Fourth Session, 41st Parliament

(2019) OFFICIAL REPORT

OF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 204

ISSN 1499-2175

The HTML transcript is provided for informational purposes only.

The PDF transcript remains the official digital version.

CONTENTS

Routine Business

Reports from Committees

Selection Committee, February 14, 2019

Hon. M. Farnworth

Motions Without Notice

Powers and role of Children and Youth Committee

Powers and role of Crown Corporations Committee

Powers and role of Finance Committee

Powers and role of Public Accounts Committee

Appointment of Special Committee to Appoint a Human Rights Commissioner

Appointment of Special Committee to Appoint a Merit Commissioner

Appointment of Special Committee to Review Police Complaint Process

Hon. M. Farnworth

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate

(continued)

R. Kahlon

J. Thornthwaite

Hon. J. Sims

M. Morris

Hon. G. Chow

L. Throness

Hon. C. Trevena

A. Olsen

B. Stewart

Hon. B. Ralston

M. Stilwell

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

The House met at 1:32 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Reports from Committees

SELECTION COMMITTEE

Hon. M. Farnworth: I have the honour to present the first report of the Special

Committee of Selection for the fourth session of the 41st

parliament.

I move that the report of the Special Committee of Selection be

taken as read and received.

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. Farnworth: I ask leave of the House to move a motion to adopt the

report.

Leave granted.

Hon. M. Farnworth: I move that the report be adopted.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. Farnworth: I seek leave to move motions to activate four select standing

committees and three special committees. The full text of these motions

has been provided to the two House Leaders.

Leave granted.

Motions Without Notice

POWERS AND ROLE OF

CHILDREN AND YOUTH

COMMITTEE

Hon. M. Farnworth: By leave, I move:

[That the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth be

empowered to foster greater awareness and understanding among

legislators and the public of the BC child welfare system, including the

specific needs of Indigenous children, youth, families and communities,

and in particular to:

1. Receive and review the annual service plan from the

Representative for Children and Youth (the “Representative”) that

includes a statement of goals and identifies specific objectives and

performance measures that will be required to exercise the powers and

perform the functions and duties of the Representative during the fiscal

year;

2. Be the committee to which the Representative reports, at

least annually;

3. Refer to the Representative for investigation the critical

injury or death of a child; and

4. Receive and consider all reports and plans transmitted by

the Representative to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British

Columbia.

In addition to the powers previously conferred upon Select Standing

Committees of the House, the Select Standing Committee on Children and

Youth be empowered to:

a) Appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the committee

and to delegate to the subcommittee all or any of its powers except the

power to report directly to the House;

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c) Conduct consultations by any means the committee

considers appropriate;

d) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and

e) Retain personnel as required to assist the

committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any

adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to

deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative

Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the

Legislative Assembly.]

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

POWERS AND ROLE OF

CROWN CORPORATIONS

COMMITTEE

Hon. M. Farnworth: By leave, I move:

[That the Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations be

authorized to examine, inquire into and make recommendations on

regulations regarding transportation network services in British

Columbia;

That the Committee be authorized to meet for up to three days to

hear from expert witnesses; and

That the Committee shall limit its consideration to forming

recommendations on the following:

1. criteria to consider when establishing boundaries;

2. appropriate policies to balance the supply of service with

consumer demand, including the application of the Passenger

Transportation Board’s current public convenience and necessity regime

as it pertains to transportation network services;

3. criteria to be considered when establishing price and fare

regimes that balance affordability with reasonable business rates of

return for service providers; and

4. appropriate classes of drivers’ licences, including but not

limited to ensuring a robust safety regime without creating an undue

barrier for drivers.

In addition to the powers previously conferred upon the Select

Standing Committees of the House, the Committee shall be empowered

to:

a) Appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the

Committee;

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and

d) Retain personnel as required to assist the

Committee;

and shall report to the Legislative Assembly no later than March 31,

2019, and shall deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of

the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon

resumption of the sittings of the House, or at the next following

Session, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative

Assembly.]

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

POWERS AND ROLE OF

FINANCE

COMMITTEE

Hon. M. Farnworth: By leave, I move:

[That the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government

Services be empowered:

1. To examine, inquire into and make recommendations with

respect to the budget consultation paper prepared by the Minister of

Finance in accordance with

section 2 of the Budget Transparency and

Accountability Act (R.S.B.C. 2000, c. 23) and, in particular,

to:

a) Conduct public consultations across British Columbia on

proposals and recommendations regarding the provincial budget and fiscal

policy for the coming fiscal year by any means the committee considers

appropriate;

b) Prepare a report no later than November 15, 2019, on the

results of those consultations; and

a) To consider and make recommendations on the annual

reports, rolling three-year service plans and budgets of the following

statutory officers:

(

i) Auditor General

(ii) Chief Electoral Officer

(iii) Conflict of Interest

Commissioner

(iv) Information and Privacy

Commissioner

(

v) Merit Commissioner

(vi) Ombudsperson

(vii) Police Complaint Commissioner

(viii) Representative for Children and

Youth

(ix) Human Rights Commissioner; and

b) To examine, inquire into and make recommendations with

respect to other matters brought to the committee’s attention by any of

the Officers listed in 2 (

a) above.

3. To be the committee referred to in

sections 19, 20, 21 and 23 of the Auditor General Act (R.S.B.C.

2003, c. 2) and that the performance report in

section 22 of the

Auditor General Act (R.S.B.C. 2003, c. 2) be referred to

the committee.

In addition to the powers previously conferred upon the Select

Standing Committees of the House, the committee shall be empowered

to:

a) Appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the committee

and to delegate to the subcommittee all or any of its powers except the

power to report directly to the House;

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and

d) Retain personnel as required to assist the

committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any

adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to

deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative

Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the

Legislative Assembly.]

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

POWERS AND ROLE OF

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

COMMITTEE

Hon. M. Farnworth: The motion I know the member for Prince George–Valemount has been

waiting for.

[1:35 p.m.]

By leave, I move:

[That all reports of the Auditor General of British Columbia

transmitted to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly be deemed

referred to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, with the

exception of the report referred to in

section 22 of the Auditor

General Act (R.S.B.C. 2003, c. 2) which is referred to the

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services;

and

That the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts be the

committee referred to in sections 6, 7, 10, 13 and 14 of the Auditor

General Act (R.S.B.C. 2003, c. 2).

In addition to the powers previously conferred upon the Select

Standing Committees of the House, the committee be empowered

to:

a) Appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the committee

and to delegate to the subcommittee all or any of its powers except the

power to report directly to the House;

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and

d) Retain personnel as required to assist the

committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any

adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to

deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative

Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the

Legislative Assembly.]

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO

APPOINT A HUMAN

RIGHTS COMMISSIONER

Hon. M. Farnworth: By leave, I move:

[That a Special Committee be appointed to select and unanimously

recommend to the Legislative Assembly the appointment of a Human Rights

Commissioner, pursuant to the Human Rights Code (R.S.B.C. 1996,

c. 210).

The said Special Committee shall have the powers of a Select

Standing Committee and in addition is empowered to:

a) Appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the

committee;

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and

d) Retain such personnel as required to assist the

committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any

adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to

deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative

Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the

Legislative Assembly.]

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO

APPOINT A MERIT

COMMISSIONER

Hon. M. Farnworth: By leave, I move:

[That a Special Committee be appointed to select and unanimously

recommend to the Legislative Assembly the appointment of an individual

to hold office as the Merit Commissioner for the Province of British

Columbia, pursuant to

section 5.01 of the Public Service Act

(R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 385).

The said Special Committee shall have the powers of a Select

Standing Committee and in addition is empowered to:

a) Appoint of their number, one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the

committee;

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and

d) Retain such personnel as required to assist the

committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any

adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to

deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative

Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the

Legislative Assembly.]

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO

REVIEW POLICE

COMPLAINT PROCESS

Hon. M. Farnworth: By leave, I move:

[That a Special Committee be appointed to conduct an audit

respecting the outcome or resolution of randomly selected complaints and

investigations, pursuant to

section 51.2 of the Police Act

(R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 367) and to prepare a report no later than November

26, 2019 on the results of that audit.

The said Special Committee shall have the powers of a Select

Standing Committee and in addition is empowered to:

a) Appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to

refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the

committee;

b) Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned,

during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and

during any sitting of the House;

c) Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient;

and

d) Retain such personnel as required to assist the

committee;

and shall report as soon as possible to the House, or following any

adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to

deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative

Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the

sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the

Legislative Assembly.]

Leave granted.

Motion approved.

Orders of the Day

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

[J. Isaacs in the chair.]

Budget Debate

(continued)

R. Kahlon: I will pick up where I left off, and that takes me to the beginning,

which is: what is the main focus for this government, and what is the main

focus of this budget?

The main focus was to make life better for the people of B.C. This

budget contains measures to address the critical services that we need to

make life better for B.C. It has important affordability measures, and it

talks about good-paying jobs and initiatives to support that. I’ll do a

quick

summary.

As I mentioned previously before lunch, this has the single-biggest,

largest tax cut for middle-income families, by elimination of MSP premiums.

Families will be saving $450 by removing another additional 50 percent off

by the end of this year.

We talked about the B.C. child care opportunity benefit, where

families with one child will get $1,600 a year; families with two children

will get $2,600; and families with up to three children, up to $3,400. I

talked about child care and how critical child care is for our communities

and how critical it is to make it affordable so that families can have both

caregivers actually working and encouraging people to get into the

workforce. It’s critical for our economy. It was raised as one of the major

issues from the business community.

Not only that, it’s about pocketbooks for families. Families are

struggling with daycare payments. To take these actions — it really helps

ease the burden on families.

I was talking about eliminating interest on student loans. I’ve been

hearing some of the speeches from the opposition members about how we’re

spending on too much, and there’s too much spending. I’ve been intrigued to

find out, I’ve been waiting to find out from them what it is of the spending

they don’t like. Do they not like that we’re cutting MSP premiums? They

haven’t said it yet, but I suspect they might be.

Now, we know the first thing that they don’t like is eliminating

interest on tuition fees. We know now that the Leader of the Opposition went

on the radio this morning and said that he didn’t agree with this. He says

that eliminating this will encourage students to take on debt.

Well, he should talk to some young people. People don’t want to be

taking on debt. They’re forced to take on debt because they realize and

their families realize that education is the path to success. This helps

ease the burden that these students are facing with tuition.

It’s easy for the Leader of the Opposition to say: “Well, this is a

bad move, because it’s going to encourage people to carry around debt.” I

think he should talk to some young people and talk to them about how this

feels. He’ll hear from them loud and clear that that is not something they

support.

So far, we know that they don’t like the idea…. Their leader, anyways,

doesn’t like the idea of eliminating interest on tuition fees. We’ve yet to

hear…. We know they like to increase the MSP, because they did that many,

many times when they were in government. Perhaps they don’t like the fact

that we’re cutting MSP.

[1:40 p.m.]

Again, I look forward to hearing more speakers. Perhaps a few of them

may even have the courage to stand up and speak to it. Perhaps they don’t

like the investments in hospitals and urgent care centres, many of them in

their communities. Perhaps they don’t like the additional funds on mental

health. I think that one is pretty safe. I think that one is across the

board, where everybody supports the investments in mental health. Perhaps

they don’t like the additional dollars to expand PharmaCare for our seniors

so they can have more options for drugs.

