hansard - OFFICIAL REPORT OF DEBATES

Second Session, 42nd Parliament

OFFICIAL REPORTOF DEBATES

(HANSARD)

Monday, April 19, 2021Afternoon Sitting

Issue No. 51

THE HONOURABLE RAJ CHOUHAN, SPEAKER

ISSN 1499-2175

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

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORHer Honour the Honourable Janet Austin, OBC

Second Session, 42nd Parliament

SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLYHonourable Raj Chouhan

EXECUTIVE COUNCILPremier and President of the Executive Council ............................................................................................................... Hon. John HorganMinister of Advanced Education and Skills Training...........................................................................................................Hon. Anne KangMinister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries......................................................................................................................Hon. Lana PophamAttorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing .............................................................................................Hon. David Eby, QCMinister of Children and Family Development ....................................................................................................................Hon. Mitzi Dean

Minister of State for Child Care......................................................................................................................................Hon. Katrina ChenMinister of Citizens’ Services.....................................................................................................................................................Hon. Lisa BeareMinister of Education ..................................................................................................................................................Hon. Jennifer WhitesideMinister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation ........................................................................................Hon. Bruce Ralston, QCMinister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.............................................................................................Hon. George HeymanMinister of Finance .......................................................................................................................................................... Hon. Selina RobinsonMinister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development ................................................ Hon. Katrine Conroy

Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations................................................................................. Hon. Nathan CullenMinister of Health and Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs.............................................................................Hon. Adrian DixMinister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation .......................................................................................... Hon. Murray Rankin, QCMinister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation.......................................................................................................Hon. Ravi Kahlon

Minister of State for Trade...............................................................................................................................................Hon. George ChowMinister of Labour ...................................................................................................................................................................Hon. Harry BainsMinister of Mental Health and Addictions.............................................................................................................. Hon. Sheila MalcolmsonMinister of Municipal Affairs ............................................................................................................................................. Hon. Josie OsborneMinister of Public Safety and Solicitor General ........................................................................................................... Hon. Mike FarnworthMinister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction........................................................................................... Hon. Nicholas SimonsMinister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport .................................................................................................................. Hon. Melanie MarkMinister of Transportation and Infrastructure................................................................................................................... Hon. Rob Fleming

Minister of State for Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................... Hon. Bowinn Ma

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLYLeader of the Official Opposition...................................................................................................................................................Shirley BondLeader of the Third Party .......................................................................................................................................................... Sonia FurstenauDeputy Speaker.......................................................................................................................................................... Spencer Chandra HerbertAssistant Deputy Speaker..............................................................................................................................................................Norm LetnickDeputy Chair, Committee of the Whole .......................................................................................................................... Ronna-Rae LeonardClerk of the Legislative Assembly ........................................................................................................................................... Kate Ryan-LloydLaw Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.............................................................................................................................. Seunghee Suzie SeoClerk Assistant, Parliamentary Services........................................................................................................................... Artour SogomonianClerk of Committees....................................................................................................................................................................... Jennifer ArrilClerk Assistant, Committees and Interparliamentary Relations ..............................................................................................Susan SourialSenior Research Analyst ................................................................................................................................................................... Karan RiarhActing Sergeant-at-Arms..................................................................................................................................................................Greg Nelson

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERSAlexis, Pam (BC NDP) ............................................................Abbotsford-MissionAnderson, Brittny (BC NDP) .........................................................Nelson-CrestonAshton, Dan (BC Liberal Party) ............................................................... PentictonBabchuk, Michele (BC NDP)...............................................................North IslandBailey, Brenda (BC NDP) .................................................. Vancouver–False CreekBains, Hon. Harry (BC NDP)......................................................... Surrey-NewtonBanman, Bruce (BC Liberal Party) ............................................ Abbotsford SouthBeare, Hon. Lisa (BC NDP) ....................................... Maple Ridge–Pitt MeadowsBegg, Garry (BC NDP).................................................................Surrey-GuildfordBernier, Mike (BC Liberal Party) ...............................................Peace River SouthBond, Shirley (BC Liberal Party).................................Prince George–ValemountBrar, Jagrup (BC NDP) ................................................................Surrey-FleetwoodCadieux, Stephanie (BC Liberal Party) ............................................. Surrey SouthChandra Herbert, Spencer (BC NDP).................................Vancouver–West EndChant, Susie (BC NDP) ..............................................North Vancouver–SeymourChen, Hon. Katrina (BC NDP) ............................................... Burnaby-LougheedChouhan, Hon. Raj (BC NDP) .................................................Burnaby-EdmondsChow, Hon. George (BC NDP) ..........................................Vancouver-FraserviewClovechok, Doug (BC Liberal Party)........................Columbia River–RevelstokeConroy, Hon. Katrine (BC NDP) ....................................................Kootenay WestCoulter, Dan (BC NDP) .......................................................................... ChilliwackCullen, Hon. Nathan (BC NDP) ................................................................... StikineDavies, Dan (BC Liberal Party) ................................................. Peace River Northde Jong, Michael, QC (BC Liberal Party)....................................Abbotsford WestDean, Hon. Mitzi (BC NDP) ............................................... Esquimalt-MetchosinD’Eith, Bob (BC NDP) .........................................................Maple Ridge–MissionDix, Hon. Adrian (BC NDP) ................................................ Vancouver-KingswayDoerkson, Lorne (BC Liberal Party) ........................................Cariboo-ChilcotinDonnelly, Fin (BC NDP) .......................................... Coquitlam–Burke MountainDykeman, Megan (BC NDP)............................................................... Langley EastEby, Hon. David, QC (BC NDP) ....................................... Vancouver–Point GreyElmore, Mable (BC NDP) ..................................................Vancouver-KensingtonFarnworth, Hon. Mike (BC NDP) .................................................Port CoquitlamFleming, Hon. Rob (BC NDP) ............................................... Victoria–Swan LakeFurstenau, Sonia (BC Green Party) .............................................Cowichan ValleyGlumac, Rick (BC NDP) ..................................................Port Moody–CoquitlamGreene, Kelly (BC NDP) ........................................................Richmond-StevestonHalford, Trevor (BC Liberal Party) .........................................Surrey–White RockHeyman, Hon. George (BC NDP) .........................................Vancouver-FairviewHorgan, Hon. John (BC NDP) ......................................... Langford–Juan de FucaKahlon, Hon. Ravi (BC NDP) .............................................................. Delta NorthKang, Hon. Anne (BC NDP) ..................................................Burnaby–Deer LakeKirkpatrick, Karin (BC Liberal Party) ........................West Vancouver–CapilanoKyllo, Greg (BC Liberal Party)....................................................................ShuswapLee, Michael (BC Liberal Party) ..............................................Vancouver-LangaraLeonard, Ronna-Rae (BC NDP)............................................... Courtenay-ComoxLetnick, Norm (BC Liberal Party) .................................. Kelowna–Lake CountryLore, Grace (BC NDP)........................................................... Victoria–Beacon HillMa, Hon. Bowinn (BC NDP).....................................North Vancouver–LonsdaleMalcolmson, Hon. Sheila (BC NDP)........................................................NanaimoMark, Hon. Melanie (BC NDP).................................Vancouver–Mount PleasantMercier, Andrew (BC NDP) ........................................................................ LangleyMerrifield, Renee (BC Liberal Party)......................................... Kelowna-MissionMilobar, Peter (BC Liberal Party) .......................... Kamloops–North ThompsonMorris, Mike (BC Liberal Party) ................................. Prince George–MackenzieOakes, Coralee (BC Liberal Party).................................................. Cariboo NorthOlsen, Adam (BC Green Party)............................ Saanich North and the IslandsOsborne, Hon. Josie (BC NDP)........................................Mid Island–Pacific RimPaddon, Kelli (BC NDP) ................................................................Chilliwack-KentPaton, Ian (BC Liberal Party) ............................................................... Delta SouthPopham, Hon. Lana (BC NDP)........................................................ Saanich SouthRalston, Hon. Bruce, QC (BC NDP) .............................................Surrey-WhalleyRankin, Hon. Murray, QC (BC NDP) .............................Oak Bay–Gordon HeadRice, Jennifer (BC NDP) ...................................................................... North CoastRobinson, Hon. Selina (BC NDP)...................................Coquitlam-MaillardvilleRoss, Ellis (BC Liberal Party)......................................................................... SkeenaRoutledge, Janet (BC NDP) .............................................................Burnaby NorthRoutley, Doug (BC NDP)........................................... Nanaimo–North CowichanRussell, Roly (BC NDP).................................................... Boundary-SimilkameenRustad, John (BC Liberal Party)......................................................Nechako LakesSandhu, Harwinder (BC NDP) .................................................Vernon-MonasheeSharma, Niki (BC NDP)..........................................................Vancouver-HastingsShypitka, Tom (BC Liberal Party) .................................................... Kootenay EastSimons, Hon. Nicholas (BC NDP)......................... Powell River–Sunshine CoastSims, Jinny (BC NDP) ................................................................. Surrey-PanoramaSingh, Aman (BC NDP) .............................................Richmond-QueensboroughSingh, Rachna (BC NDP)................................................... Surrey–Green TimbersStarchuk, Mike (BC NDP) ......................................................... Surrey-CloverdaleStewart, Ben (BC Liberal Party) ....................................................... Kelowna WestStone, Todd (BC Liberal Party) ...............................Kamloops–South ThompsonSturdy, Jordan (BC Liberal Party) .............................West Vancouver–Sea to SkyTegart, Jackie (BC Liberal Party)....................................................... Fraser-NicolaWalker, Adam (BC NDP) ....................................................... Parksville-QualicumWat, Teresa (BC Liberal Party) ....................................... Richmond North CentreWhiteside, Hon. Jennifer (BC NDP) ......................................... New WestminsterWilkinson, Andrew, QC (BC Liberal Party)......................Vancouver-QuilchenaYao, Henry (BC NDP) ..................................................... Richmond South Centre

LIST OF MEMBERS BY RIDINGAbbotsford-Mission................................................................................. Pam AlexisAbbotsford South...............................................................................Bruce BanmanAbbotsford West...................................................................... Michael de Jong, QCBoundary-Similkameen........................................................................ Roly RussellBurnaby–Deer Lake....................................................................... Hon. Anne KangBurnaby-Edmonds......................................................................Hon. Raj ChouhanBurnaby-Lougheed .................................................................... Hon. Katrina ChenBurnaby North ................................................................................. Janet RoutledgeCariboo-Chilcotin ..........................................................................Lorne DoerksonCariboo North.................................................................................... Coralee OakesChilliwack ...............................................................................................Dan CoulterChilliwack-Kent .................................................................................... Kelli PaddonColumbia River–Revelstoke ......................................................... Doug ClovechokCoquitlam–Burke Mountain...............................................................Fin DonnellyCoquitlam-Maillardville ...................................................... Hon. Selina RobinsonCourtenay-Comox................................................................... Ronna-Rae LeonardCowichan Valley ............................................................................. Sonia FurstenauDelta North................................................................................... Hon. Ravi KahlonDelta South .................................................................................................. Ian PatonEsquimalt-Metchosin .................................................................... Hon. Mitzi DeanFraser-Nicola ......................................................................................... Jackie TegartKamloops–North Thompson .............................................................Peter MilobarKamloops–South Thompson..................................................................Todd StoneKelowna–Lake Country .....................................................................Norm LetnickKelowna-Mission ........................................................................... Renee MerrifieldKelowna West ..........................................................................................Ben StewartKootenay East .......................................................................................Tom ShypitkaKootenay West........................................................................ Hon. Katrine ConroyLangford–Juan de Fuca .............................................................. Hon. John HorganLangley .............................................................................................Andrew MercierLangley East....................................................................................Megan DykemanMaple Ridge–Mission.............................................................................. Bob D’EithMaple Ridge–Pitt Meadows............................................................Hon. Lisa BeareMid Island–Pacific Rim............................................................ Hon. Josie OsborneNanaimo.............................................................................Hon. Sheila MalcolmsonNanaimo–North Cowichan............................................................... Doug RoutleyNechako Lakes........................................................................................ John RustadNelson-Creston ............................................................................. Brittny AndersonNew Westminster.............................................................. Hon. Jennifer WhitesideNorth Coast ........................................................................................... Jennifer RiceNorth Island................................................................................... Michele BabchukNorth Vancouver–Lonsdale......................................................... Hon. Bowinn MaNorth Vancouver–Seymour...................................................................Susie ChantOak Bay–Gordon Head..................................................Hon. Murray Rankin, QCParksville-Qualicum........................................................................... Adam WalkerPeace River North ................................................................................... Dan DaviesPeace River South ................................................................................ Mike BernierPenticton ................................................................................................. Dan AshtonPort Coquitlam...................................................................... Hon. Mike FarnworthPort Moody–Coquitlam.......................................................................Rick GlumacPowell River–Sunshine Coast..............................................Hon. Nicholas SimonsPrince George–Mackenzie....................................................................Mike MorrisPrince George–Valemount .................................................................. Shirley BondRichmond North Centre..........................................................................Teresa WatRichmond-Queensborough..................................................................Aman SinghRichmond South Centre .......................................................................... Henry YaoRichmond-Steveston ............................................................................ Kelly GreeneSaanich North and the Islands .............................................................Adam OlsenSaanich South .............................................................................Hon. Lana PophamShuswap...................................................................................................... Greg KylloSkeena........................................................................................................... Ellis RossStikine........................................................................................ Hon. Nathan CullenSurrey-Cloverdale .............................................................................. Mike StarchukSurrey-Fleetwood.....................................................................................Jagrup BrarSurrey–Green Timbers........................................................................Rachna SinghSurrey-Guildford......................................................................................Garry BeggSurrey-Newton ..............................................................................Hon. Harry BainsSurrey-Panorama ...................................................................................... Jinny SimsSurrey South ................................................................................ Stephanie CadieuxSurrey-Whalley ................................................................. Hon. Bruce Ralston, QCSurrey–White Rock .......................................................................... Trevor HalfordVancouver-Fairview.............................................................. Hon. George HeymanVancouver–False Creek...................................................................... Brenda BaileyVancouver-Fraserview...............................................................Hon. George ChowVancouver-Hastings ..............................................................................Niki SharmaVancouver-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 ..................................................................... Harwinder SandhuVictoria–Beacon Hill ............................................................................... Grace LoreVictoria–Swan Lake.................................................................... Hon. Rob FlemingWest Vancouver–Capilano...........................................................Karin KirkpatrickWest Vancouver–Sea to Sky................................................................Jordan Sturdy

Party Standings: BC NDP 57; BC Liberal Party 28; BC Green Party 2

CONTENTS

Monday, April 19, 2021Afternoon Sitting

Page

Routine Business

Introductions by Members..................................................................................................................................................... 1231

Introduction and First Reading of Bills ................................................................................................................................ 1231Bill 3 — Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2021

Hon. H. Bains

Statements (Standing Order 25B) ......................................................................................................................................... 1231Hardy Bay Seniors

M. BabchukOrgan donation and Logan Boulet

G. KylloVolunteers

N. SharmaS. Cadieux

Redevelopment of Riverview lands and role of Kwikwetlem First NationF. Donnelly

Search and rescue services and personal responsibilityJ. Sturdy

Oral Questions......................................................................................................................................................................... 1233COVID-19 circuit breaker restrictions and support for restaurant industry

S. BondHon. R. KahlonM. Bernier

COVID-19 response and use of rapid testing and travel restrictionsS. FurstenauHon. S. MalcolmsonHon. M. Farnworth

Crime victim support benefits for former children in careK. KirkpatrickHon. M. DeanM. de Jong

Property taxes for small businesses and split assessment proposalT. StoneHon. D. Eby

Budget provisions for school districtsJ. TegartHon. J. WhitesideP. MilobarHon. M. Farnworth

Orders of the Day

Throne Speech Debate (continued) ...................................................................................................................................... 1239E. RossHon. R. FlemingT. WatF. DonnellyHon. B. MaHon. A. KangHon. J. OsborneM. StarchukM. ElmoreHon. J. Whiteside

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

The House met at 1:33 p.m.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Routine Business

Introductions by Members

C. Oakes: This morning I had the opportunity to makea statement about the importance of post-secondary edu-cation in looking at pandemic recovery. This afternoon,virtually, it is truly a privilege to listen to the graduate stu-dent associations of British Columbia to understand spe-cifically the importance of graduate programs across Brit-ish Columbia, the work that they’re doing and ways thatwe can encourage and continue investment in graduateprograms in British Columbia.

Would the House please help me welcome the graduatestudent associations of British Columbia.

F. Donnelly: I ask all members to join me in acknow-ledging my brother Liam Donnelly, who recentlyannounced his retirement as head swimming and divingcoach from Simon Fraser University. Liam was one of theyoungest university head swim coaches in Canada whenhe started his career almost 30 years ago. He was one ofCanada’s longest-serving university swim coaches. Overhis 30-year career, he produced numerous gold-medalswimmers and record holders.

I know that my parents, Val and Cy; his wife, Leia; theirthree daughters — my nieces Kira, Teagan and Brynn; andour whole family are as proud of him as I am. I ask allmembers to join me in congratulating my little brother onhis amazing career at SFU.

[1:35 p.m.]

Introduction andFirst Reading of Bills

BILL 3 — EMPLOYMENT STANDARDSAMENDMENT ACT, 2021

Hon. H. Bains presented a message from Her Honourthe Lieutenant-Governor: a bill intituled EmploymentStandards Amendment Act, 2021.

Hon. H. Bains: I move that the bill be introduced andread a first time now.

I’m pleased to introduce Bill 3, the Employment Stand-ards Amendment Act, 2021. This bill amends the Employ-ment Standards Act to provide up to three hours of paidleave per dose for employees in British Columbia toreceive their COVID-19 vaccine.

An essential part of B.C.’s immunization plan and get-

ting through the COVID-19 pandemic is removing barri-ers so that we can all access the vaccine easily when it’s ourturn. A key part of that is ensuring that no one will losepay if they need time away from work to attend a vaccina-tion appointment.

By helping to ensure that as many employees as possibleare vaccinated, paid leave will play a vital role in BritishColumbia’s continuing fight against the spread of theCOVID-19 virus.

Motion approved.

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

Bill 3, Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2021,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)

HARDY BAY SENIORS

M. Babchuk: I’m honoured today to stand and recog-nize an extremely valued group in Port Hardy, which is acommunity in the north end of my North Island riding.The Hardy Bay Seniors’ main goals are to keep seniors con-nected to the seniors centre and to each other, to combatloneliness and isolation and to let seniors know they arenot forgotten.

Over the last three years, Hardy Bay Seniors has grownfrom 71 members to 220. As mentioned, they maintain theHardy Bay Seniors Center, where, pre-pandemic, mem-bers regularly got together for an amazing range of inclus-ive activities. Of course, this has been curtailed by COV-ID-19, but the seniors centre continues to be a hub of mealproduction and food distribution.

Hardy Bay Seniors tackled COVID-19 head-on, set up awatch list to connect the seniors with phone calls, lookedfor resources, and collaborated with community toprovide nutritious meals, gift baskets and gift cards forgrocery stores. They have formed a cooking group thatproduces 70 meals a week — 50 meals for delivery to vul-nerable seniors, ten for volunteers and, recently, ten toshare with the homeless coalition. So far over 2,700 mealsand groceries have been delivered.

Daily Facebook postings, either a joke or an inspiration-al quote, weekly newsletters and phone calls by the watchlist volunteers show just how connected the group is. Theyare run by an elected volunteer board who give generouslyof themselves and make this time very easy for our citizensin Port Hardy.

I want to take this opportunity to recognize their pres-

1231

ident, Rosaline Glynn, who has recently been nominatedfor the Order of B.C. Congratulations, Rosaline.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the servicesthe Hardy Bay Seniors have provided to the seniors of PortHardy and say happy National Volunteer Week to all of thevolunteers in the north Island and British Columbia.

I have been asked to convey a message: don’t forgetyou’re going to be a senior if you live long enough. Theyencourage all members of this chamber to acknowledgethat seniors are a vital part of our society.

ORGAN DONATION ANDLOGAN BOULET

G. Kyllo: It’s Organ Donor Week here in B.C. and allacross Canada.

[1:40 p.m.]On April 7, the House recognized Green Shirt Day to

remember Humboldt Broncos defenceman Logan Boulet,whose selfless act of registering as an organ donor beforehis tragic death not only saved six lives but inspired hun-dreds of thousands of Canadians and people around theworld to register as an organ donor.

Even though it’s estimated that a single organ donor cansave up to eight lives, less than a third of British Columbi-ans are currently registered as an organ owner.

Now, Organ Donor Week is part of April’s Organ Dona-tion Awareness Month. It’s a time for all of us to make aneffort to sign up and to continue the conversation so wecan inspire others to register and help save lives. Membersare also encouraged to share their stories and to encourageothers to register through social media using the hashtags#loganbouleteffect, #livelifepassiton and #taketwominutes.Remember that it takes less than two minutes to register,and British Columbians can sign up through the B.C.transplant website: transplant.bc.ca.

Let’s all take a moment to continue the conversation andhelp ensure that no British Columbians will ever need towait for an organ transplant again. Please take the initi-ative whether you’re on your PC, your laptop or cellularphone. Visit transplant.bc.ca, click on the button, register,and please take the initiative. All you need to do is justanswer your personal health number, your name, youraddress and date of birth, and register your wish.

We never know when we might need an organ donor,but taking two minutes to register, like Logan Boulet,could prove to be a lifesaver for someone in need.

VOLUNTEERS

N. Sharma: Today I rise virtually to discuss somethingthat involves 44 percent of all British Columbians overthe age of 15. That number is only since the last statisticswere taken, and I suspect it’s now much higher. This rate isalso higher than the national average. By my measure, this

involves at least 1.5 million people across this province.That is the rate at which British Columbians volunteer.

National Volunteer Week takes place from April 18 toApril 24, and the theme for 2021 is “The value of one, thepower of many.” These sentiments feel especially relevantduring these unprecedented times. As British Columbianshave always shown, but particularly through this pandem-ic, we can do great things when we work together for acommon purpose.

Volunteer hours every year in this province are estim-ated to contribute a value of $6 billion to our economy andrepresent the equivalent of 146,000 jobs in their labourhours. This kind of unpaid work weaves the fabric of oursociety and creates benefits that can not be measured bydollar value. This past year, we’ve also seen volunteersstand up for equality, for democracy and for a kinder, moreinclusive world. All movements and social change beginwith people organizing in their communities and donatingtheir skills and time.

Volunteering is an act of kindness that has the power totransform lives. Please join me in recognizing every oneamong us who gives back. You’re creating a stronger, moresustainable and resilient province for all.

S. Cadieux: Indeed, it is National Volunteer Week inCanada. I’m proud to live in a province where so manyindividuals volunteer. Whether it’s formal commitment toa group or simply helping someone in your community, itall matters. The last year has been challenging for BritishColumbians, yet in a time of crisis, our best shinesthrough. We come together as a community and care forone another. Volunteers are so often the glue that holds thecommunity together.

Studies have demonstrated that helping others kindleshappiness. During the pandemic, we can all use a littleof that. Right now, in Surrey, volunteers are making hugecontributions. Options Community Services is celebratingits 50th anniversary by launching a fundraising campaignfor an important affordable housing project. Fifty localwomen have volunteered to each raise $25,000 towards theproject, which is absolutely amazing. A shout-out to myconstituency assistant Kiran Dhaliwal, one of the millen-nial volunteers in the group, who has already met her goal— outstanding.

While we see so many people of all ages step up to helpothers in our community through this difficult year, lastsummer, Southridge School student Nora Zhu and a groupof her classmates raised money to help fund a meal pro-gram for front-line workers at Peace Arch Hospital.

Then there’s my friend former CKNW intrepid reporterGeorge Garrett, who helped co-found the Volunteer Can-cer Drivers Society and has helped so many through thatendeavour. He also took time to volunteer on my electioncampaign in the fall.

[1:45 p.m.]To the thousands more in communities all over the

1232 British Columbia Debates Monday, April 19, 2021

province, people making a difference for others: kindnessdoes win, and love wins. The theme for this year is “Thevalue of one, the power of many,” and doesn’t it just say itall?

To volunteers in communities across this province, wesay thank you and happy Volunteer Week.

REDEVELOPMENT OF RIVERVIEW LANDSAND ROLE OF KWIKWETLEM FIRST NATION

F. Donnelly: People in my community and throughoutB.C. care deeply about the Riverview lands in Coquitlam.For over 100 years, the Riverview lands housed thousandsof mental health patients and staff, set amongst a world-class arboretum and a series of what have become some ofB.C.’s most historic buildings.

Though the hospital officially closed in 2012, much ofthe site is still used for mental health treatment and bynon-profit organizations, public programs and the filmindustry.

Recently Kwikwetlem First Nation renamed the 244-acre site səmiq̓ʷəʔelə, which means the “place of greatblue heron” in the traditional language of the Kwikwetlem.Chief Ed Hall explained this name was chosen becauseof the land, which was once a roosting site for the greatblue heron, due to its proximity on the floodplain of theCoquitlam River.

I was honoured to attend a powerful renaming cere-mony on behalf of the Attorney General, with the FinanceMinister. Our government is working with the Kwikwe-tlem First Nation to develop a master plan for the site,which will benefit the nation and the people of British Col-umbia for decades to come.

The planning process has officially started and willengage the public and key interest groups. The first virtualcommunity information session to outline the publicengagement process was held on March 30. An online sur-vey to identify suitable activities is now open for you toprovide your feedback as a member of the public advisorygroup as well. The deadline is April 23.

