September 20, 2005
Response to Budget Speech
Budget Speech Debates
M. Polak: Madam Speaker, I, too, want to add my congratulations to you on your election as Deputy Speaker, and I hope that you will enjoy your time there and that we won't give you too much trouble.
I'm certainly pleased to rise in response to the budget and in support of a government vision that is bold in its outlook, far-reaching in scope and, indeed, courageous in its direction. I also want to offer my congratulations to all of our returning and new members to this chamber. I look forward to serving for the next four years with you.
At this time I'd like to honour my predecessor Lynn Stephens. Lynn represented the riding of Langley from 1991 until her retirement in 2005. During her 14 years of service to the people of Langley and to this province, Lynn fulfilled a variety of roles. She served as an opposition member, then as a government member. She held the post of Minister of State for Women's Equality from June of 2001 to January of 2004. The people of Langley and of B.C. certainly owe her a debt of thanks for her many years of dedicated public service. It is my great privilege and also my great challenge to be selected by my constituents to carry on in her stead.
I want to thank all those whose gifts of time and effort contributed to my election to this House. The many community volunteers and campaign workers who participated in my campaign are to be commended for their commitment to the democratic process and for their dedication to their community. As a new MLA, I am humbled by the task before me. At the same time I'm encouraged by the faith and trust that has been placed in me by the voters of Langley.
On a personal level, I want to thank my father, who remains a guiding force in my life. His example of integrity, strength and sacrifice is a benefit to all who know him. Many times in my life he has been my silent strength.
There is one other individual who deserves my very special thanks, and that's my daughter. She is alternately my biggest fan and my harshest critic, but she keeps me grounded, and she reminds me how important it is to dream big and to believe in the future. For me, that's what this budget update is all about.
I think we have to thank the diligent work of the Minister of Finance and her staff, because they've now mapped out a future that is one of prosperity and opportunity. I'm really proud to support a government that has returned hope and optimism to the people of British Columbia. I'm proud to support a government that is not afraid to dream big and to lay before us a challenge and a plan that all British Columbians can believe in. Above all, I'm proud to support a government whose values embrace those of all British Columbians — values that we may express in different ways but that are certainly held and supported by members on both sides of this House.
This government values self-reliance and independence for every single resident of this great province. Leading the nation in job creation is a phrase we've used frequently on this side of the House, and sometimes we get jeers from the members of the opposition. That's because they seem to think there isn't a connection between a positive economic indicator and what that means in people's everyday lives. Well, you know what? Leading the nation in job creation is more than just a positive economic indicator. It changes lives, it strengthens families, and it builds communities.
As the mother of an 18-year-old, I've personally witnessed the renewed optimism among B.C.'s youth. Since 2001 youth employment in British Columbia has increased by 44,000, with most of those positions being full-time. In fact, 2004 saw the lowest annual youth unemployment rate in B.C. since 1990.
[Applause.]
Yeah, it is worth clapping about.
The NDP opposition is really fond of criticizing the $6 first-job wage, but there are some things they forget to mention. One of them is this. The $6 first-job wage is higher than Alberta's minimum wage. British Columbia has the highest minimum wage of any province in Canada.
This government also values responsible stewardship of our vast natural resources. We will strive to lead the world in sustainable resource management, not because of a partisan agenda and not to gain political support from special interest groups. You know why we're going to do it? Because it's the right thing to do. Our children will enjoy the best air quality, the best water quality and the best fisheries management because it's important to all British Columbians.
The NDP opposition, though, would have British Columbians believe that they are the party of the environment, the party that would work to preserve our parks and wilderness places. But you kind of have to look at their record to get a better idea of what that might mean.
I was reminded last week, when I was driving to the ferry and watched the Burns Bog fire — the smoke was incredible — of what the NDP's vision for Burns Bog was. The NDP's vision for Burns Bog? They didn't want to save it. They wanted to pave it. They even went about putting up a $25 million loan for the purpose of turning that valuable ecosystem into, of all things, an amusement park.
Thankfully, it was our B.C. Liberal government that took steps to preserve and protect Burns Bog forever. Our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy a park area that is five times the size of Stanley Park, and that's thanks to the action of this B.C. Liberal government. It's truly a lasting legacy that we can all be proud of.
