Response to the Throne Speech
September 13, 2005
Response to the Throne Speech
Throne Speech Debates

R. Cantelon: It is a great honour and a privilege to be recognized in this House this morning, and I rise to second the Speech from the Throne. The speech lays out a comprehensive approach to building on the success that the economy has achieved in recent years.

It is now possible to build a bold new future for all British Columbians on the solid financial foundation that has been put in place during the last four years. This presents tremendous opportunities for the Nanaimo-Parksville riding that I have the privilege and have been elected to represent. It was this opportunity that drew me to seek office in this Legislative Assembly.

As a city councillor for the city of Nanaimo and a director on the regional district of Nanaimo, I have always been a supporter and an advocate for business development and economic expansion. It is necessary, first, for wealth to be created by the private sector and generate tax income for the government before our government is able to act and respond to the needs of its citizens. As this government moves forward with this ambitious agenda, I sought the opportunity to represent the riding of Nanaimo-Parksville to see that they were in on the action, so to speak.

The economy in the Nanaimo-Parksville riding is booming. It is led by the construction industry, where activity levels of new home construction and other construction are setting and breaking records on a monthly basis. People are moving to British Columbia even from that paragon of growth, our sister province of Alberta. What is most gratifying, though, is to see the return of our young people to our province. Certainly, they never wanted to leave, and it was only out of economic necessity that they left in the first place.

I met a young man during the election campaign, Jason, who had moved with his family to Calgary in the 1990s to seek work. He was, I'm afraid to say, one of thousands of our young people who were forced to seek work outside the province. He has now found work as an automotive technician in Bruce Alexander's automotive dealership in Parksville. I'm happy to report that it is a well-paying job, and it has enabled him to move with his family back home to British Columbia and to his home on Vancouver Island.

This trend, Mr. Speaker, is critical to the success and the future of our province. Indeed, there is an ominous demographic bulge — a battle of the bulge, if you want — facing us as the shortage of trained young workers and professionals looms on the horizon, as the baby-boomers begin to retire in significant numbers. It is essential that our province offer hope and opportunity to our youth as they begin to enter the workforce.

During the 1990s too many of our youth simply dropped out of the economic system through frustration and discouragement. Others, as I have noted, simply packed up and left. Unfortunately, virtually a generation became disillusioned and opted out. We need to bring them back. We need them back.

Training and education without hope and expectation of meaningful employment is a hollow pursuit. That is why a robust economy with a range of vocational options is essential. More than creating specific job opportunities, we need to inspire and engage our youth with a spirit of entrepreneurship. We must say to them, in effect: "Start your own company. Create your own job. Opportunity abounds in this rich province."

It is a fact that the 25-year job with the gold watch and the company pension has proven to be a myth for a generation of boomers. We do our youth a better service to encourage more independence. The independent thinker, the person with a dream who creates his — and, of course, more and more now her — opportunity: these are the people that have built this province. We need to invigorate these passions and reward initiative with real hope and real opportunity. Hardy individualism built this province and could lead us in what promises to be a golden decade.

It is necessary to diversify our economic opportunities. I have been involved, on behalf of the Nanaimo city council, on the board of Tourism Nanaimo and as chair of the conference centre advisory committee in initiatives and projects to diversify the traditional resource-based economies in that area. I want to acknowledge, certainly, at this time the support that the provincial government has given in these projects — a very significant contribution of $8.3 million towards the project, which makes it feasible to proceed.

Nanaimo, I would note, was the first city to formally recognize the opportunities that the 2010 Olympic bid presented to our community. Tourism represents a significant opportunity for the central Island. The Vancouver Island conference centre will bring thousands of delegates to our beautiful harbour — and I invite you to join them — to enjoy our spectacular walkway, the eclectic shops, the coffee shops and restaurants and the growing arts and culture centre and district. The art galleries offer a wealth of treasures from our own Vancouver Island artists. Many of these delegates and visitors will return to visit, to invest and to make it their home. I look forward to working with the Oceanside Tourism in Parksville and Tourism Nanaimo to take advantage not only of the 2010 Olympics but also the Asia-Pacific gateway initiative that this government has begun.