Perhaps they don’t like the new affordable housing — 114,000

affordable housing units — that we’re building over the next ten years. Some

of my good friends on the other side might think 114,000 is too ambitious,

but it’s much better than having no vision and no plan to build any

affordable housing. We’re going to aim for the highest measure we can

because people need it.

We talked about housing starts. I mentioned this in my previous

remarks before lunch. Housing starts are higher than the ten-year average.

In fact, housing starts in our budget are higher than they had in their own

budget, so I find that criticism quite humorous.

Also, increased spending in education, in our classrooms. I’m

interested in hearing from them. Is that what they don’t like about the

budget?

Increased support for caregivers. That’s both foster parents as well

as for children, in case they have aunties and uncles taking care of them.

There is a huge disparity, where people are going: “Kids are being sent to

foster care. The foster care parents get more money than if an auntie and

uncle are having to take that child on.” We’re correcting that by creating a

level playing field. Perhaps that’s the spending they don’t like.

I’m really interested, and I encourage the members opposite, in their

speeches, to share with us what part of the spending investments in our

community they do not like. I think they’ll have a difficult time finding

things, because they realize that services are missing.

My friend across the way yesterday called this a socialist budget. I

think this budget probably has 70 or 80 percent approval from the public. So

he’s saying that 70 percent, 80 percent of the public are socialists because

they support these measures. What that member should have said in his speech

remarks is what exactly in this budget he does not like. I know he doesn’t

like the government, and he wants to throw shade on the government, so to

speak. But he couldn’t find things in the spending that he didn’t like,

because he knows….

Interjection.

R. Kahlon: Well, he says he found two things. Given that we’re on day two in

question period and they ran out of questions goes to show you that there’s

not much they can criticize about this budget, because it’s a good budget.

I’m going to be proud to support this budget when the vote is

called.

I’m proud of the work of the Minister of Finance. I’m proud of the

work of all the ministers in our government, who are doing extraordinary

things to address the issues that people have been concerned about for so

long, addressing all the services that people have been feeling have been

lacking.

With that, I’ll take my seat and look forward to hearing from other

members.

J. Thornthwaite: I’m pleased to stand here today and offer my remarks on the budget.

First of all, though, I’d like to say a few thank-yous to my family, my

three grown children, for their support in my job and the fact that I’m not

with them all the time. Maybe they like that.

I’d also like to thank my assistants, Nick Hosseinzadeh, who’s my

constituency assistant back in North Vancouver, and Stephanie

Marshall-White, who’s my legislative assistant here in the

Legislature.

I’d like to give a little hello to Yuval Daniel from Equal Voice. We

had a nice luncheon today with all these powerful young women that want to

get into the political game, so to speak. They’re here today checking us all

out. Hopefully, we don’t all scare them away with their day that they’re

here. Hopefully, they enjoy their time here.

[1:45 p.m.]

I’d like to talk about the budget. First of all, I’d like to take up

the challenge of the previous speaker and say that, yeah, there are some

things in this budget that I do support. I do support the elimination of the

student loan interest. I also was supportive of the increased compensation

for family-based caregivers, like foster parents, who do such great work —

that’s a positive step — as well as extending that to extended family, like

grandparents. I think that was good.

I was very pleased to see this government put focus on the Foundry

centres, the one-stop shops for children and youth ages 12 to 24. We’ve got

one in North Vancouver. I was definitely supportive of the Foundry centres.

In fact, when I chaired the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth

when we were in government, we put forward some significant recommendations

in one of our reports to do with mental health and how to improve mental

health services for children and youth in British Columbia. One of those

recommendations was to have these one-stop shops like Foundry. Subsequently,

they ended up calling them Foundry.

I’m very pleased that this government has chosen not only to support

the Foundries that are here right now but to expand more Foundries

provincewide. I don’t know, from this budget, how many that is going to be.

I suppose this is going to be a question to the minister at the time. But

certainly, I’m going to be supporting more Foundries.

I also liked the mention of more programs, including mental health

supports in schools for parents and families to support kids in their early

development, as well as specialized family care and day treatment for young

people that meets their needs. These are all very positive steps that I

definitely would support this government on.

I also have a caution that there are significant things missing in

this budget that certainly not just me but others were concerned about. One

of them is the B.C. SAR funding for search and rescue.

Our government, a few years ago, gave a substantial amount of money,

$10 million, to B.C. SARs. Certainly my own SAR in North Vancouver, North

Shore Rescue, was extremely appreciative of that funding. These people are

volunteers, and North Shore Rescue has had a rough couple of days. They did

rescue one snowshoer who escaped the avalanche, but unfortunately, yesterday

it was discovered that they recovered the body of another one that did not

survive the avalanche. These are volunteers that take the time out of their

day, their family time. There are 2,500 volunteers provincewide.

Chris Mushumanski from the B.C. Search and Rescue Association said he

was hoping that this government would have at least renewed a commitment of

$5 million per year. I’m quoting him saying: “I think it’s safe to say that

the BCSARA board, the ground search and rescue groups, the SAR prevention

program AdventureSmart and the 2,500 volunteers would have been really

delighted to hear a funding model announcement in this budget, but it

appears that this is not the case.” I’m sad about that, that there was

nothing for these valuable volunteers.

I was also saddened to see that there was nothing in the Agriculture

budget for the SPCA — our government, when we were in government, really

considerably increased funding for the SPCA in capital funds for their

pounds provincewide — but also to implement the legislation that we passed

just before the last election on shutting down puppy mills.

[1:50 p.m.]

There are some regulations that needed to be implemented to assist

that legislation. I don’t see the funding being offered for implementation.

I’m worried for the animals as well — dogs and cats — because I would

assume…. I know the minister has a definite interest in animal welfare, but

it doesn’t appear that that interest is reflected in her budget,

unfortunately.

Other things that were missing — no mention of film. I always talk

about film in the Legislature. But there’s nothing about the film industry,

and it’s a considerable job creator in our province.

In fact, in this budget, there is actually not a jobs plan. We know

that there are lots of little goodies in there that are expensive. But

really, I was taken aback that there was no plan to generate revenue to

actually pay for the goodies. The only thing that was in there with regards

to resource development was LNG, and lo and behold, obviously, that started

with our government.

I’m not too sure how…. I know that the minister has said that the

budget is balanced. Certainly, it helps to have those transfer payments from

the federal government, but that’s not going to always be available. So

it’ll be interesting to see how the year unfolds with regards to not having

a jobs plan to pay for the promises that they put in the budget.

I do want to mention one thing. I was pleased to see the Lions Gate

Hospital tower that was in the budget document. But I want to remind people,

particularly my constituents, that in fact — and this is from Vancouver

Coastal Health, where I got this confirmed — it was actually the Lions Gate

Hospital Foundation, the good people of the North Shore, that raised $100

million for that tower. The remainder of the funds to build the tower

actually came from the sale of the Pearson-Dogwood lands in

Vancouver.

Land sales went to a portion. And thanks to the good people of the

North Shore and the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, who actually provided

the majority of the funding for this hospital. I don’t think it really

deserves a mention in the budget document because it didn’t come from this

government.

Moving on, I would like to mention something about Mental Health and

Addictions. As you know, I’m the critic for Mental Health and Addictions. I

mentioned…. The positive mention. There is, here, $74 million over three

years that is coming in to enhance mental health and addiction services for

children, youth and young adults. That’s all great. I don’t know where

that’s going — $24 million a year. But what I am disappointed in is there is

nothing for addictions, nothing for recovery.

We saw, earlier on today, an announcement from the B.C. Centre on

Substance Use. They have recommended that government adopt this so-called

heroin buyers club vision. The idea is to provide legal heroin sales in

British Columbia for addicts.

The B.C. Centre on Substance Use is proposing that a co-op group be

established to buy bulk medical-grade heroin from Switzerland to sell to

doctor-assessed club members. I, quite frankly, am worried that there’s too

much emphasis from this government on one side of the addiction argument —

on the harm reduction.

We definitely need to keep people alive. I support the naloxone kits.

I support the overdose prevention sites and the hard-working staff that save

individuals every day. But what we don’t have in this system is effective

and accessible treatment. As I said before, there’s nothing in this budget

to support recovery programs.

I have a quote here from the chair of the B.C. Recovery Council, Mr.

Marshall Smith. I’m going to quote what he said with regards to the emphasis

on harm reduction without the recovery end.

[1:55 p.m.]

“This crisis began,” the opioid crisis, “by doctors freely handing out

opioids to the population. With all of the years and deaths that have

occurred, it appears that we have learned nothing from our experience.

Programs that hand out heroin from vending machines and storefronts are not

based on evidence and are dangerous to the population. When it comes to the

addiction crisis, this government is focusing exclusively on fringe harm

reduction programs, while British Columbians who seek recovery and a

drug-free life are left out in the cold. I, for one, won’t stand for it, and

I don’t believe taxpayers will either.”

That’s from Marshall Smith. I’m not going to go as strong as he is in

those words. But certainly, it is my belief that we need to do a way better

job with a system of care for mental health and addictions in this province.

Not seeing anything in this budget focusing on treatment and recovery

programs and supporting the recovery communities was very, very

disappointing to me.

The other thing that I was disappointed at…. I’ve asked the minister

numerous times to at least bring in the private member’s bill that I

proposed last year — actually two years ago, I guess — the Safe Care Act. I

have been heavily lobbied, and I’m sure the minister has been heavily

lobbied, by mothers, by the parents of addicted youth, to please save them,

rescue them, get them out of harm’s way quickly, right now.

Certainly, the Safe Care Act that I proposed to the minister a while

back — at least bring it up for debate so that all of us can discuss it and

discuss the merits. If they wanted to do an amendment, fine, but the bottom

line is that there are kids dying every day. This opioid crisis is not going

away. Fifteen hundred people die each year in British Columbia. Einstein

says the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again

and expecting a different result.

Somebody mentioned something about our record. It was our Minister of

Health, Terry Lake, who won a public health award for his success in

bringing forward treatment programs for drug addicts. So do not…. I’m not

taking any advice from that side with regards to what we did in our record

as government.

The bottom line is we can’t just leave it the way it is. We have to

try something different. And what is recommended by the experts, including

Marshall Smith from the B.C. Recovery Council, is more funding for

recovery.

It needs to be accessible for everyone. It needs to be accessible for

people that are the middle class. Right now, the only people that can get

into a recovery centre are people that are very poor or have a health plan

that pays for it. They can be expensive. They need to be regulated as well.

That’s the next thing. We need to regulate counsellors as well. That will be

a question that I’ll be asking the Minister of Health.

The other issue is what the impact is of the overdose crisis on

municipalities. This is not just a downtown Vancouver issue. This is an

issue all across the province, all across the country.

Funnily enough, last night I was at a UBCM reception, and some of the

executive people on the UBCM board were telling me that in their

municipalities, they’re having grave difficulty managing the opioid crisis.

I asked them what they meant by that, and they said: “Well, the costs to

clean up — for instance, discarded needles outside parks and outside schools

— and policing costs.” These are hidden costs that municipalities have to

fund and that are not identified as part of the financial and human cost of

the opioid crisis.

[2:00 p.m.]

