OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES · 2020-03-05 · Fih Session, 41st Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) ursday, February 27, 2020 Morning Sitting Issue No. 317 THE HONOURABLE

Fifth Session, 41st Parliament

OFFICIAL REPORTOF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Thursday, February 27, 2020Morning Sitting

Issue No. 317

THE HONOURABLE DARRYL PLECAS, SPEAKER

ISSN 1499-2175

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA(Entered Confederation July 20, 1871)

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORHer Honour the Honourable Janet Austin, OBC

Fifth Session, 41st Parliament

SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLYHonourable Darryl Plecas

EXECUTIVE COUNCILPremier and President of the Executive Council ............................................................................................................... Hon. John HorganDeputy Premier and Minister of Finance............................................................................................................................Hon. Carole JamesMinister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training..................................................................................................... Hon. Melanie MarkMinister of Agriculture.........................................................................................................................................................Hon. Lana PophamAttorney General .................................................................................................................................................................Hon. David Eby, QCMinister of Children and Family Development ............................................................................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy

Minister of State for Child Care......................................................................................................................................Hon. Katrina ChenMinister of Citizens’ Services...................................................................................................................................................Hon. Anne KangMinister of Education ............................................................................................................................................................ Hon. Rob FlemingMinister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources ..................................................................................................... Hon. Bruce RalstonMinister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.............................................................................................Hon. George HeymanMinister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development ..............................................Hon. Doug DonaldsonMinister of Health .....................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Adrian DixMinister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation ......................................................................................................... Hon. Scott FraserMinister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness.............................................................................Hon. Michelle Mungall

Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon. George ChowMinister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Harry BainsMinister of Mental Health and Addictions............................................................................................................................ Hon. Judy DarcyMinister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.................................................................................................................. Hon. Selina RobinsonMinister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ........................................................................................................... Hon. Mike FarnworthMinister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction..............................................................................................Hon. Shane SimpsonMinister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.....................................................................................................................................Hon. Lisa BeareMinister of Transportation and Infrastructure................................................................................................................ Hon. Claire Trevena

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLYLeader of the Official Opposition................................................................................................................................Andrew Wilkinson, QCLeader of the Third Party .................................................................................................................................................................Adam OlsenDeputy Speaker................................................................................................................................................................................ Raj ChouhanAssistant Deputy Speaker............................................................................................................................................................. Simon GibsonDeputy Chair, Committee of the Whole ................................................................................................................ Spencer Chandra HerbertActing Clerk of the Legislative Assembly............................................................................................................................... Kate Ryan-LloydClerk Assistant — Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..........................................................................................Susan SourialAssociate Law Clerk ..............................................................................................................................................Loredana Catalli-Sonier, QCLaw Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel............................................................................................................................................ S. Suzie SeoActing Sergeant-at-Arms..................................................................................................................................................................Greg Nelson

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERSAshton, Dan (BC Liberal) ......................................................................... PentictonBains, Hon. Harry (NDP)................................................................ Surrey-NewtonBarnett, Donna (BC Liberal) .....................................................Cariboo-ChilcotinBeare, Hon. Lisa (NDP).............................................. Maple Ridge–Pitt MeadowsBegg, Garry (NDP) .......................................................................Surrey-GuildfordBernier, Mike (BC Liberal) .........................................................Peace River SouthBond, Shirley (BC Liberal)...........................................Prince George–ValemountBrar, Jagrup (NDP).......................................................................Surrey-FleetwoodCadieux, Stephanie (BC Liberal)........................................................ Surrey SouthChandra Herbert, Spencer (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–West EndChen, Hon. Katrina (NDP) ...................................................... Burnaby-LougheedChouhan, Raj (NDP) .................................................................Burnaby-EdmondsChow, Hon. George (NDP).................................................Vancouver-FraserviewClovechok, Doug (BC Liberal) ..................................Columbia River–RevelstokeColeman, Rich (BC Liberal) ................................................................ Langley EastConroy, Hon. Katrine (NDP)...........................................................Kootenay WestDarcy, Hon. Judy (NDP) ............................................................. New WestminsterDavies, Dan (BC Liberal) ........................................................... Peace River Northde Jong, Michael, QC (BC Liberal) ..............................................Abbotsford WestDean, Mitzi (NDP)................................................................ Esquimalt-MetchosinD’Eith, Bob (NDP) ................................................................Maple Ridge–MissionDix, Hon. Adrian (NDP)....................................................... Vancouver-KingswayDonaldson, Hon. Doug (NDP)...................................................................... StikineEby, Hon. David, QC (NDP).............................................. Vancouver–Point GreyElmore, Mable (NDP).........................................................Vancouver-KensingtonFarnworth, Hon. Mike (NDP) ........................................................Port CoquitlamFleming, Hon. Rob (NDP) ...................................................... Victoria–Swan LakeFoster, Eric (BC Liberal).............................................................Vernon-MonasheeFraser, Hon. Scott (NDP) ..................................................Mid Island–Pacific RimFurstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) .............................................Cowichan ValleyGibson, Simon (BC Liberal) ...................................................Abbotsford-MissionGlumac, Rick (NDP).........................................................Port Moody–CoquitlamHeyman, Hon. George (NDP) ................................................Vancouver-FairviewHorgan, Hon. John (NDP) ................................................ Langford–Juan de FucaHunt, Marvin (BC Liberal) ........................................................ Surrey-CloverdaleIsaacs, Joan (BC Liberal) .......................................... Coquitlam–Burke MountainJames, Hon. Carole (NDP).................................................... Victoria–Beacon HillJohal, Jas (BC Liberal).................................................Richmond-QueensboroughKahlon, Ravi (NDP)............................................................................... Delta NorthKang, Hon. Anne (NDP).........................................................Burnaby–Deer LakeKyllo, Greg (BC Liberal) ..............................................................................ShuswapLarson, Linda (BC Liberal) .............................................. Boundary-SimilkameenLee, Michael (BC Liberal) ........................................................Vancouver-LangaraLeonard, Ronna-Rae (NDP) ..................................................... Courtenay-ComoxLetnick, Norm (BC Liberal)............................................. Kelowna–Lake CountryMa, Bowinn (NDP) .....................................................North Vancouver–LonsdaleMalcolmson, Sheila (NDP) ........................................................................NanaimoMark, Hon. Melanie (NDP) .......................................Vancouver–Mount PleasantMartin, John (BC Liberal) ....................................................................... ChilliwackMilobar, Peter (BC Liberal)..................................... Kamloops–North ThompsonMorris, Mike (BC Liberal) ........................................... Prince George–MackenzieMungall, Hon. Michelle (NDP)......................................................Nelson-CrestonOakes, Coralee (BC Liberal) ............................................................ Cariboo NorthOlsen, Adam (BC Green Party)............................ Saanich North and the IslandsPaton, Ian (BC Liberal).......................................................................... Delta SouthPlecas, Hon. Darryl (Ind.) ........................................................... Abbotsford SouthPolak, Mary (BC Liberal) ............................................................................. LangleyPopham, Hon. Lana (NDP)............................................................... Saanich SouthRalston, Hon. Bruce (NDP) ............................................................Surrey-WhalleyRedies, Tracy (BC Liberal) .......................................................Surrey–White RockReid, Linda (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond South CentreRice, Jennifer (NDP) ............................................................................. North CoastRobinson, Hon. Selina (NDP) .........................................Coquitlam-MaillardvilleRoss, Ellis (BC Liberal)................................................................................... SkeenaRoutledge, Janet (NDP) ....................................................................Burnaby NorthRoutley, Doug (NDP) ................................................. Nanaimo–North CowichanRustad, John (BC Liberal) ................................................................Nechako LakesShypitka, Tom (BC Liberal) .............................................................. Kootenay EastSimons, Nicholas (NDP) ......................................... Powell River–Sunshine CoastSimpson, Hon. Shane (NDP)..................................................Vancouver-HastingsSims, Jinny (NDP) ........................................................................ Surrey-PanoramaSingh, Rachna (NDP) ......................................................... Surrey–Green TimbersStewart, Ben (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Kelowna WestStilwell, Michelle (BC Liberal)............................................... Parksville-QualicumStone, Todd (BC Liberal)..........................................Kamloops–South ThompsonSturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal)........................................West Vancouver–Sea to SkySullivan, Sam (BC Liberal) ................................................ Vancouver–False CreekSultan, Ralph (BC Liberal) ...........................................West Vancouver–CapilanoTegart, Jackie (BC Liberal) ................................................................. Fraser-NicolaThomson, Steve (BC Liberal)...................................................... Kelowna-MissionThornthwaite, Jane (BC Liberal) ...............................North Vancouver–SeymourThroness, Laurie (BC Liberal) .......................................................Chilliwack-KentTrevena, Hon. Claire (NDP) ................................................................North IslandWat, Teresa (BC Liberal) ................................................. Richmond North CentreWeaver, Dr. Andrew (Ind.)................................................Oak Bay–Gordon HeadWilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal) ................................Vancouver-QuilchenaYap, John (BC Liberal) ............................................................Richmond-Steveston

LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDINGAbbotsford-Mission............................................................................Simon GibsonAbbotsford South....................................................................... Hon. Darryl PlecasAbbotsford West...................................................................... Michael de Jong, QCBoundary-Similkameen...................................................................... Linda LarsonBurnaby–Deer Lake....................................................................... Hon. Anne KangBurnaby-Edmonds................................................................................Raj ChouhanBurnaby-Lougheed .................................................................... Hon. Katrina ChenBurnaby North ................................................................................. Janet RoutledgeCariboo-Chilcotin .............................................................................Donna BarnettCariboo North.................................................................................... Coralee OakesChilliwack ............................................................................................... John MartinChilliwack-Kent ...............................................................................Laurie ThronessColumbia River–Revelstoke ......................................................... Doug ClovechokCoquitlam–Burke Mountain.................................................................. Joan IsaacsCoquitlam-Maillardville ...................................................... Hon. Selina RobinsonCourtenay-Comox................................................................... Ronna-Rae LeonardCowichan Valley ............................................................................. Sonia FurstenauDelta North.............................................................................................Ravi KahlonDelta South .................................................................................................. Ian PatonEsquimalt-Metchosin ..............................................................................Mitzi DeanFraser-Nicola ......................................................................................... Jackie TegartKamloops–North Thompson .............................................................Peter MilobarKamloops–South Thompson..................................................................Todd StoneKelowna–Lake Country .....................................................................Norm LetnickKelowna-Mission .............................................................................. Steve ThomsonKelowna West ..........................................................................................Ben StewartKootenay East .......................................................................................Tom ShypitkaKootenay West........................................................................ Hon. Katrine ConroyLangford–Juan de Fuca .............................................................. Hon. John HorganLangley ..................................................................................................... Mary PolakLangley East.........................................................................................Rich ColemanMaple Ridge–Mission.............................................................................. Bob D’EithMaple Ridge–Pitt Meadows............................................................Hon. Lisa BeareMid Island–Pacific Rim................................................................ Hon. Scott FraserNanaimo...................................................................................... Sheila MalcolmsonNanaimo–North Cowichan............................................................... Doug RoutleyNechako Lakes........................................................................................ John RustadNelson-Creston ................................................................... Hon. Michelle MungallNew Westminster........................................................................... Hon. Judy DarcyNorth Coast ........................................................................................... Jennifer RiceNorth Island.............................................................................. Hon. Claire TrevenaNorth Vancouver–Lonsdale................................................................... Bowinn MaNorth Vancouver–Seymour........................................................Jane ThornthwaiteOak Bay–Gordon Head............................................................Dr. Andrew WeaverParksville-Qualicum.......................................................................Michelle StilwellPeace River North ................................................................................... Dan DaviesPeace River South ................................................................................ Mike BernierPenticton ................................................................................................. Dan AshtonPort Coquitlam...................................................................... Hon. Mike FarnworthPort Moody–Coquitlam.......................................................................Rick GlumacPowell River–Sunshine Coast....................................................... Nicholas SimonsPrince George–Mackenzie....................................................................Mike MorrisPrince George–Valemount .................................................................. Shirley BondRichmond North Centre..........................................................................Teresa WatRichmond-Queensborough......................................................................... Jas JohalRichmond South Centre ......................................................................... Linda ReidRichmond-Steveston ................................................................................... John YapSaanich North and the Islands .............................................................Adam OlsenSaanich South .............................................................................Hon. Lana PophamShuswap...................................................................................................... Greg KylloSkeena........................................................................................................... Ellis RossStikine....................................................................................Hon. Doug DonaldsonSurrey-Cloverdale ................................................................................ Marvin HuntSurrey-Fleetwood.....................................................................................Jagrup BrarSurrey–Green Timbers........................................................................Rachna SinghSurrey-Guildford......................................................................................Garry BeggSurrey-Newton ..............................................................................Hon. Harry BainsSurrey-Panorama ...................................................................................... Jinny SimsSurrey South ................................................................................ Stephanie CadieuxSurrey-Whalley ......................................................................... Hon. Bruce RalstonSurrey–White Rock .............................................................................. Tracy RediesVancouver-Fairview.............................................................. Hon. George HeymanVancouver–False Creek........................................................................ Sam SullivanVancouver-Fraserview...............................................................Hon. George ChowVancouver-Hastings ............................................................... Hon. Shane SimpsonVancouver-Kensington....................................................................... Mable ElmoreVancouver-Kingsway..................................................................... Hon. Adrian DixVancouver-Langara................................................................................ Michael LeeVancouver–Mount Pleasant..................................................... Hon. Melanie MarkVancouver–Point Grey ............................................................Hon. David Eby, QCVancouver-Quilchena........................................................Andrew Wilkinson, QCVancouver–West End .....................................................Spencer Chandra HerbertVernon-Monashee ....................................................................................Eric FosterVictoria–Beacon Hill .................................................................. Hon. Carole JamesVictoria–Swan Lake.................................................................... Hon. Rob FlemingWest Vancouver–Capilano................................................................... Ralph SultanWest Vancouver–Sea to Sky................................................................Jordan Sturdy

Party Standings: BC Liberal 42; NDP 41; Independent 2; BC Green Party 2

CONTENTS

Thursday, February 27, 2020Morning Sitting

Page

Routine Business

Introductions by Members................................................................................................................................................... 11279

Statements .............................................................................................................................................................................. 11279B.C. Winter Games Indigenous pin design by Aidyn Abel

D. Davies

Introductions by Members................................................................................................................................................... 11279

Introduction and First Reading of Bills .............................................................................................................................. 11280Bill 13 — Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2020

Hon. D. Eby

Statements (Standing Order 25B) ....................................................................................................................................... 11280Small Business Awards and businesses in West Vancouver–Sea to Sky area

J. SturdyColdest Night of the Year fundraising walk

M. DeanIsland Good and promotion of local products on Vancouver Island

M. StilwellSquamish Nation housing development in Vancouver

B. MaTricia Datene

S. FurstenauWounded Warriors fundraising run

S. Malcolmson

Oral Questions....................................................................................................................................................................... 11283University of Victoria staff and student society involvement in protests

J. JohalHon. M. FarnworthHon. J. HorganM. Polak

LNG Canada project and government relationship with Wet’suwet’en NationA. OlsenHon. S. Fraser

Activation of Aboriginal Affairs CommitteeA. OlsenHon. J. Horgan

Property tax assessment increases and proposed legislationT. StoneHon. S. RobinsonJ. Thornthwaite

Forest industry tenure transfer in Clearwater areaP. MilobarHon. D. Donaldson

Retirement bridging program for forest workersD. BarnettHon. H. Bains

Orders of the Day

Budget Debate (continued) .................................................................................................................................................. 11288S. CadieuxHon. C. James

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The House met at 10:06 a.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Prayers and reflections: S. Malcolmson.

Introductions by Members

Hon. D. Eby: I’m pleased to rise to introduce guestsfrom MoveUP who are here in the gallery today. I seesome of them across from me here this morning.MoveUP represents more than 12,000 union membersfrom public and private sector companies in westernCanada. Certainly, ICBC is among them but not exclus-ively the members that they represent. They work withcommunity groups to ensure that the public and electedgovernment officials understand the value that unionsbring to B.C.’s economy.

With us are today are David Black, Lori Mayhew,Annette Toth, Christy Slusarenko, Melissa Maher, BrendaChu, Gunter Seifert, Colin Clark, Daniel Fung, KimChartier, Safar Alikhani, Hani Dakkak, Glenn Redding,Jen Anthony and Todd Haupmann. Would the Houseplease join me in offering them a warm welcome to theHouse today.

M. Stilwell: Joining us in the House today are MarkSmith, board chairman, and Katie Bishop, board director,of the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance. VIEA is anon-government, non-profit organization focused on eco-nomic development. I’m sure many members in the Houseare familiar with the annual Vancouver Island economicsummit. It’s also behind the initiative of Island Good,which brands Island-produced goods.

I’m also happy to introduce representatives from Qual-ity Foods: Noel Hayward, president and CEO; Bob McK-itchie, marketing consultant; and Colin Johnston, the dir-ector of meats and delis. Quality Foods is one of the gro-cery stores that was on board with the Island Good initiat-ive from the start.

Would the House please join me in extending a warmwelcome to our guests.

T. Shypitka: It’s always exciting when I have someguests from the Kootenays show up, and today is a greatday for me. We’ve got some folks here from the Kootenays— big political heavy hitters, I guess you might call them.In the gallery, we’ve got the mayor of Fernie, AngeQualizza; we’ve got the CAO of Fernie, Michael Boro-nowski; and the CAO from Sparwood, MicheleSchalekamp.

Also, somewhere roaming around in the precinct, we’ve

got Mayor David Wilks from the city of Sparwood; MikeSosnowski, the area A director for the RDEK; and SteveFairbairn, councillor for the city of Elkford.

Would the House please give them a warm welcome.

Hon. B. Ralston: It gives me distinct pleasure tointroduce to the House Adrien Sala, who is an MLA inManitoba. He was first elected in the recent election,2019, and is MLA for St. James in the heart of Winnipegcity. He’s the opposition critic for Manitoba Hydro;Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis; and Efficiency Manitoba.He’s also a songwriter and musician who has performedat local venues and festivals.

[10:10 a.m.]He’s visiting the precinct this week to learn about the

great work the government of British Columbia is doingthrough B.C. Hydro and our CleanBC programs to achieveour clean, sustainable energy objectives. Please join me inwelcoming Adrien Sala.

Statements

B.C. WINTER GAMESINDIGENOUS PIN DESIGN BY AIDYN ABEL

D. Davies: As you are all aware, Fort St. John has justcompleted hosting a very, very successful 2020 B.C. WinterGames. I’d like to thank the 2,000 volunteers and 1,500athletes and all the sponsors that made the games such asuccess.

I’d like to introduce one young gentleman, nine-year-old Aidyn, who is a member of the West Moberly FirstNations living in Fort St. John. During this year’s games,Pembina Pipeline had a competition with Indigenouscommunities of the area to create an Indigenous WinterGames pin, which I’m wearing here today. I’m not sure ifI’m allowed to use props, but anyway….

