Speech from the Throne
2003 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 37th Parliament |
|
Link to Hansard Debate
Speech from the Throne
The Honourable Iona Campagnolo
Lieutenant Governor
at the
Opening of the Fourth Session,
Thirty-Seventh Parliament
of the
Province of British Columbia
February 11, 2003
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members.
I join you again, when as legislators you look to the future of
our great province and the future of all its people through this
Speech from the Throne.
Since this Assembly last convened, several honoured British Columbians
have passed away, and we pay tribute to them today. They include
Vancouver lawyer Peter Butler, forestry consultant and entrepreneur
Charles Widman, Provincial Court Judge William Ostler and Haida
artist Freda Diesing.
We also note the passing of one of our country's admired former
Governors General, Ramon Hnatyshyn and one of the most honoured
citizens of this province, Brigadier General, The Honourable Henry
Bell-Irving who served British Columbia both as a soldier and a
citizen and was a distinguished Lieutenant Governor from 1978 to
1983.
All these citizens and many more that we have lost since we last
met have added much to the life of this province and are sorely
missed.
On behalf of all Members, I also send the good wishes of this Assembly
and the people of B.C. to former Premier Mike Harcourt for a continued
positive recovery from his recent and terrible accident.
A lot has happened over the past year, as the world has struggled
to recover from the devastating after-effects of September 11, 2001.
We live in trying, uncertain times of great global change.
New solutions are required to cope with the generational challenges
that all provinces are facing in health care, education, and other
vital social program areas.
New approaches are needed to refocus public resources where they
are needed most — on people: patients, students and those
most vulnerable in our society.
Significant change is needed to make our economy more competitive
and to build a stronger foundation for prosperity for every family,
in every region of our province.
Reforms are required to make our government institutions and services
more responsive and accountable to the people they serve.
Yet with the need for change and modernization come exciting new
worlds of opportunity. These are times of renewal, hope and accomplishment.
They are times of discovery, achievement and unlimited possibility.
No place on Earth is blessed with more potential than British Columbia.
In the heartlands of British Columbia, from one community to the
next, the optimism of the people burns bright, as it has throughout
our history.
It is that indefatigable sense of confidence and community spirit
that has always been the hallmark of British Columbia. In these
times, as in those long past, it is the strength and imaginations
of British Columbians that carries us to a brighter future.
We still have a long way to go, and there are challenges yet ahead.
But we are moving forward, farther, faster than anyone thought
possible.
The world will open up for us as we open up our province
to all British Columbians and to the world. That is our central
strategic imperative. It is the mission to open up British
Columbia to the wealth of opportunities that lie in wait of our
discovery.
We must open up our minds to new ways of meeting our common
interests. We must open up our province to new partnerships
with First Nations, other governments and private enterprise.
This is the government's overriding vision: to open up every
region and every community to new horizons of hope. To open up
every sector of our economy to new opportunities, wherever they
exist. To open up the free flow of people, goods and services
within our province and with our trading partners. To open up
every region of B.C. to visitors from around the globe through a
successful 2010 Olympic bid.
There is no place on Earth that has more to offer the world than
British Columbia.
With all we have to work with as a province — our wealth
of talent, our rich natural resources, and our tremendous competitive
advantages — there is no dream we can't realize if we really
want to make it happen.
Opening Up
Our Democratic Institutions
Today across the country Canadians have lost some of their confidence
in their public institutions.
They are skeptical about government's ability to meet their needs
and meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world.
Your government is acting to change that. It has worked to open
up our public institutions to the people of the province through
a number of reforms that are in some cases without precedent in
Canada or the Commonwealth.
These include free votes, active legislative committees, new Government
Caucus Committees, televised open Cabinet meetings, and a set date
for provincial general elections.
There are now three-year rolling service plans, with performance
targets that Ministers must meet to earn their full pay, and an
independent Progress Board to report on how well our province is
doing.
All of these measures have made the government more open, accessible
and accountable to British Columbians.
The government's initiative to create Canada's first Provincial
Congress reflects the growing understanding among all Canadians
that all elected officials serve the same citizens.
Provincial Dialogues on Health and Education have reinforced the
government's prime commitment to improve health and education, as
well as its dedication to new ideas, to learn from one another and
to bring British Columbians together in search of new solutions
to their common challenges.