I've been speaking about the importance of business and the economy, and they are important in job creation. But they are not just an end to themselves. A thriving and vigorous economy enables a government to have the resources to provide education, health care and support services for its citizens. It is first essential to have a balanced budget and therefore a solid financial footing on which to build responses to these needs for British Columbians. Indeed, the government sets a platform, clears the deck and gets out of the way of business.

Insofar as being prudent financial managers, government must operate on sound business principles, but the business of government is its people. It must invest in the future and well-being of its citizens. The citizens of this great province are the first and most important resource that we have.

That is why I'm excited about this throne speech, because it focuses on expanding education, health and support services while being vigilant about our environmental stewardship. Of course, we must maintain momentum on the job creation that we have begun. The economy pays the rent, after all.

The five great goals will have sweeping consequences throughout the province, and I would like, if I may, to touch on how they will affect the riding of Nanaimo-Parksville that I represent.

The first goal is to make B.C. the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent. If we are to achieve the potential of this great province…. It is essential that we equip our young people with the best knowledge and skills if they are to compete in the global economy. And it's not just for the global economy that we must equip our upcoming generation but also to prepare the many professionals we will need to serve the needs of our communities. The initiative to increase the number of seats in our universities is an important example of how our educational system must respond and expand to meet the needs of all British Columbians.

In the riding of Nanaimo-Parksville the new funding for K-to-12 has been well used by the administrators and trustees of school districts 68 and 69. They have taken moves to cap and limit the class sizes while allocating funding resources to teacher's aides and other needed requirements. While the enrolment has dropped, the per-capita funding per student has continued to increase.

The initiative begins at K-to-12 and continues throughout to the university level. This government recognizes that many of our young people and not-so-young people became frustrated with the lack of opportunity and opted out of educational programs. Their attitude, I think, might be said to be: why train for jobs that aren't there?

I'm pleased to report that the robust economy is now generating jobs at a record rate in Canada. There are shortages in a wide range of technical, professional and other vocations. We can expect that there will be many returning to the classrooms to upgrade their skills and take advantage of the many opportunities that present themselves. In fact, filling the tremendous number of new, skilled positions that our economy is creating is one of the greatest challenges that B.C. faces in the upcoming years.

The second great goal is to lead the way in North America to healthy living and physical fitness. While this goal has obvious consequences for health care, that is not the prime objective of this goal. Let me tell you that I attended one of PGOSA's regular Friday events. PGOSA is an acronym that stands for Parksville Golden Oldies Sports Association. I attended a field day for seniors — a real field day like we used to have in high school. It featured slo-pitch, golf, horseshoes, bocce ball, and other athletic events were offered.

They have a regular hockey team called the PGOSA Panters. They displayed, I think as much as anything, what this goal is all about: being fit, staying fit, being active and enjoying life to the fullest. They have over a thousand members in the community of Parksville.

I also attended recently the Canadian seniors mixed pairs lawn bowling championship held in Parksville. The Parksville club has over 160 members, and Nanaimo has two clubs. As I went to the banquet on Saturday night, I thought I was in the wrong room. There were over 300 people in the room. They're a very, very active group.

We live in the best climate, in the most beautiful setting in North America. This initiative aims to encourage and facilitate its citizens of all ages to use and enjoy it to the fullest.

The third great goal is to build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, special needs, children at risk and seniors. Surely, the measure of success of any society is how it looks after those who are disadvantaged by circumstances of health or misfortune or age.

Seniors built this country, laid the foundation for prosperity and established the values of the caring society that we now enjoy. The Parksville riding has a 50-percent higher percentage of seniors than the British Columbia average. This was the last census, and I'm sure it is even increasing. According to a comprehensive survey taken by the Vancouver real estate board , 62 percent of the people purchasing homes in the Parksville area were purchasing them for a retirement home.

Now while many of these people come from Alberta and Ontario, the large majority of them come from British Columbia. Far be it from me, however, to suggest that other areas of our province are less beautiful than central Vancouver Island. I would certainly not presume to do that. It is a fact, however, that people are choosing the moderate, sunny climate that they find on Vancouver Island in ever-increasing numbers.

This presents the government with particular challenges. Meeting these challenges was one of the principal reasons that I ran for office. The seniors council that this government has initiated will help to enlist the critical issues, and there are many. Even the name "seniors," which we use to identify this growing demographic group, needs to be reviewed. I'm afraid to admit that as the saying goes, I resemble that remark more and more each day.