This government values compassionate and caring communities. We are all well on our way to building the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, special needs, children at risk and seniors. Our B.C. Liberal government gave people with disabilities the biggest increase in their monthly income support in a decade, and we doubled the earnings exemption for people with disabilities.
B.C. has the lowest income taxes in Canada. We've eliminated provincial income taxes for everyone earning under $15,500 a year. That is not just a tax cut; that's more money in the pockets of low-income British Columbians. I might point out to the member for New Westminster that a tax cut does give people disposable income, which is what he seems to want to give, so I'm not quite understanding what his point was.
Low-income seniors have had their MSP premiums eliminated, while the introduction of Fair Pharmacare has provided assistance to about 280,000 low-income seniors and families. It doesn't stop there. The budget update provides an additional $242 million to renew the seniors supplement and to double the funding for the SAFER program. With the addition of coverage to manufactured homes, that's 7,200 more seniors who will be able to qualify for the SAFER rent subsidy. It is the seniors of British Columbia who have built this province. It's right and proper that they should be the first to benefit from our strengthening economy.
This government also values prevention. We're investing in healthy living and physical fitness at an unprecedented level: $100 million for health research; $100 million for public health initiatives like Act Now B.C.; and $73 million for infant and early childhood vision, dental and hearing screening. We know that dollars spent on prevention will multiply as they relate to future savings in our health care system.
I want to comment briefly on some things that I listened to from the member for Saanich South. They relate to waiting lists. I'm always interested to hear the opposition talk about this, because they seem to think that the most important thing to British Columbians is what number they might happen to be on any given list. Well, I've been out talking to seniors. I've been out talking to families. I've been listening to constituents. You know what they're telling me? They tell me that it's not about how many surgeries you do or about how many people are on the list. It's about how long it takes them to get their service.
I want to tell you, Madam Speaker, some facts that…. Well, you know, I always feel bad doing this. It's really a sad thing when a weak piece of rhetoric gets beat up by a muscle-bound group of facts, but here it comes. When it comes right down to it, the facts prove that we are turning the corner on wait times for people in British Columbia. As of June 2005, less than 50 percent of surgeries were wait-listed. Of the less-than-50 percent that were wait-listed, 10 percent were done within a week, 50 percent were done in just over a month and 90 percent are done in less than seven months.
It's time that we started pulling together on health care and not just playing the blame game. What the NDP opposition doesn't like to think about is that this isn't just a British Columbia problem. Fortunately, in government we've recognized that. We're beginning to work together with the federal government and other levels of government to be able to address these issues. Health care is a challenge across North America. I know, though, that British Columbians are up to the challenge. I know that we will lead North America in healthy living and physical fitness.
This government values lifelong learning. We've proven our commitment by investing heavily in education. We've seen a rapid decline in enrolment in British Columbia: 30,000 fewer students. But what has the funding response been by this provincial government? It has been to increase education spending in the K-to-12 sector every single year. Per-pupil funding right now is higher than any other province in Canada outside of Alberta. The additional $150 million this year will mean a boost of almost $5 million just in my local school district of Langley.
Local school boards can finally be assured that they are going to have the opportunity to make those decisions that will best serve the needs of their students. I find it really interesting to listen to the debate on education, being a former school trustee, because I had the opportunity to serve as a school trustee under both an NDP government and then a B.C. Liberal government. There were some distinct differences.
In terms of the B.C. Liberal government's funding — guess what. School districts were able to count on a time when they were going to get their money. They knew ahead of time how much money they were going to get, and it actually stayed stable from year to year. What happened under the NDP? It was a guessing game. Not only did districts never know how much they were going to get, but I do not believe — and I checked back about as far as I had time for — that there was a single year when the NDP were in government that they provided the education funding announcement on time. That's a pretty sorry record.
The other thing they like to talk about is how we've exceeded expectations in this budget update around the corporate income tax reduction. I'm really happy to hear them talking about exceeding expectations. I know it's not something they like to talk about a lot, because certainly the NDP government had a bit of difficulty exceeding and, in fact, even meeting expectations. Year after year they were late announcing the school district funding. In eight years they issued five debt management plans, and they missed the mark on every single one.
