing mental wellness.

[2:25 p.m.]

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dave MacDonald,

executive director, and Pathways staff and volunteers for their work to

offer hope, encouragement and opportunities to people who live with mental

illness.

Their important work is a reminder of the critical role that community

organizations play in our society. I would like to thank all organizations,

the CMWAC and Pathways Clubhouse for their services.

As I conclude my response to the Speech from the Throne, I also would

like to reflect on the gratitude I have for the privilege to represent

Richmond North Centre, a diverse and vibrant community.

I was able to join the Richmond Jewish Day School for its

intercultural and interfaith event called Shine a Light recently. The school

brought Highway to Heaven schools and community members together to showcase

what wintertime celebration is like in their respective cultures and

traditions. The spirit of this celebration shares winter customs, such as

those practised during Hanukkah and Christmas, built into our individual

identities.

By providing a safe and educational learning environment, the school

hopes to create an environment to improve understanding about different

cultures by encouraging people and institutions to work together and share

responsibility for addressing racism, discrimination and

anti-Semitism.

Kudos to Sabrina Bhojani, the principal, for your ideas of building an

inclusive society. I would also like to thank the Bayit, a warm and vibrant

synagogue in Richmond, committing to making everyone feel included and at

home. Bayit offers services and programs to connect our community members

with respect and inclusion.

In December, I was also pleased to join the annual public lighting of

the city’s 25-foot Hanukkah menorah at Richmond Cultural Centre. Warm thanks

to Ebco, Lightspeed commerce, Bayit and president Keith Liedtke, Rabbi Levi

Varnai, Chabad of Richmond and the Richmond Public Library and Cultural

Centre for hosting this wonderful ceremony to bring Richmondites of all

faiths together to celebrate the theme of light eliminating the

darkness.

[J. Tegart in the chair.]

These are just a couple of many examples of how the diverse

communities of Richmond come together to empower and lift one another with

the shared goal of an inclusive and prosperous society. As the MLA and

Shadow Minister for Multiculturalism, I’m incredibly proud of the work that

Richmond residents have been doing and will continue to do over the next

year.

Unfortunately, overall, the throne speech was full of problems and

short on solutions. British Columbians should be able to expect better six

years into this government, except they receive disappointment after

disappointment.

Better is possible. I hope this government will change its approach

once and for all to focus on outcomes and results over announcements and

press releases.

K. Greene: I’d like to start off by recognizing that we are gathered here on the

traditional territories of the

Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking people, the

Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations.

[2:30 p.m.]

I would like to start by thanking the Lieutenant-Governor for

graciously participating in democracy and bringing the throne speech to us

here in this House and, through broadcast, to the people of British

Columbia. I’d also like to thank my constituency staff, because without

them, this work becomes impossible because we are here and constituents are

there.

Carven and Karen, thank you so much for your dedication to the people

of Steveston. I know how much compassion and hard work you bring to the

role, and it’s invaluable to our community.

I also wanted to thank my LA, Paige. She keeps me on track here and

organized and is incredibly supportive in all that I do. So thank you to

Paige.

My personal thanks would go to my family. Thank you to my folks, John

and Peggy. They are incredibly helpful for having support in the same city.

They’re my favourite constituents. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do

activities for the kids and get them to all the things that they love to

do.

I also want to take a moment to remember my grandpa Edward Berkyto,

who always asked me what my ten-year plan was. As a 16-year-old, it was very

perplexing, because I didn’t know what was happening on the weekend, let

alone in ten years. I think that he would be absolutely tickled to be able

to be here today. So I’d like to remember him.

Also, my other grandparents Basil and Margaret Shaw, who were just the

most kind and regular. I don’t know what regular is, but they were just so

lovely — salt-of-the-earth prairie folks. They would be incredibly proud to

see me here today.

I am very aware of the honour that I have being here in this House, in

this chamber. Without the support of my constituents, I couldn’t be here, as

well.

To my kids, Matilda, Sullivan and William, who are very patient. And

sometimes it’s very hard to say goodbye. I love them very much.

To my husband, Trevor, Happy Valentine’s Day. We’re almost up to 20

years of marriage. Trevor, I need you like the flowers need the rain. Love

you.

Thank you for indulging me, Madam Speaker, in my gratitude to my

family and my support networks.

I would like to speak to the throne speech, and in particular, I just

want to kind of set the tone by reading a passage from a book that is

probably familiar to everyone here.

“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’

said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for

them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is

given us.’”

I’ve decided that the time that is given us, and I think the

commitment of everybody who’s supporting the throne speech, is to put people

first, is to work hard and make sure that we’re doing the best with the time

that we are given to us.

I’m here to help people. I’m here to centre their well-being and work

every day to make life better, because the problems that we’re facing are

big, complex problems. We might not be taking a ring to Mordor, but they are

not easy to solve.

We’ve got global inflation, and that’s affecting food prices and

living costs. We’ve got housing costs that are increasing due to migration.

They’re big, complex problems, and it’s going to take a sustained and

dedicated efforts to tackle them.

Some of the successes that I think are making a difference in the

lives of folks that I care about are things like child care. Very recently,

people that have their kids in child care would have noticed that they

received up to a $550 discount per month. That is extraordinary.

I was talking to a mom who had three kids in child care. They’re

relatively close in age, and that kind of money is transformational. It goes

from: “I don’t know how we’re going to make it this week. I don’t know how

I’m going to stick the landing.” Right? Being able to have $550 times three

back means that they can pay their mortgage, they can have better food, and

they don’t have to lie awake at night wondering how they’re going to make it

work.

[2:35 p.m.]

In my riding, we’ve got Seasong YMCA, which is a $10-a-day site. It’s

37 spaces. That’s 37 kids that are supported in an incredibly loving and

enriched environment.

The people that work at Seasong are incredible. I had the opportunity

to meet them, play with some of the kids. Pro tip: don’t wear high heels

when you go see kids in daycare. We went through the bushes and up and over

things. It was fantastic, and the kids were so happy and supported and

growing in a safe environment. That’s all that parents really

want.

Having $10-a-day child care is incredibly transformational. In the

last year alone, we had another 208 seats created in Richmond. I spoke to

another mom who, because she was able to secure a $10-a-day seat, is going

back to school to upgrade so that she can have a better job and a better

life for her family. That is incredibly meaningful, and that benefit will

multiply over the years.

We also have some challenges in Richmond with housing. It was

definitely noticeable, before the speculation tax came into effect, how many

empty homes were in some neighbourhoods. I had residents let me know that

they felt unsafe because at so many doors, there was nobody there. If you

need help, there is no neighbour.

After the speculation tax was introduced, people started coming back

to the neighbourhood. It started coming back to life. People said that it

was noticeable. The quality of life in that neighbourhood improved. So the

spec tax was incredibly helpful for making sure that homes are being used

for people to live in, in my riding, and it created 20,000 homes in

B.C.

When we talk about big, complex problems, it’s going to take a lot of

different solutions to make progress. We can’t go backwards. We don’t want

to take away 20,000 homes. Those 20,000 homes are important for people. We

need to keep adding to that. We have to decide whether homes are for

speculators to use as a financial instrument, or whether they’re for people

to live in, to create homes and memories with their families and go to work

and be part of a vibrant community.

You know, collaboration with local government is also really important

for creating those homes, and some of the tools that we’ve created, such as

rental tenure zoning, are very important to be able to create that stock of

supply for folks to live in. For example, Richmond is starting to utilize

the rental tenure zoning, protecting existing rental-only buildings where

the zoning didn’t match the building type. They were being targeted by

speculators. By creating that rental tenure zoning, it really protected the

existing stock.