We can open up new worlds of possibility if we have access to the
information and facts needed to make informed decisions.
New efforts will be made to ensure that British Columbians do have
the information they need to understand the challenges their government
faces and to assess the decisions it is making on their behalf.
Additional resources will be committed to foster informed public
debate of the facts and choices at hand, and understanding of the
opportunities and solutions the government is pursuing in the public
interest.
The government will do more this year to bring citizens together
in search of new ideas for constructive change.
A Dialogue on Crime will bring together community leaders, MLAs,
law enforcement experts and others in pursuit of better ways to
prevent and combat crime in our schools and on our streets.
In the interim, legislation will be introduced this Session to
help our police better manage and track information on criminals,
suspects and sentencing conditions imposed by the courts.
This new high-tech computer-based system will enhance public safety,
and will be provided to police across British Columbia.
A Seniors and Youth Congress will also be organized to examine
the challenges facing our province from the perspective of both
the younger generation and seniors.
The government wants to build a bridge between the generations
where the enthusiasm and new ideas of youth are tempered by the
wisdom of experience.
Moreover, this year your government will put the drafting pen in
the hands of the people to shape the future of our parliamentary
democracy in the 21st century.
A Citizens' Assembly will examine and make recommendations on the
crucial issue of electoral reform.
British Columbians will have an unprecedented opportunity to review
and debate all models available throughout the world for electing
their MLAs, consistent with our system of responsible government.
And if the Assembly ultimately determines that there is a better
model than the current system, that model will be put directly to
the people in a referendum to amend our provincial constitution
on May 17, 2005.
A motion will be introduced in this Assembly within the next few
weeks to initiate this process, following the release of the report
on this issue that was so ably completed by the respected Gordon
Gibson.
To open up the future, we must have the confidence to challenge
the status quo and build upon the values of British Columbians.
We must embark upon a bold, exciting, new course: one that ventures
to dare and dream and do whatever might be done to make B.C.
the best it can be.
Opening Up
New Worlds of Possibility
Education is the key to opening up new worlds of possibility, and
along with health care, it is your government's highest social priority.
This year, the government will build on the major reforms introduced
in education last year. New measures will be taken to improve graduation
requirements and ensure graduates have the skills they need in life
after school.
Amendments will be introduced to the Teaching Profession Act
that will enhance accountability and administrative efficiency,
while clarifying the role of the British Columbia College of Teachers.
New steps will be taken to encourage student involvement in education
planning in schools. New Web-based informational tools will help
parents foster student achievement and improve literacy and numeracy
skills.
Similarly, improvements will be made to advanced education.
Our universities remain a source of provincial pride and educational
excellence. The government will continue to help liberate the expertise
and potential that exists within our universities, to ensure they
remain engines of knowledge generation and discovery.
It will continue to pursue new partnerships through initiatives
like the Leading Edge Endowment Fund, Genome BC and the B.C. Life
Sciences Initiative that will build on the nearly $700 million the
government has committed to advance research and foster innovation
in British Columbia.
Your government is excited by the contributions that are made by
B.C.'s exceptional colleges and institutes throughout the province.
This year the government will initiate a new research partnership
aimed at providing new resources for applied economic and social
research that takes place in our colleges. The new B.C. Regional
Innovation Chairs will be seed-funded by a $7.5 million one-time
grant from the government. The chairs will be administered by the
Leading Edge Endowment Fund.
The legislative committee on education will focus its attention
on B.C.'s institutes and colleges to determine what can be done
to build on their accomplishments.
The new BC Campus on-line learning model will be advanced to significantly
increase access to post-secondary education. A new Private Career
Training Institutions Act will be introduced to guide career-related
private training, and to ensure tuition protection for students.
A new model for industry training in trades and technical sectors
will be implemented to address skills shortages and increase training
and apprenticeships.
All of these initiatives will help open up new worlds of learning
for British Columbians.
Opening Up
New Hope for Sustainable, Accessible Health Care
No area of government is in more dire need of reform than health
care. We must find new ways of controlling rising health costs,
while also increasing access to services, drugs, technology and
highly skilled health professionals.