They sent out a call to Indigenous communities for theyouth to create and develop some artwork around this pin,and of course, Aidyn won the competition. After speakingwith Aidyn and Pembina, we decided that I would bringa few of these pins back with a little write-up and someof the original artwork, and I’ll be providing those for thePremier, the minister of sport and our critic, the Leader ofthe Opposition, as well as the Third Party.

Would the House please give Aidyn a big round ofapplause for his accomplishment.

Introductions by Members

E. Ross: It’s a great pleasure to introduce three gueststoday from my constituency — one that used to be a con-stituency member but has moved to the region of theKamloops twins. We all know the Kamloops twins there,the MLAs from the Kamloops area. He’s now a constituent.

Sid Peltier is an entrepreneur, semi-retired, but he was

11279

also a member of the Aboriginal Business InvestmentCouncil when I was the inaugural chair of the Aborigin-al Business Investment Council. He’s a gentleman, andhe’s actually applying to be a senator for this great coun-try of Canada.

The other two guests are Barb Campbell, a great com-munity member back in Kitimat, a huge volunteer. She’sall over the place in Kitimat. She’s here with her friend,Marika Czink.

Will the House please join me in welcoming my threeguests to the Legislature.

S. Malcolmson: I want to reinforce the welcome toVancouver Island Economic Alliance. They’re based inNanaimo, doing groundbreaking work that benefits allthe MLAs on all of Vancouver Island, working on devel-oping innovative business cases, innovative forms offacilitating trade, reinforcing the markets for local foodsand bringing all leaders on Vancouver Island togetherin a hugely successful economic summit that happensevery fall. We’re grateful for their work and welcomethem to the Legislature.

B. Ma: I believe he was already introduced by the Attor-ney General as part of the MoveUP delegation, but I wouldlove to welcome Gunter Seifert here to the House today.He and his husband live in the riding I represent, known asNorth Vancouver–Lonsdale. Thank you so much for join-ing us here in the House today. Would the House pleasejoin me in welcoming him.

Introduction andFirst Reading of Bills

BILL 13 — MISCELLANEOUS STATUTESAMENDMENT ACT, 2020

Hon. D. Eby presented a message from Her Honour theLieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled MiscellaneousStatutes Amendment Act, 2020.

Hon. D. Eby: I move the bill be introduced and read afirst time now.

I’m pleased to introduce Bill 13, the Miscellaneous Stat-utes Amendment Act, 2020. This bill amends the followingstatutes: the Adoption Act; the Assessment Act; the Build-ing Act; the E-Health (Personal Health Information Accessand Protection of Privacy) Act; the Evidence Act; the Fam-ily Maintenance Enforcement Act; the Family Law Act;the Guide Dog and Service Dog Act; the Interjurisdic-tional Support Orders Act; the Labour Mobility Act; theLand Owner Transparency Act; the Land Title Act; theLand Title and Survey Authority Act; the Lobbyists Regis-tration Amendment Act, 2018; the Miscellaneous StatutesAmendment Act (No. 3), 2010; the Motor Vehicle Act; theNew Relationship Trust Act; the Pharmaceutical Services

Act; the Supreme Court Act; the Trespass Act; the VitalStatistics Act; and the Water Sustainability Act.

I will be pleased to elaborate on the nature of theseamendments during second reading of this bill.

[10:15 a.m.]

Mr. Speaker: The question is first reading of the bill.

Motion approved.

Hon. D. Eby: I move that this bill be placed on theorders of the day for second reading at the next sitting ofthe House after today.

Bill 13, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2020,introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed onorders of the day for second reading at the next sitting ofthe House after today.

Statements(Standing Order 25B)

SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS AND BUSINESSESIN WEST VANCOUVER–SEA TO SKY AREA

J. Sturdy: As you know, small business drives the eco-nomy of British Columbia. West Vancouver–Sea to Sky isno exception.

Last Friday I attended the 17th annual Small BusinessAwards in Vancouver with a table of guests from WestVancouver–Sea to Sky. This annual event celebrates andrecognizes small business and presents best-of awards ineight different categories. West Vancouver–Sea to Sky waswell represented, as it typically is. It is impressive to seesuch diversity, innovation and creativity in the region andfrom across the province.

There were ten companies from the communities ofWhistler, Squamish and Bowen Island recognized as nom-inees during the awards review process. These nomineesincluded: from Whistler, the Whistler Staging Co., TheVelvet Underground, Sea to Sky Sourdough, LighthouseVisionary Strategies, and Space coworking; from Squam-ish, Skin Focus and Squamish Water Kefir; from BowenIsland, Tell Your Friends Cafe.

The Squamish Connector and the Sḵwálwen Botanic-als, both from Squamish, were nominees as well as topfive finalists.

Transportation, food and beverage, health and wellness,retail, the sharing economy and consulting services wereall represented.

As a small business owner myself, I know the commit-ment, the risks, the adaptability required and involved inrunning a small business. You may need to be a strategicplanner, an accountant, an HR problem-solver and aplumber all on the same day. You need to be ready to deal

11280 British Columbia Debates Thursday, February 27, 2020

with customers and banks and government bureaucraciesor any one of a thousand other details.

I’m certain the House shares my respect for all smallbusiness risk-takers. I especially would like to recognizethose entrepreneurs from West Vancouver–Sea to Sky.

You’re trail-blazers, innovators and, above all, doers.You enrich your neighbourhoods and fuel the economy ofBritish Columbia. Thank you for your hard work.

Congratulations to all nominees, finalists and winnersfrom across the province.

COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEARFUNDRAISING WALK

M. Dean: February 22 is the Coldest Night of the Year,an opportunity to raise dollars for charities that servehungry, homeless and hurting people in 136 communitiesacross Canada through a friendly national walkathon.

This year our community held its first one on the WestShore. The walk started at Langford fire hall, with optionsof two, five and ten kilometres. Members of our com-munity warmed up with a hot drink, Coldest Night of theYear toques and some exercises. Participants were walkingthis year to raise funds for two organizations who do somuch for our community: Our Place Society and PacificCentre Family Services Association.

Our Place offers some of greater Victoria’s most vulner-able citizens a home, nourishment and hope through liv-ing, sharing, learning and worshipping together. Our Placeoperates a therapeutic community in View Royal.

Pacific Centre Family Services Association has beenpromoting dignity and quality of life for families and indi-viduals on the West Shore for more than 50 years througheducation, counselling and creative programming. Theyoffer a wide range of vital services for people dealing withtrauma, substance use, mental health issues and daily lifechallenges.

We are so grateful to Our Place and Pacific Centre Fam-ily Services Association for their incredible service over somany years.

Thank you to everyone who gave their time and energyto participate, organize and raise money for the ColdestNight of the Year. Thanks, especially, to the volunteers,donors, walkers, team captains and sponsors for theircommitment to taking on poverty and homelessness andmaking a difference in our community.

ISLAND GOOD AND PROMOTION OFLOCAL PRODUCTS ON VANCOUVER ISLAND

M. Stilwell: Island shoppers don’t have to look far tofind quality foods and products. A new initiative is makingsure that they know how.

Island Good is a Vancouver Island initiative to promotelocally made and grown products under a single brand. It’sthe brain child of Vancouver Island Economic Alliance, a

non-profit focused on the economic vitality of VancouverIsland and the Gulf Islands.

[10:20 a.m.]Realizing the Island was not producing the level of

goods it needed for a stable economy, the team came upwith the idea for Island Good, a brand that could encour-age production and support the economy while also rais-ing consumer awareness of local goods. The team believedthat people wanted to buy local and that if shoppers couldfind those products easily, they would respond with theirwallets.

The theory was put to the test, and over six months in2018 across 45 grocery stores, retailers like Quality Foodscould advertise the brand in flyers or use Island Goodstickers to identify bulk products that came from localbusinesses. Producers could also include the label on theirproducts. The result was beyond the alliance’s imagination,with the average increase of sales of 16.4 percent.

With early success, Island Good shows no signs of slow-ing down. Shoppers can find the brand in grocery storesand retail locations, and licensees range from producersof seafood to mattresses. Nanoose Edibles Farm, FrenchCreek Seafood, Aux Box and Springford Farm are amongthe businesses in my region that have jumped on board.VIEA and Tourism Vancouver Island also now have a part-nership to market Island Good in the tourism sector,recognizing that tourists also want to buy local.

I want to commend George Hanson, VIEA president,and the Island Good team for their work to launch thisbrand and support our economy.

The next time any of the members visit a local grocerystore, I encourage you to keep an eye out for Island Good.

SQUAMISH NATION HOUSINGDEVELOPMENT IN VANCOUVER

B. Ma: With over 4,000 citizens, the Squamish Nation ismade up of Coast Salish people who have lived in their ter-ritory in greater Vancouver, Howe Sound and the Squam-ish River watershed for at least 10,000 years, based onarchaeological records. Five decades after the creation ofthe Indian reserve system by the federal government, 16communities that were regarded as separate Indian bandsunited as the Squamish Nation on July 23, 1923, in what isknown as the amalgamation.

Squamish territory measures 6,732 square kilometres.But after the Indian Act forced people onto reserves, theSquamish people were living in a number of Indianreserves encompassing 28.28 square kilometres, scatteredfrom Vancouver to Gibsons Landing to the area northof Howe Sound. But they’ve been rebuilding. And in thewords of Squamish Nation councillor Khelsilem, they arebecoming powerful in their territory once more.

In addition to being a partner of the MST DevelopmentCorp., the nation itself is becoming one of the most power-ful land developers in the Metro Vancouver region. Last

Thursday, February 27, 2020 British Columbia Debates 11281

year they announced their plans to build 6,000 new unitsin 11 towers on reserve land at the southern foot of Bur-rard Street Bridge, on False Creek. The vast majority ofthese new units will be purpose-built rental. CalledSenakw, this development is a $3 billion development thatwill help the nation develop economically, with the inten-ded revenue to pay for social services and housing. Somepeople are calling it the single largest development on FirstNations land in Canada.