Also, new projects are coming online. Right adjacent to my riding, at

No. 3 and Williams, there is a building going up, brand-new, with rental

housing on top, commercial on the bottom. It’s going to be an important part

of that community.

There’s also a lot of interest and concern in health care. Because

we’ve just gone through a pandemic, we’re still feeling the effects. It

hasn’t decided it’s over with us yet. We’re working on it. Those tools are,

happily, available to us, including vaccines — which I am very, very

grateful were developed for that.

In Richmond, we have the Richmond Hospital replacement project. It is

so important to our community. It has been under construction since the fall

of 2021. I think it’s important to remember that for years and years — and

years before that — it was announced. It was announced regularly. There are

members in this House that were at those announcements, and it never got

started.

[2:40 p.m.]

It’s time to do it right. It’s time to get it built. We got started on

the project. We made sure that the business plan was right. We took the time

to go back and expand that business plan.

Now we’re looking at a new emergency department that is going to be 86

spaces, up from 62. We’re looking at getting 11 modern operating rooms,

which is going to be up from eight currently. And because of the age of the

hospital, those eight operating rooms were not the standard that is now

acceptable. They’re about half the size, so it becomes very, very difficult

for staff and medical professionals to use them, because they’re not large

enough for the technology that we have nowadays.

The people that work in health care in Richmond Hospital are so

fantastic. I regularly have compliments coming to my office and through

need by these very dedicated and caring folks at Richmond Hospital. But they

should never have to overcome the building to do that work. So that’s why

I’m really excited to see these improvements come forward.

Some of the other improvements that we’re looking at for the Richmond

Hospital replacement project are pre- and post-surgical care beds. They’re

going to increase from 26 to 68. We’re going to increase the number of beds

in the acute care tower by almost 50 percent, from 240 to 353. Again, coming

back to having modern standards of care with a lot more individual rooms for

privacy and comfort instead of being on a ward, which is incredibly

stressful for people that are having some of the worst days of their

life.

The building is going to be earthquake-safe and above the floodplain.

For folks that know Richmond very well, it’s a little bit flat. It’s quite

near the ocean, and it’s not very tall. Having that above the floodplain and

earthquake-safe means that if disaster were to strike — and I pray that it

never does — we have the ability and capacity to look after people when they

need help.

The building is also going to be carbon-neutral. This is exciting,

because really big buildings have really big carbon footprints. So leading

with the technology that we have developed here in B.C. means that we’re

going to be able to deliver on that.

I also wanted to take a moment to thank the Richmond Hospital

Foundation for all of the good work that they’ve done supporting this

project and connecting with community members. I want to also acknowledge

the work of Natalie Meixner. I have so much appreciation and respect for her

principle of joyful giving — that people should feel connected and excited

to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Also with respect to health care, we were able to announce, in the

Richmond Hospital — that was exciting — the fast-tracking of

foreign-credentialed doctors. That means that folks that have the background

and experience to help us fill some of the needs that we have in this

province aren’t going to be underutilized. It’s not unheard of to hear about

foreign-trained doctors doing jobs that, you know…. I think that they would

be better served in the medical system. That’s going to be an important part

going forward.

We also opened, in Richmond, a UPCC, the urgent primary care centre.

It’s helped a lot of residents, including myself. I recently sliced open my

toe in a little bit of an accident there. But instead of having to go to the

hospital — because it was definitely urgent, but it wasn’t an emergency — I

could go to the UPCC. They were so professional and caring. They had me

stitched up and out the door quite quickly. Oh, and my tetanus booster. I

highly recommend vaccines.

It’s so important to be able to have more options for the delivery of

health care so that we’re not tying up really key resources like the

emergency room with things that could be dealt with elsewhere, like stitches

in your toe.

[2:45 p.m.]

I’d also like to talk about the idea of a green economy because we

know that we’re facing global warming. We are heading into a climate crisis.

We are feeling those effects in this province. Whether it’s wildfire or

flooding, the ecological disasters keep coming, and they keep being more

severe. We get heat domes, things that we would not have contemplated

previously, so we know we need to do better.

Part of that would be the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, mapping out how

we’re going to achieve our climate targets. It’s incredibly important that

we do this, because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s an

incredible economic opportunity.

There are global capital flows for ESG investments, and that money is

moving. If we can take advantage of that leading edge, we are going to be

the new hub and centre of excellence for ESG, for environmental and climate

technology, in the world. There’s incredible opportunity for

that.

We also need to recognize the flipside. What’s the cost of doing

nothing? Well, the cost of doing nothing is our ecological systems start to

fail, and at the end of the day, we need a planet for jobs. We need a

healthy planet for jobs. We need to be able to live in harmony with our

planet, and we haven’t figured that out yet. There is definitely work to do

on that, and part of that is going to be the CleanBC Roadmap.

We’re also investing in innovative green solutions and projects that

create a lot of value for communities such as the clean coast, clean waters

program, which captures a lot of the plastic waste that washes up on our

shores. This is particularly difficult in communities that are more remote,

because they don’t have frequent shoreline cleanups like places in the Lower

Mainland, where they’re very easy to get to.

Ocean Legacy Foundation in Steveston takes this plastic that is

degraded and contaminated and can’t otherwise be recycled in traditional

recycling facilities. They sort it, clean it and recycle it. They take all

this nasty plastic waste from the beach, and the end product is a

like-virgin material that can be used again. So basically, they’ve turned

trash into new material.

I really appreciate the principles of this Ocean Legacy Foundation,

because they don’t want that new material to become more waste. They don’t

want another water bottle on the beach. They don’t want another broken

pallet. Their principle is that whoever they’re selling that like-new

material to, they’re producing a durable good.

I was privileged to see one of those products, which was basically,

for lack of a better term, an origami kayak and paddle. It’s very compact,

folds out, and it’s a durable good that people can enjoy for years to come,

and it is actually recyclable. I thank them very much for that

work.

The province has also granted to the city of Richmond $2.285 million.

That is a lot of money. But why is it important? Well, it’s for flood risk

hydrodynamic modelling, flood protection system emergency reconstruction

strategy, drainage pump station climate adaptation and resilience

upgrades.

Richmond is basically at sea level. We have an average of one-metre

elevation. When it is a king tide, with a freshet, with a storm surge, you

really see the water cresting just about to the top of some of the

dikes.

[2:50 p.m.]

The city of Richmond has been very proactive in the work that they’ve

done. That work has borne fruit in the fact that we stay dry all the time,

but there is so much more to do because sea levels are rising.

They’ve started that work of raising the dikes, replacing pump

stations, making sure that the armouring is in good condition on the dikes.

But this money is going to make sure that the support is there for diking

excellence and draining excellence. I want to do one more shout-out to the

city of Richmond, commending them for the diligence with which they have

approached diking and drainage maintenance.

Now, I’d also like to talk a little bit about schools. For those who

don’t know, my sort of pathway to being here today was that there were going

to be school closures in my district. There were going to be a lot of them.

The more I looked into it, the more that nothing made sense. It was

incredibly frustrating — when you look at a system and say: “How can you

decide that schools need to be closed when what they really need is to be

repaired?”

So I got mad, and we were successful in keeping the schools open. This

was incredibly important because not that long after, the Supreme Court of

Canada ruled that class sizes did, in fact, matter, and those empty

classrooms became full. In fact, we were having classrooms in gyms and

libraries and computer rooms because we, quite frankly, ran out of

room.

Now in my riding today, just my little

section of Richmond, we already

have four schools seismically upgraded, for $42 million.

Interjection.

K. Greene: Thank you.

I think it’s heartwarming to know that government prioritizes the

safety of children. Where they spend six to eight hours a day, that building

should be safe.