Despite the $1.1 billion increase that the government has directed
to health care, it is still not enough to keep pace with British
Columbians' growing demands, an aging population and rising expectations
for ever bigger, better, and more expensive health care services.
Over the past decade Pharmacare costs have jumped by 147 per cent
and are now projected to grow by almost 500 per cent over the next
two decades. Over the past ten years, we've seen the cost of health
care grow from 34 per cent of all expenditures to 41 per cent today.
This growth in health spending is increasingly squeezing out the
money available in the budget for other vital social services. Clearly
this trend cannot continue.
New solutions are needed. New approaches are required. New cooperative
relationships and cost containment strategies are essential.
The additional federal funding negotiated at last week's First
Ministers' Conference will help. But it will not in itself solve
our sustainability problem, or adequately offset the cost pressures
of current health services and health reform.
The Province's vision for health care, the Picture of Health, clearly
outlines many reforms that will also help meet the challenges at
hand.
More steps will be taken this year to act on that vision.
The Action Schools project represents only one of several initiatives
that will be taken to promote health prevention and wellness.
The new 24/7 BC NurseLine, the BC HealthGuide, the Aboriginal Companion
handbook, and new programs aimed at early childhood development
will all help promote health and wellness for all B.C. families.
Later this year, the government will initiate a new strategy for
Chronic Disease Management. New measures will be taken to strengthen
British Columbia's Ambulance Service.
Your government will continue to pursue new independent living
options for seniors, to improve their quality of life and to reduce
pressure on long-term care facilities.
A new Fair PharmaCare Plan will be introduced later this month
that will significantly benefit most British Columbians living on
fixed and lower incomes.
Some 280,000 low-income families will pay less than they do now.
For the first time young families with lower incomes will be supported
in their drug costs through the Fair PharmaCare Plan.
The new Fair PharmaCare Plan will end the existing inequities whereby
higher income earners sometimes pay less for their drug costs than
those with much lower incomes. Yet it will ensure that the vast
majority of B.C. families will pay the same or less for their prescription
drug costs than they do today.
All of these measures will help put health care on a solid and
sustainable footing for the future.
Opening Up
New Ways of Meeting Our Common Interests
Your government will continue to open up new ways of meeting our
citizens' common interests.
New steps will be taken this year to improve choice and access
to childcare services, as all services are consolidated under the
Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services.
The new funding model announced last December will increase the
number of government-funded childcare spaces by over 50 per cent,
from 45,000 to 70,000. More than 1,400 licensed family and group
childcare providers will be eligible for government assistance for
the first time.
The government will also introduce legislation to open up a new
provincial authority called Community Living BC to oversee the design
and delivery of services to people with developmental disabilities.
As the government continues with employment assistance reforms
aimed at fostering greater independence and self-sufficiency, funding
will continue to be focused on those who need it most.
Funding for employment programs for people with disabilities was
increased by 40 per cent this past fiscal year, and in the new year
those with disabilities will see their earnings exemptions rise
again.
The changes the government has made have not been easy or without
controversy. But they are working. Today there are 55,000 fewer
British Columbians dependent on income assistance than there were
when this government came to office.
Exit surveys show that 92 per cent of those leaving income assistance
have done so for employment, educational opportunities or because
they have other sources of income. The majority — 66 per cent
— found paid employment and are generally earning two or three
times more than they were on welfare.
Opening Up
Recognition and Reconciliation with First Nations
If history has taught us anything, surely it is this: we are always
stronger as a country and as a province when we work together.
We are enhanced as a people when we celebrate our diversity and
build on all we have in common. We are enriched when we listen to
one another and learn from our mistakes.
Nowhere is that truer than with governments' relations with First
Nations. For too long we have been stuck in a rut of our own making,
talking past each other and heading in opposite directions.
There is no mileage in the status quo. To make progress, we must
all find a new path forward together. We must move beyond the old
approaches and flawed policies of the past.
It is up to us to accord First Nations the respect, support and
social and economic opportunities to which they are entitled.
Errors have been made in the past. Our institutions have failed
Aboriginal people across our province.
Your government deeply regrets the mistakes that were made by governments
of every political stripe over the course of our province's history.
It regrets the tragic experiences visited upon First Nations through
years of paternalistic policies that fostered inequity, intolerance,
isolation and indifference.
