Initial response to Budget 2018

The BCNDP government laid out their priorities in Budget 2018. I have laid out my initial thoughts on the budget, both positive and negative, in this video.

Our goal shouldn’t be just to simply fix the shortcomings of the last 16 years. As leaders, we need to champion a clear plan for British Columbia. We need a strong economic vision that includes the manufacturing sector — in my riding, for example — high-tech, renewable, sustainable jobs to ensure that our economy continues to thrive. We need strong climate action and better environmental protections.

While it is refreshing to have a provincial budget that does more to put people at the centre — and I’ll be voting in support of it — I believe much more needs to be done on building a long-term vision for British Columbia.

[Transcript]

I think that this is a pretty good budget. Frankly, it’s a great start on some of the key issues facing British Columbians. I’m going to try to strike a balance between the two polarized sides of this House in my response to Budget 2018.

This budget takes some substantive strides forward on the pressing issues of affordability in our province, particularly on tackling our out-of-control housing market and on providing affordable child care for young families. I welcome these measures, and I’ll speak to them in greater detail.

However, on housing in particular, I don’t think that this government went as far as they needed to go, as far as the crisis demands we go, if we are serious about restoring affordability and protecting the ability of young British Columbians to live in our cities. This government is not yet embracing the full mantle of responsibility that we have as legislators to ensure that the next generation can prosper as our world changes rapidly around us. More than ever, what we need is for government to champion a vision for seizing the opportunities and addressing the challenges of our time.

Our goal shouldn’t be just to simply fix the shortcomings of the last 16 years. As leaders, we need to champion a clear plan for British Columbia. We need a strong economic vision that includes the manufacturing sector — in my riding, for example — high-tech, renewable, sustainable jobs to ensure that our economy continues to thrive. We need strong climate action and better environmental protections.

Underlying every decision we make, we must ensure that we do not leave future generations worse off than we are. This is the fundamental principle of intergenerational equity that motivates me and my colleagues as we do our work in this place.

While it is refreshing to have a provincial budget that does more to put people at the centre — and I’ll be voting in support of it — I believe much more needs to be done on building a long-term vision for British Columbia.

We are in a time of change, both economic and environmental, which presents exciting opportunities but also huge challenges. As we navigate this time of change and make decisions that impact British Columbians now and in the future, we must, at all times, be thinking: “Who are we, what do we value, and where do we want to be going?” We must be clear on these questions if we are to build a province where British Columbians enjoy a high quality of life for generations to come.

This government has taken much more substantive steps than the last government was ever willing to take on housing affordability, and they should be recognized for this. Homes are at the centre of safe, healthy, productive people and society. It is irresponsible to balance budgets on real estate transactions. It is incenting the wrong behaviour. Sorting out this mess is not going to be easy, but it is necessary.

For months, our caucus has been calling on government to take strong demand-side measures, including cracking down on speculation and reducing the impact of offshore capital to restore affordability to our cities. This budget takes some steps in the right direction. I welcome, for example, the speculator’s tax, which targets people who own empty homes in B.C. and do not pay income taxes here, and the extension of the foreign buyer tax to the CRD and other areas.

I also welcome the large investments this government is making in new supply, recognizing that the market alone cannot supply affordable homes that so many families need. As a former councillor, I do believe local government should be given more power to deal with a crisis that occurs in their own communities. It is rare that a one-size-fits-all solution will work.

We pushed government to target assistance to those most struggling with rising rents, like low-income seniors and families, instead of a much smaller universal grant to even those who didn’t need it. I’m glad they delivered on this by expanding supports for low-income seniors and families who rent.

But most importantly, what I’m still seeking from this government is clarity on whether it is merely trying to slow the rate of price escalation or if it’s actually trying to bring housing prices down. We’ve been clear. What is desperately needed is to responsibly deflate this housing bubble and to bring down house prices. The last thing we need is a crash in the housing market.

While flattening the rising costs is one step, house prices in the Lower Mainland and elsewhere in British Columbia are already out of reach. It’s hollowing out our communities. This is essential if we’re going to make our cities livable and affordable for young people and families and if there are going to be places where businesses can thrive and neighbourhoods are vibrant, welcoming and full of life. These are the types of communities we should be building.

I’ve heard from so many young families in my riding about the problems they face finding affordable, quality child care for their kids. The costs of child care weigh on the minds of so many and add to the stress of all the other factors increasing the cost of living. In this budget, we see strong progress towards a universal child care system through new funding of over $1 billion over the next three years. I believe that this funding will make a tangible difference for young families, taking the first steps towards quality, universal child care.