Then they created a not-for-profit housing society calledHiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Housing Society, which aims tobring many Squamish citizens home into their communit-ies by building over 1,000 units of affordable and support-ive non-market rental housing with rents tied to income.

Everyone in this House should have an understandingof what colonialism has done to Indigenous people likethose who make up the Squamish Nation — stripped oftheir land, their language, their culture.

What Senakw and Hiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh representis more than economic development. It’s a way forwardand a way to bring people together so that they can healin the love and support of their community, becauseHiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh literally means “the Squamishare coming home.”

TRICIA DATENE

S. Furstenau: Each of us in this chamber will under-stand when I say that I could not do my job without myconstituency staff, and my constituency assistant TriciaDatene is no exception. Tricia started as a volunteer inour office almost from the time we opened in 2017, and itbecame obvious very quickly that her skill set was preciselywhat we needed.

Tricia had retired from her career in social services andbelieved in social justice issues since she was a youngwoman. All of these experiences and a lifetime of manyothers have provided us with the most patient, caring andunderstanding person imaginable.

[10:25 a.m.]A highly distressed constituent can walk into our office,

and Tricia meets them with compassion and kindness.She’s able to work with people who are quick to angerand conflict because they don’t feel heard, and Tricia hearsthem. She sees the kindness in their core and treats themwith the same respect that she treats everyone. She’s helpedcountless people in her calm and thoughtful way.

When I listen to her counsel constituents whose issuescan range from not receiving a disability cheque to men-tal health challenges that lead to unimaginable out-comes, I’m amazed at her ability to absorb these sad talesand provide advice and guidance that at least provideshope and often helps to solve their immediate problem.Most baffling to me is that she has the incredible abilityto leave the work at work.

She and I were talking about a particularly difficultfile, and when I thanked her for her service, she said: “Itis I who am grateful. I get to make a difference. I have apurpose.”

Well, Tricia, I am truly grateful, and you really aremaking a difference. Thank you for your service to somany Cowichan Valley constituents. I couldn’t do thisjob without you and all the members of the constituencyoffice dream team.

WOUNDED WARRIORS FUNDRAISING RUN

S. Malcolmson: “Honour the fallen; help the living.”This is the mantra of Wounded Warriors, who are run-ning through Bowser right now, and they’re headingthis way. For life-changing PTSD and operational stressinjury programs to help veterans, first responders andtheir families, Wounded Warriors are relay running thelength of Vancouver Island right now. That’s 600 kilo-metres in eight days.

As families support injured veterans, armed forces andfirst responders, Wounded Warriors support both familiesand the injured.

This is an email I got from Nanaimo paramedic MarkBlachuras last night. He said:

“Last year, January, I took time off for an occupational stress in-jury I suffered after a young boy in Nanaimo was tragically killedafter being run over by a large truck. CPR was performed on thescene. This tragedy struck the whole community, including myspouse.

“Although I could not imagine what the family was goingthrough, it’s sometimes forgotten that we are affected by theseevents too. I presented with many symptoms that outline PTSDand was later diagnosed by a trauma therapist who specializes withfirst responders. I was in denial about my injury.

“By reaching out, I was able to get the help I needed, which hasallowed me to go back to work and helped me cope with the tragicthings I’ve experienced through my job.”

Runners started in Port Hardy on Saturday. Folks inQualicum Beach, Port Alberni, Parksville and Lantzvillecan cheer them on today and Friday. Nanaimo’s legionsand Serious Coffee host them Friday.

Check out woundedwarriors.ca. You can see whenthey’ll be in your town, and you can donate to their majorfundraising effort that they are doing right now.

In Victoria, you can greet these fine runners on Sundayat 4:30, here behind the Legislature on Superior Street.

The front line keeps us safe every day. Please come outand support the Wounded Warriors as they finish theirepic journey down Vancouver Island, and let them knowthat we have their backs too.


Oral Questions

UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA STAFFAND STUDENT SOCIETY

INVOLVEMENT IN PROTESTS

J. Johal: We know the Minister of Environment is goodfriends with foreign-funded agitators behind these illegalblockades. We know the Parliamentary Secretary forTransLink supports the illegal blockades and the shut-down of the resource sector. This week the member forNanaimo added her voice to those who back the foreign-funded agitators. But there’s also public money beingexpended.

Can the Minister of Advanced Education confirm if shesupports the University of Victoria staff who are organiz-ing and advocating for these illegal protests?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. M. Farnworth: What’s insulting is that every daythat side of the House is trying to smear members of thisHouse who have been doing their job.

[10:30 a.m.]What is insulting is an opposition that is trying to sow

dissension and inflame a situation which all of us on thisside of the House, provinces across the country and thefederal government recognize is at a critical stage and areworking to find solutions to get the blockades down. That’swhat’s insulting.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Richmond-Queensbor-ough on a supplemental.

J. Johal: I’ll remind the Solicitor General that this weekan Ipsos-Reid poll came out, and 63 percent of Canadianswant their government to show a backbone and do some-thing about these blockades. Instead, that side of theHouse keeps playing footsie with agitators.

Let’s talk for a moment about their friends.

Interjections.


J. Johal: Let’s talk about the NDP’s friends. We haveUVic prof Seb Bonet, who helped organize the shuttingdown of government ministries. I have an email from himhere. He says: “A whole bunch of us have committed tocoordinating the shutdown of as many B.C. governmentministries as we can.”

We have UVic professors cancelling classes and res-cheduling mid-terms. I have an email here from a third-year poli-sci instructor, Dr. Glezos, who says: “Several stu-

dents have been in touch with me about missing classtomorrow to participate in the rally at the Legislaturebuilding in support of the Wet’suwet’en. To ensure thatanyone wishing to participate can, I will be cancelling classtomorrow.”

Other classes have been taking field trips to the block-ades being funded by foreign money.

Does the Minister of Advanced Education believe this isan acceptable practice for a publicly funded institution?

Hon. J. Horgan: I appreciate that the member wantsto sow further discontent in a situation that’s already veryvolatile.

Interjections.


Hon. J. Horgan: It has been our objective from thebeginning to find a peaceful resolution. It has been ourobjective to acknowledge that dissent is part of a demo-cratic society. But it is also important that lawlessness andunlawful behaviour be acknowledged and dealt with byappropriate authorities.

There was a time not that long ago that those on the oth-er side of the House wanted the RCMP to be directed totake actions. We’re not going to do that. No other provinceacross the country is directing law enforcement.

I’ve spent the past two weeks working with the Councilof the Federation and Premiers of different political per-suasions and different levels of understanding of the chal-lenges of hereditary versus elected governance structures.

I thought, when members on that side of the Housestood with us and members of the Third Party, unanim-ously supporting the declaration on the rights of Indigen-ous peoples, that they wanted to join us in the future, notdwelling in the past — the good old days when they werein government, and they just directed people to do whatthey wanted them to do. We’re not going to do it.

M. Polak: I’m sorry if the government’s QP prep didn’taccurately target the angle we were going to take in ques-tion period today. Let me clarify what we’re asking aboutonce again.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, unless we can prop-erly listen to questions and properly listen to answers,we’re going to have to take a recess here. This is too muchdisorder.

M. Polak: The Premier mentions appropriate authorit-ies. It would seem to me that if opposition has a questionabout the appropriate use of taxpayer-funded institutionalactivities like the University of Victoria, the appropriate


authority to ask is the Minister of Advanced Education. SoI’ll try again, and let’s be clear. That’s what this is about.

The mission statement of the University of Victoria Stu-dents Society says: “Our mission is to be a leader inproviding high-quality accessible services, advocacy andevents that enhance the student experience, and to build acampus community that embodies our values.”

[10:35 a.m.]Now the student society is actively involved in the illegal

protests here at the Legislature. They even enjoyed amovie-and-popcorn night last night, which I understandwas powered by a generator. I’m curious what fuel they putin the generator.

Nevertheless, to the Minister of Advanced Education,does the Minister of Advanced Education support theuse of student dues being there for the engagement inillegal activity?

Hon. J. Horgan: Here we go. Now the official opposi-tion wants to ban popcorn and movies here in British Col-umbia. Unbelievable.

If they could take a pause in their campaign to sow dis-content among British Columbians and try and work withus to unify people…

Interjections.


Hon. J. Horgan: …for a common purpose, for a betterB.C., we’d all be better off. Leave the kids to figure it outthemselves. Let’s focus on the issues of the day.

Mr. Speaker: The House Leader for the official opposi-tion on a supplemental.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, we shall hear thequestion.

M. Polak: This really is disturbing that the answer youget is around whether or not they think we like movies andpopcorn. The question, though, is a pretty serious one. Ifyou’re a student at UVic, if you’re an undergrad at UVic,guess what. You’re required to pay student dues, and you’retrusting that your student dues are going to go for a legit-imate purpose.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, we shall hear thequestion.

M. Polak: Is it the view of the Minister of AdvancedEducation that student dues being used to provide, for

example, a tent outside for an illegal protest…? Does shethink that that is an appropriate use of their student dues?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, this is not a product-ive use of question period.

Premier.

Interjections.


Interjections.

[Mr. Speaker rose.]

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members, order, please. We’llbypass the answer to that question. We’ll move on to thenext question.

[Mr. Speaker resumed his seat.]

LNG CANADA PROJECT ANDGOVERNMENT RELATIONSHIPWITH WET’SUWET’EN NATION

A. Olsen: Last night we heard news that the federaland provincial governments will be meeting with theWet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. We can all agree that that’sa positive development for all Canadians.