I’m not going to get into any major detail on what I believe we should

be doing with regards to mental health and addictions. I’ve spent lots of

time in this House talking about it. But we really do need to double down

and look at a whole system of care.

Certainly, we should be looking at the Portugal model. But I will

caution anybody that is listening to me, with regards to the Portuguese

model. The success of the Portuguese model is not the decriminalization of

the drugs. They’re not legal. It’s not the decriminalization of the drugs.

It’s the wraparound care and the strong incentives for people to get into

treatment and recovery. That’s the success. They’re doing a way better job

in their country of actually getting people well, because they’re offering

treatment and recovery options at the right time.

What I’d like to just mention, with regards to, again, the lack of

recovery facilities, or the lack of taxpayer-paid recovery facilities….

There is a drug recovery centre in New Westminster called the Last Door.

There’s a lineup. He says that there’s a seven-week waiting list for people

to get in there. Obviously, he’s been begging government to give these

recovery centres their assistance so that they can either grow their

businesses so they can get more people in or have more recovery places for

these people.

Giuseppe Ganci with the Last Door Recovery Society says that the wait

times for people that want to get help “can wreck a person’s drive to get

help.” I’m quoting one of the people that he’s talking about. “‘By this time

next week, I’m probably going to be high again, and this whole feeling of

despair, this whole feeling of wanting to change will be gone,’ he described

some people as feeling. ‘That’s the cycle of addiction, and that’s happening

to a lot of British Columbians right now.’” When people are ready for

treatment and recovery, we need to have those helping systems available to

them at the right time — then.

Moving on to the rest of the budget, I think I’ll just get on to some

of the things that my other colleagues have been talking about a lot with

regards to all the extra taxes. This is one thing that is kind of telling.

There are lots of promises and lots of goodies but no explanation as to how

to pay for them.

We have seen, since the NDP came into government, 19 either new or

additional taxes in the last 18 months. Those are worth more than $5.5

billion, representing 1,100 new taxes for every man, woman and child in

British Columbia.

What are those taxes? Well, the ones like the employer health tax.

Now, the employer health tax is the one that replaced the MSP. This year,

2019, there’s a double-dip. Businesses and municipalities will not only have

to pay the MSP. They will have to pay the employer health tax.

When it comes to municipalities, they don’t have any other way of

making money except for taxes, property taxes. So we, the people that live

in these municipalities, are going to get an increased tax bill in our

property tax to pay for the employer health tax. If you don’t believe me, I

am going to quote what the mayor, at the time, of the district of North

Vancouver has said about the employer health tax. This was Richard

Walton.

[2:05 p.m.]

He says: “All three North Shore municipalities have payrolls exceeding

the $500,000 threshold, which means a requirement to allocate funding for

this new additional cost. The district of North Vancouver has accounted for

this additional tax and is working on strategies to lessen its impact on the

municipal budget. However, this means a change in cost from $700,000 under

the MSP to approximately $1.4 million in the district.” They’ve got to make

up that cost because of the employer health tax.

Then there is the famous speculation tax. Everybody would have gotten

their notice in the mail in the last month or so and is frantically filling

this thing out. I don’t have so much of a problem with the time it took for

me to fill it out. It wasn’t that cumbersome. But I do, like what some of my

other colleagues have said, worry that we had to submit our social insurance

numbers plus our emails. I, too, like my colleagues, am a little bit worried

about getting inundated with government propaganda because they now have all

our email addresses.

I’m not the only one that has shown concern for that. There was an

article in the North Shore News by a fellow named Paul Sullivan,

who said:

“This tax, an affront of its own, only applies to about 32,000 British

Columbian homeowners, but 1.6 million British Columbian home­owners

are required to endure a tedious process and invasion of privacy to prevent

paying the tax.

“The form is a lulu, requiring me to fill out a declaration code, an

11-character letter ID code, my social insurance number, email

address.

“It’s like being hacked by my own government. I’m afraid to think about

what they’re going to do with my social insurance number and email address.

I’m completely mystified, and not in a good way, by the declaration code and

the letter ID.”

He kind of expresses the sentiment of pretty much everybody

I’ve talked to about the speculation tax.

Then there are other taxes as well. The increased Vancouver gas tax is

going up. The foreign buyer tax is going up. There is an additional school

tax. We talked about the speculation tax, and there is now the carbon

tax.

I seem to recall that when the government was increasing the carbon

tax, they were saying that they were going to take away the carbon

neutrality, which is what our government did for the carbon tax, and they

were going to make sure that whatever was collected was going to be used for

clean energy initiatives.

Well, we found out yesterday, in question period, that in actual fact,

the $6 billion that is going to be collected from the carbon tax…. Only $900

million of that is actually going to clean energy initiatives. The rest of

it is going into general revenue to hopefully balance the budget, I would

assume. I’m sure our critic for Environment will have more to say on that

during estimates.

The other thing I’d like to mention with regards to affordability,

which comes up a lot in the throne speech as well as the budget, is that….

I’m going to quote Puneet Sandhar, who’s a lawyer. I thought she was pretty

bang on. She was talking about how housing initiatives can be

counterproductive with taxing. She said:

“Measures like the speculation tax, increased stress tests and higher

interest rates have certainly had an impact. In the last six months, we’ve

seen home prices come down from the market….

“But here lies the problem. Continuing to bring prices down will

inevitably turn the cool in the market to a chill. That means risking every

job related to the construction industry — the very people we need to be

making life easier for.

“With a growing population, we can’t effectively reduce demand. So the

real answers lie in dealing with supply. Numerous reports and studies have

shown the added costs buyers pay are because of building permit delays, lack

of supply and limited densification.”

She quotes a Bloomberg study that showed that a new home in Vancouver

that costs $654,000 to build costs an extra $644,000 in regulations, almost

doubling the price. So there is a lot of extra money that goes into the cost

of the home, taxes being one of the keys.

[2:10 p.m.]

The other thing that we have just learned with regards to the

availability of new houses is that as of January, Vancouver-area home sales

have plunged by 39 percent from 12 months earlier. Over the past six months,

the benchmark price for a single family home in greater Vancouver has

decreased by more than 8 percent.

Jock Finlayson, who is the chief policy officer of the Business

Council of B.C., said that we should be bracing for even more losses. “If

the NDP government wanted a cooler housing market, they must be quite

satisfied with how things have developed. The market has tanked, notably in

the Lower Mainland, with big drops in sales and a downward trend in prices

that seems to be gathering steam. None of this really helps restore

affordability to the market for first-time homebuyers. Curbing demand

through taxation and lending policies is only part of the solution. What is

needed is more supply. It is local governments that hold the key to getting

new homes built.”

On that note, my district of North Vancouver councillor colleague

Matthew Bond wrote a post about a month or so ago on what was going on in

the district of North Van. He said that 4,455 net new homes have been

approved in the seven years since the adoption of the official community

plan in the district of North Van. Most homes approved in 2018 will likely

not be built and occupied for another three years. In 2021, halfway through

the plan, the total number of homes constructed and occupied will be less

than 5,000. This is in the district of North Van. He worries that that will

have a negative effect on affordability.

He also talked about traffic and transportation. In the last bit that

I can talk about, I’d like to mention that instead of supporting this rapid

train to Washington state, I think that this government should do a little

bit more of a focus on the transit needs on the North Shore.

Yes, we’ve got a couple of B-lines coming. That’s good. But I attended

a presentation in a district of North Vancouver council workshop by Stephan

Nieweler, who’s a prof up at SFU. He has a pretty good business case for

getting a SkyTrain system to the North Shore, as well as light rail along

the North Shore. We have, because of our housing affordability issues, more

people commuting out of the North Shore to get home and then coming back to

work on the North Shore because of housing affordability. So housing

affordability and traffic and transportation have to go together.

I’ll be looking forward to my favourite pet project, the Highway 1

interchange project, being finished. Our government, of course, announced

that, and it’s well underway. It’s $198 million at the foot of the Cut. Yay.

We’re all looking forward to that being completed.

Then the last thing I’d just like to mention to folks is we’re worried

about ride-sharing coming at all. But according to page 22 of the budget

document…. There’s a mention of taxi modernization and ride-hailing. They’re

talking of $9 million being provided “to implement the government’s

commitments to modernize the taxi industry and enable ride-hailing in B.C.”

They’ve got it spread out for three years, up to 2022. Does that mean we’re

not having ride-hailing until 2022? I don’t know. I’d be very sad about

that.

In either case, thank you, Madam Speaker, for listening to me. I’ll

sit down.

Hon. J. Sims: It’s my pleasure today to rise and speak in support of what I think is

one of the best budgets that I have seen. But before I get to talk about the

budget, I want to take this opportunity to thank the people of

Surrey-Panorama, who elected me and sent me here and have entrusted me with

a huge responsibility of representing their voice here and taking back to

them what goes on in the House so that they are fully informed. I thank them

for that.

I also would be remiss if I didn’t thank my amazing family: my

partner, my wonderful kids. Of course, you’ve all heard me talking about my

grandchildren: Jacob, Jessica and Emily, and now, of course, my

great-granddaughter Aliya. I know they make a lot of sacrifices so that I

can spend the time doing this, and I don’t get to spend the time with them

that I would love to. Once again, thank you to Surrey, B.C., and to

Surrey-Panorama for sending me here to be their voice.

[2:15 p.m.]

When I looked at this budget…. I was actually so moved the day the

Finance Minister presented the budget. I thought how different this budget

was from the budgets where in my previous life, wearing a different hat, I

sat in budget lockups. When I sat in those budget lockups, I was looking for

all those hidden lines that were death by a thousand cuts to public

education, to social services, to health care. It was just so, so

heartbreaking.

On the other hand, this time….

Deputy Speaker: Minister, Delta North would like to make an introduction.

Is leave granted?

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

R. Kahlon: Thank you to the minister. I will introduce 40 kids from Gibson

Elementary that are here visiting today. They’re grade 5 students, and their

teacher is Ms. Nicole Lewis. They’re here today to check out the

Legislature, hear what’s happening here.

You’re hearing debates on the budget.

These poor kids had to wake up this morning at 5:30 and 6 a.m. to get

here, so I hope you can make it entertaining for them. Will the House please

join me in making these young people welcome.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Please proceed.

Debate Continued

Hon. J. Sims: As I was saying, this budget felt so different, and I was moved by

this budget in a totally different way. When I used to sit in budget

lockups, as I said, from my previous life, it was so disheartening as we saw

service after service — whether it was in public education, whether it was

in health care, whether it was support for our social programs — being

decimated. To be in a place where we are actually adding to services,

whether it’s health care, education or social programs, and investing in

people…. That’s why I’m so proud to stand here today and speak in support of

this budget.

Obviously, we can see that we have a different government, and

therefore, we have a different approach towards the budget. No longer is it

about how much we can cut, cut and cut, because now we have a government

that is investing in people to build a strong economy today.

There is no way you can have a strong economy that does not invest in

people, that does not invest in our kids that are our future. This budget

shows that it is all about investing in the people of British Columbia, in

our kids, in health care and in social programs.

You know what? When we invest in our kids, we are investing in our

future. That is the foundation for a strong economy. The other side, when

they were in government, saw a dichotomy. For them, a strong economy was

always talking about raw materials. What they forgot in that equation is

that a strong economy is the people of this province. It’s our seniors who

built this province. It’s our young people who are going to continue to

build and are going to be our future doctors, nurses, long-term-care

attendants, engineers, business owners — you name it.