The specifics on what families can expect include a new affordable child care benefit with expanded eligibility and higher benefit rates than the existing subsidy. This benefit will be phased in over three years, with families being able to apply on line this summer and money rolling out in September.

Government is also reducing fees for children under six through a child care fee reduction program — by $350 for infants and toddlers and $100 a month for 3- to 5-year-olds. Taken together, the affordable child care benefit and the child care fee reduction program will benefit families across the economic spectrum.

The building of a child care and early childhood education system presents us with an opportunity to provide future British Columbians with the best possible conditions for success and set British Columbians on a path towards achieving far greater equality. Moving forward on this exciting child care plan, I believe that we should also keep in mind parents who want the flexibility of raising their own children.

For the past ten years, I’ve been a work-from-home father. Emily and I decided that we were going to raise our children, and so we have largely been a one-income family for that time. As a stay-at-home dad, I believe in the importance of enabling children to connect with both their parents. I welcome the recent musings of the Prime Minister’s “use it, or lose it” benefit for the second parent. In designing this child care program, we need to keep the quality of life for children, their needs and their potential at the forefront in our minds.

When my grandparents were forced from their homes as young children and into residential schools, one of the primary goals of that school was to strip them of their language. They were punished for speaking their language, to the point that they felt shame when they uttered the words that had been used to describe this land, the language of their S¸ELELW̱ÁÁN . Banning Indigenous languages was a critical part of the strategy of past governments. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it was an essential feature in advancing cultural genocide.

My grandparents never completely forgot their language. My grandfather, Ernie Olsen, and a handful of others from Saanich worked closely with the University of Victoria to preserve our language — SENĆOŦEN. Like many Indigenous languages in British Columbia, SENĆOŦEN was nearly extinct.

So it is in the honour of my grandparents that I stand in this House and acknowledge the transformative commitments across government to improve Indigenous relations. Indeed, we are at a critical moment in time. This government is advancing this transformation in this budget. This budget makes a historic $50 million investment that supports Indigenous communities to revitalize connections to our Indigenous languages. This is truly a historic commitment. It honours the work of my grandparents to remember what was not beaten from them.

I can’t imagine Telquilam and Panachwould have imagined their children and nieces and nephews reversing the course as they have. Now their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are speaking the words of their S¸ELELW̱ÁÁN, the words they painstakingly preserved for them. As they fought the demons of their past — the abuse, the degradation, the humiliation — they left our children a precious gift, the gift of the beautiful world view locked in linguistic limbo for more than a generation.

ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱ is “a place of refuge.” This is the name of the sacred mountain of the WSÁNEĆ people, and it was given to our school on West Saanich Road. The mountain is the place where we tied our canoes in the great flood.

The school is home to one of the most successful Indigenous language revitalization programs in our province. ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱ is once again a place of refuge — for all our children, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. It is the passion of my blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girl, who had the benefit of a preschool SENĆOŦEN immersion program and is soon to take it up again in grade one; her equally blonde brother at Brentwood Elementary; and their cousin at Bayside Middle School. Our language is reborn.

It is with this in mind that I raise my hands to this government. As you will note, I believe the restoration of Indigenous language is the most substantial step we take so far in our journey of reconciliation. That is not to cast shade on the $200 million investment in other much-needed programs and services.

This budget brings some good news on transportation. I welcome the province’s commitment in this budget to supporting the Metro Mayors Council ten-year vision on transportation.

This budget also has some good news for our region. It includes an increase of a 2-cents-per-litre tax on gas and diesel in the CRD. This increase will provide $7 million of much-needed funding for the Victoria Regional Transit Commission and its share of funding for the Victoria regional transit system.

Certainly, not everyone will agree with the fuel tax increase. But I believe it is an appropriate and necessary change to better provide funding for transit. We desperately need improved transportation options on the Saanich Peninsula and right across the CRD.

In this budget, government also promised to freeze ferry fares on three major routes, including Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen, in my riding, to reduce fares on all non-major routes by 15 percent — this, I’m sure, will be welcome news to the residents of the five southern Gulf Island communities that I proudly represent — and to reinstate the seniors 100 percent discount on passenger fares between Monday and Thursday.

The government says that our ferries are part of our highway system. I absolutely agree with them. And I agree with the Minister of Finance that Gulf Islanders are unfairly carrying more of the cost of their highways than others in B.C. do.