More and more of our citizens are daily joining this group, and while it originally referred to people who had reached the traditional age of retirement at 65, both ends of that age spectrum are expanding. The baby-boomers are cashing in their equity, principally in their homes, and heading for the golf course earlier in life. This wonderful climate on central Vancouver Island appeals to them.

One of the issues that we do need to review is mandatory retirement. That's an issue, too, that this House has to face. It used to be that once you were past your 70s — and I hope my constituents who might be following this will forgive me — you were considered to be getting old.

I remember my dear mother, who refused to acknowledge to her writing group that she was no longer 79. "Ronnie," she said to me, "79 isn't too bad, but I don't want the group to think that I'm in my 80s. It's too far."

Now one of the fastest-growing age groups is over 80. They're active, and they're busy. This group of seniors that bought close to a thousand homes in the Parksville area alone in 2004 — and that number will be, in 2005…. It raises the question: where will they be living? Will they be in their homes, or what sort of home will they be in when they can no longer keep their home up?

The need is immense now, and it will quickly grow larger. It is not acceptable to warehouse seniors in substandard accommodation. The atrocious conditions that we found in many of the older-type seniors homes cannot be acceptable, and this government has looked to new concepts.

One of the urgent needs in the Parksville area is the construction of the planned expansion of the Arrowsmith Lodge. The new units will be complex care units. The new concept will provide a continuum of care from independent living to tertiary care. This will add 75 units to the facility, and it is one of my top priorities as MLA for Nanaimo-Parksville riding to see that this facility is built during my term in office.

However, when you consider 75 units against the thousands of homes that are being purchased by seniors in the Parksville area alone, one can easily deduce that we will not be able to build enough units fast enough to accommodate the growing need. We will need to look to other answers. We will need to keep people in their homes longer. This will require a broad strategy of support.

Senior housing is not the only pressing support concern in the Parksville area. Persons with mental issues, I'm sad to say, are facing a critical shortage of housing. The community has organized a group to begin an initiative to address this concern, and I will be working and assisting them to achieve their goals.

The fourth goal is to lead the world in sustainable environmental management with the best air quality, water quality and fisheries management, bar none. The top priority coming out of the seminar session held about two years ago by the directors of the regional district of Nanaimo, which I attended, was water quality and supply. This is of particular concern to Lantzville and the other outlying areas in Coombs. They are all relying on wells for their primary source of water, and the name Walkerton holds a special horror for people in this area.

The regional district welcomes and was very enthusiastic about the expansion of the government role in this area. I met with the new quality engineer, Mr. John Spencer, who incidentally was very happy to be able to return to British Columbia from the north. His duties will include reviewing the engineering integrity of the various smaller water systems on the Island. It's much-welcome assistance, but generally speaking, only stringent adherence to high standards of sustainable environmental management is acceptable in today's world.

The fifth goal is to create more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada, last but certainly not least. That is a goal that has already been achieved. British Columbia leads the nation in job creation. The challenge now is to sustain sound and environmentally friendly growth.

We must continue to look at new markets. The Asia-Pacific is one that we must expand. While Australia has doubled their exports to China, Canada's exports to that country have increased by only 17 percent. The recent outcomes of the softwood lumber dispute make clear that we cannot rely on the United States markets for our lumber exports.

Vancouver Island's lumber and wood fibre manufacturers are facing great challenges of modernizing and competing with the production of forest products with other jurisdictions including, I note, the interior of B.C., which has a number of very high-speed, high-efficiency mills. Frankly, the interior of B.C.'s mills are kicking our…. Well, I can't refer to the part of the anatomy. But I think the colloquialism is familiar to all members in the House, and that's what they're kicking.

We're experiencing a phenomenal boom in new home construction, as I noted, on the Island. We're very efficient at this. Our construction industry is one of the most innovative and productive areas in the economy on Vancouver Island. It is a fact that this entrepreneurial energy, however, is focused mainly on selling product to ourselves. We need to turn some of that energy and investment outward towards developing product for export.

We've had notable successes in the past, most particularly in Japan. However, that success has faded, and the European countries are now eating our lunch in that market. While the Asian economic flu abated, our markets in Japan did not come back. The new ministry to open up the Asia-Pacific gateway will bring the needed focus to identify opportunities and partner with industry to expand our markets and product to the Far East.