I encourage everyone interested in this site’s future toengage with B.C. Housing during this important publicplanning process.

SEARCH AND RESCUE SERVICESAND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

J. Sturdy: As we’ve collectively stayed close to homeduring this past year, among the many things we’velearned…. One of the more impactful realizations is whatwe have in our own backyard. People are active in everycorner of the province, from hiking to ski touring tomountaineering to whitewater kayaking. We’ve seen a dra-matic increase in people getting out on to the land. Inthe Sea to Sky where access is but a short drive from the

Lower Mainland, visitor numbers have ballooned in theback country. It’s not unreasonable to anticipate that thisgrowth trajectory will only continue.

These volumes have highlighted another lesson — a lackof regard for the true nature of personal responsibilitywhile out on the landscape. “Take only photographs andleave only footprints” seems a maxim from the past. “Beprepared for self-rescue” is another adage that needs moreemphasis. In the Sea to Sky and, indeed, across theprovince, search and rescue teams are in place, albeit oftenoverburdened.

Rescue and retrieval is costly, both in dollars and evenmore in time commitment from the thousands of volun-teers, not just for training and response but also for fun-draising. It’s time that the SAR funding model receive afundamental review and a real consideration to profes-sionalizing at least some of these services, if only to avoidvolunteer burnout. People’s reliance on technology, as well— be it a cell phone or a GPS rescue beacon — is poten-tially dangerous and must not be the primary rescue plan.

While a trip plan is fundamental, an anticipation thatyou and your group will get yourself out of trouble is whatshould be expected. Trouble may arrive and SAR may backyou up, but personal responsibility dictates the importanceof having a plan to help yourself. Trip planning, trainingto obtain the knowledge and skills you may need and tak-ing the essential gear with you and your crew are just thebasics.

“Know your limits and stay within it” is true for morethan just gaming. A great place to start is to visit adven-turesmart.ca and leave a plan as your first stop to beingprepared.

[1:50 p.m.]

Oral Questions

COVID-19 CIRCUIT BREAKERRESTRICTIONS AND SUPPORT FOR

RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

S. Bond: Well, despite us asking the Premier repeatedlylast week, we’ve heard absolutely nothing about a guar-antee that the circuit breaker grant that was announcedwould be extended if current health restrictions are.

After more than 60 years, the owner of the famousRound Up Café in Surrey is calling it quits. The owner,Dennis, says: “It wasn’t on our terms to go out. Currentrestrictions made it tough to even break even and try toget ahead.” There are hundreds of restaurants just like theRound Up Café that may also close because this Premierrefuses to take additional action.

Let’s try it again today. Will the Premier commit toextending the circuit breaker grant program if healthrestrictions continue for weeks ahead?

Hon. R. Kahlon: I don’t think there’s a person in this

Monday, April 19, 2021 British Columbia Debates 1233

House that doesn’t know that it’s a challenging time forbusinesses throughout B.C., in particular our restaurantindustry, which is at half capacity. If they don’t have out-door dining, it’s even more challenging just relying ontakeout and then sometimes delivery.

I’m not quite sure the member’s question about extend-ing the program…. The program is available until June forbusinesses to apply. Money is available right now for themto apply if they need so. We’ve been encouraging busi-nesses to apply, even today when we had a meeting withfolks that represent restaurants and breweries and pubsacross the province. We made the case for them to contin-ue to push and remind their members that the dollars areavailable.

That being said, we’re going to continue to engage withthem just like we have from the beginning. We’re proud ofthe supports we’ve put in place. We’ve listened, we’ve beennimble from the beginning, and we’re going to continue tobe so until we’re out of this pandemic.

Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Official Opposition ona supplemental.

S. Bond: Listening is one thing, taking action that actu-ally meets the needs of restaurants across British Columbiais apparently completely foreign to this minister. Everysingle day in British Columbia more and more and morebusinesses are at risk of permanently closing their doorsand that’s the best answer that the minister can up with.

Left out of this equation, completely left out, are theyoung front-line workers who were given no hope and nofunding by this Premier. The more the delays, the moreand more bills become due at the end of the month. Takethe words of longtime server Taesa Hodel, who says: “Itreally shows you that there isn’t much support.”

Yet again to this Premier. Yet another programbotched, bungled and out of touch with the needs ofyoung front-line workers in British Columbia. Will theminister get up today, fix the gaps in this program andprovide desperately needed money for restaurant work-ers in tomorrow’s budget?

Hon. R. Kahlon: The circuit breaker program has beenvery positively received. I mentioned many quotes to theLeader of the Opposition last week. The chamber presid-ent said to the media: “We applaud the B.C. governmentfor their quick action to provide the financial supportsbusinesses need.” ABLE-BC said: “This announcement isa lifeline.” I’ve got pages for the member from Kamloops,who jumped in, of quotes from business stakeholders whothink this program is actually hitting the mark.

You know why they think that? It’s because they workedwith us on it. We listened to them. We engaged with them.We worked on the details of the program with them, sothey know it hits the mark. We know it hits the mark.

We encourage businesses to apply for that program. It’s

available. The member talked about extending it. There’sno need to extend. The program is available for businesses.We strongly encourage them to do so.

As far as the budget goes, you know, the budget will betabled together. I know that the opposition is excited tosee it, certainly us in government are excited to see it. Wethink that it’s going to continue to meet the needs of Brit-ish Columbians, just like the last budget did and just likethe budget before that as well.

M. Bernier: Look, workers in my riding and aroundthe province are actually just getting sick and tired of thearrogance and disdain being shown by this minister andthis government. Imagine this: after 90 years of opera-tion…. Most of us in this House will remember going outas a kid or taking your kids out for a Pirate Pak. There arenot too many things in this province that symbolize B.C.more than White Spot.

[1:55 p.m.]Thanks to this Premier, this government and their

decisions, my local White Spot is being shut down per-manently in Dawson Creek, which means people areout of work permanently from this place, thanks to thehealth orders, too many taxes and too much uncertaintyby this government.

I know Jason. Jason works there. He’s worked there sincehigh school. He’s worked there for 30 years. He contactedme to say: “What do I do now? What is the governmentgoing to be doing for me? After 30 years working there, I’mnow out of a job, as well as 40 other people that work inthis establishment.”

To the Premier, will workers like Jason be seeing anynew financial relief or support at all to help them now, los-ing their jobs, to help them pay their bills?

Hon. R. Kahlon: Again, I think everyone understandsthat we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. It’s goingto be a challenging time until we can start seeing thesebusinesses that have been relying on operating at fullcapacity. Until they’re able to do so, it’s going to be achallenging time.

Again, I know the members don’t like hearing this, butit’s a fact. We have the highest per-capita supports forpeople and businesses in this country. We’re proud of that.It’s reflected in the job numbers that have been comingthrough, even in a pandemic. We’re still, as a province,doing well compared to other jurisdictions.

I feel for the young person who has lost that job. That’swhy, just even a couple of weeks ago, the Minister ofAdvanced Education announced millions in new skillingand re-skilling programs at our various universities, part-nering with B.C. Tech Association, partnering with awhole host of different organizations. We announced ayouth employment program — $42 million that helps putpeople to work in parks, helps clean our oceans and getsthem their first tech jobs.


We’re putting the supports in for people just like that —who’ve been displaced from work — and we want to createmore opportunities for them so they can get good-payingjobs and be able to stay here in British Columbia.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Peace River South on asupplemental.

M. Bernier: Well, that answer just highlights the dis-connect from this ministry and this government of what’shappening on the ground. People are losing their jobs now.They have bills to pay now. They’re looking for help andsupport from this government now — not later, now.

In a small community like Dawson Creek, losing anemployer like White Spot is huge, not only for the jobs lost,but for the community itself. Jason and so many like himare just feeling left behind by this Premier and this govern-ment. Jason says: “Thanks to these lockdowns, I’m now outof a job. If this was indeed a state of a emergency, this Pre-mier would be helping out businesses and employers andworkers now.”

Again, will the Premier help Jason and many otherworkers like him with financial relief now — not later,now?

Hon. R. Kahlon: I do think, from the question…. Ihope that the member does support needs for restrictionsto keep COVID numbers down. It wasn’t entirely clearfrom the question — the way he phrased it — whether hesupports measures that have been advanced by the provin-cial health officer. It’s critically important. I saw the pres-entation from the provincial health officer.

I appreciate that business is struggling in DawsonCreek. We saw the numbers. We know they’re consider-ably high in Dawson Creek. The measures we’re puttingin place are to ensure that we can keep communities andpeople safe — again, historic investments to support busi-nesses and people in this province. We’re proud of the sup-ports we’ve put in place.

Of course there’s more to do. We’re going to continueto do that. I’m looking forward to seeing the budgettomorrow so we can show the public there are goingto be more investments in people and businesses acrossthis province.

COVID-19 RESPONSE AND USE OF RAPIDTESTING AND TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

S. Furstenau: Given what’s unfolding in other parts ofCanada right now, British Columbians are looking to theirgovernment for how we are going to avoid the same out-comes in B.C. Last week the Premier said vis-à-vis COV-ID: “We will use the tools that are available to us if webelieve they are effective.” The Minister of Health said he’sopen to our suggestions, so let’s give some.

Experts are calling to significantly ramp up testing,

including rapid testing in workplaces and regions wherecases are high. Non-invasive tests, like a gargle test, couldbe done twice a week, with government acting on the pos-itives and confirming those with PCR tests, as is happen-ing in the U.K. right now, where every single citizen hasaccess to free rapid testing in that country.

[2:00 p.m.]This could be a significant element of a plan, going for-

ward. We can restrict interprovincial travel, as is seen inother provinces, to limit the spread of variants and focusour attention on British Columbians. We could be pressur-ing the federal government to get serious about restrictinginternational travel.

My question is to the Premier. Cases have risen dramat-ically. Hospitalizations are breaking records. What is theline at which government will use the tools that are avail-able to them?

Hon. S. Malcolmson: Tens of thousands of people aregetting immunized every day, but the final mile of thepandemic is proving more difficult and the situation is,indeed, serious.

The Health Minister has spoken at length, and Dr.Henry has answered multiple questions from the media,about where and why rapid testing can be used and whereit is used best — for example, in remote communities.Right now the Health Minister and Dr. Henry are speakingabout new measures in a press conference around COV-ID-19.

We’ll keep taking the advice of public health aroundhow to best use the resources available and continue towork together to flatten the curve and keep people safe.

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

S. Furstenau: One of the advantages we have, withCOVID-19 and the rate at which it’s transmitting aroundthe world, is we can look to jurisdictions that have actuallymanaged to get variants under control, like the U.K. Oneof the tools they’ve used has been rapid testing. I think wecan look outside of our own borders to look for solutions.

Throughout this pandemic, we’ve heard from the Pre-mier and the Minister of Health that public health meas-ures are up to the provincial health officer and those whoadvise her. Last week, however, the Premier commentedthat travel restrictions were a decision he and his cabinetwere discussing. The Globe and Mail wrote: “Premier JohnHorgan will meet with his cabinet to debate furtherrestrictions as the latest measures, imposed March 29,have so far failed to slow the third wave.”

I think British Columbians should have some clarityabout exactly how decisions are being made when it comesto responding to this pandemic.

My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier orsomebody from cabinet clarify for this House and for the


public who is making decisions about public health meas-ures and what the process is for that decision-making?

Hon. M. Farnworth: Well, obviously, as the memberstated, the provincial health officer has been makingorders and recommendations which have been put inplace for British Columbians to follow.

At the same time, we also take advice in terms of — themember mentions — travel restrictions, and as has beenindicated, cabinet is looking at various options and variousmethods in which those could be put in place, and howthey could be put in place and how they could be enforced.

I would also take the opportunity to remind the mem-ber that it was this government that dealt with the federalgovernment and put in place the first international travelrestrictions in this country that ensured that people had toquarantine, that ensured that people had to have a plan inplace when they arrived to Canada, because there are liter-ally hundreds of thousands of Canadians who live outsidethis country and have the right of return.

I can tell you that, for example, when we started backin April, less than 50 percent of travellers returning to thisprovince had any sort of plan in place. The latest statisticsshow that close to 85, 86 percent of Canadians returning tothe country now, to British Columbia, have a plan in placeon how they’re going to quarantine and how they’re goingto self-isolate.

We will continue to take the steps that are necessary byworking with the federal government and working withour provincial health officer to ensure that the propertravel issues are dealt with and that they’re dealt with com-prehensively and in the best interests of the people of thisprovince.

CRIME VICTIM SUPPORT BENEFITSFOR FORMER CHILDREN IN CARE

K. Kirkpatrick: For many years, there have been vic-tims of crime in care and custody of government who didnot receive benefits they were entitled to receive. Govern-ment let down vulnerable children by failing to apply forvictim supports such as counselling.

To the Minister of Children and Family Development,has the ministry identified how many individuals there arefor whom victim’s benefits were not pursued?

Hon. M. Dean: Thank you to the member for the ques-tion. This is an important matter that I will discuss withmy team, and I will get a response back to her.

Mr. Speaker: The member for West Vancouver–Capi-lano on a supplemental.

K. Kirkpatrick: The Premier’s mandate letter for theMinister of Children and Family Development calls for herto ensure support reaches all youth.

[2:05 p.m.]We know that supports for victims of crime did not

reach many former children in care.Will the Premier direct the Ministry of Children and

Family Development to identify the number of formerchildren in care whose victim’s benefits were not pursued?

Hon. M. Dean: Thank you again to the member for thisquestion. It is a really important matter in my ministry,making sure that we provide supports for children andyouth who have been in government care.

I know the member will know that in my mandate letter,I am asked by the Premier to make sure that we create across-government approach to make sure that we’re ableto provide successful transitions for children and youthwho have been in government care and to make sure thatthey’re able to fulfil their potential. Already the govern-ment has taken really important steps to make sure thesupports and services are there — for example, the tuitionwaiver. That is a wonderful program that so many youngpeople have told me has been liberating for them to access.

I am mandated to work with many of my colleaguesacross government to make sure that we do build thatsuccessful transition. I’m absolutely committed to makingsure that we do that successfully.

M. de Jong: I’m trying to reconcile the minister’s lastanswer — the words — with the actions of her ministry.We know that there are hundreds, if not thousands, offormer children in the care of government, who did notreceive benefits to which they were entitled, as victims ofabuse or other criminal misconduct. Many of those chil-dren, many of those victims, were Aboriginal children.

They are now endeavouring to come together and pur-sue their rights, pursue those benefits that they weredenied. Yet inexplicably, the Ministry of Children andFamilies is opposing their attempt to pursue their rights asa group of victims.

Can the Minister of Children and Families explain whyher ministry is opposing — actively opposing — these vic-tims, who merely want to pursue the benefits they shouldhave received as children in the care of government?

Hon. M. Dean: Thank you to the member for the ques-tion. Our government is absolutely committed to makingsure that we provide supports for children and youngpeople, who have been in government care.

I’m working diligently with other colleagues and min-isters in government to make sure that we’re able to buildthat system, not just for children and youth who are in carenow but to make sure that we’re able to create that pathwayfor now, and into the future, for children and young peopleto fulfil that potential.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Abbotsford West on asupplemental.


M. de Jong: Well, again, I’m having great difficultyreconciling what the minister has just said with what istaking place this week, with her ministry in court, activelyopposing the application being brought by this group ofvictims to have their claim heard as a group of victims.

It’s the minister’s job. She has her role. She is a memberof cabinet, specifically to defend and advance the interestsand protect children in care and, if necessary, protect theirinterests after they leave the care of government. Why isn’tshe doing that?

Instead, she has apparently directed her ministry to act-ively oppose the applications of these former children incare, who are seeking nothing more than the rights andbenefits that they were denied when they were in the careof government.

Hon. M. Dean: Thank you to the member. You willknow that any matter before the courts I’m unable to com-ment on.

[2:10 p.m.]

PROPERTY TAXES FOR SMALL BUSINESSESAND SPLIT ASSESSMENT PROPOSAL

T. Stone: For three years, we’ve been asking this gov-ernment, urging this government to provide real solutionsto help small businesses, which have faced massive prop-erty tax increases based on the development potential ofthe airspace above their heads. Instead, the Finance Min-ister put together an interim tool that, one year later, notone of the 162 municipalities in British Columbia believesis workable. I say that because not a single one of thosemunicipalities is using the tool a year later.

Now, with the NDP imposing further speculation taxeson the air above small businesses, the same minister ispromising yet another interim measure.

My question to the Premier is this. What exactly is thisgovernment’s latest interim plan, and why doesn’t he solvethe problem, permanently today by throwing a lifeline toall those small businesses that are out there, that absolutelyneed the help and are barely hanging on?

Hon. D. Eby: I know that the member has heard theMinister of Finance say that she is aware of this issue andwill be putting in place a solution for it in relation to thespeculation tax. I know the member was also here, becauseI was here, too, when the member was on the governmentside of the House and the issue of split assessments gener-ally was raised. They went many years without addressingthis issue.

It is a challenging issue, but I can assure the memberthat, with the Minister of Municipal Affairs, we willaddress this issue. He can rest assured that it will beaddressed once and for all.

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

T. Stone: Well, this government has been in power nowfor a full term. They’re actually into their second term. Wehave proposed a solution, three years in a row, to addressthis challenge of rising property taxes in a meaningful way.It is clear that the minister has completely botched the file.

As I just said, there is a solution. A broad coalition ofstakeholders, including a working group of mayors, in anintergovernmental committee that was formed a numberof years ago — small businesses, chambers of commerce,non-profits…. They all support the solution that we havebrought to life in this chamber in bringing it forward threetimes, that solution being a commercial property subclassvia a split assessment classification.

Now, last week the Premier said: “I don’t believe it’s fairto tax people for space that doesn’t exist.”

Again, if the Premier is serious about giving small busi-nesses a fighting chance to survive, will he tell his ministerto scrap her failed interim tinkering and axe the tax now?

Hon. D. Eby: There are a lot of members in this Housethat could fairly stand up and talk about trying not tobotch a file, but with all due respect to the member, I don’tthink he’s one of them. I say that from experience.

We will address the issue. The Minister of Finance willaddress the speculation tax issue, and the Minister ofMunicipal Affairs will address, once and for all, the splitassessment issue, as we committed to when we put theinterim fix in place.

BUDGET PROVISIONS FORSCHOOL DISTRICTS

J. Tegart: School districts throughout British Columbiaare facing huge deficits and the possibility of major cuts.The province’s incompetence in delivering a budget ontime has only added to the stress for teachers, students andparents.

Surrey could face a $43 million shortfall; in Richmondand Victoria, more than $7 million; and more than $4 mil-lion in Vancouver.

To the Premier: why are you making school districtschoose between cutting staff, cutting supports or cuttingprograms?

Hon. J. Whiteside: Thank you to the member for thequestion. I know that we all, across this House, value edu-cation. I will say that, over the course of our government’stenure, we have made significant investments in education,on both the operating and the capital side. Now, we havesome sequencing going on here, because school districts,of course, are required by March 15…. We tell them whattheir operating grants will be, and they commence theirplanning for September, as they’re required to do.


[2:15 p.m.]We’re going to see a budget tomorrow, delivered by our

Finance Minister. I am very much looking forward to thecommitments that this government has historically made,with record increases in investments in education. We’llsee what that looks like tomorrow, but there’s no questionthat, over the last three years, we have seen significantincreases in education, both in operating and capital. I’mvery much looking forward to tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker: The member for Fraser-Nicola on a sup-plemental.

J. Tegart: The pandemic has been tough on parents,teachers and students. Trustees, with little support fromthe province, have worked to negotiate through theseunparalleled situations. In particular, the needs for mentalhealth supports and meal programs have seen an uptick asfamilies struggle.

To the Premier, will he commit today to increasing sup-port for mental health and meal programs so that studentsand families who are relying on them don’t have to worryabout them being cut?

Hon. J. Whiteside: She raises very important sup-ports that students receive in our education system —it’s not only the learning; it’s the access to mental healthsupports and to meal programs — and knows theimportance of retaining kids. Making sure that kids haveaccess to those programs in school has been a funda-mental part of our government’s approach to how wehave dealt with the pandemic.

There have been remarkable stories, I want to say, ofteachers, principals, school staff and trustees stepping upto ensure that kids have access and that families continueto be connected to things like meal programs. Our govern-ment has made record investments to correct many yearsof underfunding of our education system. We are goingto continue to do that. We are going to continue to makesure that kids have access to the quality education that theyneed and to the supports that go along with that.

P. Milobar: Back in December, when the only bill thatwe had to debate was delaying the budget for two months,we raised, several times, that delaying the budget wouldhave an impact on groups and agencies and governmentalbodies, like school districts. We were told: “No, it won’thave any impact.”

We just heard the minister say that school districts hadto start getting budgets in by March 15, which is usually amonth after the budget has already been introduced. Thisyear, it’s a month before the budget is introduced, so thereis a lot of worry for school districts.

The member for Kamloops–South Thompson and I metwith our district last week. They have a budget shortfall.

They don’t have assurances that the extra funding forCOVID supports will still be in place in September.

Can the minister confirm today that all of these extrasupports for PPE, for extra staff, extra custodial work — allof the COVID supports that school districts currently havein place — will still be funded in September for them?

Hon. J. Whiteside: Thank you to the member for thequestion. Our government has worked very closely withall of our education partners, rights holder groups,throughout the course of the pandemic to ensure thatschools have the resources that they needed in orderto ensure that the safety plans in our schools are fullyimplemented.

Again, I will say that our government has made recordinvestments in every single aspect of education. We havebuilt new schools. We have seismically upgradedschools. We are building new playgrounds. We areinvesting in mental health. We have mental health integ-rated teams rolling out in school districts. We are mak-ing the investments that kids and families need, in orderto ensure that they get the education they need. We’regoing to continue to do that, and I’m very much lookingforward to tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker: The Opposition House Leader on a sup-plemental.

P. Milobar: The reality is, though, that districts rightnow are facing huge deficits, and we know this to be a fact— $43 million in Surrey; Richmond and Victoria, $7 mil-lion each; $4 million in Vancouver. Kamloops is in a defi-cit, despite draining their reserves. It’s simply broken rightnow, and all that the people are looking for at the schooldistrict tables, are assurances from this government thatcuts will not have to happen. Unfortunately, we can’t getthat today, it sounds like.

[2:20 p.m.]I’ll ask one last question to the minister. There’s been

talk about the consultation being done across the spec-trum. How much consultation has been done with theBCTF about the promise around child care in schools?That is in another area that the Teachers Federation isvery concerned about — the lack of consultation from thisminister and this government on changes that are beingbrought forward by this government.

Hon. M. Farnworth: I must say that I do find it inter-esting, the questions that have been asked in the Housetoday, a lot of them budgetary questions. I can anticipatethe excitement of the opposition, after realizing that a gov-ernment we have had in power now since 2017 has maderecord investments not only in education and in healthcare and in transportation and in infrastructure rightacross this province, has fought a pandemic, ensuring that


all British Columbians get through this and come out ofthis pandemic stronger.

They want to know what’s in that budget tomorrow.Well, I can tell them. Tomorrow afternoon…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. M. Farnworth: …the Finance Minister will standin this House and deliver a budget that they will, in fact, beproud to support.

I am looking forward to that budget being deliveredtomorrow but, most importantly, given all the requests forthe spending that they have made and all the programsthat they want to see in place, that they vote for that budgetwhen we have that vote in this chamber.

[End of question period.]

Orders of the Day

Hon. M. Farnworth: I call continued debate on thethrone speech.

Throne Speech Debate(continued)

E. Ross: I’d like to pick up where I left off on Thursdayin relation to the government’s true opinion and attitudestowards First Nations.

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

You know, what they say in the House doesn’t matchup with what they say outside of the House. Some of theactions of this government in relation to First Nationsissues are still, as I said on Thursday, offensive. Arguing incourt that the Nuu-chah-nulth people, who are trying tofight for their rights and title…. Trying to argue and try-ing to put their argument on them that they gave up theirrights and title, and that they should prove that they gaveup their rights and title, is offensive.

That doesn’t even match up with any type of argumentthat exists in case law in regards to section 35 of the con-stitution, much less your own bill that you’re breaching,your own political bill, UNDRIP. And you’re telling a FirstNation that they’ve given up their rights and title and theyshould provide proof. That is offensive.

And still be running around, patting yourselves on theback, talking about how much wisdom you’ve gained fromFirst Nations people and how much you know about themand bragging about your First Nations heritage…. Thenfinding out that this government is actually arguingagainst children that came out of government care, that arefighting for a benefit that should be coming to them, that

should have come to them in the first place. But this NDPgovernment is arguing against that? It goes beyond offens-ive. There are more words — “tasteless.”

To still come up with a land acknowledgment and talkabout how much you respect First Nations, First Nationsissues, and then claim that you can’t talk about an issuebecause it’s in the courts, when, really, what we’re talkingabout is a position of the government…. We’re not askingyou to divulge your strategy or your argument. We’re ask-ing you: how come you’re not matching your actions withwhat you say with your rhetoric in the House? That’s whatwe’re asking.

To argue against Aboriginal children and non-Abori-ginal children that came out of care? This government isarguing that “no, you don’t deserve that benefit that shouldbe coming to you, because you came out of governmentcare.” Aboriginal or not, where is the caring?

[2:25 p.m.]Where is the long-term outlook for these kids, and now

these young adults, that definitely will need a leg up whenit comes to establish themselves in society?