We have to be honest about how we got here. The peoplein this chamber today are not responsible for 150 years ofcolonial policies designed to undermine and exclude Indi-genous people. But they are responsible for their votes tocontinue that legacy.

This time last year nearly every member of this chambervoted to provide the ignition point for this conflict. Bill 10handed billions of taxpayer dollars to LNG Canada, indu-cing their final investment decision. All members of thischamber, excluding the B.C. Green caucus, voted morethan a dozen times, knowing full well of the long-standingrights and title challenges in that territory.

When the B.C. Green caucus was notified of the gov-ernment’s intention to push forward on the project, Iasked whether they had a plan to resolve the situation,the long-standing situation. I was told not to worryabout it; it’s taken care of. Well, this does not appeartaken care of, does it?

My question is to the Minister of Indigenous Relationsand Reconciliation. Why did this government vote toadvance LNG Canada before clarity around governanceand reconciliation in the territory had been established?

Hon. S. Fraser: I thank the Leader of the Third Party forhis question. I also want to thank him for his continued


work on addressing reconciliation issues. I appreciate thequestion. However, we have secured meetings with theOffice of Wet’suwet’en, the Hereditary Chiefs, beginningthis afternoon and tomorrow.

[10:40 a.m.]I believe that this is a hopeful sign. I’m an optimist, of

course, but it is time that we pull together and not reflecton the past. We have decided that working with the Officeof the Wet’suwet’en, in cooperation to find a way forward,we’ll address the rights and title issues of the Wet’suwet’enpeople and do so with respect. That is what I’m focusingon.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Third Party on a supple-mental.

ACTIVATION OFABORIGINAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

A. Olsen: It’s a difficult thing not to acknowledge theactions that got us here — over generations and decades,actually. Now that the on- and off-again talks are on again,it’s my sincere hope that the representatives are going tothe Wet’suwet’en territory to sit at a table for as long asit takes for a good-faith solution to this Coastal GasLinkconflict, and not just to deliver an ultimatum.

It has become painfully obvious to British Columbiansand Canadians that this system is broken. It’s not servinganyone well in this country or province. This Legislaturehas had a Select Standing Committee on AboriginalAffairs for the past 30 years. I’m on that committee. Itexists in title only, because the government has notempowered it to be effective. That is a fitting symbol, Iwould say. We have a tool for all of us here to work togeth-er, across party lines, to find solutions to make the system-ic changes that are needed to ensure that the people in thischamber don’t just continue the dysfunctional cycle thathas been going on here for generations.

To the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Recon-ciliation, I’m calling on this government to immediatelystrike and rename the Committee on Aboriginal Affairsand empower it to better inform the decisions in thischamber. Will they do so?

Hon. J. Horgan: I thank the member for his question.He will know, as a new member of the House, that com-mittees of this place are struck by consensus. The commit-tee is going to be convened — all committees are going tobe convened — and then we decide within this place whatwe charge those committees to do.

The member will also know that although it hasn’treceived a lot of attention, earlier this week the FirstNations Leadership Council was meeting with govern-ment officials to begin the work to put in place a work-plan to implement the declaration act that was suppor-

ted unanimously by all members of this House not twomonths ago.

Work is underway, government to government, and thatwork will then make its way to the committee so that allmembers can participate in that. The work has to be initi-ated before we can get to that step.

I thank the member for his thoughtful question. I can’twait for the committee to be constituted and do its work.

PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT INCREASESAND PROPOSED LEGISLATION

T. Stone: Last fall the Housing Minister rejected ourproposed solution to address the challenge of skyrocketingproperty taxes on undeveloped airspace. She said at thetime that she would instead “have a solution that works foreverybody.” Well, we now have her plan.

The reviews are in, and they’re not very good. Vancou-ver mayor Kennedy Stewart had this to say: “This law failsto provide tax relief for small business and non-profits,and it could wind up costing them even more. There’s ahuge gap between what we are asking for and what this is.”

My question to the Minister of Housing would be this.Will she scrap her bill, take the advice of the mayor of Van-couver, and adopt the solution that was not just developedbut was proposed by a broad range of stakeholders?

Hon. S. Robinson: First of all, I want to certainlyacknowledge that we have arrived in this place with strato-spheric property taxes because of the rising value of land,because the previous government didn’t do what was askedof them. Again, we received a letter from the CFIB justa year and a half ago that said they’d been asking for tenyears for someone to do something, and they failed. Theyabsolutely failed.

I was very proud to get a working group underway. Thatworking group came up with a number of solutions. Theycame up with about half a dozen different solutions. Weare continuing to work with them, to work it through, tomake sure that it works for everybody.

[10:45 a.m.]The solution that was proposed is not actually keen for a

number of communities. The community of Whistler, forexample, is not interested in the proposal. There are oth-er communities — I believe in the Cariboo, as well — thathad some serious concerns about that proposal. We abso-lutely have lots of work to do. We are not backing awayfrom that. We are prepared to continue working with localgovernments.

Interjections.


Hon. S. Robinson: However, in the meantime, busi-


nesses were struggling. They were struggling because theydidn’t do their work.

We have a bill before the House. I hope they’ll join us insupporting it to make sure that businesses will finally getthe support that they deserve.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Kamloops–SouthThompson on a supplemental.

T. Stone: Well, the mayor of Vancouver actually hadthis to say with respect to there not being enough time.He said that on Monday the ministry had said therewasn’t enough time to address those issues for 2020 butthat “we started talking about this with the province inlate 2018. There has been time.” Those are the words ofthe mayor of Vancouver.

The proposed solution was actually a solution thatthe Intergovernmental Working Group developed. Thatwas a working group that was convened by her ministry,and she has turned her back on the solution that theybrought forward.

When I urged the minister to adopt my bill last fall,she had the gall to say: “Clearly, they’re not interested inhearing about what local governments have to say…. Theydon’t care what local governments have to say.” That’s whatthe minister said when we brought forward a solution.Here’s more of what Vancouver mayor Stewart had to say:“What scares me is how many businesses will go downbefore we get this fixed.”

Again, to the Minister of Housing, will she scrap herbill and call the private member’s bill that we have putforward that actually embodies the solution that localgovernments and all the other impacted stakeholdershave been calling for?

Hon. S. Robinson: We have not backed away from any-thing. We are working very, very closely with local govern-ments. In fact, I got off the phone today with the presidentof the UBCM, who was very clear and wants us to contin-ue working with her, working with them and making sureit can address the issues.

There are absolutely communities that are very keen todo this work. I spoke with the mayor of Port Coquitlam.He’s excited to take a look at this opportunity to deliverrelief to his community.

Interjections.


Hon. S. Robinson: Furthermore, staff did look at theopposition’s bill. We took a look at it because we likeideas, wherever they come from. They actually tell me, inlooking at it and looking at the technical details, that itwill not give relief to the small businesses that need it. Infact, it would impact the tax treatment of thousands of

properties in British Columbia, and it would leave smallbusinesses worse off because they’re proposing to givetax cuts to speculators and big developers who will bene-fit from their ideas.

J. Thornthwaite: Well, that’s not what this person I’mjust going to quote said about your bill. Linda Buchananis the mayor of the city of North Vancouver, and shehad this to say. The proposed changes of your bill “won’tallow us to target businesses who are disproportionatelybeing affected by property values and could even pos-sibly result in tax relief for large international compan-ies.” She goes on to say, “I’m disappointed the provincehasn’t delivered…the solution recommended by theintergovernmental working group,” which was convenedby your ministry.

When will the Housing Minister stop talking, actuallylisten to the mayors and adopt the solution laid out in ourprivate member’s bill?

Hon. S. Robinson: I want to remind the chamber that itwas our government that stepped up to give relief to smallbusinesses, not theirs. They had a decade. The CFIB calledthem out, and we’re stepping up. Now, the other thing thatI want to say….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. At very least, it ispatently unfair that the public doesn’t have an opportunityto hear an answer from government. At least you could dothat. Thank you.

[10:50 a.m.]

Hon. S. Robinson: Thank you very much, hon. Speaker.This bill that is before the House — and I expect there

will be some further debate — will be an opportunity forlocal governments to very, very carefully designate whichproperties need the greatest amount of relief. They have anopportunity to do that, and I look forward to the debate inthe House on that as we go through second reading.

Again, I want to assure this chamber that this govern-ment is committed to working together with local govern-ments, to working together with business, to making surethat we have a solution that works for everybody.

J. Thornthwaite: I sense a pattern here. The NDP lovesto consult. They love their task forces like the MSP TaskForce, the Small Business Task Force, the ride-sharingcommittees, the caribou task force, but they ignoreeverything they’re told by these experts.

Interjections.



J. Thornthwaite: Mayor Buchanan was really clear, andI’ll quote her again: “I’m asking the province to reconsidertheir approach and work with cities toward a solution thatwill actually deliver results.”

So one more time, to the minister, when will she listenand deliver the solution that the mayors are asking for?

Hon. S. Robinson: Well, we are working with municip-alities on a permanent fix, because that’s what we all want.We all want a permanent fix. So we did an intermunicip-al working committee with a handful of local governmentsin the Lower Mainland.

The members seem to forget that they also representWhistler, that they represent the Cariboo, that they repres-ent Fort St. John. But they want to take a look at how….

Interjections.


Hon. S. Robinson: They want to understand how anytax changes will be implicated for those communities. Ijust spoke with the president of the UBCM, and she alsowants us to proceed with caution. She wants us to makesure we consult with the UBCM. She wants to make sureand I want to make sure we consult with the business com-munity.

And you know what? We’re doing that. But in order toget all that work done and give relief to businesses now for2020, we want to be able to do that.