Our communities also depend on them to be safe. One of the things that

I found out as I was going through this process was that people were

expecting to be able to congregate at schools and in gymnasiums in the event

of a major earthquake, because that was seen as the local neighbourhood

assembly place. Those buildings would have been on the ground.

We know that it’s important. We are working on it. We know that there

are more schools to do. There is more to come. I’m really excited for that

work because it means so much to so many people. When I think of how many

thousands of kids have their bums in seats all day, you very much know how

important that work is.

We’re doing it right. We’re working closely with the school boards and

making sure that if there are additional upgrades, they are coordinated with

the school boards so that we don’t open up walls twice. That doesn’t make

any sense.

We also make sure that seismic upgrades are seismic upgrades. One of

the things that happened under the previous government was counting seismic

upgrades where, in fact, the school was bulldozed. Well, yeah, I guess it’s

not going to fall down in an earthquake, but that probably doesn’t meet what

most people would think was a seismic upgrade.

Those are some of the things that we’re working on, some of the things

to come. I’m really excited for that work.

I’d like to talk a little bit about my riding and some of the things

that are important there. We have a very long history of a diverse community

in Steveston. People from all over the world have been attracted to that

community for a very long time, all the way back to the earliest

settlers.

The Musqueam were, of course, there. That’s Musqueam territory. We had

a lot of folks of Japanese heritage, Chinese heritage and European heritage

making their homes there. One of the central pieces that is interesting to

me is the connection that we have with the places in our home.

[2:55 p.m.]

One of those is the Steveston Tram. They are opening, for Family Day,

a new permanent exhibit to talk about how that tram connected us to other

places. The tram in Steveston was quite central to the life there because

Steveston was isolated. If you can imagine, Richmond was just really

Steveston, up in the north of the island, a little community there. There

wasn’t a lot in between, except for farms.

That was a lifeline that ran all the way into Vancouver, and everybody

rode it all the time. The milk came in and out on there. It’s a fantastic

historic site to visit. I would really recommend it, to learn a little bit

more about Richmond.

Along the perimeter of the building is a newly installed memorial

garden to remember the Japanese internment. At the time of internment,

Steveston was about 20 percent Japanese, and suddenly 20 percent of the

community was gone. They started their journey on that tram, and when some

of them came back, they ended their journey on that tram. There’s a very

important memorial. There are large stones, and there are stops along the

way where they would have sent Japanese Canadians for internment.

Even the patterns of the stones on the ground are meaningful. The

people who were interned could basically carry what they had with them. The

Japanese ladies were wanting to be able to create a home for their families,

so what they would do is take the labels off the cans of salmon, and they

would weave them to make placemats. The stones in the memorial garden

remember the bravery and the fortitude of Japanese women supporting their

families with a sense of home when they had basically nothing.

We also have the Gulf of Georgia Cannery museum. I was fortunate

enough to go to the volunteer appreciation event, as I mentioned in a

two-minute statement previously. It is really quite central to our

community. All the schools in the area go there to learn about what the

early days were like in Steveston. Honestly, they were pretty

dangerous.

I’m really grateful for the labour laws that we have today, including

no more dangerous work for youth, which is so important. Young people should

never have hazardous occupations. The cannery was, quite frankly, a deadly

place to work. Learning about those challenges and difficulties I think

brings awareness and a sense of place to where folks are.

Then, I think, just finally, I would like to take a moment to thank

everybody in Richmond that volunteers. We thank them in the House quite

often, but without them, that knitting of community really couldn’t happen.

Whether a volunteer is at the food bank or at the Georgia Cannery, we really

wouldn’t have the vibrant community that we have without them. So I’m very,

very grateful for that help.

With that, I would like to say that I am in support of the throne

speech, and I’m very excited by the values and principles that are within

that throne speech. I think that they are something that we should stand by,

and put people first every day.

S. Bond: I always appreciate the opportunity to speak in this House. It never

fails to amaze me, after all these years as an elected official, how all of

us look at one document and bring such different views to the Legislature.

We shouldn’t be surprised by that, and we certainly shouldn’t be upset by

that.

[3:00 p.m.]

That’s actually why the Legislature is so important. We bring people

from across this province that represent communities of different sizes and

different geographic locations, and our job is to speak on their behalf

about the kinds of initiatives that the government is planning to put in

place, and that’s what the throne speech is. It is technically a roadmap of

what the government intends to do in the year ahead.

Obviously, I’m going to have some comments about the content of the

speech, but from my perspective, one of the most important things that

happens when we speak in the Legislature is that people talk about their

ridings and about their families and about the people that support them, and

that is really important as we think about the role of legislators and what

it means to be an MLA.

I, like others, want to express my gratitude to the incredible family

that I have — two amazing grandsons — and I want to especially thank them

for their patience, because we, as people who commute to work from

further-flung parts of British Columbia, often are away on really important

days. We spend time on the road. We spend time here. I am really grateful

that there is an understanding on my family’s part about why that matters so

much to me.

I’m also really grateful for the amazing staff that work tirelessly to

respond to our constituents’ needs. They do it with dedication and in

incredibly caring ways.

In Prince George, Dorothy Titchener — I can’t say enough about the

amazing work that she does, and I want to say I’m very truly sorry for

missing her surprise birthday party. Kevin Loewen recently joined our team

and has done a great job since day one. And Tegan Raines, who works with us

one morning a week, is an accomplished Special Olympian. In fact, just days

ago, she competed in the B.C. Special Olympics Winter Games in Kamloops. Not

surprisingly, she came home with multiple medals, and I am so very proud of

Tegan.

In Victoria, I can’t imagine life without the incredible Shala Robins,

who is always there for us. Jen Wizinsky, Abigail Uher, our small but

talented and incredible research and comms team, you are simply the best,

and we are very thankful.

I also want to thank the staff here in the precinct, from those who

work here in the chamber, the Clerk’s office, the library, the dining room,

security. The list goes on. They take care of things every single day to

enable us to do the work we were elected to do. They do it so very well, and

we are grateful.

I’m proud to represent the riding of Prince George–​Valemount.

It’s had another name in times past, and certainly we’ll be looking forward

to the electoral boundaries report which, by the way, was not mentioned in

the throne speech at all, yet it has the potential to impact many members in

this Legislature.

I can tell you that one of the things I am very grateful for is that

the Electoral Boundaries Commission, in their draft report, made it clear

that they are not prepared to see the elimination of rural ridings in this

province. That is really great news, because the government refused to

protect those ridings to ensure that those of us who represent ridings, in

my case, the size of Belgium and, for some of my colleagues here, even

larger than that — how important it is to look at the issue of effective

representation. But we await that report, and we know that it will still

have impacts.

We also recognize the necessity to consider growth in urban areas, and

we’ve always recognized that that’s an important consideration as

well.

My riding, as I noted, is the size of Belgium. It is full of

incredibly hard-working and resilient constituents. It is home to the

highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, which is Mount Robson, and, of course,

is the most beautiful riding in the province. I think we’ve heard that

multiple times over the last number of times. Even my own colleagues are

heckling me at this point in time.

One of the things that matters most to me is working constructively

with other levels of governments to serve our region in the most

collaborative way possible. I am very lucky to live and work on the

traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, and I’m very,

very honoured to have friendship and partnership with the Chief of the

Lheidli, Chief Dolleen Logan and her council.

[3:05 p.m.]

I’m also a proud member of Team Valemount, led by Mayor Owen

Torgerson. We intentionally work together with all levels of government to

best serve our mutual constituents.

Thank you, also, to mayor Gene Runtz and the McBride village council

and the representatives of the regional district of Fraser–Fort George for

the work that we do together.