Another thing: respect. You know, we hear a lot aboutwhat this government is doing in terms of negotiatingAboriginal rights and title away from the treaty table, awayfrom the courts. Negotiating one of most complex issuesin Canada. This is under the…. I’m thinking it’s under theguise of the UNDRIP bill, which is a vague and generalbill. It will be interesting to find out how that plays out. Theother half of that will probably be negotiated on the basisof Aboriginal rights and title established in the courts ofB.C. and Canada under section 35.

Not once have I heard this NDP government talkingabout woman’s equality or their attitude towards FirstNations issues. Not once have I heard them talk about thethree female hereditary chiefs that had their titles strippedbecause of the very topic that the B.C. government is nego-tiating with these First Nations leaders in the first place.Chief Theresa Tait-Day, Chief Gloria George and ChiefDarlene Glaim supported LNG development, and theyhad their hereditary titles stripped by males. Now we findthe B.C. government negotiating with those same leadersand negotiating — guess what? — LNG development.

If there is such a push for women’s equality and havea different attitude towards women, especially women inleadership, why has not this government made any men-tion of these three brave women, who are trying to standup for the future of their people, for the future of their kidson LNG development? Why are these three female leadersnot at that table negotiating for what’s best for their kidsand their grandkids? They’re the ones that care most theirfuture.

In that same breath, we also find out that the chief ofthe Tk’emlúps band has actually got defamatory accus-ations against her — Chief Rosanne Casimir, who onlywants to support economic development and wants theoutsiders off her territory. She gets linked to sex traffick-


ing, a libelous term. Can the government come out and saysomething on behalf of that First Nation in the same waythat they’re defending logging in the Premier’s own riding?It seems that this government only gets involved in thoseissues when it’s politically right for them, politically rightfor the NDP. It doesn’t matter if it’s not right for the Indi-genous people. It doesn’t matter if it’s not right for the B.C.people. Only if it’s politically correct at the time.

But it’s all good, because we make land acknowledge-ments. Since this is a response to the throne speech…. Bythe way, that was a response to the throne speech becausea large part of the throne speech was directed at UNDRIPand Aboriginal people in the insurrection. But apart fromthat, there is no substance to the actual economy, espe-cially when we talk about economic recovery. I found thisone of the most important subjects because I link up theeconomy to the health of the society. But in this case here,these two areas have been separated.

There has been incredible loss to the B.C. economy andan incredible amount of stress. A lot of people have losttheir businesses. A lot of people have lost their jobs. Alot of these people will have long-term losses and stresses.And yes, some of them will have to leave their homes.They’ll have to leave the province. They’ll have to leave thecountry. Especially the breadwinners. This is tough.

I come from a place where there is no economy. Now,thankfully, I’m living in Skeena, where we do have an eco-nomy, thanks to the First Nations and the previous govern-ment to 2017 who had the foresight to fight for LNG since2004, did all the heavy lifting.

[2:30 p.m.]I thank all those people at those tables — all those

Aboriginal leaders. I thank the previous government forreconciling Aboriginal rights and title with the economicwishes of B.C. I thank those people.

There’s more to do in this economic crisis, this COV-ID crisis, that we’re in the middle of, especially whenwe talk with the tourism and restaurant sectors, whichhave been hit especially hard. There is no light at the endof the tunnel for these workers, these people and thesebusinesses, especially when we’re talking about the con-fusing messaging that keeps coming out of this govern-ment. Even customers aren’t sure which restaurants areopen and at what times or under what conditions. So it’snot surprising that these businesses are folding up. Inturn, they’re asking questions: “What next? Where do Igo? What am I going to do?”

It’s quite surprising, when it comes to tourism, that thisB.C. government was caught unaware of the Jones Act, hadno idea that the United States was planning to bypass B.C.ports, bypassing a multi-billion-dollar industry in B.C.This government got caught surprised by it. Yet, it was inthe news. I mean, the economies of Vancouver, Victoria,Prince Rupert…. A large chunk of those economies arebased on the cruise ship industry. You know what this B.C.

government…? Part of their explanation was that that wasabout federal jurisdiction, because it’s shipping.

Well, let’s take a step back a couple of years. It didn’t stopthis government or the B.C. Premier from teaming up withGovernor Inslee from Washington state to stop oil tankersfrom leaving Vancouver harbour. Isn’t this the same jur-isdictional argument? Why is it convenient now to blamethis all on the feds, when back then, this B.C. governmentteamed up with the United States to stop Canadian oil? Butthey never said a word about Governor Inslee’s oil parkingright across from Victoria that was carrying Alaskan oil forthe refineries of Washington state so they could sell gasol-ine and diesel to B.C.

I think the cruise ship industry is actually fundamentalto the B.C. tourism industry, especially in the largest placesthat have built up the infrastructure and built up the busi-nesses around it to take advantage of it. Alaskan leaders, bythe way, are just doing what they’re supposed to be doing.They’re looking after their people. They’re looking aftertheir jurisdictions. Every jurisdiction around the world isgoing to become more and more aggressive in getting theireconomies back on track for the sake of their societies —everywhere except B.C, which is a shame.

We’ve also been talking in this House, for a numberof years — as long as I’ve been here, anyway — aboutwomen and equality. It’s quite shameful that this govern-ment doesn’t actually speak up, in terms of Aboriginalleadership, for hereditary leaders that lose their titles orspeak up for the chief councillor who’s actually under libel-lous charges right now, accusations. Ever since 2004, I’vetaken a different look at women’s issues, basically becausean academic at a conference actually changed my opinionand changed my outlook.

Don’t get me wrong. We’re a melting pot of culture anddiversities in Canada, but we’ve always had a track recordof always trying to improve what we’ve done, includingaddressing those issues that affect women — dispropor-tionately, mind you. How women are being treated, still,in most sectors, is often not brought to light. My exampleof Theresa Tait-Day, Gloria George, Darlene Glaim — thatnever made the papers. It didn’t get high-profile coveragein our media, and it’s wrong.

Connected to that — and there is a lot of connectionhere, in terms of how we’re viewing women — ultimately,we also have to think about the safety, because nobodycould’ve predicted 20 years ago the drug problem that wehave here today in B.C.

[2:35 p.m.]I agree with everybody in this House. We have to do

better to address addictions. We have to do better inaddressing the homeless. But to think back to when theNDP were in opposition, they were claiming that they hadall the answers and the B.C. Liberals didn’t. Well now,under the NDP government, the problem has becomeworse, and the violence has become worse, instead of


acknowledging that nobody expected the horrific types ofdrugs that would be hitting our streets.

I mean, I’d never even heard of crystal meth until a fewyears ago. Crock. I’d never heard of crock. The scariestdrugs in my time were cocaine and heroin, and guys myage were too scared to experiment with it. The generationof today has experienced much, much harsher drugs withmuch, much harsher consequences.

What’s ironic about this is that we all acknowledge it —that the illegal drug trade is here to stay — because nowwe’re all talking about a safe drug supply that’s been shutdown because of border closures. That’s the reason why somany people are overdosing. That’s one of the biggest reas-ons. So take the politics out of it.

Not only do we address the addictions issue and thehomeless issue, but let’s start addressing the safety of thegeneral public. When my wife is afraid to walk in thestreets alone in the middle of the day — she’s afraid — thenwe have a problem. When women are getting attacked andbeaten in their own homes and one dies of complicationslater on, we have a problem. When another woman getsbeaten in her home with a hammer while the intruder goesthrough her belongings, we have a problem.

At the same time we’re addressing addictions and home-lessness, we’ve got to think about the public safety. Thereare many countries around the world that have been tryingto tackle this in many different ways. We don’t have toreinvent the wheel here. Past MLA Jane Thornthwaiteactually proposed the Portugal model in some form —not total, in some form. She tried to explain to us whatit meant to decriminalize drugs, the real meaning behindthat. There are other jurisdictions. We can take those kindsof models and see what’s best for B.C. We can make a tail-or-made approach here, for B.C.

But at the same time, we’ve also got to be doing moreto protect those most vulnerable in our society, includingthose most vulnerable inside those camps in StrathconaPark, on the streets of Terrace, on the streets of PrinceGeorge. We’ve got to do more. We have, at least, got to slowit down a bit — get control of it — because ultimately, ashas been said many, many times before, we’re all in thistogether.

Hon. R. Fleming: Thank you so much for the oppor-tunity to speak today and respond to our government’sthrone speech. I’m honoured to be here this afternoon asthe Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure on thetraditional territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speaking people,the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations.

It is indeed a privilege to be here on behalf of my con-stituents in Victoria–Swan Lake to speak in favour of athrone speech that gives a broad outline for this govern-ment’s priorities, our commitments to the people of BritishColumbia, our commitment to make communities safer aswe navigate our way through the end of this pandemic and

build a better future and build back better as an economyand as a province.

We know that this has been an absolutely extraordinary,once-in-a-century year for the people of our province, forour country, for every country in the world. It is one thathas been tough on families, on individuals, on people’smental health; and tough on business owners, who havestruggled to save payrolls and keep employees employed,to face the uncertainty, to adapt to new health restrictions,to move to new online ways of doing business, to makechange quickly and rapidly, and to work hand in hand withgovernment to be able to do that successfully.

[2:40 p.m.]We have a lot to be proud of in terms of the efforts that

hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of British Colum-bians have put in to keep themselves safe, to keep theirfamilies safe and to look after one another. Long before Dr.Henry implored us, at the outset of this pandemic, to bekind, to be safe and to respect one another, British Colum-bians instinctually were doing that.

One can think of the early days when we would bangon pots and pans, feeling a little bit better knowing thatour neighbours were doing it in unison to show our appre-ciation for front-line health care workers at a time whenwe didn’t even know the properties of the COVID-19 vac-cine, how easily it could be contracted, when this pandem-ic would end, how many people would get sick, what kindof mortality challenge it would present to our province….

That spirit, that ethos of being in it together — eventhough we have had to deal with one frustration andmany setbacks along the way — has endured. It is whatwill get us through to the other side of this health crisis,and it is what will make this province a stronger place,coming out of the pandemic. There are many ways thatwe will see enduring innovations in this economy. Thereare many ways that we will carry on the connections wehave made with people, even while it was difficult to do,even while it was six feet away, or even while it was overa digital platform.

Those kinds of things have been life-changing. Theyhave been difficult, but in many instances they’ve also beenpositive, in terms of bringing us together — to make surethat our kids could go to school safely, to make sure thatwe had child care services in place, to make sure that thecapacity of our hospital system was there to rally aroundthe needs of British Columbians.

We are not there, as we know. I know that the HealthMinister and the Premier are, at this very moment, updat-ing the people of our province about what kinds of newrestrictions are being contemplated to keep us safe as weface new variants, as we enter into and continue in thisthird wave of the COVID-19 virus. We have a lot to bethankful for. We have a lot of people to thank in our lives,and I know that is true for all 87 members of this House.In their constituencies, they have many, many people to beproud of.


It’s no different for me when I look at the random acts ofkindness that I have seen people do on a day-to-day basis.I’m seeing people absolutely refuse a health care worker topay for a cup of coffee and a snack or meal at a restaur-ant, insisting that they’d take care of that for them; bring-ing food over to neighbours who may have been part ofan exposure alert and were required to self-isolate them-selves, unable to shop for themselves and get goods andservices; people stepping up for each other in each andevery way to do things safely, to manage and lean on oneanother for emotional support at critical times.

Life has gone on; it has been very difficult. People havenot been able to go to funerals and pay their respects,in the way that they knew how to do, during this healthcrisis. People have not been able to get married as they hadplanned to do. People had to put on hold a lot of goalsthat they may have had. Post-secondary students have nothad the benefit of in-person learning and the rewards thatcome with that, learning and working with their peers inexciting programs that are part of young people’s plans tobuild a good life for themselves in British Columbia.

But we are in a good place today. We have much workto do. We will have to continue to lean on one anotheragain, but I am not at all surprised by the commitmentthat people, right across our province, have shown for theirfamilies, for their neighbours and for their communities.

With over a million people in B.C. vaccinated and tensof thousands of people receiving their first dose everyday,we indeed can see brighter days ahead. Last year, early inthe pandemic, we had to take stock of the situation thatwas unfolding very, very quickly. We had to look at whatothers were doing. We had to look at the unique chal-lenges that our province faced. We had to take extraordin-ary steps and, in some cases, use emergency powers to putthings in place that were designed to curb the spread andtransmission of COVID-19.

We had to make sure, for people who were unable towork at the time because of sudden changes in the eco-nomy and the lockdown that we were in as a province, thatthere were relief programs created out of thin air — forrenters, for middle-class families, for hard-hit small busi-nesses and for the most vulnerable — so that we couldrelieve the stress for millions of people and so that wecould begin to figure out ways to build back and create asmuch certainty as we could, heading into very uncertainheadwaters.

[2:45 p.m.]I can say without hesitation that I’m very, very pleased

with the response of our government, working alongsidecommunities, individuals, businesses, agencies and Crowncorporations, that people worked constructively togetherand in a collaborative way that made the situation betterfor the people of British Columbia.

We have delivered more help than any other province,on a per-capita basis, to the people that needed it: thosewho were vulnerable on an income basis, those who

were vulnerable in terms of their businesses being chal-lenged. That’s because this government demonstratedfrom the outset that being in it together wasn’t merelywords. It was a call to action for us to put programs inplace, which we did do.

I have to think of some of the things that, a year ago,made life a little bit more certain as we were in the latespring of 2020 and business owners and others wereuncertain about how they would survive, how long thisvirus would last, what kinds of measures they should takewhere their revenues were challenged, where their abilityto meet payroll was very, very difficult.

I have to say that the province of British Columbiaworked very well with the federal government to com-plement a number of initiatives. The federal governmentrolled out things like CERB for workers in all industriesthat were affected. They implemented things like theCEWS program to help businesses that had payroll chal-lenges.

We worked right alongside them to fill in some of thebig gaps that threatened the viability of businesses and jobs— things like reducing the commercial property tax ratesin this province by an average of 25 percent. That’s a $714million investment that was made to help sustain busi-nesses just last year. We brought in a 15 percent tax crediton new payroll in the third and fourth quarter of the year2020 — a $200 million investment to create incentives forbusinesses to restore and create jobs.

The PST rebate, which continues right now, onmachinery and equipment — an investment of almost$500 million by the provincial government to nudge busi-nesses in the direction of innovating, modernizing andadapting their businesses and creating economic activitythat was vital in the province of B.C.

Tax deferrals, implemented immediately on the carbontax and all the other Budget 2020 measures, cost the treas-ury close to $275 million. Of course, a B.C. Hydro for-giveness program, which our government rushed to putin place for all those businesses that were affected by thefirst wave of health restrictions, again at considerable cost— $10 billion worth of extraordinary interventions madeby our government to keep communities, people and busi-nesses whole, to the greatest degree possible that we could.

I’ll get on to some points later in my own ministrywhere we created — again, out of thin air — specific grantprograms for businesses that were extraordinarily affectedby the imposition of the health restrictions that werenecessary to keep people healthy and safe. I think of theinner-city bus companies that were facing a 95 percentdrop in passenger traffic, out of necessity, because we werebanning non-essential travel and encouraging people tostay at home and shelter in place.

Regional airports saw a similar decline in traffic andrevenue to run municipal airports. We created, again, pro-grams, worth tens of millions of dollars of relief, that wereabsolutely vital to maintain the integrity of our transport-


ation system and to make sure that we get to the otherside of this pandemic and are able to rebuild our economystrongly, to “Build back better,” as the Premier is fond ofsaying.

I want to go back and talk just briefly about what Ithink set us up for some additional success, built a strongersocial fabric much before the pandemic — which, ofcourse, nobody could predict — and that our governmentwas busy working on in its first mandate. One of themhas been an incredible help to a province that hasn’t beenaffordable for many, many decades, because of our geo-graphy and a number of other reasons. We created thelargest middle-class tax cut in B.C. history, by eliminatingthe MSP health care premiums.

[2:50 p.m.]Imagine the regressive tax that we had in place, where

billionaires literally paid the same rate of tax as peoplewho made $40,000 a year, to have health care — the onlyprovince in Canada with this regressive tax system inplace, by the way — maintained by the previous govern-ment and, in fact, raised ten times. Almost every budgetyear, over 16 years, they gouged middle-class families withMSP tax hikes. We eliminated that regressive tax com-pletely, saving middle-class families billions of dollars andputting it back into their families for activities they want toafford for themselves and for their children.

We reduced hydro rates, which saved hundreds of dol-lars annually for households in British Columbia. Bear inmind that this is a time when prices for almost anythingimaginable in the economy were going up. To eliminate aregressive tax; to reduce utilities rates, using the power ofB.C. Hydro that we have….

We eliminated road tolls for those who live south ofthe Fraser who paid this regressive, geographic-based dis-criminatory tax, adding thousands of dollars to those wholive in that part of the Lower Mainland to be able to affordthe cost of living, to free up money in their monthlybudgets and be able to support greater affordability. Wewere doing these kinds of initiatives that were making lifebetter for the middle class in British Columbia.

In terms of opportunities for young people, we did someextraordinary things that were, quite frankly, long overduein this province that we couldn’t get any traction for underthe previous government. Ideas that we put into privatemembers’ bills that we advocated for, that we’d lobbied for,year after year, that were never acted upon…. We elim-inated things like interest on student loans. What betterinvestment can a young person make than in their ownfuture by borrowing money to build a better future? Weeliminated the interest rates that were punitive for the debtlevels of graduates in B.C. colleges and universities.

We’re a government that has been supportive of youngpeople pursuing higher education to get better jobs, tohave more income stability, to be able to build a life forthemselves and their families right here in British Colum-bia.

One of the things I’m so proud of that we restored,which had been unilaterally cancelled in 2001-2002…. Werestored a post-secondary grants program. Not only didwe eliminate interest rates on student loans; we createdincentives through grants for those who otherwisecouldn’t afford to go to college or university, and that wasa feature of a budget just three short years ago.

We expanded, in the thousands, post-secondary edu-cation training seats in science, in technology and engin-eering, in digital arts, in mathematics-based degree pro-grams that were long overdue because, for a long time, ittook extraordinary GPA levels and luck, quite frankly, toget into university programs that were part of the new eco-nomy — the technology economy that we live in, that weknew was facing significant shortages in terms of trainingnew young people and supporting innovators and com-panies in our economy.

We made record increases to income and disabilityassistance rates. We introduced the first-ever — if you canimagine this, the first-ever — increase to the seniors sup-plement.

It’s very complimentary today, I must say, now that wehave some of the high-level details of the federal budget,that the Trudeau government has recognized the progress-ive and successful implementation of our $10-a-day childcare strategy. We have created tens of thousands of seatsthat have saved families tens of thousands of dollars annu-ally, to be able to put their kids in high-quality child carespaces.

Our government has also created a spaces fund thathas created those spaces in communities right around B.C.Now we have a federal partner. I’ll await the details, but thefederal government has endorsed the leadership shown byBritish Columbia by echoing the $10-a-day child care pro-gram that we started here just a few short years ago in Brit-ish Columbia.

I was pleasantly surprised to also see the remarkableturnaround of a Crown corporation, the Insurance Cor-poration of British Columbia. I note that the opposite sidetalks a lot about jobs and supporting jobs, but they cam-paigned on privatizing the Insurance Corporation of Brit-ish Columbia in the last election. They’d given up on thiscompany that serves the interests of British Columbians.They’d given up on rate affordability. They’d given up onfiguring out a way to manage this corporation, and theyhad advocated privatization.

[2:55 p.m.]They literally wanted to take thousands of good jobs out

of every community of British Columbia and move themto Toronto, move them to New York, move them to LosAngeles and wherever the big eight insurance companiesare headquartered — not here in British Columbia. Thatwas their magic bullet. “We can’t figure out ICBC. We’rejust going to sell it off.”

Well, we’ve taken a different approach. We have pro-duced probably one of the most remarkable business turn-


arounds that we’ve seen in the province of British Colum-bia. A company that was drowning in red ink, that wasused as an ATM machine by the previous government toproduce fake balanced budgets on occasion — we haveturned it into something that is returning 20 percent ofannual premiums right now. I was very pleased to get arebate cheque myself, and I know that tens of thousands ofmy constituents who insure their vehicles have been reallypleased to save hundreds of dollars on ICBC.

We’ve protected the integrity of that Crown corporation,and we’ve saved the jobs that it sustains in communitiesright around B.C. We didn’t give up on it. We demandedbetter performance, and we got better performance fromICBC. There is more to come on that front, but what aremarkable turnaround.

Let me go back to child care, because I think the federalbudget, again, is going to pay a remarkable dividend forBritish Columbia’s investments that we started doing overthe last three years. We need to create more $10-a-daychild care spaces in B.C. That is our task. But I am sopleased to see, in my community, the capital regional dis-trict, thousands of new child care spaces.

I was a parent with young babies a decade ago, andmore, and child care was hard to find. It was very difficultto afford. Wait-lists were long. Often parents who wereon maternity and paternity leave had to seek additionalaccommodation from their employer because they had nochild care.

To see thousands of spaces opening up in my com-munity, high-quality spaces at places like Tillicum Ele-mentary or Doncaster Elementary…. Saanich communityplace is opening 75 new spaces in June. They’ve continuedbuilding these child care centres during the pandemic,with safe construction practices by the contractors they’reworking with. Victoria High School is going to have abrand-new neighbourhood learning centre with a childcare facility in it. On and on the list goes.

This is something that the previous government abso-lutely neglected and refused to do that’s happening, that’shelping my constituents, that’s making life better and moreaffordable for families here in the capital regional district,and I’m proud of it.

I’m also proud of the wage increases that we’ve madefor minimum-wage workers in B.C. This is a well-stud-ied section of the workforce. We know that the minim-um wage in British Columbia was artificially — brutally,I would suggest — held down and tiered into two tiersfor workers in the economy who had to pay rent and putfood on the table. We’re moving that minimum wage upto $15 an hour.

It’s great to see other administrations starting to seewhat British Columbia has done. It’s great to see that thedoom and gloom from the other side about how bad itwould be to help minimum-wage workers earn more hasin no way panned out. In fact, we’ve had the strongest

employment growth record in the country at the sametime that we accelerated increases to the minimum wage.

I would like to give some shout-outs to specific groupsof workers and companies in sectors in B.C. during thispandemic as well. As the Minister of Transportation andInfrastructure, I want to acknowledge so many workers,whether it’s those on B.C. Ferries who have kept essentialtravel between the Lower Mainland and island communit-ies on the coast safe. We owe them a debt of thanks, andwe continue to owe a debt of thanks.

To truck drivers who have kept goods and services mov-ing — we faced shortages of basic essentials a year ago.People drove through adverse weather conditions to makesure that in places as far away as Smithers, in rural eco-nomies, into the Interior and on to our border in the Rock-ies. The store shelves were stocked, and those deliveriescontinued to be made.

Taxi drivers have been declared essential, and we’vehelped them with our small and medium-sized businessprogram to be able to be strong so that on the other side ofthis pandemic, we will continue to have ground transport-ation services. They bravely took our constituents, peoplein my community and other members’ communities, andmade sure they got to their doctors’ appointments on time,made sure they got to all kinds of essential business activ-ities that they needed to do, in very uncertain conditions.So I want to give them a shout-out.

[3:00 p.m.]I want to give port workers, longshoremen and others a

shout-out as well — $600 million a day into our economythrough our port facilities. The Port Metro Vancouver andour Prince Rupert and Nanaimo ports collectively haveseen, during this pandemic, 109 percent of the activity thatwe saw in the year before the pandemic. Not only did werecover and support the exports and the imports that weneed into our economy and keep this open economy goingin terms of our trade activities; we increased it.

We increased our grain exports to other parts of theworld that came to rely on Canadian grain and food-stuffs. We increased the export of resources and finishedgoods that are made here in Canada and British Col-umbia to support jobs. Those workers in our ports helpmake that happen.

I also want to give a shout-out, as a parent of two kidsin the public school system, to educators, support staff,principals and vice-principals — everybody involved inour school system. It fills me with great sadness to look atAmerican news these days and see the extreme challengethat a number of states have had, where they literally havenot had kids in a classroom for coming close to 15 monthsnow — the toll that has taken on the mental health andwell-being of kids in the U.S.

We’ve had our own mental health challenges here in ourown school system, in our communities, to be sure, butwe’ve also found a way to safely restart our schools and tokeep them going and to support staff in schools with the


resources they need to have strong health and safety proto-cols in place, to be able to keep districts in every part of theprovince open for kids, to help parents and families andcommunities be able to try and adapt to the new reality.

It has taken a tremendous effort, but I think the singlebest mental health intervention we’ve made as a govern-ment was to make sure that we not only reopened schoolssafely this past September but that we actually restoredschool services at the tail end of the previous school yearand finished last June with school going into the summer-time.

Let me speak a little bit about housing. Our governmentis determined to fix some of the housing problems thathave challenged this province for a couple of decades now.We’re working to make housing more affordable forpeople. We have implemented things that the other sideabsolutely opposed but that have produced significant,positive results. The speculation tax, for example, hasmade available 18,000 empty homes that had the lightsoff, that weren’t housing anyone, available to be part ofthe housing supply in our communities. We’re workingright now with non-profits, municipal governments, FirstNations, businesses to build well over 100,000 homes overthe next decade.