The only way to do that is with this interim solution.However, it’s up to local governments to work with us,but I’m committed to making sure there’s a tool that willwork for small businesses. You know why, hon. Speaker?Because those people didn’t do it when they had thechance.

FOREST INDUSTRY TENURE TRANSFERIN CLEARWATER AREA

P. Milobar: Last week when I raised questions onbehalf of the residents, the contractors, the forest work-ers in Clearwater and the North Thompson valleys, theForests Minister played a little cute with his wording ofhis answer.

Although it was technically correct that the paperworkhad not crossed his desk, the people in the valley thathave been impacted for the last nine months of inactionby this minister were not as impressed when, on Friday,the minister admitted on Kamloops radio stations that infact, he’d been talking back and forth with his staff sinceearly November — for four months — on this exact file. Itdoesn’t sound like he wasn’t aware of what was going onwith the tenure transfer.

We then found out that Canfor has announced that ifthey don’t have an answer from this minister by tomor-

row, the deal is off, and all bets are off on what happensin the North Thompson. We know the Indigenous com-munity in the North Thompson is not happy either withthese delays.

I’ll ask again today. It’s been nine months since thisfile started. It’s been four months since all sides submittedtheir proposal, which all sides…. By the mayor of Clear-water’s own words, none of them love; all can live with.

When is the minister going to actually do his job and getan answer for the people in the North Thompson Valley onwhat is happening with the tenure transfer, given that he’shad the file for four months?

[10:55 a.m.]

Hon. D. Donaldson: Thank you to the member for rais-ing an important topic in this House. A decision on thisimportant matter will be expected very soon. I can say tothe communities, to the First Nations and to the workersthat we take their concerns seriously.

But as late as ten days ago, the proponents were stillamending their final draft to us. It’s incumbent upon ourgovernment and my ministry to do the due diligence onthose amendments and make sure that our due diligencehas been done.

Finally, it’s important to note that communities, workersand First Nations have input before the deal is closed,unlike what happened under the previous government.

Mr. Speaker: Kamloops–North Thompson on a supple-mental.

P. Milobar: Well, let’s be very clear. The minister seemsto be all over the map with his answers on this. Last weekon Tuesday, he wasn’t even really aware of the proposal, theway they framed it up in this House. By Friday, he’d beenworking on it for four months. On Friday, he also said thatthere would be a decision this week. He also was aware lastFriday that tomorrow is the deadline for Canfor. Now hejust answered that sometime in the near future, there willbe an answer.

Which is it, Minister? When will the people actuallyknow what is going on, and when will you stop threateningthe collapse of this deal by your lack of action?

Hon. D. Donaldson: Well, the week isn’t over yet.I also want to remind the member….

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker: Member.

Hon. D. Donaldson: I also want to remind the Houseand remind the member that their side voted against Bill22, the very bill that gives public interest considerations tocommunities in this situation, unlike back in 2013…


Interjections.


Hon. D. Donaldson: …when Canfor and West Fraserdid a timber swap of timber sales. Over 450 people losttheir jobs. The member over there who was the local MLAsaid that one hour before the deal was done, the com-munities found out about it.

We’re determined to have public interest considerations.They voted against that.

RETIREMENT BRIDGING PROGRAM FORFOREST WORKERS

D. Barnett: When the NDP announced a retirementbridging program for forest workers, people were told thatif they took the money, they couldn’t work in forestry for18 months. Now, all of a sudden, the NDP have changedthe parameters so that you’re not allowed to work at allfor 18 months. My constituent Sandy Davidson wants toknow: “How can the government change the parameterslike that midway through?”

My question is to the minister. What’s going on, Minis-ter?

Hon. H. Bains: Due to the fact of the pine beetle epi-demic and unprecedented fires…. In 2015, that side of theHouse, when they were government, knew that 13 millswere going to go down, but they did nothing.

When those mills started to go down, we knew thatwe needed to act. We dedicated $69 million to help thoseworkers….

Interjections.


Hon. H. Bains: So $69 million for retraining, job place-ment and pension bridging.

I’m glad to say here today that 810 applications havebeen processed, and $6 million has been dedicated. Thereis another amount, $3 million, that is being processed,and 248 workers have actually benefited from the pensionbridging plan.

There’s a lot more work to be done. We have boots onthe ground. There are five offices open in all regions so thepeople can get help in and near their communities. Thereare another 600 workers who have contacted those offices.

[11:00 a.m.]It is working. The workers are getting the help that they

need, because we are committed to it. They deserve it.We’re going to continue to do that.

[End of question period.]

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued debate on thebudget.

Budget Debate(continued)

S. Cadieux: Mr. Speaker, are you better off because ofthis budget? That’s really the question that British Colum-bians have to ask themselves.

Interjections.


S. Cadieux: Before I begin my critique, let me say itdoes give me a great deal of pleasure to speak today toBudget 2020, both as the MLA for Surrey South and in mynew role as the co–Finance critic. Now, I want to acknow-ledge the exceptional work of my co-critic, the memberfor Prince George–Valemount, for her initial response tothe budget; to my colleague for Surrey–White Rock, whohas provided additional support to both of us; and espe-cially to our colleagues and the staff, who helped dissectand analyze this budget.

I’ll also pause to acknowledge the work of the FinanceMinister and the Finance Ministry staff. It’s no small jobto produce a budget for the province, and I appreciate allof their work.

[S. Gibson in the chair.]

I do want to acknowledge, as well, my constituency staffback home in Surrey, both of whom have joined me sinceour last session. Kiran Dhaliwal and Ekamjit Ghuman do astellar job for me and for the constituents of Surrey South.So thank you, ladies.

We’re being asked here today, as a part of this debate,to reflect on what we believe this budget will actually dofor our province, for our constituencies and for the peoplethat send us here to represent them. I’ve been reading andre-reading the budget and talking to constituents and busi-nesses. Here’s what we know.

With this budget, government has abandoned a num-ber of major commitments — promises that they madeto British Columbians. It’s a budget devoid of an eco-nomic strategy. It’s devoid of a plan to get and keeppeople working. With this budget, government has nowraised tax revenues by over $3,000 per household inBritish Columbia. If the full three-year plan holds, thatwill rise to $4,700 per family. At the same time, govern-ment says and wants you to believe that your life is moreaffordable, which leaves me with an overarching ques-tion: can we trust the budget, and can we trust the math?Let me explain, using some examples.


Capital spending. This budget lays out an ambitious —and I’m not even sure if that’s an adequate word — capitalinfrastructure plan. The plan is to spend $7.1 billion. It’s toraise the debt-to-revenue ratio over that time to 94.4 per-cent. That will put the triple-A credit rating at risk. Thatwill push debt servicing costs to almost $3 billion a year.That’s without an interest rate increase and without thepotential of a credit downgrade. Yet the minister confirmsin this budget document that they failed to follow throughon capital projects worth over $1 billion last year alone.

Government is trying to capitalize on a promise theymade to build a second Surrey hospital. It’s a popularnotion, I agree. I live in Surrey. But three years ago theymade that promise. Three years ago the minister said theconcept plan was underway. Now a business plan is gettingunderway, but the project itself — arguably one that willbe a mammoth capital expenditure — is not in this budget.It is not in the capital plan. It’s a promise; it’s not a project.How many years will this be pushed out if, in year onealone, they were off in their capital budget by $1 billion?

Now housing. The NDP has built 2,400 or so newaffordable housing units along their plan for 114,000. Atthis rate, it will take 98 years to fulfil that commitment.We know, from the government’s latest B.C. Housing cap-ital update, that only 18.8 percent of that budget has beenallocated at this time. The B.C. Non-Profit Housing Asso-ciation has confirmed the challenges with this. The reasonthat many housing units have been announced by govern-ment but aren’t moving ahead is because they can’t be builtfor the amount of money provided. Frankly, the math justdoesn’t work.

[11:05 a.m.]It’s not just in housing that we see this NDP math. It’s

also apparent in their approach to funding child care. TheNDP promised a $10-a-day child care plan for all parents,and that pledge has disappeared. Only 2,000 spaces havebeen created versus the promised 24,000 that were to becompleted by 2021. That’s fewer than 1,000 per year undera capital plan that needed to be creating 8,000 spaces a yearto keep that three-year promise made in Budget 2018.

Now, there is no argument that a large investment wasmade to start delivering on a $10-a-day plan. But let’sexamine where we are. There are 29,000 families paying$10 a day or less. That’s about 6,000 more families thanwere receiving subsidy under the B.C. Liberals. That’s notall of the parents of British Columbia. Now investments inchild care are going to flatline before year 5 of the NDP’sten-year plan. That means that if you don’t have subsidizedchild care by next year, you likely won’t be getting it. Thebudget will peak at only one-third of what it would cost toprovide $10-a-day child care to all kids under six.

I know these numbers well because I had to grapplewith them when I was on that side of the House. Thismeans that two-thirds of B.C. parents who were promisedchild care are out of luck. It’s a broken promise. The mathdoesn’t work. They’re having to stall the rollout, and

they’re stalling that at one-third of the promise, halfwaythrough that promised rollout.

Parents in Surrey are dropping their kids off at schooland watching them go to a growing number of portablesinstead of the classrooms they were promised. Govern-ment promised to rid Surrey, for example, of portables infour years. The government boasts about 7,000 seats com-pleted or underway. But the fact is the member for Surrey-Panorama said it in her budget speech — that there were7,000 kids in portables when the NDP took power, andnow 7,000 seats are completed or underway. But what sheisn’t saying is that 5,200 of those were underway when theytook power. The bigger problem, though, is that they’veadded 32 percent more portables. We’re actually goingbackwards. The math just doesn’t work. It’s a broken prom-ise to the people of Surrey.