Inadequate education, health care and housing; rampant unemployment;
alcoholism and drug abuse; unconscionably high rates of physical
and sexual abuse, incarceration, infant mortality and suicide: these
are the hallmarks of despair that have disproportionately afflicted
First Nations' families, on and off-reserve.
These are the legacies of history that we must act to erase. They
are sad reminders that it is always our children who pay the biggest
price for society's shortcomings.
No words of regret can ever undo the damage that has been done
to First Nations in all the years we have shared this land together.
Nor are governments solely responsible for all of the misfortunes
endured by First Nations at the cruel hand of history.
The point of reflecting on the errors made is not to assign blame
or bear guilt for the actions of our forefathers. Rather, it is
to assume today's responsibility to heal the wounds that time has
wrought.
It is to offer our hand in a new partnership of optimism and hope,
as one people of many peoples, in pursuit of common goals.
The place to meet is at the negotiating tables, not in the courts
or on opposite sides of new barriers to understanding.
Your government will prove this year that it is serious about negotiating
workable, affordable treaties that will provide certainty, finality
and equality. It will take bold new steps to advance issues that
are common to most treaty tables, such as governance, certainty,
and access to fish.
Agreements-in-principle are within reach. With goodwill and mutual
commitment we can break new ground and lead by example.
Progress is not just being made in treaty talks. First Nations
leaders have worked closely with the government to create social
and economic opportunities for their communities throughout B.C.
Your government is determined to provide a new level of economic
opportunity for First Nations communities and people.
A three-year, $30 million Economic Measures Fund has been established
to help First Nations pursue new economic opportunities now. That
Fund will be indefinitely extended with an additional $10 million
per year.
Funding has been approved to support Aboriginal involvement in
oil and gas, tourism, forestry, fish aquaculture and the Olympic
bid.
Your government is working to expand First Nations' involvement
in the co-management of parks and recreational services.
A formal new partnership with Aboriginal leaders is leading the
country in Aboriginal child protection and family development.
Funding has been enhanced for Aboriginal post-secondary programs,
early childhood development, childcare services and programs to
protect and promote Aboriginal languages. The First Citizens' Fund
is being doubled, from $36 million to $72 million.
All of these initiatives will help, but more must be done. The
treaty process will not be completed overnight — it will take
time. Interim measures will help, but it must be remembered that
a third of First Nations have opted not to participate in the treaty
process.
Regardless, the courts have been very clear that the Crown always
has a legal duty to consult and accommodate First Nations where
their rights may be affected. Your government will do more over
the next years to meet that obligation.
It will work with First Nations and others to explore ways of building
upon the Provincial Policy for Consultation with First Nations,
in furtherance of the New Era goal of developing a legislative framework
for respecting Aboriginal rights in the absence of treaties.
Efforts to renew forestry, to develop energy, to build tourism,
to restore mining, to revitalize the fishery, to expand agriculture,
to improve health care delivery and educational prospects, all create
new opportunities for British Columbians that must include First
Nations.
Clearly, new partnerships are required to promote greater equity
and certainty for all concerned — Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
alike.
Achieving those partnerships will require new commitments to cooperative
approaches on everyone's part, especially in our forest and fishing
industries.
Significant reforms will be introduced this year to ensure that
more access to logging and forest opportunities is available to
First Nations.
Your government will take another bold step to forge a new era
of reconciliation with First Nations. Starting this year, funding
will be earmarked in the budget for revenue sharing arrangements
with First Nations that wish to help revitalize the forest industry
in their traditional territories.
The distribution of that revenue will be negotiated with First
Nations in exchange for legal certainty that allows all regions
and all British Columbians to more fairly prosper from their resource
industries.
The future will be forged in partnership with First Nations —
not in denial of their history, heritage and culture. It will be
won in recognition of First Nations' constitutional rights and title
— not lost for another generation because we failed to act.
It will be earned through reconciliation and mutual respect. It
will be built with bold new approaches that will materially improve
First Nations' quality of life — before and after treaties
are concluded.
Opening Up
The Canada - British Columbia Partnership
As your government acts to create a new generation of understanding
and collaboration with First Nations, it recognizes the federal
government must also play a crucial role.