I see the results of this here in my own community.In the capital region, we have over 3,000 homes eithercompleted, nearing completion or awaiting approvals rightnow, 800 being constructed during the pandemic andalmost finished up at the University of Victoria, the firsttime that government has made a serious investment incampus housing in well over a decade and a half. So to seethat kind of progress, to see that kind of affordable hous-ing tailored towards the needs of my community and com-munities right around the province, is welcome relief and Ithink is a testament to the skill and talent of ministers whohave been responsible for that file.

I’m very pleased to see the throne speech highlight theimportance of advanced technology in our economicrecovery. We have endeavoured to make an enduring fea-ture of this pandemic connectivity in communities, andwe will soon get close to having 100 percent of homesin British Columbia connected to broadband Internet ser-vice. We have seen tens of thousands of homes becomehooked up to the Internet where they had no service pre-viously during this pandemic.

We’re working right now in my ministry to improve cellcoverage on highway networks right around British Col-umbia. Those are the kinds of things that we need to sus-tain well after the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, andI’m pleased to see that we used this health crisis as anopportunity to advance those kinds of investments.

I’m also really pleased to see the scale of investment thatis happening in transportation infrastructure. We havenever had six concurrent major projects going on in thehistory of British Columbia. But just since the turning over

of the new year, pilings are being driven into the FraserRiver to show progress on the Pattullo Bridge.

[3:05 p.m.]The Broadway subway is mobilizing for tunnel-boring

to complete a $2.8 billion expansion of SkyTrain fromClark to Arbutus. That is the single busiest bus rapid trans-it corridor in North America, and it will soon have rapidtransit investment there, in partnership with the federalgovernment.

The Kicking Horse Canyon project, phase 4 — $600million that we announced. Construction started last weekon that major project to continue the four-laning of high-way to Alberta. On and on it goes. I’m very pleased to seewhat our government has done and will continue to do onthose kinds of investments.

I do want to also thank the ministry, organizations likethe B.C. Road Builders Association and all of the com-panies and contractors affiliated with that. Typically, ourministry completes about 300 to 400 projects a year inthe Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. I think,since we assumed government, about 1,200 projects havebeen completed by our government, representing billionsof dollars in investment. Right now we are tracking 95 per-cent of those 1,200 projects being on time and on budgetin the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Our record in terms of emergency pandemic funds…. Iknow members will have appreciated this in whatever partof the province they live in — around active transportationand putting in trails and local improvements and upgrad-ing forest service roads that connect remote communitiesto their regional hubs. We’ve rushed out projects. We’veput tens of millions of dollars into shovel-ready projectsthat had to not only be begun but completed by March 31— by last month.

I am pleased to say that of the 180 projects that we fun-ded on an emergency pandemic stimulus basis, all 180 ofthose projects were on time and on budget. That is a test-ament to the skill of local government engineers, of localcommunities and of contractors and businesses who filledthe supply chain gaps and made sure that those projectswere delivered. And by the way, they created hundreds ofjobs at a time when they were most needed. Again, thereare so many people to thank for that.

We do have to keep our eye on the economy. We need toget through this health crisis. That was the central themeof this throne speech, which I appreciate. I think BritishColumbians, no matter what their political stripe, will 100percent agree with that. We have got to see out this pan-demic in the safest way possible — protect lives. The Min-ister of Health and Dr. Henry have made a number of keydecisions that have supported that.

But on the economy, there is reason to be hopeful. Wewill see a budget tomorrow that will give additional reas-on. I look at the labour force survey results that came outlast month. It was encouraging to see 35,000 jobs createdin that month alone in B.C. It marked the 11th consecutive


month of job growth. We have now surpassed 100 percentof the pre-pandemic employment levels in the provinceof British Columbia, and we have the highest level of jobrecovery in Canada.

That’s not to be complacent. That’s not to suggest that weshouldn’t continue to work on businesses that are feelingthe pinch right now. It’s to suggest that there is hope, thatwe can do this together, that businesses have been innov-ative, that they work well with government and that jobsare being created. I think that we can work with the sectorsthat are still struggling, support the ones that are seeingsigns of growth and acknowledge that we’re not out of thewoods yet. That’s what the budget will do tomorrow. That’swhat we need to do: continue to make record investmentsin infrastructure, help businesses grow, and keep our com-munities safe.

T. Wat: It is an honour for me to rise in this House inresponse to the throne speech.

I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking to youtoday from the traditional territories of the Musqueam,Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

As is a tradition with the throne speech, I would liketo take a moment to remember the passing of some ofthe community leaders and my friends and loved onesin the year of COVID-19. Nathan Fong, famous chef andmedia personality. Cheryl Pederson, my good friend ChadPederson’s mother. K.K. Wan, dentist and radio talk showhost. Cheng Tseng, film producer, actor and director. JackChow, Chinatown pioneer. Col. Howe Lee, founder of theChinese Canadian Military Museum. Susanna Liu, mygood friend. Mo Kong Lam, air travel and tourismindustry icon. And finally, my beloved father, who passedaway on the day of my birthday.

[3:10 p.m.]Please join me in honouring their contribution to the

province. The community and their families are mourningtheir loss.

I would like to take a brief moment to thank my staffand volunteers who have supported me, and continue tosupport me, as I continue to serve in my role as an MLA,both in Richmond and in Victoria: Hannah Levett, DavidDecolongon and Sam Arno Burgess and all the staff herein Victoria; as well as Trix Chan, David Shum and WilliamTu, my constituent assistants in Richmond North Centre.

Of course, I would like to thank the people of Rich-mond North Centre who have supported me since 2013and have once again put their faith in me to serve astheir voice in Victoria.

Finally, to my 96-year-old mother, who lost her life part-ner of more than six decades during COVID-19 early lastyear; my daughter, Tin, my son-in-law, Terry and my twograndsons, Andre and Ashton; as well as my in-law JohnChung, for their support and encouragement for me tocontinue to serve my constituents and British Columbians.

My riding of Richmond North Centre is a place of rich

cultural and culinary destinations. It is where touristsfirst land by air in British Columbia, as it is home to theworld-class Vancouver International Airport. Richmondis often the first part of Vancouver and British Columbiathat many people get to experience, and it serves us well,as no other community better embodies the spirit ofdiversity, openness and inclusion that we pride ourselveson, as a province.

Hovering around 80 percent prior to the COVID-19pandemic, Richmond’s hotel occupancy rate was amongthe highest in Canada. Diverse year-round, multicultur-al attractions like the Richmond Night Market and theSalmon Festival embody Richmond’s keen ability to notonly embrace its multicultural heritage and identity butcelebrate it. Richmond’s tourism and hospitality sectorsare major economic drivers, having contributed morethan $1.5 billion in economic output and employing tensof thousands of full-time employees and equivalents inthe city.

This pandemic and the events of this past year haveimpacted all of our communities in many different ways.Here in Richmond, many of the things that make up ourcommunity’s unique identity are the reason our com-munity has struggled so much over this past year. Becausewe are home to a wide variety of the small and independ-ently owned businesses, our community was hit incrediblyhard by the economic challenges of COVID-19.

Because Richmond, like many communities in B.C.,deeply values family, friends and community, our residentshave felt an incredible mental and emotional strain afterbeing separated from our loved ones and our way of life.

And because Richmond is one of the most multiculturalcommunities in Canada, with a strong Asian-Canadiancommunity, we became fearful of the horrific rise inracism and hate crimes perpetuated against many of ourminority groups.

Because we pride ourselves as one of British Colum-bia’s great tourism destinations, our community felt thesame impacts that were felt across B.C.’s struggling tour-ism industry.

Tourism is one of our major economic drivers not justas a city but as a province, a $20 billion — $20 billion —industry that employs hundreds of thousands of workersin communities from all corners of B.C.

Back in July, a tourism operator asked for $680 millionfrom this government in order to make a full recovery.Remember, this is an industry that has lost an estimated$16.8 billion in revenue due to COVID. What this govern-ment offered them was a fraction of this, $100 million, andnot even all of it has made it out of the door into the handsof tourism businesses. Many of our tourism businessesand cultural exhibits, like the Richmond Night Market andPNE, don’t even qualify for the business grants. Yet thisgovernment has ignored their calls to revise the criteria.

[3:15 p.m.]On February 10, the Premier said that help was on the


way for large attractions. That was over two months ago,and we have seen nothing from this government. On April15, the Vancouver Aquarium was purchased by an Amer-ican company because they could not find funding.

According to the latest COVID-19 tourism impactreport, only 8 percent of tourism businesses in the Van-couver, Coast and Mountains region and 12 percent oftourism businesses in the rest of the province have beenable to access the small and medium-sized business grant.Coincidentally, only 8 percent of tourism businesses in theVCM region and 15 percent of businesses in the rest ofthe province reported business as usual. This is in starkcontrast to only 51 percent of all fully opened businessesin this province reporting business as usual. This clearlyshows that this government has left tourism behind.

On top of this, government has made no effort to delayor offer any respite from the fixed costs and expenses thatthese businesses are still subject to. This is despite theirown Tourism Task Force report’s sixth recommendation todefer or relieve the fixed costs of businesses.

The travel agency industry has seen little to no revenuesince travel was restricted a year ago due to the pandemic,yet Consumer Protection B.C. chose to still charge themnearly $800 in licensing fees in March 2020 and again thismonth.

Ontario and Quebec’s consumer protection agencieshave waived their fees until 2022, yet this government haschosen to do nothing. A total of 68 travel agencies, mostlybased in Richmond, have petitioned this government towaive their licence renewal fees since they’re experiencingfinancial hardships due to COVID-19. The travel agencieshave had almost zero income throughout the past year, butthey still need to pay for their licence renewal fees andrental costs. They are desperately in need of any govern-ment assistance to survive.

Hotel operators in the city of Vancouver have half oftheir property taxes due at the beginning of the year. Insome cases, the tax bill far outstripped their revenues forthe last few months. Not only does this put B.C. tourismoperators at a significant disadvantage to many of theircounterparts in neighbouring provinces; this government’sinaction on the issue directly contradicts recommenda-tions outlined by the Tourism Task Force report — the taskforce this government commissioned.

With the restrictions on indoor dining extended, whatis government going to do to support the restaurants andhospitality industry, beyond the small and medium-sizedbusiness grants? How is government making B.C. a wel-come place to do business, when small businesses andtourism operators are being taxed for the air above theirheads via the speculation and vacancy tax? What steps isgovernment taking to protect B.C. tourism operators andensure B.C. is ready to accept tourism and recover onceborders are reopened?

Government has a record of ignoring the concern ofB.C.’s tourism industry. The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act

would allow cruise ships to bypass B.C. ports like Vancou-ver and Victoria, a direct attack on our suffering tourismindustry. Alaskan senator Lisa Murkowski says: “Missinganother cruise season will only compound the economicfallout that’s been devastating for so many families.”

[3:20 p.m.]Alaska is taking direct action to protect and preserve its

tourism industry, at our province’s expense. Yet the Pre-mier — who was warned about the issue in a February12, 2021, letter from Alaskan senators Lisa Murkowski andDan Sullivan — has not spoken up on the issue. If the Pre-mier continues to remain silent on the issue, we risk per-manently losing hundreds of millions of dollars in cruiseship tourism revenue, plus the hundreds of B.C. businesseswho rely on cruise ship traffic.

Cruise ship tourism is responsible for $2.7 billion inrevenue as well as 20,000 jobs directly and indirectly inthis province. Every cruise ship that visits Vancouverbrings $3 million in direct activity to the local economy.They had 288 ships visit in 2019.

Thanks to this government, our tourism industry hasbeen one of the hardest-hit and least-supported sectorsthroughout this pandemic. Victoria lost an estimated $130million in tourism revenue in the 2020 season, while theentire B.C. tourism industry lost $16.4 billion, of an annual$20 billion, in GDP.

When we asked the minister in the House what govern-ment is doing to protect our tourism sector, she insistedthat this was a federal issue and that they are insteadfocused on the vaccine rollout. Good news, but it didn’treally answer our questions. While it is also welcome newsthat government will be hiring 1,400 furloughed workersfrom the tourism and hospitality sector, this is less than 1percent of the sector. We want to know what steps govern-ment are taking to ensure that our tourism sector makes afull recovery and isn’t subject to permanent job losses.

Our tourism and hospitality industries are facing morechallenges than ever before and are looking for a strongvoice in Victoria to bring forward their concerns at a timewhen they feel ignored and alienated by their government.I will continue to do everything I can to connect with thisindustry’s leaders and stakeholders and ensure that theycontinue to have a strong voice in this House.

Government has a responsibility to prevent the spreadof racism, just like they are responsible for preventing thespread of the pandemic. Like much of their response, theiractions feel like too little, too late for British Columbians.While government insists they are bringing forward thefirst anti-racism legislation, they are quickly forgetting thelegacy of the previous B.C. Liberal government and thesteps they took to change B.C. legislation to reflect anti-racism values.

As minister, I worked to help implement recommend-ations that were made in response to the province’s apo-logy to Chinese Canadians in 2014, including identi-fying historical sites, introducing curriculum about the


legacy of Chinese Canadians and reviewing over 2,000pieces of legislation to permanently remove discriminat-ory provisions.

We have seen escalating incidents of racism and hatecrimes perpetuated against British Columbia’s minoritycommunity since the beginning of the pandemic. Govern-ment has inherently failed to enact policy or legislationimmediately to effectively address these issues. However,there’s more work to be done when we see the recentincrease in anti-Asian racism in our society. The Vancou-ver police reported an over 700 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes.

[3:25 p.m.]I stood on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery on

March 28 at the Stop Asian Hate rally. We need to educateBritish Columbians, not just about the experiences of Asi-an Canadians who are experiencing racism during thispandemic but about the discrimination historically andcurrently experienced by Indigenous, Black, South Asian,Jewish, Muslim, and other cultural and religious groups inour society.

I have asked for government’s support to proclaim May29 as anti-racism education day. We have even been cir-culating a petition for this proclamation. It has garneredand surpassed, I was just told, the milestone figure of 5,000signatures in just slightly over a week, including from 170advocacy groups, including Punjabi, Jewish, Filipino, Viet-namese, Taiwanese and a wide array of religious and cul-tural organizations. Over 50,000 people have viewed thispetition and this anti-racism education day initiative. Brit-ish Columbians are speaking up, and our governmentshould listen.

Our mission to eliminate racism and intolerance goesbeyond partisan lines. It is a mission that every member ofthis House must commit to. I’m begging you. I hope gov-ernment will use their time to not only connect with oppo-sition members but all British Columbians to support andpromote anti-racism initiatives.

I remember when MLAs from all sides of this Housestood in honour of the International Day for the Elimin-ation of Racial Discrimination and recalled much of Brit-ish Columbia’s dark history, including the Chinese headtax and the Komagata Maru. To fight against racism, wemust not only address the grim realities of our history butalso acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of cultur-al minorities to British Columbian history and identity.

A key example is the Chinese Canadian heritagemuseum, a project that members of our Chinese com-munity have been advocating for, for years. While I’mpleased to see government taking steps to see this projectthrough, a temporary exhibit is a temporary solution. Ihope that government will map out a clear plan for thefuture steps of this project following the provincial budget.

[R. Leonard in the chair.]

This throne speech should have inspired British Col-umbians to get through this final push and allow themto prosper in a post-pandemic economy. Unfortunately,it has failed to do so and instead has relied on moreempty promises. The Premier cannot keep asking us totrust him when we see cases rising and the economy indecline. Now is the time for a real plan. Why are there nosupports for business as the third wave continues to hurtthem economically? Where are the supports for indi-viduals who need them?

If the Premier said we needed a snap election to picka clear direction forward, then why is this throne speechso muddled and opaque? Worse yet is that so many of theNDP promises we are seeing in this throne speech are justrehashed, unfulfilled promises from four years ago.

[3:30 p.m.]The throne speech acknowledges the hardship facing

families and the financial stress that households are facing.This government is acknowledging the hardship, yet hasburdened British Columbians with 23 new and increasedtaxes. It is so illogical, but they aren’t just taking moremoney from the pockets of British Columbians.

They aren’t just taking more money from the pocketsof British Columbians; they are also wasting it. Moreinfrastructure projects will be subject to communitybenefits agreements, which may add up to $4.8 billionin overhead costs to construction projects across theprovince. The federal government has already made itclear that they will not contribute additional fundingsimply because this Premier has chosen to burden thisadditional cost onto B.C. taxpayers.

Several projects have also been delayed by this adminis-tration. The Pattullo Bridge is reduced in scope yet is stillgoing over price. This government is literally paying morefor less. Calling the Massey Tunnel replacement a prior-ity without a plan is an insult to Lower Mainland com-muters, who are still unfairly facing the worst bottleneckin the province thanks to this government’s inaction.

Additionally, we know from the experience of culturalminorities in British Columbia that racism is alive andwell in B.C., and this government is not doing enoughto address it. Government has a responsibility to preventthe spread of racism, but their actions feel like too little,too late for people of colour in British Columbia. TheSpeech from the Throne does not properly address theneed for the elimination of racism in B.C. and the need forincreased education.

While government promises to do more, they areleaving vital anti-racism initiatives like the proclamationof an anti-racism education day on the table. It is timefor this government to stop playing politics and to sup-port the petition — 5,000 now, over 5,000. Themomentum is gathering for an anti-racism educationday. It is only through education that intolerance can beeliminated, and I call on every member of this House tocommit to this important task.


This Speech from the Throne is an utter failure for thetourism industry, families facing increased hardships,British Columbians of colour and the overall well-beingand future of our province. This government promised todo more and called a risky and dangerous snap electionduring a global pandemic to achieve their power-hungrygoals. But instead of delivering on their campaign ideas,this government is recycling old partisan lines and repeat-ing the same old promises. I must say, and I hate to say it,but I have to say it. I can’t lie. I hope all members of thisHouse will say something from their heart.

I am extremely, extremely disappointed by this unin-spiring Speech from the Throne. I’m confident, becauseI’ve been talking to so many of my constituents. They callour office and call me and WeChat me, WhatsApp me totell me that they feel the same. It’s simply an uninspiringSpeech from the Throne.

If this is the best the NDP can do, I’m afraid to say Brit-ish Columbia is facing a very challenging next four years.

F. Donnelly: I rise to participate in the debate on theSpeech from the Throne. I’d like to acknowledge I’m on thetraditional unceded territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋin̓əŋ-speakingpeople and the Songhees First Nation.

[3:35 p.m.]Our government’s top priority is protecting people’s

health and livelihoods while we also ramp up the distribu-tion of vaccines to protect British Columbians. This pan-demic has been tough on everyone, and we can finally seethe light at the end of the tunnel.

I received my AstraZeneca first shot last week, joiningthe Premier and more than a million British Columbianswho have also received their first vaccine and thousandsmore who are getting theirs daily. We need to continue tolook out for each other and protect our loved ones. We willget through this.

I look forward to our budget tomorrow, which willfocus on improving health care, helping our businessesgrow and hire, and investing in public infrastructure.When COVID-19 hit the province last year, our govern-ment moved quickly to provide relief for renters, middle-class families, hard-hit small businesses and the most vul-nerable. In fact, the supports shown for British Columbi-ans during this pandemic is one of the reasons I decidedto run for MLA for Coquitlam–Burke Mountain. I saw ourgovernment delivering direct help for people throughoutthe pandemic, more than any other province in the coun-try, and I wanted to help.

Our government understands that this pandemic affectseveryone differently. As others have said, we are in thesame storm, but not the same boat. I am confident, withtargeted economic investments, we will all be paddling inthe same direction to ensure the recovery leaves no onebehind.

Small businesses in my riding are struggling and

many have had to close or reduce services to protecttheir workers and customers. To help them, our govern-ment cut property taxes, prohibited commercial evic-tions and forgave hydro bills. We introduced tax incent-ives to hire workers and make new investments. We willcontinue to support businesses that have been hardesthit by the pandemic while building a more sustainableeconomic future. We will support a resilient economicrecovery by putting people to work and helping busi-nesses get goods to market.

Over the next year, we will continue to provide evenmore support to ensure British Columbians come backfrom this pandemic stronger and more resilient. We willimprove health care by reducing surgery wait times andbuilding more hospitals and urgent primary care centresall over British Columbia. We will make life more afford-able by cutting ICBC rates by 20 percent, expanding accessto $10-a-day child care spaces and helping get thousandsof British Columbians affordable rental homes.

We will support businesses with grants to help thembuild online stores and by supporting the B.C. strategicinvestment fund. We will build more inclusive communit-ies by developing B.C.’s first anti-racism law. We will helpmake new investments to boost connectivity in more ruralcommunities. We will protect the environment by reform-ing forestry legislation, continuing to take action onrecommendations to protect old-growth forests andimproving waste management for plastics.

As Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries andAquaculture, I’m working to tackle the tough challengesthat face B.C.’s wild salmon and their habitat — theocean where they live and the watersheds where they’reborn. It’s clear British Columbians not only revere iconicwild salmon; they also have a real affinity for our marineenvironment. We appreciate it for its beauty, its role inthe planet’s health and for the food that it has providedfor thousands of years, not to mention the jobs and eco-nomic opportunities.

The 2021 salmon season is forecast to have below-aver-age returns coastwide and to generate significant chal-lenges for fishers, conservation and management. This isnot a new situation. There have been ongoing challengesfor this industry for several years now. The time forchange, though, is now. We must focus our efforts onrestoring wild salmon habitat and revitalizing salmon pop-ulations.

That is why the Premier has asked me to take the leadand work with the federal and Indigenous governments ondeveloping new strategies to protect and revitalize B.C.’swild salmon populations. We’re going to do that by doub-ling the size of the salmon restoration and innovationfund. I will mention in today’s federal budget, it was justannounced that they are committing to double their $100million to the BCSRIF, which is welcome news.

[3:40 p.m.]We will revitalize B.C.’s wild salmon populations. We’re


going to do that by doubling the BCSRIF fund and imple-menting the recommendations of the Wild Salmon Advis-ory Council. We’re also going to ensure more B.C.-caughtfish is processed locally.

To date, the BCSRIF innovation fund has supported42 projects, with more than $71 million of funding. Lastsummer B.C. posted an update in the development of ourwild salmon strategy. The update included measures tostrengthen the legal protection of fish habitat and obligateproject proponents to minimize or avoid destruction,harm or alteration of fish habitat.

In 2019, the B.C. government provided the Pacific Sal-mon Foundation with $5 million to help grassroots organ-izations and their communities with salmon restoration,conservation and enhancement projects to protect thisimportant species for the next generation of British Col-umbians. These projects showcase the collaboration hap-pening right now in B.C. communities, as we work togeth-er to save wild salmon.

British Columbians want us to work with our federal,First Nation, local and community partners to ensurethis iconic species not only survives, but thrives into thefuture. We’re going to continue to build a wild salmonstrategy that we can all be proud of. Like the mightywild salmon fighting to swim upstream each fall duringspawning season, I look forward to continuing to protectthis iconic species.

Last month the Minister of Environment and ClimateChange Strategy announced a new economic recoveryinvestment that will help restore watersheds and wetlandsthroughout British Columbia. Healthy watersheds meanhealthy communities and a robust environment. Throughthis $27 million investment, about 750 people will be hiredto restore watersheds and protect the environment andhelp communities mitigate the effects of climate change.

Healthy watersheds, wetlands and estuaries are criticallyimportant for climate adaptation, as they can reduce theimpacts and costs from increased floods and droughts andwildfires. These initiatives will help communities adapt toclimate change by restoring threatened watersheds, wet-lands and estuaries so they are healthier and more resilientto the impacts of climate change.

I’m also working closely with the Minister of State forLands and Natural Resource Operations on a provincialcoastal marine strategy. Our goal is to better protectcoastal habitat while supporting coastal economies.Whether it’s recovering B.C.’s wild salmon, supporting theexpansion of shellfish aquaculture, exploring new tech-nologies for finfish aquaculture or new opportunities formariculture, like seaweed and kelp, we are looking at arange of ways to protect and support B.C.’s coastal com-munities and local economies.

I look forward to working with the minister, coastalFirst Nations, the federal and local governments on aplan that supports coastal communities into the future.

I believe it’s important to consult, learn, listen and takeaction.

In the first few months of my mandate, I’ve met withmore than 20 different organizations, from the fisheriessector, environmental non-profit organizations, theaquaculture sector and First Nations. I want to acknow-ledge their work.

Wild Salmon Forever, Watershed Security Coalition,Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C.; the Sport FishingInstitute of B.C.; First Nations Leadership Council of B.C.;the First Nations Fisheries Council of B.C.; Chief ErnestAlfred; Western Angler, Brian Tutty; B.C. Seafood Alli-ance; Dr. Dick Beamish and Dr. Brian Riddell, the PacificSalmon Foundation; Rick Hansen; Polis; Stand.earth; B.C.Salmon Marketing Council.

Humane Society International, Canada; Taste of B.C.Aquafarms; the Fisheries Council of Canada; the DavidSuzuki Foundation; the Shellfish Growers Association ofB.C.; Erik Neatherlin, the Washington state governor’ssalmon office.

[3:45 p.m.]UBC researchers Dr. Evgeny Pakhomov, Institute for

Oceans and Fisheries; Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Fisheries Eco-nomic Research Unit; Dr. Andrea Reid, Centre for Indi-genous Fisheries; Dr. Scott Hinch, Pacific Salmon Ecologyand Conservation Laboratory; Dr. Brian Hunt, the PelagicEcosystems Lab.

I’ve met with the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association,including Mowi, Cermaq and Grieg Seafood, and I’ve metwith the Metro Vancouver regional district.