Now, if we look at drivers…. Commuters are spendinghundreds of dollars on gas and are waiting for the Premierto deliver on the gas price relief he promised almost twoyears ago. ICBC rates will continue to skyrocket this year,and any relief is not expected until after the NDP ask foryour vote again in the next election. Under the NDP, theaverage premiums have gone from $1,500 to $1,800 andwill rise to $1,900 this year. Instead of inducing competi-tion in the industry, the NDP are growing ICBC and tak-ing away accident victim rights.

Just six months ago government was expecting ICBCto lose $50 million this year. That number has almostdoubled. Then they lost in court, and that was projected tocost $400 million. But they hid the numbers from us andfrom British Columbians and now want us to believe thatICBC will be in the black next year. They’ve introducedlegislation to limit the cost of experts in cases — a limita-tion on all of our individual rights — in an effort to find away to make those promises work.

They’ve frozen rates, they say. Well, sort of, becausemeanwhile, suggesting the transition costs to a new insur-ance model will include capital costs of $92 million andbe complete in 2022, the reality is that these costs will beborne by optional rates, which are not frozen. So driverscan expect more increases. That’s guaranteed. We alsodon’t know what additional hidden costs lie in the trans-ition, so rates could continue to spike.

Something just smells fishy. Now, maybe they exagger-ated the situation to suit their agenda to switch to no-faultinsurance. Maybe things are rosy. But without the trans-parency on the numbers and the assumptions they aremaking, I am left, once again, saying that the math simplydoesn’t work.

I’ll take a moment to talk about advanced education,which, of course, Mr. Speaker, you know I was focused onjust prior to this change to critic of Finance.

The B.C. access grant. I will give kudos here. I thinkthese grants are a very worthy spend, but I’m definitelycurious about the detail. The minister says that 43,000 stu-dents will benefit. The budget document says 40,000. So


which is it? At any rate, students in need will benefit fromgrants of up to $4,000 per year, based on need, starting inSeptember. If the average grant is $1,000, meaning somewill get much less and some more, that would cost $43million a year. But the budget is capped at $41 million. Sothe new grant, while students like it, is not a new grant.It’s a repackaged grant, like the rural dividend fund turnedforestry fund.

[11:10 a.m.]Now, I know student advocates will be okay with that,

because they preferred a needs-based grant. But do thestudents who were counting on the completion grant thatexisted know they won’t be eligible anymore as a result ofthis budget?

When I asked the minister directly two years ago aboutthis, I inquired as to whether the grant — which, at thetime, had been promised as a completion grant and nowhas been switched to a needs-based grant, which is fine.But I asked whether that was to replace the existing com-pletion grant program. And she said: “…I felt it wasprudent for me to go in to look at what already exists inthe basket. So there’s no repackaging. I don’t think that’sappropriate, to assume that we’re trying to repackage any-thing, as a new government. There are two completiongrants that fall within the realm of $30 million.”

We know now that that $30 million is, indeed, repack-aged, with an additional add this year in the budget of $8million to get to that $41 million, give or take. But did thestudents do the math? And did the minister? Because shesaid, herself, that instead of 33,000 people per year gettingthe existing completion grant — although the 2017 num-ber was actually 20,000 students at an average of $1,500 —she says now that 43,000 people will be eligible for $4,000every year.

The math just doesn’t work. I think we’ll see someunhappy students this fall. But either way, the budget forAdvanced Education just doesn’t add up. It’s just fun withnumbers.

Now Health. Wow. The budget goes up by $1.3 billion.The bulk is in the wage mandate. But why should wehave confidence that the ministry will come in onbudget? They overspent by $500 million in 2019. Thebudget document confirms it. Why should we have con-fidence in the numbers?

With all of these inconsistencies and often misleadingfigures, it leads me to ask another question, and that is:who is government working for? There’s a lot of talk aboutaffordability. Under the Premier, taxes are up $5.7 billionand will go up to $8.8 billion next year. That means 23 newand increased taxes — four new taxes this year alone. Infact, without four new taxes that the Finance Minister hasreached into your pocket for, her budget would be in defi-cit. The budget is balanced, but only because you are pay-ing four new taxes.

This government will focus on the rich paying a littlemore, and many won’t argue with that. It’s actually 25 per-

cent more on incomes over $220,000. There’s a new tax onvaping, which, again, most won’t argue with. But what theydon’t want you to talk about and think about is the Netflixtax and the soda pop tax, because they needed those fromyou just to balance this budget.

The NDP promised to bring housing prices down.They promised to make homes more affordable for theaverage British Columbian. But housing prices are onthe rise, and housing starts have dropped 22 percent.People are looking for their first home, and they’re learn-ing that mansions are more affordable for millionaires,but finding a condo, a townhouse or an entry-level homeis still out of reach. In fact, prices in greater Vancouverare up 10 percent since January 2017. Strata councilsare in crisis mode as they watch insurance premiumsskyrocket by up to 400 percent. Those are your costs —the costs of each and every one of us.

The Finance Minister is quoted in the Vancouver Sunaround the Netflix tax as: “This is making sure that it’s alevel playing field for everyone. Some are paying right now.Others aren’t. We need to make sure that there’s fairnessfor businesses.” That’s fascinating. The NDP is now con-cerned about fairness for businesses. Where was that con-cern when they brought in the EHT?

And jeez, you know, fairness for businesses. That meansyou, the consumer, will pay 7 percent more for your Net-flix and other streaming services, because businesses don’tpay this tax. It’s not Netflix that pays; it’s you. It’s on yourbill — a total of $11 million from you for the NDP tospend. Awesome. It doesn’t sound like life is getting anymore affordable.

[11:15 a.m.]What about the most vulnerable? How’s life for them?

In Social Development and Poverty Reduction, money hasbeen added for caseload pressures. That sounds good untilyou read the fine print, because caseload pressures in thatministry mean more people are on welfare — 10,400 morepeople than when they took power three years ago. Letthat sink in — 10,400 more people now rely on a welfarecheque to live.

More money for CLBC is good until, again, you readthe fine print, because at the same time, they are fore-casting to spend less per person at CLBC — $300 less, onaverage. Needs are getting more complicated, and we seeit with increased per-case costs in MCFD for children inresidential care, of almost $8,000 per year more. Many ofthose children will transfer to CLBC at 18, where they’regoing to pay less.

So why are these ministries’ plans at odds? I know somemembers will have heard from some of the anti-povertyand disability advocates. The member for PowellRiver–Sunshine Coast mentioned in his remarks thatadvocates would have liked to see efforts continue to raisethe rates for income assistance and disability supports. Iwill echo that member that the additional earnings exemp-tion room that is added in this budget is a good thing.


He also mentioned in his remarks that budgets areabout choices, and, indeed, they are. In this budget, gov-ernment chose to invest in rebates for people who canafford to buy electric cars, rather than in supports forpeople with disabilities. It’s an interesting choice for agroup of people who level daily condemnation at the pre-vious government for their choices.

Now, there are a lot of broken promises. There’s no $400renters rebate. The childcare plan is stalling. There’s nomoney to add to get people out of congestion, no moneyfor the Massey Tunnel, which gets my goat. Of course,first, they cancelled the project that was approved, permit-ted and underway for a ten-lane bridge and wrote off inthe process $100 million, almost. But now there’s a plan toconsult and to make a plan. And no, there’s nothing in thebudget.

There’s no money for commuter rail to the Fraser Valley,despite it being hinted at in the throne speech. It’s just aplan to make a plan. It’s simply not in the budget. There’sno new money to add to transit expansions or add to Sur-rey SkyTrain. There’s no action to promote new markethousing or, really, to make housing more affordable.

Let’s focus on what the risks are to this budget, becauseI think that’s really important. Spending is going up fasterthan revenues and faster than the forecasted rate of growthfor the economy. That isn’t sustainable. There’s no allow-ance been made for the world market forces that willundoubtedly affect B.C.’s small open trading marketplaceand already has.

There are no allowances made for the coronavirusimplications. This week we’ve already seen reactions on thestock market and banks starting to downgrade their pro-jections for our economy in Canada by 0.5 of a percent.

What is government doing to mitigate the potentialimpacts of Brexit? Now interest rates are low, but they willgo up. There’s no room in the surplus projected to man-age debt-servicing cost increases or to match the pace ofgrowth projected for the infrastructure debt they plan toincur.

Housing starts are slowing 22 percent. With fewerhomes being built, prices are going to become more unaf-fordable. B.C. has lost 32,000 jobs in the last eight months.That’s a clear downward trend. That means fewer peopleare working.

Consumers are less confident in their buying habits, andretail sales are virtually flat. Forestry is in crisis. Block-ades are delaying goods and projects. Community benefitsagreements are inflating construction costs. B.C. is losingits reputation for investment. Business investment is slow-ing. It’s harder for B.C. companies to sell their products.Exports have fallen 6.4 percent.

While government spending is at a record high andgrowing faster than revenues, at the same time they’ve cutthe budgets of the job-creating ministries by $700 mil-lion. Agriculture — no ability to mitigate the effects of theblockades on B.C. farmers. Energy, Mines and Petroleum

Resources — reduced. Forests — reduced. Jobs, EconomicDevelopment and Competitiveness — reduced.

Now, “innovation” is a nice word, and we need moreinnovation, but this budget does nothing to help. Nothingto help businesses with tech adaptation or transformation.Nothing to help Surrey and other cities attract businessesto build the innovation corridor that is speculated about intheir economic framework document released a few weeksago. Nothing to stimulate productivity gains.

[11:20 a.m.]We’re watching the government close trade offices. We

have a Trade Minister of State that hasn’t examined theimpacts of the coronavirus on trade with China andimpacts on businesses and the overall fiscal plan. Andmaybe the biggest risk is that a bunch of the ministersdon’t seem to understand that they’ve had their budgetsdecreased.