The city of Prince George made history electing a new mayor, mayor

Simon Yu. Mayor Yu is the first person of colour elected to the mayor’s

chair in the city of Prince George. Mayor Yu campaigned with the slogan, “Yu

can do it,” and he certainly did. He has a council of experienced and newly

elected councillors that have an ambitious agenda, and I am confident they

are up to the challenges that we are facing in our city. Like every other

municipality in this province, we are facing challenges, and I look forward

to working with them in the years ahead.

I want to give you a sense of the character and generosity of my

constituents. I want to reflect for a moment on the work that has been done

by a group called PG for Ukraine. Members include locally elected officials

and many hard-working volunteers. That group is led by Charles Scott and

supported by incredible people like Dick Mynen, Eva Gillis, Don and Mary

Antoshko. What can we say about Father Andrii and so many others?

Prince George has welcomed almost 200 Ukrainians, with at least 90

more inbound and others who are very interested in coming in the future. It

is an incredible scene when a Ukrainian family arrives at the airport. Often

it coincides with a late-night flight of mine, when I arrive home. There you

will see volunteers holding up the flag of Ukraine, with flowers and a

welcome. It is an amazing thing, and it happens over and over again, as

people looking for safety and care arrive in our community and many others

around the province.

I’m incredibly proud of the work done by PG for Ukraine. In fact, a

former MLA in this House, Pat Bell, and his wife, Brenda, and their family

have a Ukrainian family living with them. It’s been amazing to watch that.

In fact, the grandma arrived just recently. So the whole family is together

now. Children, grandchildren and now grandma have arrived. They have told me

that it is one of the best things they have ever done in their

lives.

Every week more families arrive, and there are always people there to

greet them with love, support and a warm welcome. That’s just typical of the

communities in the region I represent.

Having the opportunity to represent the people of Prince

George–Valemount is an unbelievable honour. It is my job to bring their

issues and their concerns to this place. And I have to tell you. On a

personal note, it’s still extraordinary to me that people put their faith in

individuals in this Legislature. We are given the responsibility of coming

to this House and speaking up on their behalf.

That’s why you hear different opinions in this Legislature, and

sometimes they’re heated. You’re going to hear some of those different views

that I have about the speech that was presented by this government

shortly.

One of the things that is most upsetting to my constituents is feeling

that their government doesn’t hear them or know what matters to them. One of

the things that I’ve heard most frequently in the last number of years is:

“This government doesn’t care about us.”

We live in rural and northern parts of this province. What matters is

that this is a big, diverse province, and whoever sits on the government

bench needs to govern for the entire province. Well, did the throne speech

deliver on that? In a word, no.

The throne speech proudly announced that there would be a rural

community strategy. That is almost six years after this government became

government. Six years and there’s a proud announcement about a rural

community strategy. One line. No details. No action. Just a strategy, six

years after being elected. That speaks volumes to the people I represent and

about governing for the whole province.

[3:10 p.m.]

As I listened and then reread the speech, I searched for answers to

the desperate issues facing my constituents and so many other rural,

northern and remote communities.

Here’s one issue: did the government show their support for the

natural resource sector by recognizing the importance of a sector that has

driven the economy of this province for decades? Well, it did do one thing:

it recognized the revenue that it generates. In fact, it noted that there

had been record-setting revenue, but nothing substantive about what the

future looks like and how we grapple with continuing to grow the economy

while at the same time we do that in a sustainable and environmentally

responsible way.

With the recent closures and loss of jobs in the forest sector, it is

incumbent on this government to consider what the future of the industry

looks like. How will workers be supported now? Not six months from now. They

may see the industry as a sunset industry, but we don’t, and they shouldn’t.

I went back and actually checked Hansard , because I wanted to

carefully reflect what I heard the member from Boundary-Similkameen say

yesterday about the resource sector. I literally could not believe my ears.

So I went back.

Let me quote. This member is the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural

Development, and here’s what he had to say: “I was at the Natural Resources

Forum in Prince George recently, though, and I did hear a member of this

House stand and speak to the fact that her priority was to retain as many

natural resource jobs as possible. I disagree with that, and I’m happy to

have a reason to disagree with people.”

Now I’m not sure who the member was quoting, and if it was me, I

happily accept responsibility for that quote, because jobs in the natural

resource sector actually matter to thousands of British Columbians. To

suggest that we don’t want to retain as many of those jobs as possible shows

the significant disconnect between members on this side of the House and the

government. This is the member responsible for rural development.

No one is suggesting…. I heard his remarks again today. They’re about

innovation. Of course we believe in innovation. What does he think that the

industries in the natural resource sector have been doing for generations in

this province? Innovating. Looking at how they do things in a more

sustainable and responsible way. But make no mistake about it. The natural

resource sector matters.

It is almost as if this government is embarrassed to talk about

natural resources. They certainly didn’t in their throne speech. To have

their parliamentary secretary quote a person that said they want to retain

as many natural resource jobs as possible, as if that’s a bad thing, well, I

hope he has the courage to go and say that to families whose incomes depend

on that sector and on those jobs. Will the industry look different in the

future? Of course it will. That is the job of the government: to grapple

with what it looks like, not simply to write it off or be embarrassed to

talk about it.

I was pleased to see a reference to connectivity in the throne speech.

That actually matters to rural British Columbians as well. It’s there again:

a promise to ensure that underserved communities have access to high-speed

Internet by 2027. Well, I’d like to ask members on the government side if

they know that there are hundreds of miles of highway in British Columbia

where you do not have cell phone service. Of course we want to have

high-speed Internet.

In my constituency, for example, I have one of the world’s top class

heli-skiing companies, and if they can’t have high-speed Internet and the

ability to talk about what they offer to international visitors, that is a

huge disadvantage. But we do not have cell phone service — a basic safety

issue — along hundreds of kilometres, of miles. Many of my colleagues in the

House today face that very situation. I face it in a two-hour drive between

communities.

[3:15 p.m.]

In the winter, if you go off the road, you got to wait till the

snowplow is there to try to find you. There is no cell phone service. Again,

out of touch with the reality for many British Columbians in the part of the

province where I live.

The throne speech had not a single mention of the tourism sector.

Again, the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development was busy talking

about innovation and diversification. Well, you bet we need to diversify.

We’re going to continue to have a natural resource sector and an industry

related to that, but of course we care about tourism. It is absolutely

essential to the economy of many communities like mine. We need a government

that is a champion for the tourism sector. Instead, nothing.

In my constituency, winter tourism sustains small businesses and jobs,

whether it’s snowmobiling and skiing or heli-skiing. It’s some of the best

in the world, as I noted. A focus on tourism is critical to diversifying an

economy, yet not one word. My riding is also home to an exceptional network

of bike parks, driven by the tireless efforts of volunteers, whether that is

Pidherny or Taper Mountain or McBride or the fantastic Valemount bike park.

These bike parks provide much-needed economic opportunity and the potential

to market this corridor as a tourism destination. That is endless, yet not a

single mention of tourism as an important economic diversification

possibility.

We need a government that understands that a human resources strategy

must recognize that you have to train professionals closer to where they are

needed if we ever have a hope of meeting the critical shortage in rural or

northern communities. It simply will not work if we train individuals and

professionals in the Lower Mainland and cross our fingers and hope they’re

going to move. There must be an intentional plan to train closer to

home.

The University of Northern B.C. and CNC have a model and the

capability to add programs that we desperately need, and that could start

with a veterinary school at UNBC. We have raised this issue directly with

the minister and the government. There is a desperate need for veterinarians

in our province. I’m glad to see the leadership that the regional district

of Fraser–Fort George and, more recently, our city council have provided as

well. The throne speech would have been a perfect place for the government

to acknowledge the training challenges and the dire situation we face in

northern and rural parts of this province. It could have started with

committing to dealing with the issue of veterinarians.