While our work may get partisan from time to time,I want to also acknowledge that it’s important to workcooperatively on issues that impact all British Columbians.With that in mind, I reached out to the official oppositionfisheries and aquaculture critic, the member for West Van-couver–Sea to Sky, to welcome his input on fisheries andaquaculture issues. I also know that there are many of hiscolleagues, like the member for Prince George–Mackenzieand the member for Fraser-Nicola, who have much to con-tribute in this area as well.

I reached out to the member for Saanich North and theIslands to let him know that I welcome his input and hisideas on fisheries and aquaculture. I know he is passionateabout wild salmon, and I appreciate his past work on theWild Salmon Advisory Committee.

As I said in the beginning, this pandemic has takena toll on all of us. But it has also made us resilient andbrought us together to work with each other so we canadapt and overcome.

I’d like to turn my focus on how government will becontinuing to help my riding of Coquitlam–Burke Moun-tain. My number one priority is ensuring that BurkeMountain secondary and middle school receives funding.Coquitlam and the Burke Mountain neighbourhood havebeen growing rapidly, and our government understandsthat more classroom space is needed. That’s why we acted


fast to announce nearly $100 million in Coquitlam to add930 new student spaces to the district, including $52.3 mil-lion to build a new 430-seat Sheffield elementary school onBurke Mountain. That school is expected to be opened thisyear, allowing more families in the neighbourhood to sendtheir children to school closer to home.

We understand there is more work to do, and we arecommitted to bringing another new school to BurkeMountain for middle and secondary school students inthe neighbourhood. I’ve been advocating for another newschool in Burke Mountain as my top priority. I have beenworking closely with the Coquitlam school district and theCoquitlam city mayor and council as well as Burke Moun-tain parents.

As a working parent, having a middle and secondaryschool in the community is very important to my con-stituent Tina. In 2016, on the promise of those schoolsbeing built, her young family moved to Burke Mountain,and she’s not alone. Shreya tells me: “Many of us madethe decision to purchase a home and raise our familieson Burke Mountain after being informed about plans toopen middle and secondary schools.” Parents Erica andAnthony wrote to me, saying: “We decided to move tobeautiful Burke Mountain because of the promise of com-munity services, parks, and, most importantly, schools.”

The community is growing, with more and more youngfamilies moving in every day. “We need a middle school,”they say. Tanya and Arvid moved to Burke Mountain in2010, with the intention of sending their daughter tomiddle school on Burke. They simply say: “Please help.”I recently met with Isabel, Terry, Damien, Nicole, Jimmyand a number of other Burke Mountain parents who toldme similar personal stories. Every day, hundreds of pre-teens and teenagers living on Burke Mountain have totravel by city bus to get to their middle and secondaryschool outside the community. It’s hard on them, and it’shard on their parents.

[3:50 p.m.]A high school for the area has been talked about since

I was on Coquitlam council back in the mid-2000s. Lastyear I was proud to stand with the Premier to announcethat a blended secondary and middle school would be fun-ded. School district 43 has submitted their concept planand put together a sophisticated planning team with thecity of Coquitlam. They, along with the Burke Mountainfamilies, are ready to get this 12-acre project moving.

In fact, Burke Mountain parents are so eager that theymet with me last week to talk about that. I look forward toworking with Burke Mountain parents, school district 43and the city of Coquitlam on this exciting project.

I’m working hard to ensure Pinecone Burke ProvincialPark gets the support needed to ensure park users have aquality experience, from enjoying Crystal Falls to hikingsome of the most remote trails, and that people get homesafely. Speaking of safety, I’m working with CoquitlamSearch and Rescue to help find a suitable location to store

their equipment. They do valuable work in our com-munity, and I thank them for their services.

Many people in Coquitlam–Burke Mountain live inapartments and townhouses, and the cost of strata insur-ance has increased dramatically over the past two years.I’m working closely with a number of strata councils andmanagers in my riding, listening carefully to their needsand suggestions. We’ve met a number of times, virtually,and they have already put forward good suggestions thatour government is currently reviewing.

Our government is working hard to improve housingaffordability, to increase child care spaces, to improvetransit and public infrastructure, to lower ICBC rates, toprovide better supports for seniors and people with disab-ilities, and more support for stewarding the environment,and to support local businesses, non-profit organizations,cities and regional governments. I know there is morework to be done. As the member for Coquitlam–BurkeMountain, I look forward to working with those in mycommunity to ensure that they get the support they needto live a better life.

I’d like to acknowledge the work of a few of my col-leagues, starting with the tireless Health Minister, who hascontinued to respond to this provincial emergency everyday since the pandemic started last year. I also want tothank my minister — the Minister of Agriculture, Foodand Fisheries — for providing me with all of the support Ineed to deliver on my mandate priorities. I want to thankher for that.

I’m looking forward to working with the Minister ofEnvironment and Climate Change Strategy on developinga watershed security strategy and an associated fund totackle the tough challenges facing B.C.’s watersheds fromdroughts to floods in the face of a changing climate. I’malso looking forward to working with the Minister of Statefor Lands and Natural Resource Operations on returning,and allowing our public officials to properly address,forestry and rural development policy by separating itfrom Lands and Natural Resource Operations. Thisimportant work needs our full attention.

I know the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Recon-ciliation is excited to be working with First Nations inB.C., supporting and accelerating the transition to co-gov-ernance as quickly and responsibly as possible. I know theMinister of Mental Health is working hard to address theprovincial and, indeed, national emergency of the opioidcrisis, the real problems of addictions that impact toomany of our families in B.C.

[3:55 p.m.]I look forward to working with her and the Minister of

Housing, the Attorney General, on the new master planthat’s being developed on the səmiq̓ʷəʔelə, the Riverviewlands, which are now renamed by the Kwikwetlem FirstNation and which means “the place of the great blue her-on”. I was honoured to take part in that renaming


announcement, along with the Minister of Finance, theMLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville.

Speaking of the member for Coquitlam-Maillardville, Iwant to acknowledge the work of the Minister of Finance.I remember when I first saw her make a presentation toCoquitlam city council. I was on council at the time; shewas a citizen. Her passionate, knowledgable presentationreally impressed me, and I know it impressed my col-leagues. When our paths finally crossed again, sometimelater, I suggested she run for council, which she did. Shewas successful.

Then she ran for MLA, and late last year was appointedMinister of Finance and is doing the tough work of bal-ancing and supporting all the priorities in the province.We’ll see the fruits of her labour and of her ministry’s worktomorrow. But I want to acknowledge how proud I am tosee just how far she has come since that late-night present-ation so many years ago at Coquitlam city hall.

Madam Speaker, I’d like to thank you for the opportun-ity to provide my input to the Speech from the Throne.Thank you very much.

Deputy Speaker: The Minister of State for Infrastruc-ture.

Hon. B. Ma: Thank you so much, Madam Speaker, andit’s a pleasure to see you in that chair.

It’s an honour for me to rise to speak in response to thethrone speech. I want to begin by acknowledging that I’mcoming to you live from the territories of the Musqueam,Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh in my constituency of NorthVancouver–Lonsdale. I also want to start by thanking thepeople who supported me in arriving to the place that Iam today, with this great privilege of serving the people ofBritish Columbia.

I have been well supported over the past four yearsby wonderful constituency assistants at my communityoffice, but I want to particularly thank Mack and Michelle.Through all of the last year, Mack and Michelle have beenworking from home but working hard and tirelessly non-etheless, serving the people of North Vancouver–Lonsdale.They made sure that we were able to help disseminateinformation, answer questions, connect with communitymembers and ensure that people could access the help thatwas available to them through some of the most anxiety-ridden and stressful times in the lives of people in ourcommunity.

I also want to thank the incredible people, my volun-teers and my donors, who came out to support my re-elec-tion campaign in COVID-safe ways. It was a very difficultand different campaign. Without the hustle and bustle andsocial energy that normally accompanies an election cam-paign, I was concerned about our ability to get the wordout. I was concerned about our ability to attract volunteersto our campaign, but we still found a way to do so andstill found a way to communicate why re-electing a New

Democrat government was so important for British Col-umbians at this critical time.

I have my volunteers and my donors to thank for that,as well as my amazing campaign team led by the verybrilliant, very dynamic and capable Stephanie Ryan, whoreturned to manage my campaign once more in 2020.

I wouldn’t be here without the steadfast support of allof the members of my local riding association executiveas well, which is now led by Rhonda Spence, and I’m verygrateful and fortunate to have her in that role. In keepingwith the trend of having smart, hard-working women bymy side, I’m also pleased to have Risha Sharma, GurveenDhaliwal and Nicole Hansen, who support me in my min-isterial role out there in Victoria.

[4:00 p.m.]Finally, I want to thank my amazing family — my moth-

er, my father, my sister and, in particular, my brilliantpartner who has been with me [audio interrupted] andstuck with me despite my endless late nights working, daysaway from home, absent-mindedness for important dateslike birthdays and anniversaries and general over-obses-sion with my work. Through all of it, he’s cared for me,kept me fed, kept me loved and safe in ways that I will nev-er be able to repay. I’m really grateful to him.

The throne speech spoke of a strong and resilient BritishColumbia. I think we all owe that to our people, BritishColumbians, of whom I know every single member inthe House is deeply proud. I can say that I’m particularlyproud of the resiliency shown by my community of NorthVancouver over the past year, and I’m not solely talkingabout COVID-19.

Earlier this year a man stormed through the Lynn Valleycommunity on a rampage, stabbing seven people. It is anact of violence that has left our community reeling, butit is the heroism and the community spirit that I wantto speak about today. While the violence was occurring,people scrambled to help one another, pulling each otherinto safety and performing first aid until emergencyresponders arrived.

Sheloah Klausen was one of the community heroes.She’s a longtime biology teacher at Argyle SecondarySchool. Sheloah ran towards the scene and went to theaid of a woman who was being attacked by the man andbeat him off with her umbrella. The attacker then stabbedSheloah in the back of the head. Fortunately, she and fiveother victims survived. However, sadly, the seventh victimpassed away from their injuries.

What followed this nightmarish scene, however, wasan outpouring of support and community spirit that hasbecome familiar for our beautiful North Vancouver com-munity. An enormous public memorial of flowers and wellwishes filled the street. Hundreds of thousands of dollarswere raised to support the victims and their families. All ofthis is a testament to the strength and power of our com-munity and, certainly, of love.

North Vancouver has had a very difficult year. The


first death to COVID-19 in all of Canada happened ata long-term-care facility in North Vancouver on March8, 2020. What followed were gruelling months for theresidents, their families and the staff at the Lynn ValleyCare Centre.

I personally remember the weekend following theannouncement of the coronavirus outbreak there veryclearly. Panicked community members and family mem-bers had called me about a horrible situation at the carecentre, where almost no staff had shown up to care for theelderly, leaving families to fill in the gaps at the danger-ously understaffed facility. I was on the phone, of course,right away to the Minister of Health, who had alreadyheard about what was happening and was, thankfully,working very rapidly to correct the situation.

It was still early on in British Columbia’s experiencewith the coronavirus, and the fear was palpable. It was thisfear that a man who was later arrested and charged tookadvantage of when he made a hoax phone call to the LynnValley Care Centre that directly resulted in the staff short-age that weekend. It was a very serious and very danger-ous hoax that I could not believe somebody would do. Icouldn’t believe that anyone would do such a thing. I can’timagine what his motivation was. It was a grim and deeplyconcerning start to what would follow, to become a year-long pandemic for British Columbians, with the days stillcounting forward.

The virus did its damage and spread through carehomes throughout the region and beyond, and peoplewere asked to stay in their homes as much as possibleto stay safe. I remember how critical Dr. Bonnie Henry’swords became: “Be kind; be calm; be safe” — a criticallyimportant motto for British Columbians. For the mostpart, British Columbians did follow that motto, giving upsocial visits, closing down businesses, giving up wages,staying home, all in the name of keeping their communitysafe, not just for themselves but also for those that theydidn’t know.

[4:05 p.m.]But not everyone could stay home. All across British

Columbia, critical workers continued their daily journeysto their jobs in grocery stores and bike shops, into hos-pitals and care homes, to their jobs driving ferries, buses,taxis, sea buses and trucks. They cared for our children,our elderly, our vulnerable. They kept our homes powered.They kept us fed. They kept us safe.

We all learned who the truly essential workers of oursocieties were. They weren’t the wealthy stock traders, thehigh-priced corporate lawyers or Lamborghini-drivingexecutives in expensive suits. They were regular peopledoing regular, underappreciated front-line jobs, many ofwhom are paid some of the lowest wages in our province.This is why it was so important for our government to con-tinue to raise the minimum wage, and now it is set to be$15.20 per hour effective June 1.

All of this, all of our success here in British Columbia,

could not have been possible without the work of BritishColumbians — those who stayed home and certainly allof the essential workers, who I say thank you to, from thebottom of my heart.

As you can tell, of course, it has been a difficult time.There is not a single person who doesn’t have a story ofhow the pandemic has impacted them in some way. It’shad a significant impact on our mental, emotional andphysical health, and it’s here that I really want to acknow-ledge the strength and unity of British Columbians as awhole. But what I admire most is our resiliency duringthese challenging times and how we as British Columbianshave come together to support our communities, ourneighbours, our families and even strangers.

We aren’t quite all the way through the storm yet. Westill have a ways to go. But with vaccine distribution nowunderway, there is better weather ahead. That’s why ourgovernment’s top priority is protecting people’s health andlivelihoods as we accelerate British Columbia’s vaccine rol-lout. With over one million people in B.C. already havingreceived their first vaccine dose and thousands more get-ting it every single day, I feel a cautious hope and anoptimism that we’ll soon be able to come together physic-ally once more.

With our government’s new mandate now well under-way, I find myself with added duties on top of my respons-ibilities to my community as their MLA. It is an honour toserve on the Premier’s executive council as his Minister ofState for Infrastructure and an absolute pleasure to workwith the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure indelivering the transportation projects and services thatpeople need and rely on. Over the past several months, theminister and I have worked closely to develop a plan forthe future while also delivering what people need today.I’m proud to see this reflected in our government’s thronespeech.

COVID-19 has changed a lot about the way that we liveour lives and certainly about the way that we travel. Trans-it ridership is down, around the world, and while we areseeing promising returns of ridership in Metro Vancou-ver, many other places are unsure of whether their rider-ship numbers will ever recover. We have to recognize thatpeople are now working from home, and video conferen-cing meetings have become a mainstay in our householdsseemingly overnight. Telecommuting, I suspect, is likelyhere to stay, but there’s still a question as to what extent itwill permanently replace physical commutes. It’s still hardto say right now.

There are some things that we know will likely notchange. We know that people will continue to want safe,integrated, efficient and affordable ways to get around, towhere they need to go. That means that as a government,we must continue to strive for forward-thinking transport-ation systems and networks that meet the needs of thosepeople.

When the pandemic is over, there is very little doubt


that climate change will still be an issue that we must pulltogether to resolve for the sake of our children’s futures.That means we must continue to reach for low-carbonfootprints in whatever transportation systems we enable.

[4:10 p.m.]Transportation systems will still need to be designed

with awareness of the inequality that exists in our com-munities and an intention to enable greater socioeconomicjustice. All of this means that the commitments our gov-ernment made prior to COVID-19 to invest in publictransit, to invest in affordable housing, to work with localgovernments in order to create livable communities andincrease active transportation and enable micromobility— all of this — will continue to be incredibly important aswe move forward through and out of this pandemic.

Our government’s continued commitment to priorit-ize public transit funding will still be critical. We’re mak-ing a historic capital investment. That means more busesand more rapid transit but more bus rapid transit as well,more SeaBus service and new rail rapid transit lines —all of this representing the largest investment in transitin B.C.’s history.

As mentioned earlier, transit ridership numbers are stilla long way from pre-COVID levels, but we’ve been work-ing closely with TransLink and B.C. Transit to ensure thatthey can continue to provide better essential services,because we know how important a strong transit servicewill be to our success on multiple levels as we begin torestore the economy through B.C.’s restart plan.

Our government intends to continue to support transitin B.C. and further invest in it by expanding its infrastruc-ture. Work broke ground, for instance, this spring on theBroadway subway line, a project that will expand masstransit capabilities along what has been, prior to COV-ID-19 at least, the busiest bus route in Canada and the U.S.Demolition is currently underway along the station loca-tions to make room for new stations, and we really lookforward to bringing the new service online in 2025.

Our government has also heard from local governmentsin the community around the need for transit optionsbetween Surrey and Langley. More growth in Surrey andLangley regions means more commuters and travellerswho need efficient and reliable transportation options toget around the region. So we’re going to be working hardto deliver the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain to meet the needsof that growing region.

But public transit isn’t the only mode of transport-ation we need to pursue in our path towards a cleanair transportation system. We need to give people moreenvironmentally, socially responsible choices in howthey can move around and live their lives. That’s why Iwas really proud to support former Minister of Trans-portation and Infrastructure Claire Trevena in herrelease of Move, Commute, Connect, which is B.C.’s act-ive transportation strategy.

Move, Commute, Connect will continue to be our

government’s strategy to double the trips taken by activetransportation by 2030, and it’s part of CleanBC that willcontinue to be our climate action strategy. This commitsus to reducing overall GHG emissions in our provinceby 40 percent by 2030, 60 percent by 2040 and 80 per-cent by 2050.

Now, like I mentioned earlier, a lot has changed aboutthe way that British Columbians travel, but we’ve also seenhow communities can fill the void that was left by rapiddeclines in public transit usage during the first couple ofmonths of COVID-19 with more active transportation.We’ve seen communities open up car-free roads to encour-age walking and cycling. I feel like I’ve never seen morecasual bike riding in the communities around me thanthere has been during COVID-19.

In some cities, road space has been repurposed forpeople, rather than as parking, as communities work toexpand patios and other services out into the roads thatwere previously reserved only for what are, effectively,large steel cages on four wheels.

I’m reminded of a 2019 study, actually. It was titled TheSocial Cost of Automobility, Cycling and Walking in theEuropean Union. It calculated that every kilometre drivenby a car incurred an external cost of about 17 Canadiancents, whereas cycling and walking brought in benefits ofabout 28 and 58 Canadian cents per kilometre. So whilethere are still very important reasons to invest in roads andhighway infrastructure in many parts of British Columbia,there are also opportunities, particularly in more denselypopulated areas, to choose how we encourage travel beha-viour to rebound after the pandemic.

[4:15 p.m.]The world is different now, and we don’t know for sure

what lies ahead, but the need for continued focus on clean-er, healthier transportation choices that enable livable, sus-tainable communities absolutely remains.

We know that the need for reliable road infrastructureand highway networks throughout British Columbia willcontinue to be critical as British Columbia rebuilds its eco-nomy and retools for the future. Highway networks con-nect people to services, goods to market and communit-ies to communities, while bridges and tunnels help BritishColumbians navigate the challenging natural landscapesof our province. So it’s important that we maintain andreplace critical infrastructure throughout our province,not only to maintain and improve connectivity but also aspart of our work to create good, family-supporting jobsand invest in our communities.

Projects like the Pattullo Bridge replacement projectcreate jobs for B.C. workers and support economic growthby providing new reliable infrastructure — in this case,a new and reliable bridge that replaces an aging piece ofinfrastructure. For years, we’ve heard from communitymembers and stakeholders about the safety concerns andtraffic issues that they experienced on the bridge. The nar-


row lanes made it difficult for people to move aroundsafely, and at night, lane closures meant longer delays.

Our government has been listening to these concernsand has been engaging consistently with key stakeholders,including local governments and First Nations. I’m pleasedto say that in-river work began on the project earlier thisyear and that we’re proud of the project and the work thatwe’ve done with our partners in the community. The newbridge will also create safe and accessible infrastructure forpeople who travel by bike or on foot, or who use othermobility devices, through the development of a multi-usepath and connections.

Replacement of the George Massey Crossing is anotherimportant priority for our government. Collaboration andcommunity are critically important, and that’s why ourgovernment has taken the approach that we have on theGeorge Massey Crossing project.

The George Massey is a vital crossing for people in Deltaand Ladner travelling into Richmond, Vancouver and therest of the region. It’s also a critical part of Highway 99,which is an important trade corridor that becomes the I-5as it crosses into our southern border. It’s the only roadin the U.S.A.’s interstate highway system to run all theway from Canada down to Mexico, and Highway 99 andthe George Massey Crossing is an important part of that.Our government received the business case for options toreplace this crossing late last year, and I look forward toproviding an update on the way forward on this projectsoon.

Over toward the east, we know that the Fraser Valleyis also growing at a very rapid pace, and our governmenthas heard from people that they’re frustrated and tired ofspending time away from their families as they travel alongHighway 1. Highway 1, as many of you know, is not onlya major connection between communities in the regionbut a key corridor in the transport of goods and serviceswithin our province. Approximately $27 billion of goodstravels along the Trans-Canada Highway to the Albertaborder alone, every year.

The Premier has made it clear that the concerns of thepeople who live in the Fraser Valley are his concerns andthat our government will make the Fraser Valley a priorityfor us in a way that previous B.C. Liberal governmentsdid not. That’s why capacity improvements along Highway1 are proceeding with haste to create a reliable, efficientcorridor to support the movement of people, goods andservices. Additional HOV lanes have already been exten-ded along Highway 1 from 202 Street to 216 Street, andconstruction is set to begin this summer for the ten-kilo-metre stretch between 216 and 264. Plans are simultan-eously proceeding for work out to Whatcom Road.

In addition to our work on transportation, the thronespeech highlighted concrete actions that will be taken overthe next year and over the next several years to ensure thatB.C. comes out of the pandemic stronger and more resi-

lient. We’re going to be doing this by doing what we’vealways done, which is by focusing on people.

We’ll be improving health care so B.C. is better preparedfor future challenges. We want to address cracks in thelong-term care that COVID-19 has exposed. Certainly,I’ve spoken about some of those. Thank goodness, we’vealready addressed many of them, but there’s more to do.We’re also continuing to work on reducing surgery wait-times, building more hospitals and urgent primary carecentres in every part of British Columbia.

[4:20 p.m.]We’re also continuing to work on our promise to work

toward affordability. We’ve eliminated MSP premiums sofar, which has saved families up to $1,800 per year, andintroduced the B.C. child opportunity benefit, whichprovides families with children under 18 years old up to$1,600 per child, per year.

We’ll continue our work in making life more affordablethrough changes to ICBC that will cut car insurance ratesby 20 percent. But we’re also expanding access to $10-a-day child care spaces. Child care investments are incred-ibly important to my community, where we have manyyoung families trying to not only make ends meet, buttrying to get ahead. It’s also particularly important in thecommunity of North Vancouver–Lonsdale, where many ofthe families that I serve are led by single parents. Nearlyone in five families with children in the city of North Van-couver are led by single parents, so access to child care isextremely important.

Access to affordable housing is also exceptionallyimportant, not only for those families and individuals whoare of lower income and experiencing poverty, but alsofor many individuals and families who are middle income,who require rental homes or housing options within thatmissing middle that we talk about. So our government isgoing to be continuing our work building out social hous-ing, supportive housing, but also below-market, affordablehousing for families with middle-level incomes.

I was really pleased to see the Attorney General, Min-ister of Housing, announce recently the added investmentof $2 billion into our HousingHub program, which is spe-cifically designed to support the development of middle-income housing, on top of, of course, the supportive hous-ing and the social housing that our government is alreadyfunding and supporting all throughout the province,including right here in North Vancouver.

We’re supporting businesses with grants to help thembuild or expand online stores. We’ve introduced legislationto support the operations of InBC strategic investmentfund. Pardon me, I should say that again. It’s called InBC— i-n-b-c, all one word. It’s a strategic investment fundthat will help promising B.C. firms scale up and keep morejobs here in British Columbia.

We’re also going to be building more inclusive com-munities by developing B.C.’s first anti-racism law. I’m sograteful for the appointment of the Parliamentary Secret-


ary for Anti-Racism. The work that she has been doing sofar, her understanding of the issue, her passion for fightingracism, brings me great hope that we’re going to be able totake some very serious steps towards a much more inclus-ive future here in British Columbia.

We’re also going to be introducing landmark legisla-tion to remove barriers to accessibility and barriers toinclusion that are experienced by British Columbianswith disabilities.

We’ll continue to do our work to better protect theenvironment, of course, with sectoral targets for GHGreductions. For transportation, our sectoral targets for2030 are to reduce our GHG emissions by nearly one-third. Transportation accounts for about 41 percent of theGHGs that British Columbia is responsible for. So this isan extremely…. It’s a large but also extremely importanttask, and we’re going to be doing that work.

Finally, I see that I’m running short on time here, somaybe I’ll end with my concluding remarks, which is howone usually ends very long speeches like this. I want to saythat community has really played a significant role in ourlives over the past year, even as we’ve stayed apart. What Ifound is that we found ways to really strengthen the feel-ings of community within people. As we look for waysto support one another, to lift each other up and to keepourselves safe, it’s community that has brought us togeth-er when we were physically apart. It’s community that hashelped us weather the COVID storm.

[4:25 p.m.]I’m really honoured to speak here today in support of

our government’s throne speech to highlight the ways thatwe are looking out for our communities and the peoplewithin them. I look forward to working with every mem-ber of this House to ensure that we, as a province, are ableto come out of this pandemic strong, healthy and resilient.

Hon. A. Kang: I’m grateful to be here on the traditionaland unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish andTsleil-Waututh peoples, and I thank them for the ability togather and work on their land.

As an immigrant, I often reflect on the glorious beautyof this land, especially on such a beautiful day as this one.I am honoured to rise today to speak on and support thethrone speech.