A strong economy is when we look after each other. That was what was

missing from the previous government, budget after budget after budget. They

failed to recognize that we are stronger when we support and look after each

other.

Their focus was to — you know what? — reward the top 2 percent.

Their entire commentary was always about the top 2 percent. That is

not the way this government is, and it makes me so proud to sit with the

Premier today and with the government that I sit with.

We have the best economy in the world. We’re not saying it; others are

saying it. We have the strongest projected GDP growth. We have, let me tell

you, also the lowest unemployment rate.

[2:20 p.m.]

I can remember two years ago when there was an election happening. You

would have thought, from the rhetoric from the other side, that if the NDP

should happen to form government, the sky was going to fall. The fish were

going to jump out of the ocean and be writhing on the side. The rivers were

going to stop flowing, and the sun might even fail to rise.

Let me tell you that the sun still rises and sets. The fish are still

swimming in the oceans and the rivers. And let me tell you, it’s all

happening while we have one of the healthiest economies that is the envy of

the rest of the country, because we have taken an approach that puts British

Columbians first. That’s every British Columbian.

We’re going to be taking action, and we have been taking action, to

make life more affordable, because we know that when life is not affordable

for British Columbians, every one of us suffers. We’re going to build the

services people need. We’re going to build a strong and sustainable economy

that doesn’t leave 98 percent of the population behind.

Budget 2019 moves forward on the biggest middle-class tax cut in a

generation, putting thousands of dollars back in people’s pockets. I don’t

know where my colleagues on the other side studied economics, but let me

tell you, to call the largest tax break in our history a tax grab is really,

really amazing to me. Having been a teacher of history and geography and

many other things during my lifetime, I just wonder where they get that

rhetoric from.

You know what? We’re going to be creating new opportunities so that

people and businesses can thrive, by creating a new B.C. child opportunity

benefit. A bit of an anathema to the other side, but absolutely, for us, it

is a key, key investment.

Eliminating interest on B.C. student loans — I’m just going to

highlight a few, and then I’ll be delving into them with a bit more detail

later — is so that young people can get a good start in their lives and

careers and not be overburdened by their tuition burdens.

Elimination of MSP premiums: starting January 1, 2020, full

elimination, saving families up to $1,800 a year and individuals, $900 a

year. Isn’t that a big tax break? B.C. was the only province — the only

province across this country — that had that supplementary health tax. No

other province had it. And it’s so good for British Columbians to have that

same treatment under the health care act that the rest of Canada

has.

Sharing stable, long-term funding with First Nations communities and

our commitment to truth and reconciliation is embedded in our

budget.

Moving forward with CleanBC, you know something? I’m so glad our young

kids are in the House today to hear this. They understand better than many

people in my generation the importance of looking after Mother Earth, the

importance of looking after our planet, our water and our air, to make sure

that this beautiful planet called Mother Earth is there for future

generations.

Along with new B.C. child opportunity benefits and the full

elimination of MSP premiums, we are putting thousands of dollars back into

people’s pockets.

Here is a figure that I would like the other side to memorize. The net

result of all this? A family of four making $80,000 a year will be paying 43

percent less a year in taxes than they did under the previous

government.

This is not rocket science. These are the facts. These kinds of cuts

are good for people, good for our communities. You know something? When it’s

good for people, it’s good for our communities, and it is absolutely

outstanding for our economy.

When we talk about life being more affordable, and that’s where our

focus is, MSP premiums are just one of those examples. In total — because I

know my colleagues on the other side love figures — $2.7 billion in a tax

cut. That’s what the MSP premiums are. It was long overdue and neglected by

my colleagues on the other side.

[2:25 p.m.]

Now let’s talk about our kids. A historic investment in the people of

our province that puts more dollars in the pockets of middle-class families,

the B.C. child opportunity benefit gives support to families for every child

they have up to the age of 18. The previous early childhood tax benefit only

provided support up to the age of six, and it was about $600. Guess what,

colleagues. In this budget, the new benefit — it’s progressive, with a

maximum amount applying to low-income families — means that for the first

child, the benefit is as high as $1,600 a year. For a family with two

children, the benefit is as much as $2,600, and then it goes up.

Wait for this. It is there till the child is 18 — not up to six years

of age but up to the age of 18. In total, the B.C. child opportunity benefit

will put nearly $400 million — not thousand — a year back into the pockets

of hard-working families. You know what? Our government is ensuring that the

supports are going where they are needed and that the investments are

happening to address our young kids.

The B.C. student loan interest is eliminated, and let me make it very,

very clear: we are the B.C. government, so we can only eliminate the B.C.

student loan. In order to look at the federal elimination, that is a

different level of government. As of February 19 — not tomorrow, not next

year, not three years down the road — immediately on the day the budget was

tabled, all student loans will stop accumulating interest, new and

old.

You know what? At this stage, I actually want to do a huge shout-out

to the students at universities and colleges across the province for their

advocacy, and a special shout-out to recognize the work of the students in

advocacy groups at Simon Fraser University and KPU — great institutions in

my community of Surrey, B.C. — who, I know, were passionate advocates for

elimination of interest on student loans.

In Budget 2019, while we’re talking about SFU, I also want to say that

we are making a significant investment in SFU: a new sustainable energy and

environmental building. The government’s commitment to that is $45 million.

Let me tell you that our minister of post-secondary education has been

extremely busy making announcement after announcement of all the investments

that are being done in post-secondary education, into skills development and

opening up new seats in the technology sector.

Income assistance and disability rates. Somebody said to me a long

time ago…. I was still at secondary school — a long time ago, for the kids

up there — when I had a teacher who read an excerpt out to me from a book.

What it said was that you judge a society not by the size of its big houses

or big cars or whatever. I’m ad-libbing a little bit. You judge a community

by how well it looks after its sick, its elderly, its young and those who

cannot care for themselves.

I am so pleased that in the last budget our government announced a

lift to the income assistance and disability rates of $100 a month — the

first raise in over a decade, at that time. This year it’s $50 additional

per month, bringing the total increase to $150 a month, or $1,800 a year. Do

we have a long way to go in that area? Absolutely, but this is a significant

beginning. I’m so, so proud of this, because more money can now be spent on

groceries, which are not a luxury, transportation and life’s basic

necessities. So $26 million in income and disability assistance enhancements

to make these benefits fairer and respect people’s dignity.

There are many other measures we’re taking. One of those, of course,

which gets talked about a lot is housing and homelessness. The province has

made an incredible commitment to growing and operating a rent bank that will

provide short-term, low- or no-interest loans so that renters don’t end up

being evicted.

[2:30 p.m.]

We are moving forward on a homelessness action plan, with a $76

million investment. Surrey got 160 modular homes. I know that other

communities right around this province celebrated as they received the homes

as well — very, very necessary and, I can honestly say, almost a 100 percent

increase from the previous government, because there were not that many

steps taken. All of this is happening because people have been working very,

very hard.

[R. Chouhan in the chair.]

Let’s talk about PharmaCare. We all know that the price of

prescription medication is too much. We’ve already eliminated Fair

PharmaCare’s deductible for people with low incomes in the province. For

240,000 B.C. families, prescription medication became more affordable due to

the $105 million investment.

In Budget 2019, we’re taking the next step by investing an additional

$42 million to expand the drugs covered by Fair PharmaCare. These are not

small issues, because now we will see medications for people with diabetes,

asthma and hypertension being covered as well.

Let me take a second to talk about the Ministry of Citizens’ Services.

Technology and innovation are growing rapidly. I believe we are on the verge

of becoming the new Silicon Valley, and it’s all exciting. We have a global

hub of innovation and connectivity. Our government, in this budget, is

spending an additional $50 million to expand high-speed Internet across

British Columbia so we can allow businesses to expand in dozens of rural and

remote communities.

Mr. Speaker, you’ve heard me say this before. Connectivity, broadband

and high-speed Internet are the foundational pieces. They’re the railroad

that we need to build in order to grow the new digital economy and in order

to support the existing economies. Without this foundational piece, it’s

very difficult for us to talk about truth and reconciliation without us

being able to talk about rural development and diversification and

supporting the growth of good-paying jobs in every corner of this

province.

Since July 2017, we have, either underway or completed, 417

communities, including 74 Indigenous communities, or nearly 43,000 British

Columbian households that will have been connected.

OrgBook B.C. is another amazing thing that’s happening in our

ministry, a new innovative service to support small and medium-sized

businesses. When I present to the B.C. chambers or when I went and met with

the identity conference, they were saying that B.C. is on the cutting edge.

We are an outlier because we’re one of the first governments to use

blockchain technology to improve services and provide secure transactions.

The World Economic Forum — not a group that I expected to get praise from —

also gave us accolades for the work we’re doing in this area.

Our new procurement strategy is a powerful tool for delivering

services people depend on. Let me tell you that since that new policy came

into place, over the last six months, we have announced or we have awarded

over 50 procurements within a month, from beginning to end. Just let that

sink in. These procurements are supporting small and medium-sized

businesses. They are right-sized. They are under $5 million, ranging

anywhere from $70,000 up to $5 million. We have streamlined. We have become

agile.

I could not stand here today without talking about health care for a

moment. Budget 2019 provides $1.3 billion for three years to the Ministry of

Health, which means more doctors — which we know are needed — nurses and

shorter wait times for families around this province. Since 2018, we have

added 800 hours of MRI operating times a week. We are on track to provide

37,000 more MRI exams this year compared to last year.

We have new urgent care centres around the province. I’m so proud of

the one that we have in Surrey because it’s actually managing to take some

of the stress off our emergency room at the hospital.

We’re planning for a brand-new hospital in Surrey. That’s only

happening because of this government. I know the colleagues sitting across

the way were in government when they sold the land that they had announced

four or five times the hospital was supposed to be built upon. Then, before

leaving government, quietly they sold that land.

[2:35 p.m.]

We’re also investing $4.4 billion over three years to expand and

upgrade hospitals right around this province, medical and diagnostic

equipment and health information management systems. More direct care hours

are going to be available.

Mental health. I’m so glad that my colleague on the other side gave

some accolades to our minister because — you know what? — I’m proud of the

fact that I’m part of a government that recognizes the dire need we have to

invest in this area. We have a ministry and a minister that is focused. I’m

so proud about, as we said, the Foundry clinics that are opening but also

clinics like the Roshni Clinic, which opened up in Surrey — culturally

sensitive — to tackle the issues of mental health and addictions.

We have a lot more work to do, but an additional $74 million is now

going to be put in to address a child and youth and mental health strategy.

I can tell you that I’ve been talking to teachers and parents. A growing

epidemic we have — I’m going to call it that — is the great number of

students who are of elementary and secondary school age who are suffering

from mental health issues.

Let me just focus a little bit on the Fraser Valley Cancer Centre in

Surrey, which is an expansion of acute care unit chemotherapy that the

provincial government is supporting. The Surrey Memorial Hospital in-patient

psychiatric and seclusion room — $4.6 million — is once again supported for

Surrey.

Education. None of you would believe it if I was to leave today and

not talk about education. Having been a teacher for most of my working life,

I know how important it is to invest in a quality public education. We know

that public education is not only good for our kids, but it’s the very

foundation for our democratic institutions.