Small business is not only a vital key to economic progress in British Columbia, but to a large extent it defines who we are: independent, optimistic and ready to measure our abilities against an opportunity that presents itself. This is particularly true on Vancouver Island. Some of the smaller businesses did, in course, indeed become industry giants. They were founded by individuals with a dream and energy. With more hard work than capital they founded successful enterprises. Most failed more than once before they succeeded, but persistence and optimism prevailed, and the province has prospered.

Optimism and opportunity are the fuel for ideas and initiative, more so than vast amounts of capital, and that's what drives the B.C. economy. It's vital to retain and nurture this spirit of entrepreneurship.

The Minister of Small Business and Revenue has initiated a small business round table to monitor the business-friendly quotient, if you want, towards small businesses. The Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce has already struck a committee to monitor just that very business-friendliness in the city of Nanaimo. The minister can be assured that the Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce will be knocking on his doors to lead that important forum.

Considerable progress has been made in cutting the Gordian knot of bureaucracy. A friend of mine recently wanted to set up his own construction company in Parksville. I directed him to the business registry page on the B.C. government website. In a matter of about an hour — not even an hour, more like half an hour or so — we walked through the application process and registered his company on line, effective that day.

The site also enabled him to register for GST, PST, WCB, municipal licences and other necessary requirements from his own home, without having to make dozens of phone calls, make a raft of appointments and subsequently run all over the place to get set up in business. It's a marvellous improvement and greatly reduces the anxiety and frustration in getting an enterprise underway.

I've talked about how these five great goals will impact and benefit and how they relate to the riding that I represent. Each of the ridings in this beautiful province of ours will have a different flavour depending on the blending of needs for the particular riding in the province.

Finally, the voters sent us a powerful message with the STV vote. In reading Mr. MacDonald's book on the process, it's clear that it was as much about being heard or the process or how we do business as about proportional voting. He states in his book a rather condemning fact. He says that one of the main reasons the assembly liked the Ireland STV model so much is because politicians there didn't like it. What does that say about how we are viewed by our citizens?

The chairs of the Citizens' Assembly agree. They don't like, it seems in my view, the way we conduct business. They want more input. They want more relevance. To my mind, it comes down in large part to how we conduct ourselves here. Our constituents have a right to expect real dialogue, real debate on the issues. They want an exchange of ideas, not catcalls.

We've made changes. This government has taken the lead in Canada once again to make changes. We've expanded the question period, we've added a deputy House leader, and we've made other changes to open the process of developing legislation within this House. We hope that these changes are going to be viewed by all members in this House on both sides as positive changes to improve how we construct and develop legislation.

No one owns the whole truth, Mr. Speaker. There may be ideas on both sides of the House. I think it's incumbent on all members, but perhaps particularly on the government side of the House, to listen to the ideas and incorporate those ideas that help make things better and improve them. Who knows? With current trends on TV programs these days, people might start to watch this on TV. This might even become the new hit reality show — watching your legislators actually develop ideas, do work and accomplish things for their government. What a concept.

All of this will be meaningless, though, unless our aboriginal first nations are part of our growth, prosperity and future. We aspire to set an example to the nation and to the world. We're number one in job creation. Indeed, we are leading the nation on important issues such as Pharmacare and surgical waiting times, but we cannot hold our success up to the world unless they are truly partners with us. Otherwise, it is a sham and a shame.

I can remember, in a previous incarnation in an all-candidates debate in one community, we were talking about employment. In those days the employment rate was quite bad. It was between 10 and 15 percent. A first nations person got up and spoke and said to me in a very direct and poignant way: "Well, we'd be happy if ours was only as low as 25 percent." To me, that struck home. They're just not with us, and they're not part of us, and we have to change that.

Now it's up to us. We are on the cusp of greatness. B.C. now is poised to take its position from some of those other more eastern provinces as the leader in Canada. We are leading in democratic reform. We are leading in legislative reform.

This is our opportunity. It's the opportunity within this House, and I challenge us all to seize that opportunity. We can make this a great decade. We can make B.C. famous worldwide for its greatness and progress. The proceedings of this House in the next term, in the next few months, will have a profound effect on the future of all British Columbians.
© 2007 Government Caucus of British Columbia. All Rights Reserved.