The Province is striving to create a new Canada-British Columbia
Partnership that meets the needs of all our citizens and includes
everyone in the promise of Canada.
British Columbians want their provincial and federal governments
to work together on their behalf, not in isolation or opposition
to one another. B.C. taxpayers also want to see a fairer share of
their federal tax contributions being reinvested in their province.
Your government is pleased with the federal government's growing
appreciation of this fact. Over the past year, significant commitments
have been made in partnership with British Columbia.
The Province is working in partnership with the federal government
on the 2010 Olympic bid; the new Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre;
the new Gulf Islands National Park; the softwood lumber dispute;
the pine beetle infestation; and cross-border initiatives.
The governments have joined together to build important new infrastructure,
and a strong new partnership.
British Columbia's new Life Sciences Initiative is one such example.
It has the potential to provide support for cutting edge research
in life sciences critical to our traditional resource industries
and to our future.
New knowledge, new technologies and applied applications will create
a new wave of economic opportunity for entrepreneurial scientists
and small businesses across B.C.
Working with the federal government we are confident we can close
the digital divide that separates many Aboriginal and rural British
Columbians from the world of information, opportunity and benefits
that flow from broad band access.
Another area where the Province is working in partnership with
the federal government is in transportation. Improvements to highways
and border crossings have already begun. But more is needed, starting
with critical improvements to the Trans-Canada Highway.
That is your government's top priority for funding under the new
Canada-British Columbia Partnership. We need to open up Canada's
gateway to British Columbia through the Kicking Horse Canyon of
the Trans-Canada Highway.
Your government will pursue that goal and other priorities to meet
British Columbians' transportation needs under the new Canada-B.C.
Partnership.
As well, the government is working with the federal government
to harmonize environmental assessment policies and to improve fisheries
management.
This year the government is hoping to enter into a new, multi-year
national agriculture policy to improve food safety, quality, and
environmental sustainability.
It will also explore the potential for a new national park in the
Okanagan, as well as new marine parks to protect some of our most
valuable marine ecosystems.
There is so much that can be achieved for our province and our
country when we build them both together. This is the promise of
Confederation.
Opening Up
New Partnerships with Local Governments
Your government will also open up new partnerships with local governments.
A new Community Charter will shortly be introduced to give local
governments greater autonomy, new planning tools, and new sources
of revenue.
New partnerships will be opened up with the private sector. Partnerships
BC will aggressively pursue public-private partnerships that will
improve customer services, maximize private sector investment and
minimize costs to taxpayers.
While public-private partnerships are already underway with a new
ambulatory care centre in Vancouver and the new Fraser Valley Health
Centre, new public-private partnerships will be actively sought
this year in transportation, health care, information technology,
housing, and land and resource development.
Opening Up
British Columbia to the World
There can be no better way to open up our province to the world
than by hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver
and Whistler.
No money could ever buy the exposure that event would give our
province over the next decade and beyond.
What better way to invite the world to visit our province and build
our tourism industry? What better way to turbo-charge our economy
and create lasting legacies of achievement? What better way to celebrate
our multicultural heritage as Canadians?
All of Canada is counting on us to win that bid. Cities across
the nation forfeited their own chance to host the Olympics so that
we might win the bid for all Canadians.
And now we are approaching the finish line with only two other
cities vying for the honour of standing in the spotlight.
The Olympics are about much more than tourism or sport. They are
about reaching for the best in all of us.
It is the light of competition, dedication, commitment, discipline
and excellence that shines from the Olympic flame. It is the light
of humanity and international unity. It is the light in a young
person's eye as she dreams of standing on the podium, singing our
National Anthem.
The Olympics are all about showing ourselves and all the world
just how much we can do and how great we can be in every respect
— as individuals, communities, British Columbians and Canadians.
They are about giving our country and our province a chance to
shineà a chance to achieve more than we ever thought possible.
The economic benefits of hosting the Olympics are undeniable. They
will attract billions of dollars in new investment and economic
activity into our province and create thousands of new jobs.
Independent studies have confirmed what former Olympic hosts from
Calgary, to Sydney, to Salt Lake City have all told us — the
Olympics will generate far more in jobs and economic activity than
their cost. Ask Lake Placid, Albertville, Lillehammer or Seoul.