Budget 2019 invests over half a billion dollars to ensure that our

schools deliver the quality of education we want for our children. This

includes $58 million over three years for the classroom enhancement fund to

support better classrooms for our kids and billions of dollars into new

schools, additions, seismic upgrades and property purchases. It’s the

largest capital investment in B.C.’s history, trying to make up for 16 long

years’ worth of deficit created by people sitting on the other side today.

We’re also making record investments to achieve smaller class size, improve

schools and classrooms and give kids support.

Here are some capital projects in the education sector that are being

carried out in Surrey. Maddaugh Road elementary school, 605 new student

spaces; Coyote Creek Elementary School, with four new classrooms adding 100

more spaces; Frost Elementary School, six classrooms add­ing 150 more

spaces; Douglas area elementary school, adding 605 new spaces; Sullivan

Heights Secondary School, which I can see from my office, adding 750-plus

student spaces; Sullivan Elementary School, eight class­room additions

to provide 200 spaces; Panorama Park Elementary School, 200 student spaces;

Grandview Heights secondary school, 1,500 student spaces.

I could go on and on. Of course, Regent Road Elementary School, 655

student spaces; Edgewood Drive elementary school, 655. At Pacific Heights

Elementary School, we’re looking at 300. At Mary Jane Shannon…. We’re

looking at seismic upgrades to quite a few schools.

What I was saying is that this is such a difference from the people

who sit on the other side. For 16 long years, they allowed Surrey’s

infrastructure to be ignored, and over 7,000 students were sitting in

portables. We’re taking care of that. I’m so proud of the work of our

Education Minister, who has announced, in one way or another, over 7,000

spots already.

I hear so much about economy from my colleagues on the other side, and

I sometimes wonder where they studied economy. I will say this: it’s hard

for them to believe that investment in people is investment in our

economy.

Let me tell you, when we invest in child care — guess what — we’re

investing in our economy. Child care centres have to be built. More early

childhood educators will be hired. They will have work, and work is created

through that.

[2:40 p.m.]

We also know, and good research shows us — I will point them to the

research done by our leading universities — that for every dollar you invest

in child care, you get $3 back into the economy. That’s what I call growing

the economy and growing decent-paying jobs, while at the same time investing

in our kids.

Our plan is working. Our plan is working, because we can see we have a

very, very low unemployment rate. As I said earlier, we are the envy of

other provinces as they look at where we’re sitting today.

They don’t have to believe me and what I’m saying, because I have some

quotes here from a newspaper

article that was published on February 20.

“B.C.’s partners in Confederation can only look on in envy,” says Gary

Mason. And then it goes: “It doesn’t get much better. B.C. is now becoming

comfortable at the top of the economic heap in this country.” He goes on to

say: “B.C. is booming and could be for the foreseeable future.” “Move over,

Alberta. British Columbia is the economic powerhouse of the country right

now.”

Let me also now talk about infrastructure. I know my colleagues across

the way find it very difficult when we talk about infrastructure, because

it’s an area they totally ignored. They did not invest back in our

communities or back in people.

You know what? Twenty billion dollars over the next three years

invested in growing our infrastructure is economic investment, an economic

driver. I’m hoping that my colleagues across the way understand that when

we’re going to be building Pattullo Bridge, it’s not going to be built just

because we have a budget line. People are going to be working on building

that bridge. They are going to have work, they’re going to be paying taxes,

and all of that spurs on the economy.

When we’re building roads, when we’re building schools, when we’re

building hospitals, when we’re building child care centres, when we’re

building highways and byways…. Let me tell you, all of that grows jobs. You

know what? Governments of that ilk in the 1980s understood that. It seems to

me today that they need to go back and do a bit of studying of that era in

our history and say that investment and infrastructure are good for the

economy and grow jobs.

I have to say my hat’s off to the Minister of the Environment for the

amazing job he did in putting forward a major investment of $902 million in

CleanBC. Let me say, despite the rhetoric from the other side, this is the

largest investment in climate action in B.C.’s history. This includes making

electric vehicles more affordable, putting money into British Columbians’

pockets so that they are encouraged and incented to buy electric cars, and

$41 million invested in incentives that will save families so that they can

make their homes more energy-efficient with retrofits, etc.

That is also the ministry of my other colleague, and $15 million this

year to support remote communities in transitioning to clean energy

solutions.

Across government, ministries are working very, very closely to make

sure that we can deliver on the clean energy plan. We are reducing climate

pollution by shifting homes, vehicles and businesses away from fossil fuels,

towards clean B.C. electricity and other sources of renewable energy with

increasing climate rebates for working and middle-class British

Columbians.

Here is a zinger for my colleagues on the other side: families will

receive rebates of up to $400 a year. They forget to mention that. Somehow,

they seem to not be too good at math when it comes to it.

We are building a strong, sustainable, low-carbon economy, and we are

able to achieve this because of our partnership. We want to thank them too —

the B.C. Greens caucus.

Revenue-sharing with First Nations — a very moving day. You just have

to watch the faces of the chiefs and the people who were here in this room.

They have waited a long, long time. They are now going to be getting 7

percent share of the gaming revenue. That is going to allow them to invest

in communities.

[2:45 p.m.]

Hon. K. Chen: I would like to seek leave to make an introduction.

Leave granted.

Introductions by Members

Hon. K. Chen: I have a school group from Stoney Creek Elementary School that is

probably just on their way to come in right now. Sorry about the timing. But

I really want to introduce the Stoney Creek Community School. I have two

groups here today. One has already left. They were grades 7 and 6, and then

we also have grades 4 and 5 here today. They’re here to visit the

Legislature and learn about the work we do in this chamber.

I would like to ask all the members to make them very welcome, because

community schools are an important part of our community. There’s a little

bit more funding support for those schools to be able to gather their

parents and community members to be able to engage with each other and to

learn from each other. I would like the members in this House to make them

very welcome. Too bad that I’m missing them again, but they’ll be coming in

here very soon.

Debate Continued

M. Morris: Before I get rolling in my response to the budget speech, I just want

to thank my family. My wife, Chris, for standing by me over the last six

years in this life as a politician that I never thought I would step into.

My sons Matt and Dan and their wives, Heather and Michelle, for being the

rock that supports me and do so much for me when I’m not at home. And of

course my inspirations, my five grandchildren that just embrace me every

time I come home and fill me full of life and help me with my journey in

trying to prepare British Columbia for their future, when they become

add

I’d also like to thank Charlotte and Brenda in my Prince George

office. They do yeoman’s work there every day in answering the phones and

attending to the folks that come through the door with their myriad of

issues and questions. And also Erin in my Mackenzie office, who does the

same thing — a bright young woman up there who’s full of energy. And my

constituents, who fill me full of the good ideas and the energy that I need

in order to carry on in this particular job.

The budget affects constituents right across this beautiful province

of ours. I want to talk a little bit about my riding in Prince

George–Mackenzie. Prince George–Mackenzie is a little to the right of the

centre, and I’m talking geographically, in the province here. My colleague

from Nechako Lakes can take credit for being in the geographical centre of

the province, but we’re right dead centre in the middle of British Columbia,

about halfway up the province from Vancouver here. It’s about a nine-hour

drive from Vancouver.

We’re at the crossroads of highways; of railways going north, south,

east, west; of our hydro transmission lines going north, south, east, west;

of our oil transmission line going north and south; and our natural gas

pipelines that go north, south, east, west, as well, bringing those

resources down from northeast B.C. and around the country.

The resource sector is one of the foundations of this great province

that we live in. It provides high-paying jobs. It provides a lot of

resources, a lot of tax base for government, for our municipalities and for

our regional districts. It provides for a good lifestyle for those that are

involved in that particular area.

I’m going to talk about each one of them a little bit, just to

highlight some of the concerns that I have with this budget and with the

direction that this province is going, that this government is going. I have

some increasing concerns.

Forestry is big in Prince George, in the central interior of the

province. It’s been one of the foundational industries that we have in

British Columbia. I like to say that the one that I’m engaged in or have

been engaged in, in the past — trapping — is the oldest industry that we

have in British Columbia. Forestry came along much after that.

Forestry consumes, in the Prince George timber supply area — and I’ll

include Mackenzie in this as well — about 12 million cubic metres of wood

every year. Now, a lot of people that aren’t familiar with the forest

industry….

[2:50 p.m.]

Well, 12 million cubic metres of wood. How much is that? It probably

doesn’t mean much to the average person unless you’re involved in the

forestry industry. One cubic metre of wood is probably the equivalent of a

telephone pole. We drive down the road, and we see the telephone poles.

That’s one cubic metre of wood.

When we talk about 12 million cubic metres harvested on an annual

basis in the Prince George area alone…. I think, provincially, we’re talking

about somewhere in the area of 70 to 80 million cubic metres of wood that’s

cut every year in this province. It’s significant. But the 12 million cubic

metres of wood that we cut in the Prince George area equates to about

270,000 truckloads of logs every year going into our mills in the Prince

George area — so 270,000 loads of logs every year coming into Prince

George.

Imagine the number of trucks that haul that wood, to haul that 270,000

loads. That’s just in Prince George. That’s not counting the rest of the

province. Pretty significant. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of

trucks that do that, some trucks making two or three trips a day hauling the

logs into the various mills.

In addition to that, we have a logging industry that supports these

logging trucks, that puts the product on the truck to haul into the local

mills. Feller-bunchers are the big machines. You see them in the bush now.

They’re huge machines in comparison to what we used to use in the past. We

used to use hand fallers in the past, and then they went to a

feller.

Now they’ve got these feller-bunchers. They’re worth about half a

million dollars apiece, about $500,000, $600,000 by the time you get them

equipped. They can cut down a lot of trees in a day. There are dozens of

those operating on a daily basis, 24 hours a day most seasons, in the Prince

George timber supply area.

Once the feller-buncher cuts this down, then it’s taken by a

forwarder. It’s another big track machine. They’re worth $200,000, $300,000,

$400,000 apiece. They will take these logs to a central location. Oftentimes

they’ll use grapple skidders as well, and they’re worth a lot of money.

These are dozens of machines.

When it gets to this area, then a processor will take these logs and

trim them, trim all the branches off them, cut them to length and put them

in a pile. These processors are worth $500,000 apiece. All

computer-controlled, they can cut the log to whatever length that they want,

whatever diameter that they want. A lot of technology involved

there.

Then we have a butt-n-top loader — again, the same kind of a platform

as these other machines. So we’re still looking in the neighbourhood of a

$500,000 mark. This butt-n-top loader will pick the logs up and put them on

the truck.

When you look at the massive size of this equipment and the dollars

that we have involved in this kind of equipment to move the product into the

sawmills…. It’s supported by the operators in those machines. It’s supported

by the service sector — the service, the mechanics, the shops, the diesel

fuel.

There are a number of people that are behind those particular pieces

of machines that are operating there — the number of drivers that we have in

the trucks that are hauling the logs into the sawmills. There’s a lot of

revenue generated by this particular industry at that level.

But that’s only part of the picture. The other picture is the mills

that we have. We’ve got four pulp mills in the area. We’ve got three in

Prince George. We’ve got one in Mackenzie. They consume a lot of wood chips

and a lot of wood every year to make the pulp, to make the cups that you

drink coffee with at Starbucks and the different coffee shops that we have

down here. They produce pulp, and they send it all over the world. That is

converted into other paper products.