Should people be worried? Yes, they should. The Pre-mier told the people of British Columbia that they couldexpect decisive action on affordability and climate change.He told them they could expect significant improvementsin housing and child care in the province and that theycould expect an open and transparent government.However, Budget 2020 confirms that the Premier has nointention of keeping the promises he made to British Col-umbians. In many cases, promises have been abandoned.

It’s another tax-and-spend budget with no plan to growthe economy or to help people get ahead. The only sourceof revenue the NDP seem interested in is in the pockets oftaxpayers. They have squandered the opportunity to helppeople, with no focus on growing the economy or deliver-ing on their promises to make life affordable.

British Columbia is heading in the wrong direction, andthat is a sad and difficult thing for me to say. For my timein government and at the cabinet table, we made very diffi-cult decisions, decisions that had to be made to build B.C.to the best economy in Canada, to leave office with a $2.7billion surplus — the difficult decisions not to spend morethan we had, not to take more out of the pockets of BritishColumbians than was absolutely necessary. Sometimes tomake difficult decisions not to do more and sometimes tostep in, in the interests of growing opportunity for every-one in B.C.

The B.C. NDP is taking a very predictable and differentpath. B.C. is losing jobs, and every single economic indic-ator is pointing in the wrong direction. While incomesin the rest of Canada have gone up, according to StatsCanada, incomes in B.C. have dropped. British Colum-bians deserve fewer empty words and more action fromthis government. What the budget should have represen-ted was a blueprint for creating opportunity for all of B.C.By that measure, it misses the mark and fails British Col-umbians.

After Budget 2020, British Columbians are left payingmore and losing out on programs they had set their hopes


on. Yet somehow their government is trying to tell themthat they’re better off for it.

As I said earlier in my remarks, this budget shouldprompt people to ask themselves: “Am I getting aheadunder the NDP?” I think for the vast majority of BritishColumbians, the answer is simply no. The simple truth isthat despite what the rhetoric of this government wouldlead you to believe, life isn’t getting any more affordable forB.C. families. The NDP has squandered opportunity andbroken its promises, and no one is getting ahead.

Deputy Speaker: I now call on the Minister of Financeand Deputy Premier to close debate.

Hon. C. James: Thank you very much, hon. Speaker.Welcome to the job. I haven’t had the opportunity to saythat to you.

I also want to say thank you to all the members whotook part in the debate and the discussion. It is animportant part, as we all know, of democracy to be ableto have people put forward their criticisms, their ideas,their solutions. In fact, I heard a number of memberstalk about the things that they felt were positives in thebudget and things that they wanted more informationon, things they wanted to ask questions on, things theydisagreed with as well. That’s an important part, as I said,of democracy. So I thank all the members in the Legis-lature for their discussion.

Now, I think it would be no surprise to anyone thatI certainly didn’t agree with all the comments that weremade over the last week or so. I know you’ll be shockedat that.

There were a couple of common themes that I just wantto take a few minutes to touch on in my close. I heardpeople talking about affordability. I heard people talkingabout taxes, our economy and programs and services. Ijust want to touch on a few of those comments that weremade. I’m going to tie the affordability piece together withthe taxes piece.

I have to say…. I heard a lot of creative — I can’t think ofany other or better word to use — use of numbers, creativeuse of information that was thrown around in here when itcomes to talking about the support for the people of Brit-ish Columbia.

[11:25 a.m.]I have to say that at some times during the debate, it

would appear, if you were listening to the other side, thatnot one of them was around for the last 16 years. It wouldappear that they just weren’t here. I can understand that. Ican understand that they’d want to forget the last 16 years.I get that. The public certainly wants to forget the last 16years, so I think it would be no surprise.

It would be no surprise that they would want to forgetthat they doubled MSP premiums, making life less afford-able, in fact, for people. It would be no surprise that theywould want to forget that they doubled tuition fees —

making it more difficult for people to get into post-second-ary — that they charged tuition for adult basic educationand English language learning, that they clawed back buspasses from people with diverse abilities, that there werethousands of jobs lost in forestry, that we saw jobs lost inhealth care and education because of contracts that weretorn up, and there was reduced support for children andseniors. So I can understand why they want to forget thatthey were here.

Forget, in fact, that they cut services for ferry-depend-ent communities, that they actually cut supports for chil-dren in care and that we were the last province left withouta poverty reduction plan under that side on the other side.

Well, the public didn’t forget. That’s why they wanteda new government that would put people first, and that’swhat we’ve done in this budget. In partnership with theGreen caucus, we have, in less than three years, providedmore support for the people of British Columbia thanhappened in the last 16 years under the other side.

Let’s just look at a few of those pieces. MSP premiumseliminated — savings for families and individuals. Wefroze ferry fares. The seniors discount is back on B.C. Fer-ries once again. We eliminated tolls on the Port Mannand the Golden Ears bridges, saving people dollars. Weimproved health care. We invested $1 billion to bringdown surgical wait times, to support low-income seniorsand to make sure that individuals got support with theirmedication costs, more MRIs, more diagnostic treatment,and we’re building hospitals — unlike the other side.

And 300,000 families in British Columbia are going toreceive the B.C. child opportunity benefit this fall, untiltheir children are 18 years old, providing them withmoney in their pockets. Each and every year, we haveinvested $1 billion to support our K-to-12 system, to sup-port smaller classes, to support our teachers, to ensurethere are counsellors and teacher-librarians and supportfor students with special needs.

We had to fix the challenges that were left us. We haveensured that we now have free tuition for adult basic edu-cation and free tuition for English language learning.Former youth in care are receiving free tuition, and weeliminated interest on student loans.

We didn’t stop there. We didn’t stop there. In fact, webuilt on that success in Budget 2020 by bringing in theB.C. access grant which will provide over 40,000 stu-dents with an upfront grant to help them get into uni-versity and college.

What does that mean for families directly? Since theopposition’s last budget, let’s take a look at the amount oftaxes that are paid by families. The average family withtwo children, who are earning $100,000 a year, now hasa 22 percent net reduction in their taxes. If a family withtwo children is making $80,000, they see a 42 percent netreduction in their taxes. If a family was making $60,000with two children, they’ve seen a 60 percent reductionsince that side’s last budget.


Where do you think the lowest taxes are for thosepeople who are making $140,000 or less? Right here inBritish Columbia, across the country.

[11:30 a.m.]Where in the country do you think the third-lowest

taxes are for people making $475,000 or less? Right here inBritish Columbia.

Where is the second-lowest small business tax rate?Right here in British Columbia.

We ensured that we built on a strong economic founda-tion, and B.C. is expected to lead the country in economicgrowth in 2020 and 2021, once again.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Not only that, we aren’t stopping there. This budgetincludes some major capital investments, creating 100,000direct and indirect jobs, creating jobs in every corner ofour province in investments.

I also want to mention…. I mentioned earlier that wewere the last province left without a poverty reductionplan. Well, no longer. Under our government, we havelegislated targets, and we’re working hard to reducepoverty in British Columbia.

We’ve added to our historic investment in climate actionthrough CleanBC — $900 million, a historic investment,in last year’s budget, and over $400 million in additionalmoney in this year’s budget to ensure that we do our partin British Columbia.

I don’t want the other side to just listen to us. I thinkit’s important also to listen to what other people have saidabout our budget. “We commend the government for bal-ancing the budget and addressing issues like child care,and particularly post-secondary education.” That’s fromthe B.C. Business Council.

“The economy is strong and expected to remain so.B.C.’s general economic fundamentals are solid, comparedwith its provincial counterparts” — Gary Mason, in Feb-ruary.

Justine Hunter: “British Columbia remains one of thestrongest provinces in the country for labour markets andgrowth.”

Let’s hear from some of the students. “Trades studentsare often overlooked when it comes to student assistanceprograms. The access grant is going to make that some-thing different” — Vancouver Community College.

Again on the issue of climate action. “It’s B.C. budgetday. It’s clear that the B.C. government understands thatevery provincial budget needs to be a climate budget. I’mglad that CleanBC will help us not only cut carbon pol-lution but help lower our energy bills” — Merran Smith,executive director of Clean Energy Canada.

Budget 2020 builds on the progress we’ve made as a gov-ernment. It makes life more affordable, it improves ser-vices, and it builds a sustainable economy in every cornerof British Columbia.

With that, I move, seconded by the hon. Premier of Brit-ish Columbia, that the Speaker do now leave the chair forthe House to go into Committee of Supply.

[11:35 a.m. - 11:40 a.m.]

Motion approved on the following division:

YEAS — 44

Chouhan Kahlon BeggBrar Heyman DonaldsonMungall Bains BeareChen Popham TrevenaChow Kang SimonsD’Eith Sims RoutleyMa Elmore DeanRoutledge Singh WeaverDarcy Simpson RobinsonFarnworth Horgan JamesEby Dix RalstonMark Fleming ConroyFraser Chandra Herbert RiceMalcolmson Leonard FurstenauOlsen Glumac

NAYS — 39

Cadieux de Jong BondPolak Wilkinson LeeStone Coleman KylloBernier Thornthwaite PatonAshton Barnett YapMartin Davies ReidSullivan Morris StilwellRoss Oakes JohalRustad Milobar SturdyClovechok Shypitka HuntThroness Tegart StewartSultan Gibson LetnickThomson Larson Foster

Hon. M. Farnworth moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until 1:30this afternoon.

The House adjourned at 11:41 a.m.


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Documents

OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES · 2020-03-05 · Fih Session, 41st Parliament OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES (HANSARD) ursday, February 27, 2020 Morning Sitting Issue No. 317 THE HONOURABLE