They all agree it was the best thing they ever did.
Should we be successful this July, we will gain a once-in-a-lifetime
chance to showcase our province to some two billion viewers worldwide.
We will gain the right to build upon the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic
Games for years before and after that magnificent event.
What a legacy it would leave to our children. What an opportunity
it would afford our tourism industry and communities throughout
our province. What a way it would be to put our province, our athletes
and our nation front and centre on the world stage.
The decision will be made on July 2nd.
Opening Up
Our Transportation Infrastructure
The key to building our province has always been to open it up
— to open up B.C. to new opportunities for growth and prosperity
wherever they exist.
To open up our gateways to all of Canada and the world... To open
up our provincial lands and resources to wealth creation... To open
up every region to better transportation infrastructure and freer
movement of goods, services and people.
Your government has a vision for transportation to do just that.
In rural B.C. there are roads that you cannot drive on because
they are in such bad shape. Resource industries face increasing
costs and complications because our transportation system does not
meet their needs.
Cities and suburbs are choked by traffic and are in desperate need
of public transit. Coastal communities need improved ferry service
to meet not just their economic needs but their social needs as
well.
Goods must flow freely to our customers on the continent and around
the world if our economy is to prosper. Ports need to be opened
to new levels of access and our airports need to be recognized as
critical social and economic infrastructure.
When our transportation system is failing, we cannot work together
as we should or reach our full potential as a province.
Your government has completed the first stage of a comprehensive
transportation plan.
It is a vision that opens up the North with major improvements
to rural roads, new access to gas and oil fields, and the completion
of the new Nisga'a Highway.
The heartlands of our province will be opened up through an integrated
rail network that improves service and protects public ownership
of the BC Rail lines, beds and rights-of-way.
Improvements to the Kicking Horse Canyon will help open up the
Kootenays and the Columbia Valley to the rest of Canada and all
of B.C.
New investments in border infrastructure will improve the movement
of our goods to our customers. The Island and Coast will be opened
up to greater choice, competition and better service through the
new BC Ferries Services.
And your government will continue to work to ensure our airports
become the regional social and economic engines they should be.
Improvements to transportation are long overdue and starting this
year they will be secured for the future through dedicated funding
from fuel tax revenue that ensures those investments are made.
Opening Up
A Revitalized Forestry Industry
No issue will dominate this Session's legislative agenda like the
reforms aimed at revitalizing B.C.'s forest industry.
A number of measures will be taken to open up our forest industry
and put it on a sound, sustainable, competitive footing.
This Session, your government will introduce legislation to create
a working forestland base. The working forest is meant to secure
a working land base for forest companies, forest workers and communities
throughout the heartlands of British Columbia.
The government will pass forest reforms to diversify tenure and
move towards market-based stumpage that is regionally sensitive
and socially responsible. These measures will ensure that British
Columbians get top value for every log harvested from their public
forests.
More timber will be available for innovative, smaller, local operators
through the B.C. Timber Sales Program and also for First Nations.
Fair compensation will be assured for existing tenure holders that
recognizes both the benefits and costs of reform.
There will be benefits from the elimination of water bedding, cut
controls and appurtenancy requirements that have hurt forest companies'
ability to successfully compete.
We will maintain current restrictions on the export of logs from
Crown lands. As noted, significant steps will be taken to involve
and accommodate First Nations' interests in the development of forest
resources.
These measures will not be easy, painless or welcomed by all. Restructuring
of this magnitude simply cannot be made without some short-term
dislocation. But restructuring is needed now. It cannot wait.
The Coastal industry is in deep trouble and has implored the government
to act, despite the attendant hardships and growing pains that will
inevitably result in the short-term. To delay further would be to
invite devastating consequences and unthinkable permanent job losses.
The changes that must be made are difficult, yet absolutely critical
to the Coastal industry's long-term viability and survival.
The Interior forest industry faces other structural pressures,
beyond the softwood lumber dispute. The pine beetle infestation
threatens communities throughout most of the Interior and the North.
Your government will continue to work with the industry in each
region to act in a measured, determined way to bring about the right
reforms at the right time for the greatest public good.