Since 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, ourlives have been turned upside down, for the past year.We are still living in a global pandemic, but despite thepandemic, British Columbians have proven to be full ofhumanity, full of hope and love, but most of all, resili-ent. Together, we will continue to be strong and standin solidarity as we fight this pandemic with courage andcompassion.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the constituentsof Burnaby–Deer Lake who have put their faith in me toserve our community. It is their voices that I bring to thischamber with me every single day, and I am reminded that

it is a gift and an honour to be able to serve the citizens ofBritish Columbia.

Throne speeches are opportunities to express gratitudeand thanks. I’m able to serve at the Legislature because ofmy team, my friends and, last but not least, my family. Iwant to give a big shout-out to my campaign team, whoworked so hard to get me re-elected in the fall so that Icould continue my service to the people of British Colum-bia. As well, I want to thank my dedicated executive mem-bers, who serve on my executive riding association.

I also want to thank my hard-working and dedicatedteam of constituent assistants in Burnaby for keepingthings going on the home front and making sure that myconstituents are well taken care of. Special thanks to Alis-on Gu, Nick Hsieh and Joe Huo for serving the citizens ofBurnaby–Deer Lake with heart, and, of course, my family.I want to extend my love to my parents — my mom, Suz-anne Kang, and my dad, Colin Kang — for their uncondi-tional love and support for me.

On election night, when I was re-elected, my parentswere some of the first to text me. They didn’t text con-gratulations or anything along that line, but rather, asa minister and minister’s wife, they reminded me:“Daughter, you have more responsibility before you.Always remember to be humble.”

Thank you so much, Mom and Dad, for that reminder.As well, I want to recognize my kids — my teenaged

kids now — Elizabeth-Anne and Theodore, who are mybest cheerleaders, my sunshine and my love.

Last but not least, I want to say thank you to all myfriends, all of them, whom I call my brothers and sisters,who have continuously stood by me and supported methrough stormy days and roller coaster rides — and that’sfiguratively. You are all like my family, and I couldn’t bemore grateful, so thank you all.

This year is a year like no other. All of our lives havebeen turned upside down for the past year because of thepandemic. I want to express my most sincere gratitude toour front-line workers, our health care workers, teachersand first responders for their service and sacrifices thatkeep our province and our country safe. Everyone in ourcommunities and our province has been impacted by thepandemic, and everyone has demonstrated strength andresilience that continues to inspire us.

I would like also to take a moment to point out howimportant it is for all members elected to gather heretoday. This chamber is the linkage between British Col-umbians and the government. This linkage is essential to arobust democracy. That is why I am incredibly honouredto be here today to share a few thoughts on the speechfrom the throne.

[4:30 p.m.]

[N. Letnick in the chair.]

Not only is this an opportunity for us to reflect upon


everything that we have been able to accomplish together,as British Columbians, since this government was formed,but it is also an important vision of how we can continuethe progress that we have made, how we can fulfil ourcommitment to every citizen and how we can build B.C.back better.

From day one, our government has been about people.We hit the ground running, and we haven’t stopped since.I want to thank Her Honour, the Hon. Janet Austin, foropening the first session of the 42nd parliament of BritishColumbia with words of strength, leadership and compas-sion in such a challenging time for our province. I appre-ciate how her speech focused on people and protecting thehealth, safety and livelihoods of British Columbians dur-ing the pandemic and post-pandemic, into our recovery.

I want to take a moment to pay my respects to thefriends and families of the British Columbians who areno longer with us. May our thoughts and prayers be withthem always, and may their memories encourage us tocontinue our efforts to flatten the curve and to get throughthis pandemic and work towards building a better future.I know that many people across the province and my con-stituents have been negatively impacted during this pan-demic. I am encouraged that the vaccination plan is wellunderway and providing our community members withthe protection they need.

As the rollouts continue, my office continues to supportcitizens, especially seniors and those who don’t speak Eng-lish as a first language, with the resources to register fortheir vaccination. Many tell me how thankful they are forthe multilingual services offered by our government web-sites and information dispatchers and to be able to beinformed with the most updated and factual informationabout provincial health orders and the vaccination plan.

I know times are tough right now and that many famil-ies, seniors, young adults and individuals are struggling tomake ends meet. I have heard challenging stories of seni-ors who are having to make hard choices between pay-ing their rent or paying for medication. This pandemichas exacerbated financial pressures for many of those whowere already trying to balance a household budget.

As noted in the throne speech, our government willbe taking more steps to make life more affordable forBritish Columbians. In the upcoming 2021 budget, wewill continue our commitment on our 30-point housingplan to build thousands more rental homes across theprovince to help to keep the housing costs down for ourcommunities.

For the first time ever, we have also made an increaseof $50 per month to the seniors supplement to ensure thatseniors have guaranteed minimum income level for those65 years of age and older. Our government has also madea permanent $175 per month increase to those on incomeand disability assistance.

Small businesses are the fabric and backbone of ourcommunities. In response to the needs of businesses dur-

ing the pandemic, our government has initiated the smalland medium-sized business recovery grant. Most recently,government has extended the timeline and expanded theeligibility criteria to increase the support that is desper-ately needed for those who have been impacted.

One of my favourite places to shop, buy fresh produceand get delicious takeout is Crystal Mall. Crystal Mall is abeautiful multicultural hub in one of Burnaby–Deer Lake’svibrant multicultural neighbourhoods. Unfortunately,business in Crystal Mall has been greatly impacted sincethe early onset of COVID-19. When the Minister of Jobs,Economic Recovery and Innovation came out with thesmall and medium-sized business recovery grant, my staffteam and I visited Crystal Mall and all of the businessesalong the Kingsway business corridor to introduce theprogram. We visited several bubble tea stores, Tala Florist,Famous World Travel and On On Wonton House. That’sjust to name a few.

Of course, at all times as we visited, we maintained theprescribed physical distancing and abided by the healthand safety measures as recommended by provincial healthexperts. Our government’s launch of the recovery grantwas very well received. Thank you to all small and mediumbusinesses in B.C. for all your different contributions toyour communities.

[4:35 p.m.]I would also like to highlight other members of the

Burnaby–Deer Lake community who have made valuablecontributions to our neighbourhoods during the pandem-ic. Burnaby–Deer Lake is home to many organizationsthat have been doing exceptional work in supporting ourneighbours. Since the beginning of the pandemic, MOSA-IC’s Burnaby family centre has continued to support new-comers and refugee families. Their food hub distributesgroceries from the food bank to family homes and sup-ports 38 families in Burnaby per week, which means thatthey are feeding 162 family members a week.

Burnaby Neighbourhood House also plays a significantrole in providing food to the community during the pan-demic. Their free frozen dinner delivery initiative, in col-laboration with Willingdon Church, serves 600 meals perweek to seniors with mobility issues.

Tian-Jin Temple, also located in my riding, works tosupport the vulnerable population with their Vancouveroutreach program with the distribution of fresh food andproduce. One of their youth, Nancy Wang, was a recipientof the B.C. Multicultural and Anti-Racism Awards, in theEmerging Leader Award. Nancy’s volunteerism aims tosupport and lift up vulnerable people and break down ste-reotypes towards Chinese youth and other youth of col-our. Congratulations, Nancy, on the award. It is so welldeserved.

April is autism month. As a former elementary schoolteacher with a focus on special education, I want to takethis opportunity to recognize parents, teachers and thosewho program to support people living with autism. Most


recently, I virtually connected and met with Canucks Aut-ism Network B.C., which is a provincial network that isdedicated to enriching the quality of life of individualswith autism and their families. I appreciate the extraefforts that CANBC puts in to support families at this chal-lenging time.

All of these strong networks, all of these non-profit andcommunity programs are all unique in their own ways.But they have one common mission: to find creative solu-tions to support our neighbours, our communities, duringCOVID-19 and beyond. I am so proud of the local andprovincial organizations who champion these programs tohelp our community.

As a former teacher, a mother and a lifelong learner, Ibelieve that education is a key part to building our future.Post-secondary education and trades training give peoplepower over their own lives, and this empowerment is avalue that is deeply close to my heart. That is why it is atrue honour and privilege to be serving as the Minister forAdvanced Education and Skills Training and to continuethe work of our B.C. NDP government.

Work is already underway to benefit students and theirfamilies in the weeks and months to come. Our govern-ment has been working hard to support learners andworkers. According to the labour force survey, B.C. cur-rently has the highest job recovery rate in all of Canada,with months of sustained growth. We know that youngpeople, post-secondary students and recent graduates havebeen disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Giventhe support and resources to succeed, our college and uni-versity graduates will play an important role in our eco-nomic recovery.

On June 1 of this year, the minimum wage will beincreased to $15.20 per hour, and the serving wage will beeliminated. This is going to benefit not only young peoplebut those who have seen the service industry as their call-ing. For too long the lower serving wage created a differentclass of worker, and I am proud to support this increase toensure that people in the service industry are compensatedfor the hard work they do.

[4:40 p.m.]The throne speech also talks about new transportation

infrastructure investments, such as the Broadway subwayexpansion and the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain.

It also talks about improvements to digital connectivityin rural and remote communities. As our post-secondarysystem has shifted largely online during the pandemic,these connectivity investments will help students stay safeand provide increased accessibility for them to learn intheir own homes and home communities.

As an MLA and also as Minister of Advanced Edu-cation and Skills Training, I love connecting with stu-dents and listening to their educational journey. Oneperson, Kimani Wa Karangu, is one of my constituentsand is currently a PhD candidate in the faculty of educa-tion at UBC. Not only is Kimani passionate in his stud-

ies, but he is also equally passionate about giving backto his community. He currently serves as a presidentof Graduate Student Society at UBC, also president ofKenyan Community in B.C. Society and also a memberof Swahili Vision International Association.

As a president of UBC Graduate Student Society andan international student from Kenya, he shares with methe positive impacts of our government’s initiatives inmaking post-secondary education affordable and access-ible to all graduate students. As he works towards hispermanent residency, he is very happy to hear that hisclassmate is a benefactor of provincial scholarship funds.He is vocal about issues on affordability, racism, equity,inclusion and diversity. He is also an advocate for mentalhealth supports.

During the pandemic, I met with students and dis-cussed their need for more mental health supports forpost-secondary students. Affordability is important andon top of the minds of students, but equally importantis mental health. My ministry worked with the Ministryof Mental Health and Addictions on a new mental healthprogram called Here2Talk, for all students enrolled in aB.C. post-secondary program. Students, whether domesticor international, enrolled in a public or a private institu-tion, studying locally or enrolled in a B.C. program inter-nationally — everyone who is enrolled — can receive 24-7mental health support from the Here2Talk program.

Programs such as the B.C. access grant that supportslow and middle-income students’ access to a need-based,upfront grant of up to $4,000 — this is enhancing afford-ability to post-secondary education.

Emily, a student in the bachelor of arts at Capilano Uni-versity, is a recipient of the B.C. access grant. She shareswith me: “Receiving the B.C. access grant is such a relief. Itisn’t just financial aid. It demonstrates that the communitybelieves in me and the contributions I make to society. Itmeans I have more opportunities to focus on my learningand my plans for the future, rather than having to worryabout whether I’ll have enough money for my textbooks.”Emily’s story brings light to our work as a government thatinvesting in affordable and accessible post-secondary edu-cation is not only key to student success, but it makes last-ing impacts on students’ overall lives.

Our expansion of 250 graduate scholarships this yearwill continue our legacy in supporting graduate students,with more chances to explore and enhance their researchprojects. We know that students, faculty, staff and the com-munities they live in still face unprecedented challenges totheir daily lives.

These success stories reflect the positive work that ourgovernment has done and will continue to do. I have beenimpressed by the resolve and the leadership that everyonein the post-secondary and skills-training sector hasshown, and I am committed to working with everyone toaddress issues head-on.

[4:45 p.m.]


The Premier has given each minister a mandate letter todirect our work that delivers on our commitments to Brit-ish Columbians. I am committed to working with my cab-inet colleagues to create thousands of new tech spaces totrain people for low-carbon jobs of the future, while alsoensuring that no one gets left behind.

My ministry is contributing to our government’s30-point plan on housing by investing in student housingat our public colleges and universities. These student hous-ing facilities aim to be net-zero carbon neutral and withrent below market value. Our student housing program ismaking quite remarkable progress. Our most recent datashows that government, in partnership with our publiccolleges and universities, has committed or has alreadybuilt approximately 6,000 of our 8,000-bed target.

Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor talked about howbudgets are about choices. Our government is choosingto invest in students, to invest in education and to investin the future of our province. Our government is alsochoosing to support our skilled workers and putting valueback into B.C.’s trade system. The B.C. Liberal governmentchose to eliminate the compulsory trades system with nothought to the long-term impact on our trades systemin the province. Our government is making a differentchoice.

Together with the Parliamentary Secretary for SkillsTraining and the Minister of Labour, we will be working torestore the compulsory trades system to add value to ourtrades jobs. Our government is also helping B.C.’s econom-ic recovery by investing tens of millions of dollars in thenew skills training program for Indigenous Peoples andcreating new training seats for health care assistants, earlychildhood educators and mental health workers.

I am deeply passionate about education and aboutimproving the accessibility of post-secondary education soall learners have the opportunity to be equal participantsin our economic recovery. I want to share a quote by KofiAnnan. He said: “Education is a great equalizer of ourtime. It gives hope to the hopeless and creates chances forthose without.” Similarly, Jim Clyburn said: “Education isthe great equalizer and shouldn’t be limited to the wealth-iest few.”

I know the importance of accessibility and affordabilityof education, and I will work hard with government toexpand the B.C. access grant program to help keep educa-tion costs affordable. With my colleagues, I’ll be workinghard to expand and strengthen the tuition waiver programfor former youth in care past the age of 27.

I know this year has been very difficult for students.Post-secondary education has been very different this aca-demic year. I want to thank all students for being resilientand determined. I want to express my appreciation to alluniversity and college faculty for your agility to pivot toan online model, hybrid model or in-person instructionwith safe physical distancing. Public university and college

students can continue receiving the high-quality educationB.C. is known for.

As Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training,I am absolutely committed to continuing to support thehalf a million students who are attending our post-second-ary institutions across B.C. There is light at the end of thetunnel. Alone, we can do so little, but together, we can doso much. Together, I believe that we will all come out ofthis even stronger.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, for this opportunity to speakand support the throne speech.

Hon. J. Osborne: It’s my honour and privilege to risetoday in unceded Tla-o-qui-aht territory to speak to thethrone speech.

[4:50 p.m.]First, as is often tradition, I will start off with thank-yous

myself, noting first of all the people of Mid-Island–PacificRim, who have placed their faith and confidence in me torepresent them in this chamber. It is a true privilege to dothe work that I do and one that I take time every single dayto reflect upon.

I’d like to thank my constituency assistant, AndreaMcDonald, who is the face of this Legislature in my riding,especially in this time of COVID while our constituencyoffice has not reopened to the public. Her diligence inresponding to the needs of our constituents is remarkable.Her guidance to new constituency assistants and to othernew MLAs is deeply appreciated.

I also want to note the staff in the minister’s office,from Municipal Affairs, who are equally incredible andvalued. They are Hannah Luscombe, Heidi Reid, LindsayBanh, Roari Richardson and Robyn Spilker. I also wishto extend my thanks to Christine White and Jade Ash-bourne, both of whom were essential in my early weeksas minister before they departed to serve in a differentministerial office.

Finally, I want to thank the public servants who workin the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. While the fruits oftheir labour are felt every day in communities across Brit-ish Columbia, they are, perhaps, not recognized nearly asoften as they should be. I thank them for the work thatthey do.

In my response to the throne speech today, I divide itroughly into thirds. First, to provide some observationsabout the throne speech and the work of reconciliation.Second, while there are many topics from the thronespeech that I could touch on, I know time is limited, so I’vechosen just a few highlights to speak to, primarily smallbusiness and its role in economic recovery. Then third, theMinistry of Municipal Affairs and the work of local gov-ernments and communities in this time of a pandemic.

This throne speech is the first and, I hope, the onlythrone speech that serves as a bridge between two states ofreality. As it was delivered, we were still in the midst of aCOVID-19 pandemic.


When this session of parliament ends, we all hope thatthe COVID-19 pandemic is largely, if not entirely, behindus and that we’re fully focused on building a strong recov-ery that works for everyone, as well as continuing the hardwork ahead on the pressing issues of incredible import-ance that existed well before the pandemic struck, such asthe opioid crisis, the mental health and wellness of Brit-ish Columbians and what another member referred to lastweek as the existential crisis of climate change.

As a new MLA, I thought it would be instructive to readthrone speeches from past sessions of parliament. Overthis past weekend, I spent a few hours combing throughthe past 50 years of throne speeches. Thanks to the Legis-lative Assembly’s website, I was able to do that easily.

Tradition and history are important to understand, andthey are important to honour, even though, as societieschange and the very composition of government changesto be more reflective of British Columbians, we shouldexpect and even demand that these traditions will change.Indeed, this is evidenced in the throne speech.

I noted these changes that are happening. First, theacknowledgment of First Nations territories. Second, theinvolvement of Indigenous People and people of diversefaiths in offering prayers or reflections before the thronespeech. Finally, that First Nations languages are beingspoken, at first by Indigenous Peoples themselves and nowby a Lieutenant-Governor who, herself, is not Indigenous.

The first words of this throne speech read by Her Hon-our the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia werespoken in SENĆOŦEN, the ancestral and ancient languageof the W̱SÁNEĆ people. I think it’s important to pausea moment and acknowledge this — that the Lieutenant-Governor, the Queen’s representative in British Columbia,for the first time ever in a throne speech, both opened withwords in an Indigenous language, before switching to Eng-lish, and then closed, as she has done many times before,in an Indigenous language.

I find that the deliberate and thoughtful and intentionalapproach that Her Honour has taken in respect to learningwords of the W̱SÁNEĆ is an inspiration. To those mem-bers in this House who did not find everything they werelooking for in this throne speech, I trust they also findinspiration in this — what might seem like a small movebut one that, put together with many actions, small andlarge, forms part of the individual and collective journeyof reconciliation that we are on with Indigenous Peoples.

The member for Saanich North and the Islands spoke tothe throne speech last week, stating that “the Declarationon the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act is an importantstep forward. But just because we have taken a step for-ward, it’s incorrect to assume that all is well. This is a jour-ney with no end.”

I agree with the member. It’s entirely appropriate, in myview, that the member challenges this government to domore and to work harder. He certainly has my commit-

ment and, I believe, the commitment of all members ofthis House.

[4:55 p.m.]The member is absolutely correct. Reconciliation is a

journey with no end. I am certain that this will be someof the richest and most rewarding work that we will do asmembers of this Legislative Assembly, not just in this ses-sion, nor in this mandate, but for years and years to come.

As was noted in the throne speech, government recog-nizes that our future must be one where we share decision-making and prosperity with Indigenous peoples who haveexercised their inherent rights on their respective territor-ies since time immemorial. Further in the throne speech,the hard work has only just begun. To be successful, itmust be done together.

Speaking further to the work of reconciliation, themember for Saanich North and the Islands further notedthat he is reminded to judge actions, not words. Thisreminds us all that we are accountable to the commitmentswe have made, such as those in DRIPA. Just last Friday ourgovernment reached an agreement to provide Wet’suwet’enHereditary Chiefs $7.2 million in funding to support theimplementation of their rights and title, a three-year fund-ing commitment to support them in their work on gov-ernance and the shared goal of reunification within theWet’suwet’en Nation.

I know that all members of this House understand thatpart of the meaning of the UN declaration on the rightsof Indigenous Peoples is their own personal commitmentsto listening, learning and working with First Nations inwhose territories our ridings lie, our invisible system ofboundaries that is imposed over a landscape that has beennurtured and stewarded for generations and generations.

Last Friday, in my capacity as an MLA, I met with theHa’wiih, the hereditary leaders of the Ahousaht FirstNation, the largest First Nation in the riding of MidIsland–Pacific Rim. It was an exciting and energizingmeeting that went well over our allotted time as they spokeof initiatives that are related to the Ahousaht land vision,the work that they have done to engage and consult themuschim, or the people, that developed their vision of thefuture in the lands that they have occupied for generationsand generations.

As we spoke of all the progress that Ahousaht has madein the past year, one of the Chiefs paused and reflectedon how much has been accomplished in a year when youwould not have thought that that could have happened.The pandemic, with all of the threats and the anxiety thatit brought their community, a time when people had tophysically stay apart, had actually brought people closertogether, including bringing the hereditary leadershipcloser with the elected leadership.

I have been privileged to work alongside the Ahousahtpeople for over 20 years and have attended literally hun-dreds of meetings with Ahousaht leaders as a fisheries bio-logist, as a mayor and now as an MLA This was one of the


most hopeful and positive meetings that I have attended,not to say that implementing their vision would be easywork, but one that they are committed to deeply and that Iam committed to as their MLA.

Let me turn now to another area of the throne speechthat I am passionate about as well and that matters to thecommunities that I represent. That is small business. Itis often remarked, and was with the speaker previous tome, that small businesses are the backbone of B.C. com-munities, and that certainly is the case in my riding, MidIsland–Pacific Rim. In fact, entrepreneurs make up thevast majority of business activity in communities likeTofino, Ucluelet, Cumberland and Hornby Island, forexample. In Tofino alone, over one in four permanent res-idents holds a business licence, which speaks to theimportance of small business to the vitality of my homecommunity.

We often reflect, in Tofino, how local business ownersare community members and vice versa. That’s the truestexpression of the fact that people are our economy andwhy putting people at the heart of our government’s recov-ery strategy is the only way forward.

I saw personally, at the beginning of the pandemic, theincredible sacrifices that businesses made and how manysmall businesses had to make very tough decisions to tem-porarily close or reduce services to protect their workersand customers. This impacted hundreds of employees,who are also valued residents of our community. Businessowners went to extraordinary ends to keep peopleemployed while employment insurance kicked in and toensure that staff housing wasn’t lost due to lack of work.

Throughout the last 14 months, across British Colum-bia, we have seen small business operators demonstratetheir skills, ingenuity and tenacity with quick pivots andadaptations. As well, we have seen their incredible per-severance.

One of the common refrains I have heard from businessowners across my riding, from surf companies to art sup-ply stores to restaurants, is: “I’d always meant to add onlinesales to my business, but I never had the time.” This gov-ernment has been at their backs with support to launchonline storefronts and e-commerce options. In fact, as thethrone speech mentions, over 4,000 eligible small busi-nesses have been able to take advantage of the launchonline program.

[5:00 p.m.]In addition to that particular support, this government

has taken significant steps to listen to, to hear and to sup-port small businesses, cutting property taxes for busi-nesses and postponing the date that late penalties would beapplied, prohibiting commercial evictions, forgiving hydrobills and, later in the B.C. recovery plan, providing taxincentives for businesses to hire workers and a PST rebateto help businesses make investments.

The small and medium-size business support programrecognizes the tourism sector, as one that has been par-

ticularly hard hit, with a special top-up by extending thetimelines of that program and by adjusting the eligibilitycriteria to make it easier for businesses to qualify, andthen, with the circuit breaker business relief program,introducing a brand-new program to support the busi-nesses that have been hit hardest by this latest round ofadvisories and restrictions.

The business supports have been a topic of significantdebate in this House, and I am certain that all membersof this House have been listening hard to the businessoperators in their communities. Their stories inspire us.They motivate us on all sides of the House to advocatehard for their needs. I want to explain about one particularbusiness owner in my riding who I think is an excellentexample of resilience in the face of hardship.

Chef Ian Riddick owns a small restaurant in Uclueletand has done so for the last three years. The pandemichit his business, and it was very hard. It has been for somany restaurateurs. In March 2020, he shut down com-pletely, but then, with the advantage of having a beautifulgarden patio, he reopened to what turned out to be a relat-ively busy summer season. At first, he’s explained to me, itwas the federal government wage supports and loan pro-grams that enabled him to stay open. He was able to keephis core staff, which he says will now be his key to a suc-cessful return when the pandemic subsides.

He did not initially apply for the small and mediumbusiness recovery program, but when the Ministry of Jobs,Economic Recovery and Innovation expanded the eligibil-ity criteria, he successfully received a grant. In his words,“All the help I received from the federal and provincialgovernments was exactly what it needed to be,” making upalmost exactly the losses his restaurant experienced in thepandemic year over the previous year.

Ian didn’t just accept the money and keep quiet, though.He told his business colleagues about it. In fact, he told anowner of a wedding business about the business recoverygrant, and she successfully applied. For her business, thegrant was the difference between still taking calls to bookweddings for the 2022 season versus not answering thephone at all because she wasn’t sure if her business wouldsurvive.

While she and the small business operators across Mid-Island–Pacific Rim riding have demonstrated incredibleresilience during this challenging time, our governmentunderstands that stories like Ian’s do not erase thestruggles that many small businesses still face, especiallyin those sectors that have been the hardest hit, which is asignificant number of businesses in my home communityand in my riding.

Early in my first term as the mayor of Tofino, the exec-utive director of the local chamber of commerce explainedhis perspective to me — that government is a partner tosmall business in creating the conditions for success byproviding the roads, water, schools and child care, as wellas imposing regulations that are necessary to help keep


people and the environment healthy and safe, and how thetrick is for government to work with local businesses.

In working with the executive director for several years,I came to understand just how important dialoguebetween government and the business sector is in listen-ing, understanding, creating, adapting and tweaking lawsand policies to create those conditions for local businessesto thrive. I’m incredibly proud of the work that the busi-ness community in Tofino, across my riding and acrossB.C. has done throughout this pandemic.