Oh, but you know what? There was one area where they were exceptionally good at exceeding expectations. Major infrastructure and capital projects routinely exceeded budgeted expectations. That was the dark decade of the '90s, and fortunately, we've moved on to the 21st century.
[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]
When the B.C. Liberals took office in 2001, they set a target to balance the budget in three years. Then some things happened — September 11, SARS, BSE, forest fires. I mean, I think the only thing we were waiting for was the plague of locusts. Everybody — the pundits, the press, the opposition — said it couldn't be done. They said: "You ought to scrap those plans. You're not going to be able to balance the budget. Why keep that there? Everybody would understand if you didn't balance the budget." But that's not what the B.C. Liberal government did. They held their ground, and it was tough. It was tough for four million British Columbians. But you know what happened? It was done. It was done, and it has laid the foundation for what we're seeing today.
Once again British Columbia is exceeding expectations. In job creation we've gone from worst to first. Unemployment is at its lowest rate since 1981. We've posted a record surplus, and we've paid down a record $1.7 billion in debt — the largest single paydown of B.C.'s debt ever. By every account we have exceeded expectations. Our economy is back on track, and B.C. is once again the economic leader that it ought to be. That bodes well for our whole province and for communities like my riding of Langley.
I want to give you some specific examples from Langley that have occurred only in the past few months. I could go back further, but you probably don't want to hear me talk that long. We've seen an investment in child care capital funding to the Langley Meadows Community Association of $22,990. That's creating 20 new licensed preschool spaces. We've seen a contribution of $235,000 to help the township of Langley reduce flood risk in the community. It's going to fund the Nathan Creek project of $153,000 and the Salmon River project of $161,000.
The province has provided funding for Langley Regional Airport's further development — $563,000. Listen to the benefits of this one. It's expected to double the number of direct and indirect jobs that the airport provides in my riding.
We've seen a funding boost for the Langley school district of $5 million. One that I'm very proud of is that we were able to provide an emergency grant for Langley Family Services to recover from a major fire that destroyed their entire building. We were able to provide them with the total cost they needed for tenant improvements in an emergency space and also to help them out with their rent in the interim — $37,928. We were able to return that decision to them within a couple of months and get them back on their feet. I'm very proud of that.
Langley is a growing and a changing community. In many ways it symbolizes the change that is taking place across the Fraser Valley. More and more people are leaving the traditional centres of Vancouver and its suburbs in favour of the lifestyle that they find in communities such as Langley.
In Langley you see a constant contrast. We're known across the region as horse country, while at the same time I really think we're beginning to rival Vancouver in the number of Starbucks per capita that we have in Langley. I will emphasize that the majority of them are drive-throughs.
Interjection.
M. Polak: There are A&Ws as well.
Certainly, though, this growth and this change mean we're facing challenges. One of the ones that is top of mind for Langley residents is the potential impact in rail traffic that is going to be caused by the Delta Port expansion. I want you to know that our province is leading the way as we work to find solutions for that issue. We now, finally, after years of trying, have been able to bring the rail companies to the table to discuss the problem. We see the province meeting with the federal government, provincial government, regional government, the city, the township, the port authorities and now the rail companies, because we know that this is important to Langley. It's important to our economic growth to expand the port, and we know that we have to solve those problems to move forward.
It's that kind of thinking that has moved us forward as a government and, indeed, has moved us forward as a province in terms of our economic growth. We've looked at where our province was. We've solved the problems, and we're moving forward to solve even more that come to us.
On a closing note, one of the other things that has really intrigued me over the last while is the NDP's fascination with the fact that they've been elected as a strong opposition. I don't question that at all. You know, I think we've returned to what is really a traditional structure in the House, and certainly, the public voted for a strong opposition. But I think it's fair to remind them that, at the end of the day, the people of British Columbia elected a B.C. Liberal government, and there's a reason they did that. They elected a B.C. Liberal government because they wanted to vote for vision and for leadership. They voted to keep our economy going strong, and they voted for a future of opportunity and prosperity for all British Columbians. That's what this September budget update gets us closer to, and that's what this B.C. Liberal government is going to deliver over the next four years.