The list goes on. We have raised the issue of the closure of the sign

language interpreter program. There is an enormous demand for interpreters.

This short-sighted decision will mean the program will no longer be offered

in western Canada, forcing students to leave our province for desperately

needed training. We’ve also heard about the potential closure of the only

program that trains eye surgeons in British Columbia. That would be

devastating. No word of that in the throne speech.

Parents of children with autism were given hope that their incredible

efforts to get the government to change its mind on the arbitrarily

announced hub model, which would eliminate the individualized funding model

that families rely on…. The throne speech could have outlined a plan for

meaningful and ongoing discussions with families to validate the Premier’s

claim that they would do things differently. Were parents given that

assurance? No. They were not.

The throne speech could have laid out a plan for a comprehensive

system of care to deal with the ongoing opioid crisis. Again, it failed to

do that. We know that better is possible, and it’s absolutely necessary. I

am very proud of the plan that was laid out by the Leader of the Opposition

that would build a recovery-oriented system of care for people suffering

with addiction. It would ensure that there is affordable and accessible

treatment and that there would be recovery communities. Note this: a minimum

of five regional recovery communities for addiction treatments where

residents can stay for up to a year. Regional facilities.

[3:20 p.m.]

It’s a big province. It’s a diverse province, and governments need to

govern for the entire province. There would be treatment on demand,

comprehensive care, complex mental health support and a variety of other

things. The throne speech could have addressed that issue, and it

didn’t.

We have a health care system in crisis, yet almost daily in this

House, the minister and the government dismiss the pain and suffering that

British Columbians are experiencing in every single corner of this province.

There are a million people without a family doctor, a million people on

wait-lists to see a specialist. There are overcrowded ERs, diversions and

closures — where; mostly in northern and rural communities in this province

— burned-out staff and an ambulance system that is overwhelmed.

People have told us they are literally afraid to get sick in this

province. That is the legacy of this Health Minister in this government. The

government members stand up and refer to announcements. What matters is

results. Every single MLA in this House hears regularly about the long

wait-lists, delayed surgeries, people in pain in constituencies right across

the province. Believe me. That is a non-partisan issue. Because I can assure

you that as many government members are hearing those stories as members of

the opposition. Yet we rarely hear them stand up and talk about the need for

change and to fix those situations. The throne speech provided little hope

and no help for those families.

One of the most disappointing things that we experience as MLAs trying

to serve our constituents in the most effective way possible is the

bureaucratic process we need to go through to get answers. Gone are the days

under this government when local MLAs could work with ministries or

organizations directly in their communities.

The Minister of Finance can smile, but I know this. You actually have

to call the minister’s office. We have called her office. In fact, you have

to call the minister’s office and in essence get permission to get

answers.

Interjection.

S. Bond: Well, the minister might want to…. She may have to think about that

because that is exactly the directions we are given. We have to contact the

political staff in a minister’s office to get information about the

communities where we live.

Well, I would remind the Minister and her government that we are

elected by the people in the regions that we live in to serve them.

Shouldn’t that work be done in community by building relationships and

working with the people who know our region best? The Premier went to the

extent of putting in mandate letters for every single minister, including

the Minister of Finance who’s nodding there. Here’s the quote. In the

mandate letters of every single cabinet minister, it says: “That means

seeking out, fostering and championing good ideas regardless of their

origin. I expect you to reach out to elected members from all parties as you

deliver on your mandate.”

Well, I’d happily canvass some of my colleagues about the last time

they got a phone call from anybody on that side of the House to actually

talk about the issues that matter to us. Imagine though, I actually

appreciate those words in those mandate letters. Now I’d just like to

actually see them in action. We know the communities we represent best, and

we should have the opportunity to provide input and share ideas and raise

issues.

One way that could begin immediately is by looking at the process of

dealing with private members’ bills. Members bring important,

well-thought-out initiatives to this chamber in the form of private members’

bills, and rarely, if ever, do they get debated, much less

passed.

My private member’s bill deals with the issue of making defibrillators

available in public spaces. It has the opportunity and potential of saving

lives across this province. My colleagues have tabled important bills

related to gender pay equity and the removal of discriminatory covenants on

land titles, and others. How could government members not agree that getting

rid of discriminatory covenants on land titles isn’t something we could all

agree to in this Legislature?

[3:25 p.m.]

It is inconceivable that we do not immediately call that bill, debate

it and pass it, because it’s the right thing to do.

It’s also time for the Premier to ensure that these directions in

mandate letters result in meaningful action and that we consider reforming

the private members’ bill process.

The throne speech gave the government the opportunity to provide

certainty and to demonstrate that they intend to govern for the entire

province, to welcome new ideas and to work across party lines, to honour

promises made by this government not once — in many cases, multiple times.

Like the renters grant.

Universal — and the key word is universal — $10-a-day daycare. We see

announcements. “Oh, we’re so excited. There are ten spots here and 15 spots

there.” This government made a promise to families in British Columbia, and

it wasn’t that 15 of you are going to get $10-a-day daycare. It was that the

entire province…. If families needed $10-a-day daycare, they would get it.

That was not mentioned in the throne speech and certainly has not been

delivered on.

I would describe the throne speech as a missed opportunity. What the

throne speech did accurately portray was the struggles of British

Columbians. And to me, the throne speech very clearly laid out those

concerns. It talked about how families are actually struggling to make ends

meet day after day after day. That’s the one thing we can agree on that was

incredibly well laid out.

Let me just list what the throne speech said: “Global inflation is

squeezing household budgets. Food prices are going up. It’s hard to find a

doctor. We continue to see mental health and addiction challenges brought on

by the pandemic and the toxic drug crisis. Housing costs continue to rise as

our population grows and interest rates increase. People in B.C. are working

harder than ever, but many feel like they’re just getting by, not getting

ahead.”

That is actually probably the most definitive statement made not once

but repeatedly in the throne speech. That reflects the reality for British

Columbians in this province. That’s the reality for the people we represent

right across this province.

Better is possible, and British Columbians deserve a government that

governs for the entire province. And again, I think of the comments made in

this House about the natural resource sector and so many other things that

are crucial not just to the people I represent, but frankly, to the economy

of the entire province. It benefits urban residents as well as rural

residents, yet it’s just dismissed.

Well, better is possible, and British Columbians deserve better. They

deserve a government that has the courage not just to acknowledge the

issues, which are written many, many times throughout the throne speech,

listed one after another, but they need a government that has the courage to

acknowledge that they need to do more. A two-term, six-year government that

has failed to meet the needs of British Columbians is simply not good

enough.

Of course that takes courage, but it’s the right thing to do. We hear

speaker after speaker on the government side lauding the press releases and

the announcements. What they need to take a few minutes to do is look at the

results, because British Columbians deserve better.

The throne speech was a missed opportunity for a two-term, almost

six-year government to do just that: to take the opportunity to support

British Columbians in meaningful ways. The throne speech was a missed

opportunity. British Columbians need and deserve so much better.

H. Sandhu: I would like to begin my response to the throne speech by

acknowledging that today I am delivering this speech from the unceded and

traditional territory of the

Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking First Nations,

represented by Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. I thank them for their

stewardship of this land.

[3:30 p.m.]

I always feel so grateful and humbled to get the opportunity to

represent one of the most beautiful constituencies, Vernon-Monashee. Madam

Speaker, it’s an absolute honour and I’ve utmost gratitude to get to

represent the wonderful people of Vernon-Monashee. It has been more than two

years in this humbling role, and it has been a great journey so

far.

