February 15, 2007

Throne Speech Debate

M. Polak: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and may I say welcome to the Pacific century in the best place on earth. The Pacific century is one that British Columbia will be at the centre of, not just because of our geography, although that's important; not just because of our resource sector, although that's important; but because we are a province that's ready to move forward, face change with strength, with self-confidence, with optimism, leadership, boldness, vision, innovation and purpose.

I remember not that many elections ago in the United States there was a rather comical line being thrown around that seemed to capture the minds of the youth who were really coming to the forefront in that election. The line was: "It's about the economy, stupid." Well, I have to say to the members opposite who just haven't been able to believe what's going on. Let me tell you: it's about the future, stupid. That's what they would say in the United States.

Point of Order

H. Lali: I beg that the hon. member has used a word that is unparliamentary, and we request that she withdraw her remarks.

Deputy Speaker: Members, please refrain from characterizations of other members. Thank you.

Continue, member.

Debate Continued

M. Polak: Withdrawn.

It's certainly something that we need to realize here in British Columbia, that we are the ones who have the opportunity to lead into the future. The Premier has realized it. He has realized it by taking hold of something that the world is looking to us to lead in, and that's in the environment.

Certainly, we know that the future of our environment is about the future of all of us. We know that there are sustainability issues that are going to confront each and every one of us in our own lives, and that's

where it marks the difference between our B.C. Liberal government and the New Democratic opposition. We believe in the responsibility of each and every individual, each and every business, each and every part of government to take hold of the direction, the future of British Columbia and make it happen — make it happen for our young people, for every citizen.

There are those who would say: what about records of the past? What about the things you've achieved or haven't achieved? In fact, we've heard very much from the opposition about all sorts of other issues. The surprising thing to me is that while they will get up and say: "Here's something I didn't hear in the throne speech. Here's something else I didn't hear in the throne speech. I'm concerned that I didn't hear that in the throne speech." Well, I'm a little concerned, because the throne speech was all about the environment, and I've heard very little about the environment in the responses from the opposition side — very little.

Why? Maybe it's because when you want to start talking about actual, on-the-ground work, there really isn't a lot that they can bring to the table and say: "Here. Here's what I've got." Certainly, we know that many experts who have commented on the throne speech since it was given would like to see that. Quoting from climatologist Andrew Weaver, one of the things he said is that if you're going to start throwing stones from the outside at some action like this, you've got to be prepared to put something up that's better and to do it.

In order to decide whether or not the opposition could, in fact, put something forward and do it, maybe we ought to take a look at what their record has been. There's a really interesting one. The Premier announced at the UBCM that this government was finally going to take some action with respect to cleaning up the raw sewage that is dumped out of Victoria into our wonderful oceans. What did the NDP do? The NDP ignored it. Not only did they ignore it when they were in government, but while we have been sitting in this session of the House and since we were elected in 2005, we haven't heard anybody raise questions about it. In fact, we haven't even heard the Leader of the Opposition raise questions about it, and it's in her own riding.

What have we done? We've committed to finally taking action to clean that up. Why? Because we have a commitment to this environment. We have a commitment to the future of British Columbia.

Britannia Beach water treatment is another one. What did the NDP do as 454 kilograms of toxic copper sulphate was being poured out of that minesite into Howe Sound? What did they do? They did nothing. That was 454 kilograms of copper — 166 kilograms per year. Unbelievable. We acted; we cleaned it up. Why didn't they do it? I don't know. Maybe they didn't want to.

Actually, it seems that that was a P3, wasn't it? Could it be possible that the opposition would let an ideological bias against public-private partnerships stop them from cleaning up the environment? I hope that's not the case, but certainly, for whatever reason, they decided not to deal with those toxic substances going out into Howe Sound.

Sumas 2 power plant. The NDP was in government. Did they lift a finger? Did they say anything? No. They didn't lift a finger to fight it.

What about Burns Bog? We've completed a $73 million deal to protect Burns Bog, and that includes $28.6 million from the province. What did the NDP do? They wanted to pave it over and build a theme park. I think the environmental theme is one we want to stay on, not paving Burns Bog.

When it comes to parks and protected areas, since 2001 our government has established 43 new provincial parks and expanded 38 others. We've established the living rivers trust fund. Oh, but they voted against that $21 million to protect and restore B.C.'s rivers. Actually, they also voted against the B.C. Conservation Corps — so $9 million over three years to establish and operate the Conservation Corps, and they voted against it.

There are a lot of things they decided to vote against. They voted against exempting hybrid vehicles from PST. They voted against PST relief on alternative fuel vehicles. They voted against exempting energy-efficient home heating projects from PST. They voted against the Canada line, or they were opposed to the Canada line. Imagine: that's going to take up to 14,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases out of our environment by 2021. It's the equivalent of ten lanes of traffic off the road between the airport and Vancouver.

Of course, they've actively opposed clean energy projects such as Cascade and Ashlu. You're talking 50 megawatts of clean power, you're talking first nations support, but they don't support it. They'd rather let their ideology trump something that's good for the environment, because that's what they're about. They're about ideology; they're about staying with the status quo. They're not about leading into a Pacific century. They're really simply about maintaining the status quo in whatever way possible. We know that whether it's child care, social housing, the environment, economic development, all the various things — transportation, everything that government deals with — it's about the future, and it's about preparing for the future.

The environment is an issue that has grown in the concern of the public over the last number of years. Certainly, we've all been challenged by the dire predictions that come with climate change. We've all been concerned about it, and people still continue to debate whether or not it's man-made, it's the environment that's doing it itself or it's Mother Nature.

The fact of the matter is we have all come to grips with the fact that this is something where we need to act. We can certainly do more to be good stewards. We can certainly use the principles of our parents and grandparents who taught us waste not, want not; who taught us that it was just a responsible thing to go about, to look after your part of the world, to do the kinds of things that would take care of the environment around you, even though they didn't call it environmentalism. We can all commit to that.

As has been pointed out around the world, people have finally woken up to the issues, the dangers that are before us should climate change truly take hold on our planet. It has come to the point where it is an accepted part of living in the 21st century. This has taken a lot of evidence-building and scientific research. As it's been presented, many people have argued with it, and it's taken some time for folks to get around to it. It's probably taken all of us in our lifetimes a major adjustment.