That is why we have advocated for bringing B.C. Ferries back into government and why I’m disappointed that the government’s ongoing review of B.C. Ferries does not consider this option. Ferries are not just highways. They also should be marine buses, with more focus on moving foot passengers as well. Coordinated with B.C. Transit, they provide a natural extension for our regional transportation network.

The 2011 Transit Future Plan, following extensive consultation, highlighted the need for bus rapid transit from the West Shore, UVic and downtown connecting the Saanich Peninsula at Uptown. Workers, employers, mayors and councillors have all recognized transportation as one of the highest priorities. Let’s take the steps to better connect Swartz Bay, the Victoria Airport and two critical manufacturing centres with the rest of the region.

In Saanich North and the Islands throughout January, I and my team focused on health care. I’m excited that the government has made an investment in team-based primary care, adding $150 million over three years to expand the coverage of primary care providers and the provision of team-based care. Too many people in my riding do not have access to a family doctor. Finding a way to provide multiple service providers, each of whom the current system remunerates through a myriad of ways, to co-exist and work together as teams is welcome news in this budget.

In Saanich North and the Islands, we already have team-based care on Galiano, Pender and Mayne islands. A non-profit clinic has been operating for the past 18 months on the Saanich Peninsula, and a similar society is just getting going on Saltspring Island. They are ready to help government implement their commitment to changing the delivery of primary care in our province.

We need to address burnout. Not only are costs increasing, but so is demand. People are leaving the workforce and not being replaced, adding stress on those who remain. I must honour the stories I’ve heard over so many cups of coffee.

Mental health service providers need more support across my riding. The challenges are across all demographics, and the situation is acute. Harm reduction capacity is needed on Saltspring, and we had the unfortunate situation of a youth mental health clinic closing its doors in Sidney, so I’m happy to see the investment in mental health services in this budget.

Finally, there was a glaring absence in this budget speech about wellness and prevention. I think we spend more than a pound on disease and illness and much less than an ounce on prevention and keeping people well. I would like to see, in future budgets, a much stronger focus on wellness and prevention. This budget puts $1.5 billion more into operations. We can continue to provide an unlimited supply of cash, or we can start to address the growing demand through preventative programs.

There is no question that my riding is a choice place to retire to. As a result, the serious issues affecting seniors are pronounced in Saanich North and the Islands. On the flip side, my riding has boundless intellectual capacity. As the MLA, I’m advised to do a better job creating opportunities to connect with the wisdom in my riding, but the government could do well to find ways retired folks can contribute to governance as well.

We have a long way to go to ensure that our seniors are adequately cared for and supported, whether they choose to live at home or they’re in residential care. The most recent report from the seniors advocate says that only 15 percent of care facilities meet guidelines for adequate staffing. I welcome the investments that this budget makes in seniors care, with nearly $550 million over three years to improve services for seniors across the continuum, including investments in primary care, home and community care, residential care and assisted living. The investments in the SAFER program will increase rental support for seniors by more than $900 a year. These investments are an excellent start.

I also believe we should start thinking more holistically as we consider how government can best support the health and happiness of seniors. We must do more as a community and as elected leaders to tackle social isolation and depression, which are all too common among seniors. This will require us to think in new, innovative ways about how we support seniors and how we better integrate their services into the communities that they live in.

Education is always a top priority for me. I have two children in primary school. The public education system is important for me and my friends right now, but it extends past those with kids in the system. It’s a matter of ensuring we have a resilient society.

While British Columbia has one of the best education systems in the world, we can also see how the changes in our economy force us to approach education in new ways. People entering the workforce can expect many different careers in their lifetime. Moving successfully between jobs will be determined by each person’s ability to adapt and learn new skills. The priority is to nurture the children’s natural curiosity into a love of learning that stays with them for the rest of their lives.

While this budget provides the basic new investments required by the courts, this government hasn’t yet prioritized education to the level that we’d like to see. While the $2 billion being invested in replacing and renovating schools will help update our education infrastructure, it does not put enough money where it matters most — investing in teachers and new supports for lifelong learning. When I visited Stelly’s Secondary School last fall, the students were clear to me that their learning materials were out of date. It might be fun to try and find your parent’s name in the textbook, but it’s simply not good enough.