Every day I wake up and have immense gratitude in my heart to think

about this opportunity, the ability to represent this riding, in a building

where people like myself weren’t even allowed to enter. We didn’t even have

the right to vote. It’s only possible because the people of Vernon-Monashee

put their trust and their confidence behind me. So I wake up every single

day reminding myself of that immense gratitude, and I don’t take this

opportunity for granted.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

I want to give a shout-out to people in my constituency for always

doing such an incredible job, especially by showing kindness, compassion and

for standing together, especially in the past couple of years — whether it

is to support one another or to help the people in need, or whether it is to

organize the community’s beloved events or festivals. People, every time,

come together and work selflessly. Those things not only give people

happiness and joy but also bring us all together, despite our

differences.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank and proudly acknowledge my

wonderful and hard-working staff members at our Vernon constituency offices:

Caitlin, Lisa and Charlene. Caitlin, Lisa and Charlene work tirelessly and

with so much compassion to support people not only in Vernon-Monashee, but

from time to time they also help people from surrounding communities, as

people reach out to my office for different needs, being the government MLA.

We’re very proud of the work that they do, and I’m always

grateful.

I want to say thanks to Hannah, my Legislative Assembly assistant. She

is incredible to support my work while I’m in Victoria. To all my staff,

thank you so much for all you do. I would say that on the work that we’re

doing, everybody agrees, and the enthusiasm our staff shows every day to

support people is incredible. We wouldn’t be able to do the job we do

without their help.

I want to thank my family for being so patient and for supporting me

always while I do the work. It’s very important work, and when I feel, at

odd times, mom guilt, I thank my daughters, who always remind me: “No, Mom,

we’re so proud of you.” Those words kind of reassure me that what I’m doing

is for their future. The work we do here today, no matter on which side we

sit, is going to shape our kids’ future and generations to come.

I’m speaking to support this throne speech, as it is focused on our

government’s vision for the province, with our plans to continue to support

people and to strengthen services. The throne speech outlines our

government’s plan to tackle the big challenges now and build a stronger,

more secure future for everyone.

In a time of uncertainty and challenges, our government has the backs

of British Columbians. Instead of pulling back, cutting services and

practising austerity or making people pay out of pocket for private health

care, we are putting the people right front and centre of our policy-making,

and we’re putting people’s needs at the front. We’re taking actions today to

build a stronger province tomorrow.

I will go over…. There has been a lot of discussion, from members of

the opposition, that a lot of the work we’re doing is only announcements and

no action. I’ll be very happy to highlight some of the actions and the

difference that has been seen not only in the province but also in my very

own riding of Vernon-Monashee and in surrounding ridings. I’ll go over that

and what I hear from people.

We’re taking the actions today and helping people with costs by

introducing new measures to help everyone — targeted supports to people who

have been hardest hit, whether it’s during the pandemic or global inflation.

I want to remind the audience that it’s global inflation, not B.C. inflation

or Canada inflation. We know that the entire world is grappling with global

inflation, but what matters is: what can we do in this Legislature, or in

the government, as the representative? How do we put people first, and how

do we find ways to support people?

[3:35 p.m.]

That’s what we’re doing — individuals, families with children, seniors

and whatnot.

Some of the highlights were probably mentioned by various members of

the government. I would like to share, with people in my constituency, some

of the cost measures to support people during this inflation.

Providing a one-time $100 cost-of-living credit to B.C. Hydro bills.

Establishing a new B.C. Affordability Credit to help low- and middle-income

earners with rising costs. Boosting the B.C. family benefit by $175 per

child from January through March 2023. Families registered for the Canada

child benefit are automatically registered. A lot of families have reached

out to my office, thanking them — whether they had one, two, three or four

children — for how much it meant after seeing that in their

account.

Creating a new task force backed by $750,000 in provincial funding to

support the goal to end period poverty and to support period

products.

A distributed $4 million in grants to help Vernon-Monashee businesses

to manage COVID-19 challenges and bolster the recovery.

Moving to freeze ICBC rates for another two years.

Cutting costs of child care by as much as $550 per month per child by

directly funding licensed child care centers.

I was coming to Victoria the first week of session. At Kelowna

Airport, a gentleman approached me and said hello. I was curious what his

question might be. He came to me to share his story and thanks for this

affordable child care benefit. He also mentioned about the lower child care

costs.

He said: “Harwinder, I want to tell you one thing. We were paying more

than $2,000, and right now we are saving $950 per month.” He said: “I

understand people talk about affordability. Yes, there are challenges. But,”

he said, “often we forget that these savings will mean a lot.”

It was really heart-touching. Those stories are powerful, and people

can…. Those are results of those announcements, because in Vernon-Monashee,

we are getting hundreds of child care spaces. I’ll highlight and give more

specifications on which area and when we did the ribbon cutting. Kids are

in, and we’re doing more as well. So that was a very powerful moment and

very encouraging.

Our Premier, David Eby, his vision is…. I call him “leader of action,”

and he says….

Deputy Speaker: Of course, we don’t use names, Member.

H. Sandhu: My apologies.

Our Premier, our present Premier, always mentions that we want to

deliver results that people can see and touch. When you hear those stories,

those are the results that resulted from those announcements. If there

weren’t any announcements, there wouldn’t be action, and people wouldn’t be

benefiting. So these announcements are very important.

We’re also working to tackle the housing crisis by getting through

speculators while launching a refreshed middle-class housing strategy and

increasing homes and services near transit hubs across the

province.

Also in various communities, rural communities or other communities,

we’re strengthening public health care during the pandemic and also

strengthening this system that has been underfunded for quite some time,

more than a decade. It’s not a secret, and especially not to somebody who

worked in the health care system for two decades and faced all those cuts

and felt the pressures of those cuts. I saw my colleagues going home and

having to come back to work the next day on a minimum wage and having to

lose all their benefits, pensions, as a result of the B.C. Liberal

government’s cuts.

Those cuts. I don’t know if a lot of members realized…. There was a

statement made by one member of the opposition last week that they have

never disrespected health care workers, and here my colleague from North

Vancouver–Seymour and I were raising hands.

At least what happened — that’s okay; it’s passed. But saying that, a

lot of people from the community reached out to me who lost their jobs at

that time. They said that was really disheartening to hear, and there were

stories that somebody even committed suicide due to those

decisions.

The reason I’m mentioning it…. Let’s look forward. We’re

investing.

[3:40 p.m.]

We’re making sure that those people, their jobs, are protected and

that we hire more people to support and strengthen the health care system.

We’ve seen the dire consequences of those cuts and austerities, as I’ve

shared previously from time to time, and I can’t help but share.

My own family. I’ve lost a loved one due to delayed diagnosis, no

access to imaging. You know, there wouldn’t be any bigger witnesses. It’s

really…. Sometimes it’s tough. We try to stay calm and collected, but some

members and the Leader of the Opposition have the audacity to say how health

care was well funded and how now it’s in dire need, and stuff like

that.

I will go over some of the things that we’re doing to strengthen our

health care. In Budget 2021, our government committed $495 million over

three years to support surgical and diagnostic surgeries. In Budget 2022,

our government committed a further $300 million over three years to address

wait-lists, surgeries and scans.

On May 10, 2022, the Canadian Institute for Health Information

released a report for surgery, diagnostic imaging and other procedures

during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report shows that

B.C. was one of the top-ranking provinces in performing surgeries and

delivering MRIs and CT scans.

I remember, after injuring my right shoulder at work during my nursing

career, having to wait for an MRI for several months, and then I was told

years. Then I had to go to Kelowna to get private — I still have those CD

disks — because I needed to go back to work. That’s the difference, then and

now. Now if you go in Vernon — these are factual stats, and I talk to the

imaging manager from time to time — they perform more than 770 MRIs per

month, and they run seven days a week. I had one of my MRIs done just

recently, and it was 8:30 p.m. Nine days was the wait, and same for other

people.