We have bioenergy plants that we operate in Mackenzie, in Prince

George and other places throughout the province that consume a lot of the

bioproducts that we have from the logging area. We also have these

supermills. We have mills that will consume one million to two million cubic

metres of wood each sawmill. One mill will produce enough 2-by-4s to last

the housing industry in British Columbia for a year — just one sawmill. So

they produce a lot of wood.

There are a number of these sawmills in the Prince George area,

probably a dozen or more of them. Then there are some smaller ones that

specialize in custom cutting and employ a lot of people.

[2:55 p.m.]

Provincewide, we have over 50,000 people employed in the forest

sector. They bring in a lot of revenue. I was looking at the StatsCan stats

earlier on today in preparation for this. Forestry, fishing, mining, and oil

and gas produce the highest weekly salaries in British Columbia. This is the

2018 data that we had here. On average, the median weekly wage rate was

$1,538.40 for people working in the forest sector, mining sector and oil and

gas — pretty significant investments and dollars coming out of

that.

What we have, and what I didn’t hear in the budget speech — and I

didn’t hear a word of it in the throne speech — was any forward-looking

observations by government as to what they’re going to do as a result of the

lack of fibre that we have in the province.

We already have the forest sector talking about curtailing sawmills,

shutting down. They’re going to be right-sizing the forest industry as we

move forward here. Fibre has disappeared in this province as a result of

pine beetle, the spruce beetle, the fir beetle, the balsam beetle and our

wildfire situations that we’ve had. It’s had a significant impact on the

availability of fibre in the province here.

As a result of that, we could see a 20, 30, 40, 50 percent decline in

forest revenues during the life of this budget. I didn’t hear that projected

in the budget figures. When we look at the folks that are involved and

employed in this industry, making the kind of money they do, that’s going to

be a significant hit on the income tax levels that folks pay.

In addition to that, we look at the $6 billion that government has

projected to come in from carbon tax alone in this province. We look at the

fuel that these machines use. These dozens-of-million-dollar machines that

we see throughout the Prince George–Mackenzie area consume a lot of diesel

fuel. The carbon tax revenues will drop significantly just from the forest

industry downturn that we see.

That’s an issue that I think…. It was negligent, in my view, for

government not to include something in their budget projections to look at

that. That’s going to have a significant impact on the province

here.

The other resource area that is of concern for me…. I’ve got mines in

my area and throughout the province here. Mount Milligan employs 450 people

just between my riding and the member for Nechako Lakes. There are a couple

of mines close by in the Quesnel area that employ hundreds of people. We see

Mount Polley being shut down because of low copper prices and commodity

prices. Everybody’s familiar with Mount Polley. It’s gone through its issues

over the last few years here.

When you look at thin margins…. I’ve talked to miners over the years

as to how they balance things out and how they run. I lived in Fraser Lake

for a number of years with the moly mine that was there. They look at the

commodity prices, and they say: “Well, we’ve got pretty thin margins here.

But we can still operate because we predict an uptick in the commodity

prices in two months, three months, six months or a year.”

Their main goal is to maintain the employees that they have so they’ve

got that expertise all the time and they’re not laying people off. They’ve

got families to support. Again, mining is one of the industries in British

Columbia where people would make, on average, about $100,000 per

year.

The Mount Polley situation, with the low copper prices and some of the

other expenses they’ve had to look at there, I’m wondering whether they

could have idled through the downturn in the copper prices if they hadn’t

been faced with the employer health tax, if they hadn’t been faced with the

carbon tax and some of the other tax increases that we’ve seen some of these

small and larger businesses have to absorb in their day-to-day operations

there. As a result of that, we’ve got a couple hundred people that are out

of work from that particular mine. We may see others throughout the province

here.

I spoke about oil as well. We’ve got an oil pipeline coming into

Prince George, actually through Prince George. It used to go on down to

Kamloops, but they don’t ship any product south of Prince George now. We

have a refinery in Prince George that Husky owns, but they’ve currently got

it up for sale. I’ve met with Husky, and we’ve had a bit of a chit-chat on

what their intentions are there.

[3:00 p.m.]

That refinery puts out about 12,000 barrels of oil per day. It

produces all the diesel for the logging industry and the mining industry in

the interior of the province. We don’t have to bring any in from Edmonton or

anywhere. The refinery in Prince George provides that. But with the downturn

in the forest sector and the downturn in the mining sector, we’re going to

see activities at this refinery probably impacted by this as

well.

You add that to the thousands of logging trucks that haul those

270,000 loads of logs every year into the sawmills in Prince George and

Mackenzie and the diesel that those trucks consume; the diesel that the

trucks that haul the finished products out of there, the lumber; the trucks

that haul the chips from the sawmills to the pulp mills. There is going to

be a significant reduction in the consumption of diesel fuel in that area,

which is going to impact the operation of the refinery.

We also have natural gas pipelines coming into Prince George. I’ve met

with some proponents right now. They’re talking about building a

liquefication plant in Prince George, a $4 billion or $5 billion plant.

We’re talking about a number of things, but we have some opportunities with

natural gas in British Columbia. When we look at the world around us and the

increased use of polycarbonates, we don’t really know what is coming down

the pike as far as advancement goes in our aircraft and aeronautics, in the

design of vehicles, in the design of a lot of the new technology that’s out

there that uses polycarbonates.

Polycarbonates. A big portion of that comes from the liquids that we

have in our natural gas sitting in the Montney play north of Dawson Creek.

Some of the richest liquid natural gas that we have in the world, we have

right here in British Columbia. We have an opportunity to develop a

petrochemical industry in British Columbia that would eclipse what is in

Alberta and elsewhere in the country. Yet there was no forward-looking

mention of what we’re going to be doing to ensure that our economy stays

strong in British Columbia, whether petrochemicals play into that or not,

whether expansion of our natural gas shipments will play into

that.

What’s going to replace the downturn in the forest industry? What’s

going to replace the 50 percent of the sawmills that may have to close here

over the next two or three years, the employees that will no longer have

that income coming in? It’s bothersome to me when I see that. There’s

nothing in the budget and there was nothing in the throne speech that talks

about how they’re going to maintain the money coming into the province to

support all these things that this government is doing.

There are some good things in there. I look at Community Living B.C.

Home providers are going to get an increase, family-based caregivers. Good

stuff. There’s some good stuff in this budget. There’s no question about it.

But a lot of it is not affordable when we look at some of the other things

that are on there. From a risk perspective, I shake my head.

The ICBA came out. They were saying that in order to cover the debt

that this province is going to accumulate over the next three years, they’re

going to have to be borrowing $400 million a year. That’s a lot of money.

The tax increases that this government has indicated in their budget….

Spending is going up 26 percent in the next couple of years. We can’t do

that in our own homes unless, of course, we get another job that pays a

little bit more. But that’s a pretty significant increase in such a short,

short period of time.

There’s no mention in the budget about small business, the job

creators in the province here — no mention whatsoever in there. They’re the

backbone of this community when it comes to revenue generating and small

business. They employ the lion’s share of people in this province. We’re

going to see that decrease when we see the downturn in forestry, we see the

downturn in mining, and we see the downturn in a lot of the other resource

sectors that we have here. We look at the last quarter. I was looking at

those stats here as well.

[3:05 p.m.]

Public sector jobs increased 10 percent more than private sector jobs

just in the last quarter in the province here. Those are taxpayer-supported

jobs. We see the private sector job numbers decreasing and the public sector

jobs increasing. In the last year alone, self-employment in B.C. dropped by

1.2 percent, despite the fact that B.C.’s population grew quite

significantly.

When I look at these tax increases and the way the budget has laid

things out and who’s not paying for the different things that we have here,

I go back…. The Minister of Citizens’ Services brought it up. She said that

a family of four earning $80,000 will pay 43 percent less tax. Hmm.

Forty-three percent less tax for a family of four earning $80,000. That’s

about $2,400.

I look at who’s paying the taxes in this province here. I brought up

the Stats Canada stuff again and spent a little bit of time looking at that

this morning. Folks in British Columbia…. This was 2016 data; I couldn’t

find anything newer than that. But the 2016 data for people earning $45,000

a year and less in British Columbia was 2,457,490 people. They’re the ones

that are going to receive a lot of the tax breaks.

When you look at population of British Columbia, we’re at 4.7 million

people. We’ve already eliminated 50 percent of the people from contributing

to the tax base. Then you look at the second bracket. The second bracket is

folks that earn $45,000 to $90,000. Our sons and daughters, a lot of them,

will be included in that. A lot of professionals are included in that — the

nurses, police officers, teachers. Those folks are included in that. There

are 915,000 people in that tax bracket that will be paying some

tax.

Then the third bracket, those that are earning $90,000 to $140,000. It

probably includes everybody in this House. So 209,000 people in the province

will be paying taxes within that tax bracket itself — the people that are

contributing to these taxes and paying these taxes to make life affordable.

For who? I haven’t really figured that out yet.

This mantra that the government is using: “Making life more

affordable….” I haven’t found anybody that is really finding that life is

more affordable to them. Even the ones that are making the $45,000 and less

a year have to pay their carbon tax on their home heating at home in Prince

George. We’ve had the coldest February on record, I’ve heard, since they

started keeping records. I’ve had a lot of constituents come in and present

their natural gas bills to me in the office. The price of gas for the month

might be $100, and the carbon tax attached to that will be about $120, so

they’re paying more in carbon tax than they are for the actual gas itself.

That’s impacting the folks.

People drive cars. In Prince George, we don’t have the benefit of

having electric cars up there because the weather is too severe, and the

electric cars don’t work all that well in the winter. Some people have the

hybrids, which is a mixture of gas and electricity. But people are driving

cars. They pay the carbon tax on the gasoline or the diesel that we put in

the tanks of our vehicles, and it adds up.

I’ve heard members in government say: “Well, you know, we talk about

the employer health tax….” I’ll talk a little bit more of that later on

here. I’ve heard them say: “Well, the employer health tax, even though it

impacts a city like Prince George to $1.4 million, that’s only an extra 25

or 30 bucks on your property tax bill at home.”

Well, it might be $20 or $30 extra on your tax bill at home. And what

the heck, when you look at the carbon tax, it’s only an extra $50 or $60 or

$70 on your monthly or bi-monthly gas bill. And you’re going to pay a few

bucks extra when you fill up your car or pickup truck because of the carbon

tax there as well. They don’t understand that, accumulated, that makes a

significant difference in people’s wallets. It’s a lot lighter as a result

of this government’s taxing scheme.

[3:10 p.m.]

The MSP. Yeah, it has morphed into this employer health tax. Like I

said, it has cost the city of Prince George an extra, I believe, $1.4

million. But it’s costing Northern Health, the largest employer in the

northern three-quarters of the province. It’s costing them millions of

dollars to cover that off.

Our school districts — school district 57 in my area but school

districts throughout the province — are paying millions of dollars in the

employer health tax as well. So any of the services that we have will have

to reduce their operations, reduce their level of service because of the

impact that the employer health tax has on that particular

operation.