There’s been a lot of criticism from members oppositeabout this government’s support for small business, and it’sthe role of parties opposite to provide that criticism. I’mproud of how my colleague the Minister of Jobs, Econom-ic Recovery and Innovation and his staff have themselvesadapted and pivoted, expanding the eligibility of the busi-ness granting programs, creating niches for particular cir-cumstances that were not being addressed. And althoughsome might only criticize and find fault, it is clear to methat an effective government listens and changes as quicklyand effectively as it can, all the time using sound principlesof financial accountability. That is what this governmentdoes and what it will continue to do.

I now will turn to the work of my ministry, the Ministryof Municipal Affairs. It’s an enormous privilege to be theMinister of Municipal Affairs, and I’m grateful for theyears of experience that I’m able to bring with me fromlocal government into my new role. I want to start byacknowledging the incredible work that local governmentsacross B.C. are doing.

[5:05 p.m.]As was noted in the throne speech, local communities

have been on the front lines of COVID-19. When the pan-demic hit, communities of all sizes across B.C. respon-ded quickly, establishing emergency operations centres tocoordinate the flow of information between the provinceand first responders, health authorities, businesses andresidents. They developed COVID response plans toensure that the critical services that people depend on,such as potable water delivery, wastewater systems andfirefighting, would continue despite so many unknowns inthose early days of the pandemic.

I distinctly recall, since I was the mayor of Tofino atthe time, that, almost overnight, transformation occurredin our municipal workplaces, with hand sanitizer and sig-nage everywhere, with masking tape arrows on the floorthat were designed to help keep us all two metres apart.Our government has been there from the start for com-munities. In times of crises, people look to their leaders,and that starts with listening and then quickly responding.Our government has done just that for local governments,for communities.

In March 2020, when the pandemic arrived, most localgovernments had completed their budget processes, orthey were in the final stages of finalizing their five-yearoperating and capital plans and setting tax rates. To say

that the pandemic threw a wrench in those works wouldbe an understatement. But local government financialofficers responded swiftly. They worked with their col-leagues and with their councils and boards to discuss riskmitigation measures, to make difficult decisions aroundspending, reducing spending in non-essential — or maybeI should call it less essential — or lower-priority servicesand reprioritizing capital projects. Our governmentresponded by providing new financial tools to ensure thatcash flows were in place so those critical services like waterand wastewater were not disrupted.

COVID-19 also challenged the fundamentals of localdemocracy, including in-person decision-making andpublic presence at council and board meetings as well asthe ability to safely conduct voting in by-elections and ref-erendums. Our government responded quickly by puttingin a number of extraordinary measures to help local gov-ernments keep functioning effectively across this province.This included enabling local governments to conduct elec-tronic meetings and public hearings, expanding the abilityfor our local governments to use mail-in ballots, enablingthem to change high-touch interactions in elections intosafer options like oral declarations for voter registry.

Just as business owners have said to me they’ve beenwaiting for an opportunity to add e-commerce to theirrepertoire, I’ve heard from mayors across B.C. who haveexplained that the necessity to move meetings on linewas just what they needed. It was the impetus that gavethem the ability to install the right hardware and soft-ware in their municipal halls to ensure that the publichad continued, safe access to council meetings, todecision-makers and to ensure that councillors and staffremained safe as well.

With the end of the pandemic in sight, our minds areturning to what we’ve learned, and I’ve heard consistentfeedback from community leaders that they’ve quicklyadapted to new ways of conducting meetings and hearings,that they’re seeing increased participation from residentsin watching online meetings and increased use of techno-logy to enable their voices to be heard by local decision-makers. I look forward to continuing to work with localgovernments, supporting them further.

One of the most significant ways this government issupporting communities in this time of need has beenthrough the Canada-B.C. safe restart funding agreement.In the early days of the pandemic, this government advoc-ated strongly to federal partners to deliver funds directlyto local governments to keep them whole and to help themcontinue to deliver those services that their residents andbusinesses needed the most.

In my monthly calls with mayors and regional districtchairs across the province, these leaders explained to mejust how critical restart funding has been for their com-munities. It’s helped keep recreation centres, playgroundsand local parks open for safe use by community members.It’s helped to cover the cost of safety measures and supplies


that workers need to stay safe, and many communitieschose to flow some of these funds through to the non-profit organizations in their communities that have beentirelessly serving residents, delivering critical communityservices and lifting the hearts and minds of people witharts, culture and recreation programs in new and safeways.

The throne speech speaks to the unprecedented invest-ments this government is making in housing and how thepandemic has exacerbated pre-existing conditions that notonly lead to homelessness but have also made homeless-ness more visible in our communities. The speech speaksto this government’s unwavering commitment to helppeople who are experiencing homelessness, who facehousing insecurity and who feel left out from the hope ofever affording their own home. Investments like these arenot possible without the support and direct involvement oflocal communities.

[5:10 p.m.]Once again I express my gratitude to local governments

across B.C. for stepping up to the challenges in their com-munities. Not only are they helping to serve people whoare experiencing homelessness and precarious housing,but in many cases, they’re providing municipal land fornew supportive and affordable housing developments,accelerating zoning amendments, waiving fees. In fact,several regional districts — like the Comox Valley regionaldistrict, which touches on my riding — have establishedregional homelessness support services which enabledthem to further leverage partnerships with B.C. Housingand non-profit housing and service providers.

I’m proud that our government has partnered with theUnion of B.C. Municipalities in the delivery of $100 mil-lion of safe restart funding, through the strengtheningcommunities services program, to support communitiesin their work of supporting people that are experiencinghomelessness, and a further $15 million into the local gov-ernment development approvals program, which willprovide communities with the funding that they need toimprove the efficiency and effectiveness of their approvalsprocesses so that they can do even more than they’realready doing to help get British Columbians into homesthat are safe, secure and affordable.

Building new partnerships with municipalities remainsa mainstay of this government. As the throne speechstated: “As we turn towards recovery, investing in strongercommunities will be a key priority. Budget 2021 will makerecord investments in infrastructure to keep people andour economy moving.” There’s no dispute that investmentslike these are critical to kick-starting or accelerating localeconomies in times of economic downturn or depression.Several times in the last century, we’ve seen the import-ance of infrastructure funding.

The throne speech goes on to list some of the majorinvestments this government will continue to advance,including several large transit and transportation projects,

primarily in the Lower Mainland. But our government’sinvestments in B.C. communities are far more than justthose specific projects mentioned in the throne speech— investments that might seem small in comparison tothings like the Pattullo Bridge but that mean so muchto B.C.’s smaller cities and rural communities too. Com-munity halls, water systems, wastewater treatment facilit-ies, recreation centres and cultural centres are all invest-ments in people, not only creating jobs while the construc-tion is underway but leaving communities with assets thatwill improve their physical, emotional and social healthand well-being for years to come.

Moving forward, British Columbians’ economic andsocial recovery are very much going to depend on workingcollaboratively with communities. We continue to workclosely with our local government partners, including theUnion of B.C. Municipalities, along with health care work-ers, first responders, education workers, retail serviceworkers and so many other British Columbians. We knowthat local governments, too, have been on the front lines ofCOVID-19.

As I come towards the close of my speech, I want toreturn to the matter of reconciliation and how the rela-tionship between local government and First Nations ischanging in lasting and meaningful ways. Last week, asignificant event took place in which the Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’-Che:k:tles7et’h’ First Nation joined the Strathcona regionaldistrict as a full member of the board, with all the rightsand responsibilities of voting and contributing tax requis-itions, just as any municipality or rural area participates atthe board.

Kevin Jules is the vice-Chief of the Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’-Che:k:tles7et’h’ First Nation. In his words: “Joining theStrathcona regional district is a new experience for every-one. Working together shows we are moving in the direc-tion of reconciliation. This is a huge step forward in beingheard and recognized as a modern treaty nation. We lookforward, in working with the Strathcona regional district,to help our nation and all of our communities build andgrow together.”

The Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconcili-ation noted: “Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’-Che:k:tles7et’h’’s membershipon the Strathcona regional district is a tangible act ofreconciliation that strengthens the government-to-gov-ernment relationship and benefits everyone.”

As a former director of the Alberni-Clayoquot regionaldistrict, which has four First Nations fully participating atthe board table, I have witnessed the transformation thatoccurs when First Nations and local governments cometo the table as equal partners. I could not agree morewith vice-Chief Jules and with the minister. Because wordsand their meaning matter, understanding the Nuu-chah-nulth language meaning of these two nations is important.Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’ means “different people,” and Che:k:tles7et’h’means “people from a place where you gain strength.” We


all gain strength by working with people who are differentthan us.

[5:15 p.m.]In closing, I offer again the observation that this throne

speech is truly like no other, as it is a bridge between todayin the midst of a pandemic and a tomorrow of a bright-er future. But the hard work is not over yet. Vaccinationshave yet to be completed, public health measures are yet tobe lifted, and recovery will be a longer road for some eco-nomic sectors than for others and longer for some peoplein our communities than for others.

The hard work of government and all members of thisHouse is really never over, and there is so much more to bedone on our collective journey of reconciliation with Indi-genous People, on tackling discrimination and systemicracism, on reducing inequality — so that all British Col-umbians are able to live well and healthy, with dignity andpurpose, and are able to take advantage of opportunitiesthat still today are only available to some — and on tack-ling climate change and the alarming loss of biodiversity.

In the past, the Lieutenant-Governors have closed thethrone speech with phrases that remind us of our collect-ive duty, such as: “Hon. Members, I leave you now to dis-charge your legislative duties, in the full confidence thatyour deliberations will be in the best interest of all cit-izens.” While the wording might seem a little bit stiff ortraditional, its meaning is true. Keeping people healthyand safe until this pandemic is over is our collectiveresponsibility and our common purpose. It is an essentialprecondition for economic and social recovery, a recoverythat leaves no one behind, and it remains this govern-ment’s top priority.

It has been my privilege to speak in support of thethrone speech. Thank you. ƛ̓eekoo, ƛ̓eekoo.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you, Minister.Just to remind all members, if they’re going to have a

phone conversation, they should turn off their cameras.Thank you.

M. Starchuk: I rise in the House today to respond tothe throne speech from the second session of the 42ndparliament.

Before I would start, I’d like to recognize that I’m speak-ing to you today from the unceded territories of the CoastSalish people. This includes the Kwantlen, Katzie andSemiahmoo First Nations people.

I’ll be placing thank-yous at the beginning and the endof my comments today. Thanks to my campaign team, whoworked with the constituents of Surrey Cloverdale to getmyself, the first professional firefighter, elected to the B.C.Legislature. Thank you to Veronica Harrison, for man-aging an amazing group of people who showed up everyday and left with smiles as well. Thanks for pushing me tothe finish line, and letting Mike be Mike at times. Thanks

to Tanya and Kirat, and all of the volunteers that werethere on a day-to-day basis. Without you and the voters ofSurrey-Cloverdale, I wouldn’t be here today.

I rise in the House, virtually, to support the thronespeech that was delivered April 12. By way of background,for those of you that don’t know, Surrey-Cloverdale isapproximately 13,500 acres in size, with just over 6,000 ofthose acres that are inside of the ALR. That makes my rid-ing one of the largest in Metro Vancouver when it comesto ALR, which means that there are a lot of young familiesand a lot of farmers. Agriculture is very special, and some-body doesn’t get to be my size, unless you really love food.

The population of the riding is nearly 78,000 people,which we have a large portion of the population that areyoung families. The riding of Surrey Cloverdale encom-passes parts of Fleetwood, Port Kells, Clayton Heightsand Cloverdale.

We have just passed the five-year mark of the opioidoverdose crisis, and I’d like to express my condolences tothe families of those who have passed on from these over-doses. The pandemic has added to the difficulties aroundthese overdose deaths, like no other time before.

The Health Ministry and the Mental Health andAddictions Ministry have been working diligently toaddress the issues around the overdose crisis. I want tothank all of the front-line workers and agencies, whohave been responding to those people who were in over-dose states. I recognize the staggering numbers, over7,000 lives, lost during this five-year period. But I myselfand others, I believe, must recognize the work of thosefront-line workers, who have reversed thousands ofoverdoses, with the use of naloxone, which was deliveredby those front-line workers.

[5:20 p.m.]With regard to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I

would like to express my sincere condolences to thosefamilies who have lost a loved one. There have been justover 1,500 people that have passed on, due to the COV-ID-19 virus. We are 14 months into this pandemic, and Ibelieve we’re beginning to get closer to putting the pan-demic behind us. But we must remain vigilant against thisvirus. We must follow those public health orders to a T.With the vaccines arriving and being administered, now isnot the time to let our guard down.

I would like to give thanks to all the front-line workerswho’ve been working throughout this difficult time. I wantto say thanks to our people who’ve helped keep our pan-tries and fridges full. Thanks to the farmers who keptgrowing our food. Thanks to those drivers who kept theproduce coming to the grocers who adapted in ways tostay open. I want to say thanks to those health care work-ers who are meeting and treating all of the patients — tothe doctors, offices, pharmacies, clinics and hospitals whohave been looking after all of our health care matters.

Special thanks to those ER personnel for the work thatthey do each and every day. I want to take this opportunity


to give an extra special thanks to one particular Abbots-ford ER nurse, Andrea Svava Jónsdóttir, who is currentlyengaged to my son, Ryan. I’m looking forward to a timewhen gatherings are permitted and when we can enjoyyour wedding.

Thanks to the paramedics, police services and lawenforcement officers for the service that they provided andcontinue to provide during the pandemic. Thanks to thefirefighters, who are now receiving their vaccines. Thanksfor being patient and understanding while waiting forthese vaccinations. Thanks to the Minister of Health andDr. Henry for recognizing the situations in which thesefirefighters work every day.

Everything was ready to roll out to our first respondersat the end of March, and like so many twists of fate duringthis pandemic, the AstraZeneca vaccine was pulledbecause of the safety signal shown by the CDC. But nowI’m pleased to see our firefighters have received their train-ing, and they’re out in the community providing vaccina-tions to the public. In Surrey, there are 12 firefighters eachday that are working in three clinics delivering vaccina-tions to the very people that they serve every day.

The throne speech identifies the plan to build a newhospital in Surrey, about which I’m very excited. This newhospital, to be built in Cloverdale, will be a great additionto the health care model here in Surrey. We all know howbusy Surrey Memorial Hospital is, and a new hospital inCloverdale will take some of the pressure off of SurreyMemorial Hospital as well as Peace Arch Hospital inWhite Rock and Langley Memorial Hospital in the town-ship of Langley. The new hospital in Cloverdale will domany things for our community. For many of our seniorsin the community, it will give peace of mind, knowing thatshould they require the service of an emergency depart-ment, it’s nearby.

During the campaign, I heard about a constituent thathad a fall while she was out trimming a tree. This seniorknew that they had hurt themselves but did not want totravel all the way to Surrey Memorial Hospital for treat-ment. Her family showed up, met her in the backyard andconvinced her that she needed to go to the hospital. Herdaughter, who’s a nurse, wrapped up her arm and drove 15kilometres to Surrey Memorial Hospital emergency wardto find out that there was a hairline fracture. With a newhospital in Cloverdale, a senior like this will no longer haveto worry about how far away help is.

A new hospital will have the ability to energize the sur-rounding community. When I see the transformationsaround Surrey Memorial Hospital and Royal ColumbianHospital in New Westminster, I’m encouraged that therewill be a similar hospital precinct built around this hos-pital coming to Cloverdale. The potential developmentsaround this new hospital are very exciting. The potential tomanufacture equipment for this hospital and other med-ical facilities are found in lands that are already properlyzoned and are just blocks away.

[5:25 p.m.]The potential for new housing is also just blocks away.

With all of this in mind, there’s great potential to createmore jobs. When you create this community with theseextra people and these extra jobs, the public will needtransportation that will follow soon after. In the thronespeech, where we talked about strengthening communit-ies, we see the steps that will be taken towards building theSurrey-Langley SkyTrain, ensuring the line fully extends toLangley.

The government will take the lead role to ensure thisline is built all the way to Langley in one phase. The linewas originally going to be built in phases, but it’s nowgoing to be done as a single build. Previously, the line wasonly funded to Fleetwood in phase 1, and the extension tothe Langley station was to be built in phase 2, not know-ing when phase 2 was actually going to come forward. Theprovincial government made this commitment, and mak-ing this continuous build makes good economic sense.

Making this a continuous build will bring jobs to Surrey,specifically to the Cloverdale area, in the same way thatjobs will come when we are building the new hospital herein Cloverdale. The SkyTrain stations which come throughmy riding will serve the constituents very well. The sta-tions will be located in areas where you’ll find very manyyoung families living today.

SkyTrain will get more people out of their cars. Imaginewalking out of your home, getting on to SkyTrain and,15 to 20 minutes later, you can be in a shopping area toget your groceries or other essentials. Imagine living inClayton Heights, and you grab your family, the kids, thebackpacks, and you go to the SkyTrain station. Five or sixminutes later, you’re in Fleetwood at the leisure centre,enjoying a skate or a swim. Imagine how simple that wouldbe. Imagine how the outing will be. You don’t have to getinto the car. You don’t have to do your seatbelts. You justget there.

Imagine how life will change for the better for those thatalready connect to SkyTrain to get to work. Imagine howmuch time will be saved on a daily basis — more time to bespent with your family and friends at the end of each day.Imagine the reduction of greenhouse gases that SkyTrainriders will be responsible for by getting them out of theirgas-powered vehicles.

The throne speech recognizes the CleanBC plan and cli-mate action. Through electrification, we will move moreindustrial activities along with more motor vehicles fromfossil fuel to clean hydroelectric power. The province ofB.C. has more EV charging systems than any otherprovince, and we continue to add more.

I want to say that there are courier companies, now,that converted their entire fleet to electric vehicles. That,in itself, tells us that we have enough stations and enoughprograms to get these people out of gas-powered vehiclesand into electric vehicles. In fact, just the other day I sawa lawn care company that had zero emissions. There was


an electric car, an electric lawnmower and all the electricattachments — an environmental small business successstory if I’ve ever seen one.

The government’s small business recovery grant pro-gram has seen qualifying businesses receive this grant at atime when they needed assistance. In my riding of Surrey-Cloverdale, we have HWG, Chartered Accountants, andthey’ve been helping out small businesses for months now.HWG has assisted over 20 small businesses with thesegrant applications. Having the government pay directly tothese registered accountants has been received very well.

We all know the restaurant industry has been hit hardduring the pandemic. One restaurant owner who lives inthe Cloverdale area has the story that really exemplifieshow well the small business grant program works.

[5:30 p.m.]My friend Naresh Sachdev, of Maharaja Catering,

reached out regarding the program. With catering being alarge part of their business, they were really in hard straitswhen large gatherings were no longer permitted. His wife,Narinder, filled out the online application and receivedconfirmation that they would qualify. They reached outto HWG and began building a recovery plan. They weresoon to find out that because they catered in the tourismindustry, they could apply for the additional $15,000 infunding. Because my staff was able to link these two busi-nesses together, the application process was seamless.

As we all know, in the restaurant business during thispandemic, the owners needed to pivot and find new waysfor their customers to continue enjoying their new food.The grant that this restaurant qualified for will go a longway in retooling the delivery of their food as their in-roomdining is put on pause and they wait to reopen.

[S. Chandra Herbert in the chair.]

In addition to this grant, the circuit breaker grant thatwas just announced will be coming to Maharaja Cateringsoon, and this is all done with no extra work, as all ofthe information is already in place. This restaurant wasable to pivot and convert their business. So not only is ittakeout — that they have some prepackaged meals wherethey’re cooked for a certain percentage…. You take themhome, and you throw them in your oven. You cook themfor another 15 or 20 minutes, and you get all the creditfor how the meal tastes that day. Thanks to the Ministerof Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation for rolling outthis program in an expedited manner.

The throne speech also mentions supporting mentalhealth and addictions. British Columbia was the firstprovince in the country to establish a Ministry of MentalHealth and Addictions. Now, I’ve got to say that this min-istry does important work for many people in British Col-umbia. This ministry increased the per-diem funding twoyears ago by almost 15 percent to assist those registered

supportive recovery home operators as they assisted thosein recovery who face their addictions.

As a person who was with the fire service a numberof years ago, I got firsthand knowledge of how theseregistered recovery homes were functioning in the cityof Surrey. This additional funding to them will go a longway in helping people in their addictions. This 15 per-cent addition to their funding that was established bythis ministry was long overdue. The previous govern-ment had not made an increase to this funding streamfor over a decade. There’s a long road ahead. This min-istry will be making new investments in the Pathway toHope plan to improve mental health and addictions carefor those people that are in need.

The throne speech has also made mentions that willhelp more families to get access to affordable, high-qualitychild care and increase the number of $10-a-day spaces.This has a personal appeal to me, as my daughter Shannonand her three-year-old, Parker, may be needing more childcare space after she delivers her second child in August.

There were 284 new child care spaces that wereannounced last month in Surrey: Junior EinsteinsAcademy had 30 spaces; Khalsa Childcare Centre, 26spaces; Kings and Queens Childcare Centre, 36 spaces;Playbox Learning Centre, 44 spaces; and Sandbox EarlyLearning, 148 spaces. Surrey is a fast-growing com-munity, and there’s no doubt about it. It’s important thatparents can access the care they need close to home.What better way is there to segue and pivot from childcare to education?

In the three years from 2017 to 2020, there were 17 newschools and additions in seismic improvements in Surrey.In the previous three years, there was only one new school.I’m pleased with the work that my government is doingwith regard to schools and keeping up with the demandsof the growing population. We’re adding 500 spaces inthe Clayton Heights high school to meet those growingdemands in Clayton Heights.

[5:35 p.m.]In my riding, we are opening Maddaugh Elementary,

which will have 460 spaces for kindergarten to grade 7students. This school will alleviate the pressures of Kat-zie and Hazelgrove elementary schools. Maddaugh Ele-mentary will be implementing before- and after-schoolprogramming. This will assist young working familieswho may struggle with getting to work at the same timeas getting their children to school. Those types ofscheduling matters for working families will have a solu-tion in this new school.

When I said “imagine” early on, imagine that there youare, dropping your children off, knowing that they’re safeand they’re at school. They go to school, there’s a safe spot,and you grab them at the end of the day.

I support the throne speech in its entirety. It looks outfor people of British Columbia as we recover from thispandemic. During this 42nd session of the parliament,


we’ve heard the opposition constantly refer to the tales of20 years ago. I thank those members of the oppositionfor their renditions and resurrections of the term fudge-it budget. What I find interesting is one particular com-ment from the member opposite in response to the April12, 2021 throne speech: “Just like a second-term govern-ment blaming the previous government for their inherentfailures, these excuses only go so far.”

The opposition’s four-term government has gotten us towhere we are today. Some of those members of that four-term government seem to be stuck in the past. Knowingyour history has a value, but being stuck in it is anotherstory. I support the forward thinking of the throne speechand look forward to making life for all British Columbiansbetter.

Before I conclude, I would like to take this opportunityto thank my front-line workers, my constituency assist-ants. Both Denise and Naz have risen to the opportunitiesand challenges that come their way each and every day.They are the front-line greeters to my constituents who arealso facing challenges, but they’ve been amplified by thispandemic.

Denise has been by my side as my anchor CA from themoment the election was over. She has a particular skillwhere an upset constituent will call and express their dis-satisfaction, as we’ll call it. At the end of most of thosecalls, she’s calmed them down, reassured them and letthem know we’re working on a resolve.

Thank you, Denise, for what you do for me and our con-stituents.

Naz is new to our team, as she joined us in late February.The story goes, as well, that Denise was working in theMLA from Panorama’s office with Naz. She told me thather contract to that office was finished at the end of Febru-ary, and we needed to hire her. Naz fit the job descriptionto a T. She was the successful applicant.

I can stand here today and say without reservation thatthis team is dedicated to the constituents of Surrey-Clover-dale, and at the same time, probably has more laughs thanin any other MLA office in British Columbia. Yeah, we’rebragging.

As to the new LA, Hannah, in Victoria, I look forwardto seeing and meeting her in person next week. I hopeshe’s ready to add some laughter to each day we’re workingtogether. I also want to take this opportunity to thank myformer LA, Anmol, who has moved into the RCO role inthe Legislature. She’s bright, funny, full of energy. I see abrilliant future ahead of her.

This concludes my remarks on the throne speech ofApril 12, 2021.

Deputy Speaker: Thank you very much, Member.Recognizing the member for Vancouver-Kensington.

M. Elmore: Terrific. Thank you very much, hon. Speak-er. Very pleased to have you in the chair, and I’m very hon-

oured to rise and speak in favour of the Speech from theThrone this year, 2021.

[5:40 p.m.]We find ourselves now in the second year facing unpre-

cedented challenge across British Columbia, acrossCanada, around the world — the challenge of the globalCOVID-19 pandemic. We can see there is light character-ized as “at the end of the tunnel,” with our vaccination pro-gram rolling out and closing in at 30 percent of BritishColumbians vaccinated — the majority of our elderly, themost vulnerable, vaccinated. That’s a positive beacon ofhope. But now, in a third wave of the pandemic and therise of the variants being more infectious, certainly it’s achallenge.

I wanted to first thank all essential workers and par-ticularly the health care workers on the front lines, whohave just endured incredible stress, really unimaginablestress on the front lines in our hospitals, providing import-ant care to folks in the long-term care sector, supportingseniors. Essential workers are really providing the servicesthat all British Columbians depend on. It’s been an incred-ibly stressful time, I know, for folks — for families, indi-viduals, communities, businesses in Vancouver-Kensing-ton and across the province.