That’s the difference. That’s the difference when you make

investments, and people feel the difference. When I was waiting for my MRI —

I had the mask on — an older gentleman said: “Are you our MLA?” Oftentimes

I, you know…. I was saying I work here. Then he said thank you. He said: “I

brought my friend who has cancer.” He said: “I remember having to wait for

months and sometimes years to get an MRI.” He said: “This is incredible.” By

the time his friend walked out — very happy and gave me a hug

too.

Those are the results people feel and touch. They’re getting

positively impacted. Those are not just announcements. Those are

life-changing experiences for many.

That doesn’t mean that we stop investing here. No. Our work just

started in 2017 and ’18, and we’ll continue to do so, because the need is

huge. Yes, there are gaps. There wouldn’t be gaps in the system if these

investments were made in the previous 16 years under the B.C. Liberal

government. But they chose to do different. They chose to slash funding.

They chose to….

Again, let’s….

Interjection.

H. Sandhu: So $360 million, Member.

Again, ask…. There are no bigger witnesses than people who lived

through those, whether it was work, whether it was personal, family-related,

and whether it was access to child care later.

The members can heckle all they want, but all the facts are

there.

For B.C. cancer surgeries, B.C.’s performance improved in

I was a surgical unit nurse, and I worked in many, many health care,

whether it was rural, from Terrace, to community nursing. So members can

heckle all they want, because they don’t like facts.

Interjections.

Deputy Speaker: The member for Vernon-Monashee has the floor.

Members, please. We’ll listen to the member for Vernon-Monashee and

respect that she has the floor.

H. Sandhu: I understand truth is harsh, and it’s bitter to swallow, but truth is

truth, so yes.

For cancer surgeries, B.C.’s performance improved compared to 2020 and

was mid-range when compared to other provinces. In radiation therapy, B.C.’s

performance saw 88 percent of patients start their treatment within the

four-week target. MRI wait times went from fifth in the country in 2018 to

second in 2021. CT wait times went from sixth in the country in 2018 to

third in 2021.

Benefits of these investments are being seen not only in my

constituency but across the province. But there are gaps that we are

constantly, together, working hard to fill, and I am reassured that we’ll

get there.

[3:45 p.m.]

From 2020 to 2022, 7,700 exams were performed only at Vernon Jubilee

Hospital. Members can deny, heckle as they did earlier, but these are the

stats. I double-, triple-check, because I value facts. Trust matters, and

misinformation already created so much chaos in the world, so I do not

appreciate misinformation or twisted facts. That’s why I have these numbers

here.

On average, they do 720 to 750 exams per month. Local patients now

only wait, as I mentioned, a few days versus a few weeks or months,

depending on the urgency of diagnosis. Now we don’t have to send people to

Kelowna, with the entire team, and then have to cover that team of another

nurse on overtime or make other nurses work short. So there is that positive

aspect of these investments.

As I mentioned, another action and result I’ll share is a story of my

mom. She just saw her ortho surgeon three weeks ago. Her surgery is coming

in a few days, very soon, within a couple weeks. When a presurgical

screening nurse gives you that recording — maybe it’s different in every

health authority — they highlight that “now we have more funding,” exact

words, “from the government, and now surgeons have the mandate to perform

these surgeries within less than six months,” which I’ve never heard

before.

Those are the impacts on people. They are not suffering in pain. Those

are the investments we’ll continue to make.

Mind you, often people, sometimes critical people, may think: “Oh,

maybe you worked there. Maybe you’re in this role.” I never tell people who

I am until I go there to see. Even if I do, working in health care for two

decades, I know why health care professionals are held to the highest regard

and trust, because we treat everybody equally. Whether we picked you up from

the street, we don’t judge. You are equal to all of us, and everybody will

get the same exceptional care. That’s why I have so much respect for health

care professionals, from support staff to doctors to nurses, and I wanted to

make that clear.

Also, many other people…. I shared the story of Steve, who had colon

cancer in Vernon. He got from colonoscopy to treatment to post-op recovery

within days.

What are we doing to strengthen the health care system that has been

fractured previously by underfunding and privatization and cuts, and so

on?

We’re adding 322 allied health care professionals training seats

across the B.C. post-secondary institutions. We added — not an announcement;

it’s happened — 602 new nursing seats to public post-secondary institutions

across the province, which is in addition to a previously added 2,000 seats;

invested $4.9 million in a new medical school at Simon Fraser University,

which is the second medical school to be opened in the entire western Canada

in more than 50 years; eliminated application fees for internationally

educated nurses, which we announced last year, in April, I

believe.

The program was launched in June — again, not an announcement. The

announcement was made. The program was live in June, because I helped tons

of internationally educated nurses. As of today, we had 5,500 people,

expressions of interest, and more than 2,000 are very close to getting their

registration in B.C. So those are the impacts.

Also, we made another announcement in my role as Parliamentary

Secretary for Seniors Services and Long-Term Care. That was my first

announcement I recently made, this year, with the Premier and also the

Health Minister — to enhance those supports, to provide more supports to

internationally educated nurses, whether it’s to cover their fees and also

the pathway to get their licence, to make it easier.

As an internationally educated nurse, I know it took me four to five

years and lots of tears and almost to the giving-up point when there was no

help available. But that announcement wasn’t only for internationally

educated nurses. This announcement also provides financial assistance to

Canadian nurses who left the profession, for whatever reasons, if they want

to come back. As I say, once a nurse, always a nurse. Nobody can take that

nurse out of nurses, whether they are on leave or retired. That help will

also help encourage many nurses to join the workforce.

[3:50 p.m.]

We’re creating a new payment model to attract and retain new family

doctors. We are creating out-patient withdrawal management services that

allow patients to access medications that they need in recovery, and

pharmacists are allowed to prescribe medication. We’re hiring 19

full-time-equivalent workers in Interior Health across our new extended

services that provide substance and mental health supports.

We’re investing $4.2 million provincewide to expand affordable,

low-cost to no-cost counselling services in communities like Vernon through

services such as…. The Independent Living Vernon Society provides some

supports to people. We’re covering the cost of the federally mandated

medical exam eligible to Ukrainian newcomers.

Recently the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions announced $16.2

million to expand Foundry’s current model and to support youth peer support

workers by creating many full-time and part-time positions.

The internationally educated nurses announcement was well received. So

was the other announcement by the Canadian nurses. We received a very

positive response in my office.

I want to share…. This Friday I was at a local high school talking to

a social studies class, grade 11. The teacher told me that she moved from

Alberta. The last time, when I was visiting the school last year, she

expressed her worry about finding a family doctor.

Under a new model and the work we’re doing in Vernon, we hired a

couple that were Canadian, went to Australia, did the training and came

back. They worked with my office, and now they’re practising. In addition to

that, there are more doctors practising in hospitals.

This teacher this Friday said: “Oh, by the way, I want to say that

whatever your government or your advocacy, whatever happened, now my family

has a doctor.” I asked her further: “What happened?” She said: “There is

this doctor who took over a practice from the doctor that was retiring.” I

could see the impact of the work that is being done. That’s when you see

that these are actions. These are results, not just announcements. These are

the results people are feeling, and they are sharing. I didn’t go to ask

her, but it was very, very encouraging.

Again, I was at another school. I go, the best part for me, to meet

these students. They are very curious. They ask the most intelligent

questions. It also expands my understanding of where they want us to go and

what they want.

Another teacher shared this story with the children. When I was

talking about our vision and the work and the child care investment, she

raised her hand. I didn’t ask her permission, but I’ll be happy to share her

name after if somebody asks. She said: “I want to tell you kids about the

child care investments.”