We just heard it on the news with Victoria, where Victoria is going to

have to lay off seven police officers because of the employer health tax. So

it’s pretty significant when we have the city of Victoria that has not had

an increase in their policing since 2010, yet their population has

increased. The tourism has increased in the greater Victoria area here, the

cost of doing business has increased, and the complexities of investigating

criminal offences have increased.

This has had a big increase there. I hope that council revisits that

particular issue. They’re going to have to increase taxes a little bit in

Victoria — thanks, again, to this government — in order to cover those costs

off. Every single municipality in this province is doing the same thing.

They’ve had to scratch their head.

I’ve heard the Finance Minister say in this House when this was posed

to her before: “Well, they just have to absorb it.” You can only absorb so

much. Every municipality knows exactly where every nickel is going, and when

some other level of government imposes things on them like the

em­ployer health tax, it hits everybody.

One of the other issues I want to talk about that impacts my riding,

as well, is…. We talk about electricity. We’ve got the hydro transmission

lines coming through Prince George and coming down from the Williston

reservoir. The Williston reservoir supplies water for Site A, which is the

W.A.C. Bennett dam; Site B, built just a couple of miles downstream from

there, which is the Peace Canyon dam, completed in 1980; and we have Site C

that is under construction right now.

Site C will utilize the entire Williston reservoir to pro­vide

power, and that power comes down through Prince George. So the amount of

electricity used in Vancouver and throughout the area has an impact on the

Williston reservoir.

I got some stats. I get regular updates from B.C. Hydro on the water

levels in Williston Lake. I just had an update today that Williston Lake is

going to be drawn down sometime this spring to one of the lowest levels that

it’s been in a long time. It’s partially because of the dry seasons that

we’ve had over the last two or three years but mostly because they’ve had

record usages of power throughout British Columbia and down in the Lower

Mainland. They’ve had to be cranking the water out to spin those turbines to

provide the power for people down here in the Lower Mainland.

The Williston reservoir provides about 35 percent of B.C.’s power down

here. When the water levels get down that low, it affects the sawmills that

are working in Mackenzie to the point where…. Are they going to be able to

get their logs in? The logs are brought down Williston Lake by tugboat in

the summer. Canfor operates a big barge year-round that hauls about 100

loads at a time. Are they going to be able to get close enough to shore with

that machine now with the water levels down that low?

It will have a significant impact on the people down here. The

province is providing these rebates for these electric cars, and the

rebates, I think, are around $6,000 per car. Then they provide all of these

free plug-ins so people can charge their electric vehicles that they get for

the significantly reduced price from government, and it’s free

electricity.

The people in the north are not only losing forestry jobs and mining

jobs and paying carbon tax and paying taxes on the high income that they

get, but they’re also contributing to the subsidies that government is

providing to the Vancouver area for the electric cars.

[3:15 p.m.]

I’ve had some constituents talk to me about this in the past. They’re

a little bit concerned about this and the impact that it has upstream.

There’s no benefit upstream for British Columbians. The benefit is solely

within the urban area here in British Columbia.

All in all, rural B.C. punches above its weight when it contributes to

the overall economy of British Columbia, and it has for decades. But those

days are…. There’s going to be some significant changes here. I think

government needs to wake up, sooner than later, to deal with the downturn in

the forest sector.

How are we going to change? How are we going to replace the thousands

and thousands of jobs that we currently have in the forest sector when we

have to shut mills down because the fibre is no longer available?

The forest sector has complained about the competitiveness

internationally and throughout the North American market. The wood is

getting further and further away from the sawmills, but it’s getting less

and less as well. With the supermills, we don’t have the volume of logs

anymore to maintain that same level.

Hon. G. Chow: It’s my pleasure and privilege to rise today to speak in support of

the 2019 budget.

Before I do that, I’d like to thank the voters in my riding, which is

Vancouver-Fraserview. Quite often people confuse that with Fairview. We are

at the southeastern corner of the city of Vancouver,

whereas Fairview is

also in Vancouver, but it’s further west. The boundary is bound by Fraser

Street — as the name implies, Fraserview — or to Boundary Road, which is

next to Burnaby. It’s also from 49th Avenue down to the Fraser River along

Marine Drive.

I’ve been elected 20 months now. It’s been a very exciting time but a

steep learning curve. I’m depending on the staff that I have at the

constituency level as well as here at the Leg building to help me in order

to do this job.

Of course, I also like to say thank you to my family for the sacrifice

that they have made. They have really had to do the work that I used to do

at home, when I also chip in for House duties and all of the other stuff

that I have to do. Now it’s fallen on the shoulders of my wife and my kids,

so I’d like to thank them as well.

I’d like to once again thank the staff. They are very dedicated, very

creative, but we also now are working together so that we know each other’s

working style and working habits.

Vancouver-Fraserview is predominantly a residential com­munity,

with a lot of single-family houses as well as some low-rise apartments. The

riding has the highest proportion of seniors in the city of Vancouver,

according to the study that I was aware of in 2008. But I would think that,

ten years later, it would be the same. I would say the seniors population,

people who are over 65, in Vancouver-Fraserview would number about 5,000. We

have many seniors homes as well as full-care facilities for

seniors.

I see this budget, following up on the budget of 2018, as a tremendous

boost to the seniors in our riding. I heard the Minister of Health saying

that they are devoting $5 million to help to train more workers for seniors

homes in order to get the average hours per resident up to the provincial

level. That is a practical way that we are helping our seniors, who have

contributed so much in their lives in terms of building British Columbia and

providing us the standard of living that we have right now.

[3:20 p.m.]

Affordable housing is another big issue. We have a lot of co-ops in

our riding, a lot of rental housing as well. That is the housing that we

need to build: co-ops and affordable housing for everyday British

Columbians.

Transportation is a big issue. This is nothing more than bus service,

because now we have an area at the southeastern corner that is rapidly

growing with a lot of apartments. In the next ten years, the population will

have an increase of about 10,000 to 12,000 people. That’s putting a lot of

pressure on the bus service that runs along Marine Drive. People need to

take the bus to work. As well, people are travelling north from Marine Drive

up to around 49th Avenue to use some of the facilities and do shopping. Our

investment in infrastructure rose, and transit service is going to really

help with that as well.

Budget 2019, as I said, builds on the groundbreaking work of Budget

2018. It will put B.C. on the path of shared prosperity, delivering better

services and making life more affordable for people all over the province.

Budget ’19 continues on this important path but is also moving the province

forward in several new ways, including in the areas of environmental

sustainability, revenue-sharing with Indigenous people, poverty reduction,

child care affordability — some of the items that I just mentioned,

particularly for my riding. Budget 2019 reflects the values that we share as

British Columbians.

I was just listening to the previous speaker, from Prince

George–Mackenzie, about how he was saying that the power generated from the

north is really to the benefit of the people in the Lower Mainland. I think

we want to reflect on the fact that we are all British Columbians, that we

share a common goal as being Canadian and being British Columbian. I’m sure

that we are working towards that, so that we wouldn’t say: “You’re from the

Interior or from the north, so you’re being taken advantage of.” We also

recognize that it’s people who power the economy, and it’s the people who

deserve the opportunity so they can enjoy a secure and sustainable

future.

In the budget highlights, business and the community leaders across

the province have called for affordable child care and housing. The reason

why is that businesses and business leaders are realizing that we are short

of skilled workers — skilled trades, in general. We need to invest in people

in order to fuel the economy. The affordability issue with labour force

attraction and retention is important, because without affordable housing it

would be very difficult to attract workers to come to B.C., whether it’s in

high tech or in the trades — welders, carpenters, machinists, doctors or

lawyers.

In order to have a good economy, we need to invest in affordable

housing, also allowing all members of the family…. Nowadays you need two

parents to work, so affordable child care is very, very important, in order

to allow people to go to work. Because of that, we are making record

investments in child care, housing and transportation to make life more

affordable for workers in British Columbia.

For example, to help parents to make ends meet, Budget 2019 is

expanding the early childhood tax benefit. Now, this new child opportunity

benefit will provide more support for children, not just to an early age but

right up to the age of 18. That is a tremendous improvement over what we had

before, in order to help children and young families.

[3:25 p.m.]

This will put nearly $400 million a year back into the pockets of

hard-working families. This is a tax reduction for families, in fact — right

in the actual spending pockets of the family.

The other way that we are also helping the family is to eliminate the

MSP premiums. That also puts more money in people’s pockets in order to

afford the other stuff — to pay for tuition, to pay for rent and to buy

food. With regard to the MSP premium, that is equivalent to putting $800

million tax cuts in the pockets of British Columbians.

Coming this spring, our government will launch a poverty reduction

strategy that will cut B.C.’s child poverty rate in half and cut the general

poverty by a quarter by 2024. By 2024, we hope to reduce the poverty rate by

a quarter.

Now, we know more needs to be done to make income and disability

assistance more accessible. Beginning this April, people who rely on income

or disability assistance will receive $50 more each month.

We have already seen housing prices beginning to moderate, in part due

to the measures our government implemented as part of Budget 2018. But as my

colleague the Minister of Finance points out, these problems weren’t created

overnight, and they won’t be fixed overnight. So we’re embarking on this

important initiative.

We’ll continue to tackle housing availability and affordability in

this budget, and I’ve already seen it in our riding since we formed

government. We have announced two projects in the riding. One is a rental

project. The other one is affordable housing for ordinary British

Columbians.

We are also taking care of the renters. In the city of Vancouver, we

have over half of the residents that are renters, so certainly, providing

rental housing is important to the people in Vancouver. We are creating a

new rent bank for those who need immediate, short-term help to stay housed.

If they have an eviction notice and they couldn’t really pull it off

financially in the short term, we have this rent bank that we can help them

with.

We are also helping the students. We are providing financial relief

for students attending post-secondary institutions. By eliminating interest

from B.C. student loans, young people will not be facing such crippling debt

when they graduate and begin their working life.

Of course, I went to post-secondary education here as well. When I was

going through university, I also had to take out a loan, but back in those

days, tuition was more affordable. Life was just more affordable

then.

I think our young people need some help in order for them to be

educated, to actually have a good future in the new economy. Because in the

new economy, most of the jobs require post-secondary education —

post-secondary education not just in university but in trades as well. We

need welders and machinists. We need millwrights. We have all kinds of

skilled trades that also need post-secondary education.

This Budget 2019 reaffirms the government’s commitment to true and

lasting affordability for all the people.

We are also partnering with First Nations in order to create

legislation to implement the United Nations declaration on the rights of

Indigenous peoples, UNDRIP, so the First Nations in B.C. will have a stable

source of funding through a historical $3 billion revenue-sharing agreement

over the next 25 years.

In terms of attracting business and creating jobs, the province is

moving forward with more than $800 million in business tax reduction to

support the investment in new plants, machinery and equipment, joining the

jobs.

[3:30 p.m.]

[J. Isaacs in the chair.]

Budget 2019 also introduces several changes to modernize and enhance

the small business venture capital tax credit program. We recognize that

venture capital tax credits play an important

part in providing early-stage

capital for emerging small businesses in British Columbia. Effective for the

2019 and subsequent tax years, the annual tax credit limit that an

individual can claim for investment made after bud­get day — that is,

February 2019 — is increased to $120,000 from $60,000. In other words, we’re

doubling the tax credit limit in order to spur investment that would create

good jobs for British Columbians.