On the one hand, it’s really taken a toll in terms of notonly the stress but also of British Columbians falling ill. Iknow that COVID-19 is an infection like no other, and it’sa terrible disease. I know many individuals, many friendsand families who have been infected and gone to the hos-pital and some, unfortunately, have lost their lives. It isvery difficult.

But now, going into the second year, British Columbia ispoised to make it through. I’m proud of this throne speechand of the steps, the initiatives and the leadership thatour government has taken to support British Columbiansthrough this difficult time and to support individuals, tosupport families, communities, businesses really to makeit through. We know that we’re looking to put the pandem-ic behind us, and the throne speech has laid out a plan tobuild a strong recovery for everyone. We’re getting close tothat point.

Our government’s top priority has been protectingpeople’s health and livelihoods as we accelerate B.C.’s vac-cine rollout. It’s certainly no understatement to say that theCOVID-19 pandemic is the toughest challenge we havefaced in generations, certainly in over a century. We’ve got-ten through it together.

British Columbians have come a long way by lookingout for each other. I think British Columbians, Canadians,really value our public health care system and our publicservices. In times of crises and, certainly, in times of thepandemic, we really value our public health care systemand the dedication of our provincial health officer, Dr.Bonnie Henry, and all health care and essential workers.

We see that the finish line is in sight. There are overone million people in B.C. who have received their first


vaccine. Thousands more are getting it every day. I’veregistered as well, so I’ll be in the queue to receive it shortly— I think, next month. So just a tribute as well to the ded-ication and commitment of the teams across the provincewho are really doing an exceptional job to administer vac-cines to British Columbians. It’s really been just a greatresponse from health care professionals coming togetherand really providing that service.

[5:45 p.m.]We know that with the threat of new variants, we can’t

let down our guard. We have to maintain those levels ofprotection. We know that keeping people healthy and safeuntil we’ve got to the point of crossing the finish line is ourcollective responsibility.

I think it’s been a test for us. It’s been a test for this Legis-lature. Last year we really saw unprecedented cooperation,of all members of the House coming together and Brit-ish Columbians coming together across the province, fromall levels, all communities, working with First Nations, thebusiness community, non-profits, people volunteering toparticipate and help.

It’s also exposed some cracks in British Columbia. We’veseen the exacerbation of inequality. It’s laid bare some ofthese cracks in our society. That’s been to answer that chal-lenge and also the role of the government…. I’m pleasedwith the commitment that our government’s taken to sup-port people through these difficult times.

When the pandemic hit, B.C. was an economic leader inCanada. We were one of the country’s fastest-growing eco-nomies — low unemployment rates, steadily rising wages— but despite the challenges of the last year, strengths stillremain across British Columbia. We know that B.C. enjoysabundant natural resources. We’re a gateway to Asia withvery active trade, in terms of our ports. We have highlyskilled people and just a lot of strength in our people.

We’re seeing some positive signs of recovery, but there’sstill more to do. We are talking about the throne speechand, shortly, tomorrow, our government will introduce anew budget. Looking forward to that and looking forwardto hearing how our government will be improving healthcare, helping businesses and also making record invest-ments in infrastructure.

The focus from day one has been putting people first.The focus has not wavered during the pandemic and willcontinue through the recovery. When COVID-19 firststruck, our government moved quickly to provide relief forrenters, middle-class families, hard-hit small businessesand the most vulnerable. In fact, B.C. delivered more dir-ect help for people throughout the pandemic than any oth-er province in Canada.

We know that, from the beginning, we were all affectedby the pandemic, but not everyone was affected evenly.We’re all in the same storm but not in the same boat. As wemove towards better days, our government will continueto make targeted investments to ensure that the recoverydoes not leave people behind.

We know that local communities have been on the frontlines of COVID-19. Certainly, I’ve seen that in Vancouver-Kensington. Pleased that our government has been thereto support them from the start. Through the pandemic, weknow and have relied on local governments continuing toprovide services under very difficult circumstances and tokeep the people providing those services working. Now, aswe turn towards looking forward to recovery, investing instronger communities will be a key priority.

Our budget tomorrow will make record investments ininfrastructure to keep people and our economy moving.Investments in roads, bridges, rapid transit, as well asschools, hospitals, community centres, will continue to bebuilt across the province. They will be built, and there willbe opportunities, training programs and community bene-fits agreements to ensure that these investments supportgood job creation where it’s needed most.

I know, in Vancouver-Kensington as well as right acrossthe province, there are a number of very active communityorganizations that are so central and key, and I’m pleasedthat the government has continued to support organiza-tions. I’d like to recognize some of these organizations inVancouver-Kensington that just do terrific work. They’vereceived community gaming grant funding. And, Mr.Speaker, I’m sure a few of them you’ll be familiar with.

[5:50 p.m.]We’ve got the Rainbow Band Society, West Coast

Chamber Music, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orches-tra Society, the Shameless Hussy Productions society,the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir, SophisticatedLaughter Theatrical Society, South Vancouver LittleLeague society, Vancouver Ringette Association, theKensington–Little Mountain Soccer Association and theSimon Fraser Aquatics Swim Club.

We know that through COVID-19, it’s put such stresson communities and support for these organizations, andI wanted to thank them for their leadership and their com-mitment to the community. They’re so key and so central.

I’ve heard a lot from businesses, of course. I know thatrepresentatives across the province have been in touchwith their businesses….

[Interruption.]

I don’t know whose phone that was.

Deputy Speaker: Members are reminded to turn off anydevices. Thank you for the musical interlude, but I’d preferto hear the member speaking.

Please proceed, Member.

M. Elmore: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think somebodyis going to be up for a fine around here.

Certainly I’ve talked to our business…. Vancouver-Kensington is a very vibrant neighbourhood with manysmall businesses represented by the South Hill Business


Improvement Association and also the Victoria DriveBusiness Improvement Association. I’ve heard, and Iknow, that while some businesses have been able to per-severe…. Some businesses have flourished, but many busi-nesses have been hard hit with the pandemic, and they’vehad to make very tough decisions to close or reduce ser-vices to protect their workers and customers.

From the outset, our government has made it clear thatwe would help small businesses and their employees getthrough the pandemic. Early on, we cut property taxes,prohibited commercial evictions and forgave hydro bills.We introduced tax incentives for businesses to hire work-ers and make investments.

One of the especially hardest-hit sectors, of course, wasthe tourism sector. The tourism, hospitality and culturalsector — incredibdialy hard hit. We’re going to, in theyear ahead, continue to support businesses that have beenhardest hit and also build towards a more innovative, sus-tainable, inclusive economic future. We’ve made recordinvestments in infrastructure, and this is to help support aresilient economic recovery by putting people to work andhelping businesses get goods to market and really have thatspinoff effect in local communities.

We’ve also invested in affordable housing and child careas part of the economic development strategy, becausethey help businesses attract and retain talent by loweringthe cost of living. We know certainly in Vancouver-Kens-ington and other communities that there is a real crisisof affordable housing. I’m pleased that the HousingHub iscontinuing to provide an important role and really providesupport for the building — to hit those middle-incomefamilies and really provide those needed housing units inBritish Columbia, an investment of over $2 billion in low-interest-rate loans to development partners through theB.C. HousingHub to finance the construction of thousandsof new homes across B.C. to middle-income families overthe next three years.

This is a concrete step. The HousingHub provides low-interest-rate financing loans to encourage developers tobuild new rental and affordable home ownership unitsinstead of market-rate condominiums, and the loan isrepaid by the developer.

This program, the scale of it…. Prior to 2017, B.C.Housing’s financing capacity was limited to $165 million.This additional $2 billion investment in the HousingHubwill increase the overall borrowing of B.C. Housing up to$2.8 billion, 17 times what it was under the previous gov-ernment — so a real, concrete step in terms of providingthose needed units to families, for middle-income fam-ilies, over the next three years. Thousands of units areexpected to follow.

[5:55 p.m.]We know that over the next year there’ll be a number

of steps to ensure British Columbia comes back from thepandemic. We’ve taken steps to support British Columbi-ans, and now we have to look forward, to improve our eco-

nomy and ensure that there’s more support and that Brit-ish Columbians have opportunities to make it through andto work to build and strengthen our province.

We’re going to improve health care to ensure we’re pre-pared for future challenges. My role as Parliamentary Sec-retary for Seniors Services and Long-Term Care is…. I’vebeen privileged to meet with a number of seniors and seni-ors organizations across the province, as well as health careworkers in the long-term-care field. They’re very engagedand very concerned about how COVID-19 has dispropor-tionately impacted seniors. Certainly, they appreciate thesupport that our government has put into prioritizing thesafety of seniors and elders who’ve been very hard hit andreally faced the brunt of COVID-19.

We are committed to fixing these long-standing sys-temic problems in long-term care that COVID-19 hasexposed. Also, in terms of health care, to reduce surgerywait times, and also committed to building more hos-pitals and urgent primary care centres so that folks canhave access to primary care wherever they are in BritishColumbia.

In addition, we’re committed to making life moreaffordable by cutting ICBC rates by 20 percent, expandingaccess to $10-a-day child care spaces and helping thou-sands of folks have access to affordable rental homes. Wehave supported businesses with grants to help them trans-ition to build online stores and, also, supported the InBCstrategic investment fund to help promising B.C. firmsscale up and keep jobs here. That’s a really strategicdecision in terms of building our economic resiliency herein British Columbia in the future. Also, to build moreinclusive communities by developing B.C.’s first anti-racism law, reforming the outdated Police Act and legisla-tion to remove barriers to accessibility for those with dis-abilities.

This is one topic I want to reference. What’s come withCOVID-19, besides the challenge to our health, toemployment and to businesses, has also been, we’ve seen,just a terrible rise in anti-Asian racism and reports of anti-Asian racism. The Vancouver police department reportedthat there is a 700 percent increase over last year. Andthere’s a recent report by the Burnaby police departmentof an over 350 percent increase. We’ve heard this acrossthe province, and Vancouver-Kensington is no exceptionto that.

I know that since last year, I’ve heard and fielded manycalls and cases and instances of anti-Asian racism duringthe COVID-19 pandemic. Terrible, terrible accounts offolks — ranging from verbal assaults to physical assaults.A young woman was assaulted in Gray’s Park in broaddaylight.

You know, it’s called anti-Asian racism, but it’s not onlytargeted against Asians. It’s racialized folks, folks with darkskin, who are targeted. Most of the reports I received wereof verbal assaults — racist assaults on buses, on the street,walking down the street. I had a case of a senior woman


who was also pushed down, knocked to the ground. Weknow we’ve seen those other cases, as well, in other partsacross British Columbia, as well as instances in stores —really escalating to assault. So right across the board, justthese increasing experiences.

[6:00 p.m.]It’s not limited to British Columbia. Certainly, it’s across

Canada, and it’s around the world. We know that it wasa real contributing factor in giving rise to the Black LivesMatter movement in the United States when George Floydwas killed by police officers. That really gave rise to a globalmovement, highlighting the terrible racism against Blackpeople, particularly in the United States, but it really res-onated around the world. It touched the chord, the exper-ience of systemic racism, experienced not only in BritishColumbia. We had rallies here in B.C. So that’s really thecontext of this experience of racism.

I was so alarmed in terms of these accounts of whatI heard was happening in Vancouver-Kensington on thestreets — people going shopping, taking the bus, walkingin the park — that I last year organized a town hall meet-ing to really bring together community leaders; the busi-ness community; the non-profits; the neighbourhoodhouses; individuals in the faith community; folks from allwalks of life, all communities, all colours; and the FirstNations Indigenous community, as well — to come togeth-er in a dialogue and to talk about steps to take, what weneeded to do to put an end to these racist attacks, thisracism that was really emerging.

When we look at the impact of COVID-19 and what ithas shown us around the world, it’s shown us that there’svalue in a public health care system. There’s value in publicservices. There’s value for governments to support people.That’s recognized, I think, in terms of the role of gov-ernment. It’s exposed, as well, deep inequities in terms ofracialized workers, often at the forefront as essential work-ers in low-wage jobs. It’s also exposed this….

Often in British Columbia, in Canada, it’s an uncom-fortable discussion to talk about the reality of racism andthe context of systemic and institutionalized racism thatgives rise to these instances. It’s not a fluke. It doesn’t comeout of nowhere. It’s not an accident, but it really is anopportunity to have these conversations and to talk aboutwhy there is so much racism. Why is it that we just keephearing of more and more instances? It’s an opportunity, aswell, to have that conversation.

When I had my town hall, I asked the community tocome together in Vancouver-Kensington. I put a call out toall the neighbourhood associations, too. We have a num-ber of neighbourhood Facebook groups, who have 1,000or 2,000 of their neighbours online. I asked them to putout a call and to be active neighbours, to be active citizens,to stand up against racism, to intervene, if it’s safe, to sup-port someone if they’re the victim of racism. That’s part ofour conversation. We need allies across the board.

When we talk about how we address the rise of racism

in British Columbia that we’re seeing with COVID-19, it’sreally been highlighted by the Black Lives Matter move-ment and brought into mainstream consciousness in a waythat I haven’t seen. It’s an opportunity to…. How do weaddress this? The community must come together. BritishColumbians must come together. Allies must come togeth-er. Racialized communities must come together. Folks whoare white, with white skin privilege, must come together.They must stand up. Men and women must stand up.

Another characteristic. It’s not just…. It’s anti-Asianracism. Who is it? Who is being impacted? Seventy per-cent are women who are the victims. Also, it’s elders andseniors who are disproportionately impacted. So it’s reallythe most vulnerable. It’s anti-Asian racism but also mixedtogether with misogyny.

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Mr. Speaker, welcome to the chair. Nice to see you here.B.C. is leading the country and the world in terms of

that demographic, disproportionately having so manywomen, and also vulnerable and elderly women and eldersbeing targeted.

[6:05 p.m.]This is really…. We have to end this, Mr. Speaker. We

need British Columbians to come together, to stand up,to support each other, to intervene, if they feel safe, andto really also reflect on: where does this come from? Weknow that it’s a conversation to talk about institutional-ized…. I mentioned earlier institutionalized and systemicracism. We know we’ve talked that our Legislature — Brit-ish Columbia, Canada — was founded on a colonial, whitesettler, patriarchal foundation. We know that British Col-umbia has undertaken this reflection, in terms of apologiz-ing for our racist legislation that we’ve passed.

There’s certainly a need for us to reflect, as well, asindividuals, as organizations, as our society and as ourinstitutions, particularly as our government. So I’mpleased that our government has made a commitment toaddress that, to recognize racism, to take leadership, tomove forward and to reconcile our history, which wasbuilt on the dispossession of our Indigenous Peoples andthe dispossession, also, of other racialized settlers — toreconcile with that.

We’ve taken steps towards that, adopting the Declara-tion on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. There’s muchmore to do and move forward.

In the conversation around…. I’m very concerned —and I know this is a concern shared by my colleagues— about this rise in hate. It’s in British Columbia. We’veseen it to the south, with our neighbours, and thoughtthat maybe we were isolated by that, with Donald Trumpand just the incredible dynamics in the United States.We’re impacted, as well, in terms of British Columbiansreconciling with this reality, which is here on our streets,


in our communities, in our stores, in our churches. It’sunacceptable.

My conversation with the panel that I convene and com-munity leaders…. My urge and my request to British Col-umbians is to answer the call to stand up against this beha-viour. It’s also to reflect, within ourselves, in terms of hav-ing honest conversations about our attitudes and beliefs,these beliefs of white supremacy, which are institutional-ized, and to challenge ourselves to become better as Brit-ish Columbians and to make that commitment, not onlyon racism but, I will say, against misogyny and patriarchy,against the treatment of people with disabilities, peoplewith all abilities.

My time is drawing near. I want to close and say…. I’vejust been so inspired by my conversations with seniors thatI’ve met in my role. It’s been a humbling…. I met withseniors with the South Vancouver Seniors Network theother week, with my colleague from Vancouver-Langara.

The seniors said to me: “Mable, what are we going to do?How are we going to address this discrimination againstBIPOC — Black, Indigenous, people of colour — seniors?What are we going to do to address anti-Semitism? Whatare we going to do to address discrimination against seni-ors with LGBTQ+? What’s our response?”

Really, taking from them, I think that they…. Theyhave it, right? They have that view, as seniors and eldersin our community that we look up to and that we shouldrespect.

Let’s come together, across these differences, take astand against hate, reach out, understand, challengeourselves, have these conversations. We need to addressracism. It’s about talking about white supremacy. We needto bring an end to violence against women by talkingabout toxic masculinity and these pieces.

I’m so heartened. I’m pleased about the throne speech. Ilook forward to the budget tomorrow and more opportun-ities as well.

[6:10 p.m.]Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to

speak today.

Hon. J. Whiteside: It is an honour to rise virtually inthis House and speak on the Speech from the Throne, aspeech that I have to say I found inspiring and poignant,given the stage that we’re in, in the pandemic. I’ve justreally been reflecting on the incredible journey that we’vebeen on in the past, more than a year now, as we continueto confront an absolutely unprecedented challenge to all ofus in our communities in British Columbia, across Canadaand across the world.

I really wanted to start by reflecting on some of thecontent and the words that our Lieutenant-Governor hadaround the importance of investing in people and theimportance in building strong communities, becausereally, I think that is at the heart of what our governmentis about. It is, I think, what motivates us all, not just in our

government. Everyone in this House is dedicated to ensur-ing that we get up and represent our communities to thebest of our ability every single day.

I wanted to start by giving thanks to my communityof New Westminster and to the people who elected me. Ican’t really express, actually, the honour and privilege thatI feel in representing such a thriving, resilient community.It’s a community on the banks of the mighty Fraser River,one that is on the traditional territory of the Qayqayt FirstNation.

I know I’ve spoken in this House before about theimportance of that sort of territorial acknowledgment, butwhat is particularly meaningful about that acknowledg-ment for me, in the context of our government’s com-mitment to reconciliation, is that the Qayqayt Nation is anation without a land base. It’s a nation that, in fact, wasalmost extinguished from the federal records as being inexistence because it didn’t have a land base and becausethere had been a rupture.

One of the impacts of colonialism was a complete rup-ture of the traditional leadership for the Qayqayt peoples.It took considerable work to rebuild that and ensure thatwe didn’t lose that important heritage and that the Qayqaytpeople did not lose that important status.

It’s been a real journey, I think, for our communityto work with and learn about and build the relationshipwith the Qayqayt Nation. So I’m very grateful to have theopportunity to reflect on that in the context of our govern-ment’s commitment to reconciliation.

I also wanted, just in the spirit of giving thanks and inreflection on the throne speech, but also thinking aboutthe journey we’ve been on for this past more than a year,to thank the people who support the work of the MLA, ofme, in the community.

We have a terrific staff who is working virtually in NewWestminster as we get our constituency office settled. I’mvery grateful to have Amy Ryder and Erica Williams work-ing in our constituency office and to have had the wisecounsel of Keefer Pelech, a constituency assistant from theprevious MLA, to my term. Also grateful that Keefer hasstayed with New Westminster, now working as my execut-ive assistant in my ministry office.

Just to say that the work of responding to and being thatimportant link to people in the community is an absolutelycritical role.

[6:15 p.m.]I just want to shout out to all of the constituency assist-

ant staff in all of the MLA offices across the province,because the work that you do is very important to com-munity-building in every single community across theprovince. The work that we are doing in government andin my office in the ministry really could not be accom-plished without the excellent staff that we have supportingwhat I do here.

I would just like to take the opportunity to thank Veron-ica Harrison and Melissa Farrance, who were the minis-


terial assistants in this office when I started and withoutwhom I could not have managed getting through the firstcouple of months of this role. Of course, we were suppor-ted at that time in this office by Lisa Grant and NicoleHansen. They’ve all moved on to different roles in differentoffices within government. We now have a great team, withBreanna Viala, Leah Waters, Will Beale, Anna Lindsay andKeefer, as I mentioned. I’m very grateful for the team thatwe have that is so dedicated to the work that we do on edu-cation in this office.

I will say, too, that I think we all owe, all British Col-umbians owe, a real debt of gratitude to the public servicefor the dedication of public servants to ensuring that Brit-ish Columbians get the services and advice and policy con-sideration that they need. I think that our public servicehas been called upon in particularly difficult ways in thesechallenging times to step up, helping government navigatethis unprecedented situation that we are in.

Likewise, I know that many of my colleagues, many ofyou, have already sung the praises of our health care work-ers, our first responders — everyone who is on the frontlines protecting British Columbians, supporting us.

Of course, I am eternally grateful for the work that edu-cation workers do: the teachers, the educational assistants,the clerical workers and custodians, principals and vice-principals, superintendents, trustees, and of course, par-ents and kids, who are all working so hard to keep our edu-cation system going, to keep our schools open and safe. Weowe them a debt of gratitude as well.

I will say to all workers, essential workers, all workerswho have contributed to making sure that we can buyfood, that we can get gas when we need it, that our transitsystem is operating…. There is just really no part of oursociety that isn’t run by people who often do work that’sunsung and unrecognized. I think that has been a real les-son of this pandemic — the degree to which we all relyon each other. We have seen, I think, many acts of socialsolidarity throughout the course of this pandemic.

Even though I know that at this point, we are all verytired, that everybody is very tired…. We are so tired oftogether alone or alone together, apart together — youknow the phrase. We miss each other. We miss our fam-ilies. I was reflecting on this, this past weekend, spendingsome distanced time with some family who are in mybubble but very much longing for an ability to do that in amore normal way, as we all are. I think that we are so closeto the finish line.

But I’ve been reflecting on the incredible resilience ofour communities and reflecting on the resilience of NewWestminster in particular. I wanted just to talk a little bitabout some of the incredible acts of solidarity and pivotingand resilience that I’ve seen in New Westminster, wheth-er it’s the small business community in New Westmin-ster, very well advocated for by groups like the Down-town Business Improvement Association…. We also havethe Uptown Business Association and the local chamber

of commerce, who all do just a remarkable job advocatingfor businesses, pulling them together, figuring out waysto pivot to get information out to businesses and ways toengage the community.

[6:20 p.m.]We have a thriving restaurant scene in New Westmin-

ster. There is so much support in the efforts of restaurantsto provide services to the community safely. That has beenreally heartening to see.

I wanted to talk, too, about the changing demographicsin New Westminster. It’s a community where there aremany more parents and young families coming to settle inNew Westminster. So really important organizations likeNew West Family Place play a fundamental role in sup-porting young families and young children in our com-munity. That is a very socially engaged and socially inter-active kind of work that they do. So when the pandemichit and physical distancing rules went in place, they hadto pivot so quickly to figure out how to provide servicesand support to families at a time when it was even moreimportant, given the kind of isolation that many familieswere having to endure at the time.

Their online engagement process skyrocketed, andthey’ve reached more than 20,000 people who were enga-ging each month for their online circle times. Their one-to-one Zoom playdates. Their morning check-ins. Theyorganized chats with child development experts. Theyhave monthly birthday party opportunities for kids. Babysinging and baby song sessions for families. Science andcrafting and fun features. These kinds of online opportun-ities are a really innovative way to connect families andkids and have been really successful.

They have also had to pivot to providing a lot of one-on-one support for families, including mental health sup-ports and parent coaching and coordinating food hampersand donations. Helping families figure out how to navigateapplications for services that they might need. Helpingfamilies with supported referrals each month for com-munity services.

They also provide a toy lending library in partnershipwith the New Westminster library. They provide toys and astructure, and they’ve worked out a system where this canall be done in a safe way, physically distanced. There is apickup and a drop-off. They organize monthly free familyfun packs that provide hundreds of early childhood devel-opment play packs that they provide to families who needthem. They’ve arranged, again, a safe pickup at local com-munity centres.

They really provide important programming for youngchildren zero to six. I’ve been able to go to some of theiroutdoor playdates. They ran outdoor play sessions for fam-ilies, travelling to different parks in different playgroundsacross New Westminster, all throughout the pandemic,through the summer, through the fall, in those rainy,snowy days in the winter. There were very few sessions thatthey actually cancelled. I can tell you that parents showed


up and grandparents showed up with their young onesbecause that kind of outlet and accessing that kind of com-munity is so incredibly important to families.

The resilience by groups like family services, by groupslike the Seniors Services Society as well, who also supportseniors in our community and had to pivot to providingservices online to address seniors’ isolation in our com-munity. Century House as well, providing services to seni-ors.

New Westminster has a thriving arts scene. So when wecould no longer have the weekly arts and crafts marketsdown at the New Westminster Quay or have the NewWestminster art crawl, the New West Arts Council pivotedto provide other ways to support artists and crafters in ourcommunity.

[6:25 p.m.]I’m really pleased to say that there are a number of arts

organizations that have received grants from our arts andculture resilience supplement, including the Arts Coun-cil of New West, the Massey Theatre Society, the NewWest Museum and Archives, the Patrick Street Produc-

tions Society and the Savage Production Society. It’s just areal testament to how creative that sector is, that they stillhave found ways to provide outlets for artists to show theirwork and for artists to be able to sell their work.

Noting the hour, I reserve my place to continue at thenext sitting and move adjournment of the debate.

Hon. J. Whiteside moved adjournment of debate.

Motion approved.

Hon. M. Rankin moved adjournment of the House.

Motion approved.

Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until 10 a.m.tomorrow morning.

The House adjourned at 6:26 p.m.


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