She moved from Alberta. She said: “I didn’t have child care. I was

part time. My husband…. We couldn’t work full time.” She said now they’re at

one of the child care…. Because of the children’s confidentiality, I won’t

mention the child care centre’s name. She said that they are there. With

this program, the affordable child care benefit…. “Not only are we saving

money now. We’re both working full time, and the kids are getting quality

care.”

Besides the numbers…. We can read all the numbers. These stories are

very powerful, and they encourage us to do more.

We keep people safe, also, by investing $230 million, over three

years, to support rural police detachments in communities of less than 5,000

people and by hiring additional officers in rural and specialized positions.

I do represent some smaller communities in Vernon-Monashee also. There are

Lumby, Cherryville and Lavington, those smaller municipalities. This means a

lot to me as well.

We’ve also awarded $97,000 to the Vernon Search and Rescue group for

public safety work. We’re providing three organizations with a $5,000 grant

to fight racism and promote diversity. We’re investing $150,000 to assist

the city of Vernon with wildfire education, planning, emergency planning and

FireSmart activities in residential areas.

We’re providing $25,000 to both the city of Vernon and the Okanagan

Indian Band to support their emergency support services and to keep people

safe in the event of an emergency. As part of the province’s $3.2 million

emergency preparedness investment, the city of Vernon, OKIB and the regional

district of North Okanagan received more than $75,000 in support for an

emergency operations centre.

[3:55 p.m.]

Fund more than $474,000 to the Silver Star Property Owners Association

to complete wildfire risk education and treatment along the main road to

Silver Star Mountain Resort. Provide more than $665,000 to wildfire

mitigation projects around Lumby. Pass the Wildlife Amendment Act, which

ensures the culture and traditions of Indigenous people will be respected

and incorporated when making decisions about wildlife management.

We’re fighting the climate crisis by investing $1.9 million in 36

First Nations and local governments across B.C., including Lumby, to help

implement projects to mitigate extreme weather events and heat events and

awarding $19,500 to the Allan Brooks Nature Centre Society for its

environmental education and outreach programs. We’re supporting Vernon

forestry workers affected by layoffs and downturns through the province’s

forest employment program.

We’re introducing a new oil and gas royalty system that eliminates

outdated and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. We are improving

infrastructure, investing $3.3 million in the revitalization of the Lakeview

Wading Pool and park. We’re investing $56,000 into connecting residents of

five communities around Vernon, including Coldstream, Parker Cove and Cosens

Bay, to high-speed Internet.

We are investing money to deal with money laundering. We’re making

some changes there. We are doing everything that we can to keep people safe,

not only strengthening health care or providing services people need but

ensuring their safety and supporting climate action, as well, so we can all

have a healthy, livable planet for generations to come.

When it comes to housing…. Many of my colleagues from the government

side got to visit many housing sites when our government was there in June

2022. Many said we’re the envy for all the investments — and very happy.

They got to meet people whose lives have changed due to these hundreds of

affordable housing units that are built and, I think, almost all completed.

Some are being built — close to 600 — in Vernon-Monashee, whether it’s Lumby

or whether it’s seniors housing and all.

I would like to highlight some of that. I just recently got to attend

the opening ceremony of the Crossings in January, along with local leaders

and our partners from B.C. Housing and Turning Points Collaborative

Society’s hard-working staff. They recently opened 52 units — three

one-bedroom units for couples and eight accessible, adaptable units, each

unit with a private bathroom and kitchen. These are another great addition

to hundreds of previously added, being built or completed, housing in

Vernon-Monashee.

I was at, again, a high school. One girl, when I finished my speech,

raised her hand. She shared: “My family, three siblings and I, were living

in a motel.” She said: “If it wasn’t for the housing units that were built

in Vernon, we would be homeless.” That family now has a house. These

investments, again, helped. This girl can take a shower and go to school,

and her siblings can have a safe place.

These investments matter for the short term, to deal with while we are

building these homes. We also purchased the former Polson Park Motel for

$2.6 million to provide a short-term solution to people so people don’t end

up being homeless or on the street.

There are several units that I can go over. The most important…. I

want to share the story of Leandra, who was dealing with a meth addiction

and homelessness. The day of the ribbon cutting, she shared, and later

shared with the new Housing Minister…. She said: “If it wasn’t for your

government….” That story is also published in local newspapers, if anybody

questions what I’m sharing.

She said: “For years, I was struggling to find a treatment centre.

When your government came into power and had these treatment centres, I got

sober.” Now she’s working at Turning Points, helping many people. She found

a recovery bed, housing.

Those stories matter. Those are not due to just announcements but due

to actions.

I know my time is running out. At the end, I just want to say I

support this throne speech. It highlights what we’re doing. It also reminds

us of the importance of continuing to do the work.

[4:00 p.m.]

I want to invite all the members of this House…. Vernon is hosting the

greater Vernon winter games from March 23 to March 26. All my colleagues,

from all sides, are most welcome to come. I can also take you around to

these child care centres or housing units we have built.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Member.

H. Sandhu: Thank you so much. I’ll be thrilled to see you there.

J. Rustad: It’s a pleasure today to have the opportunity to represent my riding

of Nechako Lakes, in response to the throne speech.

I want to start off…. Of course, today is Valentine’s Day. So I would

love to take this opportunity to wish my wife a happy Valentine’s Day. I

love you. It’s unfortunate we can’t be together this year.

That was one of the advantages of COVID. I actually got to spend some

Valentine’s Days at home. I wasn’t able to do that very often as an elected

official.

I also want to take this opportunity to recognize, of course, my

riding. The strengths in my riding are the people there. I thank them very

much for their continued support and for sending me here to be their voice

and to represent them.

So 2022 was a challenging year for, I think, many people. In

particular, it was a challenging year for me. I had the opportunity to say

this in the House once before. My father, Laurie Rustad, passed away in

early January of 2022. My father-in-law passed away at the end of February

in 2022. My mother, Molly Rustad, passed away in July of 2022. It was a

pretty challenging year, I think, for the family, and I just wanted to make

sure I recognize them.

Then, of course, I got an interesting birthday present. I got kicked

out of the B.C. Liberal Party on my birthday, which, actually, I consider a

present. It’s allowed me to be able to see politics from a very different

perspective.

Many people used to come up to me and say that the political parties

are all the same. Now I understand why they say that. Perhaps more on that

another time.

I do also want to get an opportunity to say…. During the throne

speech, there were many recognitions of people who passed. I know it’s not

perfect. We can’t always get everybody. One of the people who passed and,

unfortunately, who was missed in the throne speech was Howard Lloyd. He was

a representative in this House from Fort George from 1975 to 1979, for the

old Social Credit Party back then. He passed away at the end of December of

I knew Howard, not so much when he was an MLA, a little bit over that

time. He was a constituent of mine when I was first elected to Prince

George–Omineca. Despite the fact that he’d been out of politics for a long

time, he was still continuously advocating for changes and for things that

needed to be done in the riding and in his area. I very much appreciated the

opportunity to get to know Howard over that period of time.

I want to take a second, as well, to recognize my staff. Of course, my

constituency assistants in my riding of Nechako Lakes…. Both Carrie Smith

and Lori Derkson do great work for me, and I really want to thank them for

that work.

New staff that I’ve hired to work and support me here in Victoria on a

part-time basis…. Recognizing that sometimes it’s a challenge to get people

who want to live in Victoria, because of the high costs, they live in other

jurisdictions, but they do work remotely with me. I want to recognize Randy

Roy, Adam Beattie as well as Azim Jiwani. They all do some great work in

helping me through the work that I need to do in representing my riding here

in Victoria.

The throne speech talked about a lot of things, as all throne speeches

do. It was, I would say, void of real direction. Themes that came through….

It was more just a collage of issues highlighted with a few little things, I

guess you could say sprinkled with a little bit of extra money spent here

and there.