The maximum amount that an eligible business or corporation can raise

through the tax credit program is increased also by 100 percent, from $5

million to $10 million. Whether they’re an individual investor or a

corporation, they’re going to get a tax decrease.

To support business outside the Metro Vancouver regional district and

capital regional district, advanced commercialization has been added as an

eligible business activity within the small business venture capital tax

credit program.

Budget 2019 also moves forward on our CleanBC climate action plan. The

CleanBC plan puts our province on a path to a cleaner, better future,

creating opportunity for all while protecting our environment in clean air,

land and water. Through CleanBC, our government is making it a priority for

B.C. to be a leading global destination for industry planning to drive

low-carbon economic growth and opportunities. Putting British Columbia on

the world stage as a leader in clean energy products and services will open

doors to new investments in established companies and start-ups, delivering

more good jobs for British Columbians.

From my experience as an engineer…. I have a colleague who went into

chemical engineering and has done really well in terms of pulp mill

engineering and the pulp mill process. He has a process that he has patented

— it’s also manufactured here in B.C. — that he has already been

sell­ing all over the world.

Those are the practical examples of spurring innovation in clean

energy and clean energy techniques as well.

As Minister of State for Trade, I can see that we’d like to diversify

our trade as well. This is a way to make people’s lives better, creating

better job opportunities and creating better jobs for the people. It’s also

important that when we diversify in our trading relationships, we build a

better, healthier economy.

B.C.’s unemployment rate remains the lowest in Canada for the 17th

month in a row. Private sector jobs have been fuelling employment growth in

the province, with an increase of almost 65,000 jobs in the past year.

Following many years of wage stagnation, B.C.’s average wages are the

highest among the provinces and territories. It is clear that putting people

first is working on the economic level here in B.C.

I’d like to talk a little bit about how it’s working for B.C. business

around the world. As Minister of State for Trade promoting trade and

investment, a critical

part in building a strong and sustainable economy, we

have, in 17 regions in the world, 65 offices of a trade and investment rep

located all across the globe in order to assist people who want to export,

as well as people who want to invest in British Columbia.

[3:35 p.m.]

In 2017, the total B.C. goods exports were valued at $43.4 billion,

which is an increase of 12 percent over 2016. It’s a performance that we

should be proud of, because it’s 12 percent over 2016, and it also

outperformed the Canadian average of 7 percent export growth.

Since that time, we have signed the so-called CPTPP, which stands for

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. This

would be a great potential for us to diversify our trade. So far, we have

seven nations who are signed onto this agreement. This includes Australia,

New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico and Japan, and other nations will

sign on as well. Of course, Japan, being the third-largest economy, is also

the third trading partner for British Columbia. So we look forward to

working with the TPP nations in order to diversify our trade.

Total exports to Japan in 2017 were more than double that of the next

leading Canadian province. Of course, being situated on the western Pacific,

we are trading a lot more with the Asian nations across the Pacific, and we

are looking to increase this trade with some of the other nations that I

just mentioned.

The fourth-largest trading partner with B.C. is South Korea, and it is

becoming an important economic partner to B.C. Last year we made a visit to

Korea and Japan, as well as China. Particularly in Korea, we are raising our

profile in terms of what we can offer the Korean nation in terms of lumber

exports, building energy-efficient homes, helping them with seniors living

in traditional ways, like in our Canadian homes — that we are

exporting.

The exports to South Korea were almost $3 billion in 2017, which is 30

percent more over 2016. So that’s certainly important — making Korea our

fourth-largest goods export market and Canada’s third-largest trading

partner in Asia.

This relationship has clearly been strengthened by the Canada-Korea

Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect on January 1, 2015. This

agreement has a lot of benefit for B.C. business in multiple sectors,

levelling the playing field among Canada’s competitors in the Korean

market.

Even though this is early days, we are also seeing positive results

with the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA. As of

November 2018, year-to-date exports from B.C. to the EU were $2.4 billion,

which is a 19 percent increase compared to the same period in

We do have companies that really want to sell into the EU. For

example, we have a company right here on the Island, in Nanaimo, that makes

a very unique, precise product that you would normally find in the eastern

heartland of manufacturing, such as Ontario or Quebec. This company builds

compressors, and they not only sell to the U.S. market; they would like to

expand to the European market. Our trade ministry is helping them in order

to surmount the different technical requirements in order to be able to sell

in the EU market. So we are looking to expand to that as well.

[3:40 p.m.]

My mandate as Minister of State for Trade is to look outward to the

Asia-Pacific nations such as China, Japan, South Korea, India and other key

markets. Of course, the U.S., being our largest trading partner, is still

our main trading nation, but we are also looking elsewhere in order to

diversify our trading, particularly with British Columbia.

We do all this not just for the sake of material things. We do this

because we want to put people first. People need to have good jobs. They

need to have a job that they can feed their family with. This is very

important. I’ll emphasize it, even though my mandate is in terms of material

goods. It’s really for the people so that we can have good jobs and a good

economy in British Columbia.

Some of the issues that I already have covered…. One thing I would

like to mention is that in terms of helping people, I’m very happy, as an

immigrant myself, that our government is putting back free tuition for adult

immigrants to adjust to Canadian life. They could become productive members

of our economy and help our shortage in terms of the workers that we

need.

I’m proud to share with you my thoughts, and I’m proud to support

Budget 2019.

Deputy Speaker: Chilliwack-Kent. [Applause.]

L. Throness: Thank you, my generous colleagues.

It’s always a pleasure to stand in this House and respond to the

budget. I’ve done it six times now. How times flies.

First, I want to begin by thanking my staff in Chilliwack. They are

Sheila Denis and Kathy Miki. Dagmar Lucak has been off for a while, and

Sheila and Kathy have been filling in. I want to thank them for stepping up

to the plate. I never worry about what happens in the office as long as

Sheila and Kathy are there, so I very much depend on them and appreciate the

work that they do.

I also appreciate my staff here in Victoria. I think of Wendy King, my

legislative assistant, who does a fantastic job, and Karen Bill, who

researches for me. She’s a much better researcher than I am, and she keeps

me working hard.

Finally, thanks to my constituents. It’s a joy and a privilege to

serve them, and I hope they’ll allow me to do that for some years

yet.

I want to begin talking about the budget, as I have for six years now,

by talking about the American debt and deficit. Every year I’m astounded and

dismayed by its growth. It’s sort of the elephant in the American room. It

appears the people of America have decided that the number of zeros behind a

number doesn’t really matter anymore. They’re never going to be able to pay

it back, so it doesn’t matter anymore. So why not keep on racking up

debt?

In 2018, the U.S. federal deficit — not its debt — was $779 billion,

and their debt is now $22 trillion. That’s over 100 percent of their own

GDP. In B.C., by comparison, thanks to 16 years of good B.C. Liberal fiscal

management, our debt-to-GDP ratio is just 15 percent — still.

There was a great

article in the National Post about

America’s utterly unbelievable scale of debt and deficit. It offered some

comparisons that I’ll share with the House. Every American now owes $67,000

in the national debt. It’s more than the total value of all the Fortune 500

group of companies. It’s almost triple the value of all the gold ever mined

in history. The richest man, Jeff Bezos, with his $136 billion in treasure,

could only fund government spending in America for 11 days and stop the

deficit from accumulating for just over a month. The list goes on and on.

It’s staggering.

We in B.C. need to be ready for the consequences of that debt, because

it can’t go on forever. That means that someday it has to stop. And it will

impact B.C. when it stops. That’s why I find it disturbing that there is so

little thought in this budget given to growing our economy, diversifying our

markets, increasing our international trade, reducing our dependence upon

the United States as an economic partner. While we were in power, the B.C.

Liberals did a lot of that. I’m proud of the work that we did, and I will

continue to exhort the present government to insulate B.C. as much as

possible against economic shocks from our neighbour to the south.

[3:45 p.m.]

Now, there are things in the budget that I like. I want to mention

them quickly, because there are not many.

I like the interest relief on student loans, as long as it doesn’t

give students an incentive to get higher student loans. I know what it’s

like to pay interest on student loans.

I like the raise in support for foster parents. I advocated for that a

year ago, so I congratulate the government for doing that. I like more

funding for mental health and addictions.

I like that the NDP felt a sense of obligation to balance the budget.

There are few other governments in Canada that do that presently, and it’s

really not in the NDP DNA to do that. It’s not natural for them to do that.

But the wise economic leadership of the B.C. Liberals in tabling five

balanced budgets in a row created a culture of prudence that even the NDP

feel obliged to observe. In that way, the B.C. Liberals have left a great

legacy for this province.

There were a number of things that were not in the budget that I want

to mention. There was nothing said about repairs for the Agassiz-Rosedale

Bridge. I believe that the repair estimates for that bridge are increasing,

so I need to find out from the minister if she is still on board with it. I

will be approaching her about that.

There is no widening of the No. 1 freeway in the budget, and I’m

astounded by that. There can be no better illustration of the NDP’s lack of

regard for the economy and the economic well-being of this province than to

continue to allow the No. 1 to be a parking lot. That is the main

thoroughfare for the third-largest city in B.C. Almost all goods and

services move in and out of that city on that road. So it’s hugely

important, but the NDP have ignored it for another year.

There’s nothing in the budget for agriculture. There’s nothing for

Chilliwack but a reannouncement of the southside school. We appreciate that.

It’s a good announcement, but it’s not new. It’s old. There’s nothing new

for my hometown in this budget.

As I was thinking how to characterize the budget, I was flipping

through TV channels the evening of the budget. I happened upon a French

channel where the news ribbon at the bottom of the channel had this phrase,

virage à gauche , with respect to the budget. That pretty well

summed it up for me. “Virage à gauche” is a French phrase meaning

“left-hand turn.” To me, that’s an apt description of this budget, because

it’s a classic NDP budget.

It’s a lot of spending, a lot of increased revenue, a budget made to

grow government, a budget that tries to please everybody but the taxpayer —

especially public sector unions. I’m sure the minister had a lot of fun

putting it together, because it always feels good to spend somebody else’s

money. It looks big-hearted and generous, and the minister gets to play

Santa. She had no hard decisions to make in this budget.

It’s like the fun of using your credit card at the beginning of the

month and the dismay of getting your bill at the end of the month. We’re at

the beginning of the month, the beginning of the NDP’s term right now. Right

now, they’re in the happy phase, but the bill is yet to come.

Let me talk about the big picture for a moment, the big numbers.

First, this budget has increased spending by 4½ percent in a single year and

by 10 percent three years from now. Will the economy grow by 4½ percent this

year? No. Their own forecast is that it will grow by only 2.4 percent —

altogether over the next three years by 6.7 percent. So spending is growing

by 10 percent, but the economy is only growing by 6.7 percent. It doesn’t

make sense. The numbers are diverging.

The long-term direction of the government means that it will have to

either end in deficit or raise taxes. It will be one or the other. We can

expect maybe both.

When I was elected in 2013, the budget was $44 billion. In three years

from now, spending will go to $62 billion, an increase of 40 percent, or $18

billion more spent every year on a permanent basis. When we were in

government, B.C. Liberals increased spending by 14 percent over four years.

The NDP, over its four years, will have increased spending by 23 percent,

almost 6 percent a year. That’s just unsustainable.

What about revenue, $59 billion in revenue this year? I must say I’m

amazed