Finally, it’s time to create a venue for youth to inform our government. In every school visit I have made, I’ve heard incredible ideas and insights. We sell our youth short. There is an advocacy group for parents, for teachers and support staff. There is no advocacy group for students.

This void provides space for these other groups to speak on behalf of students, of our youth. That’s not appropriate. I’ve introduced an incredible young man from my riding to this government. He has a vision for creating that student voice. I hope we accept the offer. As we are seeing in the United States right now, youth are powerful, and we would do well to recognize that and provide them a platform to be part of our government, our governance and our decision-making.

As a young man entering politics, I was asked to make a choice. “Are you for business?” people asked. “Are you for social justice? Are you an environmentalist?” We can no longer think or act that way. We have the capacity to take all these considerations into our decisions.

Balance in British Columbia has been strictly about budgets, to the point that the new Leader of the Official Opposition admits that they lost their way when they were in government and that there were billions of dollars hoarded at the end of the last year.

This behaviour destroys confidence in government. Add to that the constant “taxes are bad” mantra being pumped into the public for more than a decade, and there is a lot of work to do to repair the relationship between government and the people.

I remember on my very first municipal campaign, one of my first experiences on the hustings, a gentleman came to the door, and we had a nice chat. He said to me: “You know, I don’t mind paying taxes. What I do mind is a government that wastes my money. If you’re going to take it from me, then I expect you to spend it wisely, on programs and services that benefit me and my neighbours.” That’s not the only time that I’ve heard that message.

Despite the neo-liberal rhetoric, people don’t mind paying taxes as long as we are spending them responsibly on useful programs and services. The low- or no-tax message is usually followed by: “Only you know how to spend your money best.” In other words: “Don’t trust us. Don’t trust government.” Well what kind of message is that?

The irony, of course, is that if government has no role, then what are we doing here? And to think: some have been happily cashing the paycheque, gladly standing with their hand out accepting the benefits of this job while actively undermining it.

I challenge those who demean and diminish the role of government to step aside, to stop collecting the paycheque and, well, turn down the pension. At the same time, reject the health care, child care, education, transit. Indeed, do not use the roads and highways. When you’re a senior in need of the support of your community, go it alone. When your children and grandchildren fall on hard times, tell them: “Too bad, so sad.” Also, don’t turn on your tap or flush your toilet. And turn off your lights.

We need more than just balanced budgets. We need balance in our society. We need to balance the social, environmental and fiscal reality of our province. This is not about choosing to do one or the other. This is about creating the capacity to consider it all at once. That is balance.

Oh yes, we may have balanced the budgets, but whose backs have been carrying the burden? Not the people in this place. We’re well looked after. We’re called “ma’am” and “sir.” We walk on red carpets, and people go out of their way to provide us fine cheeses and chocolate-covered almonds.

The narrow balanced-budget rhetoric has come at a cost — a cost to society and a cost to our environment. There are clearly programs and services that government can deliver to all British Columbians better than we can do ourselves — programs and services that lift us all up.

I look forward to future budgets being more balanced on the triple bottom line. I look forward to a balanced fiscal, social and environmental policy, one that balances both the interests of people and the interests of businesses who hire those people.

There should not be an environment party, a social party and an economic party in our province. If that’s the case, we need to move rapidly away from that and towards more balance, more subdued pendulum swings, not because we’re ignoring everything that’s not spoken by our political base but because we are considering it.

We need a government that is agile. We need more than responsive. We need a predictive, forward-thinking government that is planning not just for today and the next four years but has its eye on the next four generations. Balance is understanding the financial implications on business, on people and on the environment and accounting for it, planning for it and preparing British Columbians so that we not just survive but thrive.

We have a responsibility to spend people’s money wisely on programs and services that help them to get ahead, that decrease stress and increase productivity. We must not let billions of little dust bunnies collect in the back of the closet.

As my colleague from Oak Bay–Gordon Head has repeated in this place for more than four years, British Columbia has a competitive advantage. I want to hear about that. We need to be laying out how British Columbia is not just going to compete but how we’re going to lead the world. What is our vision for the future? Who are we? What are we? How are we going to harness the advantages that we have? This is what is missing from this budget. This is where future budgets can be stronger.

It is with this that I take my place. I will note the complexity of the provincial budget, acknowledge that there are strengths and weaknesses in every budget, things that I can agree with and things that trouble me. Overall, I’m happy with the direction of this budget. In fact, in some cases, I’m elated with the direction of this budget. So I will be happily supporting it. HÍSWḴE SIÁM.