The government's primary concern as we move through this generational
change in forest policy is the people who count on the forests directly
for their livelihoods.
It will work with labour, the federal government and industry representatives
to try to mitigate the trauma of change on people's lives and in
our heartlands communities.
Over the long term, the government's forest reforms will modernize
our forest industry and make it more competitive. Forestry will
remain British Columbia's number one industry for many, many years
to come.
This year the sun will begin to rise on a new forest industry where
forest workers look to the future with confidence and optimism.
Opening Up
B.C.'s Heartlands to Economic Growth
Your government's new B.C. Heartlands Economic Strategy will open
up new opportunities for economic growth throughout our entire province.
The Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise will complete
and implement economic development plans across the province, incorporating
plans for infrastructure, human capital, and marketing.
The B.C. Heartlands Economic Strategy will open up new partnerships
with First Nations, new investments in transportation infrastructure,
new opportunities for tourism, sport and recreation from a successful
Olympics bid, and a revitalized forestry industry.
Yet more will be done.
No sector of our economy offers more promise for job and wealth
creation throughout British Columbia than our energy industry. The
new Energy Policy will open up new investments in independent power
production and clean, renewable alternative energy throughout B.C.
Coalbed methane has huge potential for the Kootenays, the Central
Interior and Vancouver Island. Opportunities for job creation in
that new enterprise will be pursued this year with new vigor, supported
by new legislation.
Offshore oil and gas exploration holds tremendous promise for communities
in the Northwest and on northern Vancouver Island.
By 2010, your government wants to have an offshore oil and gas
industry that is up and running, environmentally sound, and booming
with job creation.
Tourism is another sector that is critical to the government's
B.C. Heartlands Economic Strategy. By 2010, your government wants
to see our tourism industry more than double in size.
The government wants to see B.C.'s parks be major magnets for tourism.
The new Recreational Stewardship Plan will help make that happen.
But more can be done to leverage the opportunities that will flow
from those parks, new investments in transportation, and hosting
the 2010 Olympics.
B.C.'s summer and winter resorts are unparalleled in the world.
From Kelowna's Big White to Vernon's Silver Star... From Courtenay's
Mount Washington to Penticton's Apex...From Sun Peaks in Kamloops,
to Eight Peaks and Saddle Mountain near Blue River...
From Canoe near Valemount, to Hudson Bay Mountain near Smithers
and Powder King near Chetwynd...From Golden's Kicking Horse to Invermere's
Panorama...From Kimberley Alpine Resort and Fernie Alpine Resort
to Nelson's White Water and Rossland's Red Mountain, British Columbia's
resort potential is unmatched.
There are brand new resort communities on the horizon.
B.C.'s four-season resorts are an enormous economic asset and represent
a major opportunity for British Columbians throughout our heartlands.
This year your government is establishing the B.C. Resort Task
Force to bring together all the resources and assets of government
with First Nations and Resort Communities across B.C.
It will develop new programs to ensure our resort potential is
fully met and fully recognized around the world.
The Heartlands Economic Strategy will bring together transportation,
energy, forestry, tourism, agriculture, and new technologies to
create a powerful economic force for the regions and province as
a whole.
This can all happen if we lift our sights higher... if we set new
goals for ourselves that oblige us all to reach higher than we ever
thought possible.
Opening Up
Economic Opportunities for All
Still more opportunities for growth exist in our technology sector.
To help focus government's efforts on expanding our knowledge economy,
the government intends to follow the advice of the Premier's Technology
Council.
All information technology and e-government related services will
be consolidated this year under the Ministry of Management Services.
Your government wants high-speed Internet access in communities
throughout the province.
It wants B.C. to be the most computer literate province in Canada.
Other steps will be taken this year to help stimulate investment
and job creation in small businesses throughout our province.
The government will launch a new international marketing strategy
to aggressively develop new markets and increase market share for
B.C. products worldwide.
A national information campaign will market British Columbia's
competitive advantages to all Canadians.
Your government will continue to streamline and modernize regulation
and encourage business investment and job creation.
It will simplify consumer protection legislation by consolidating
seven existing statutes into one.
Changes to the Small Business Venture Capital Act will increase
access to seed capital, eliminate red tape, and provide funding
opportunities for all regions of the province.
Changes will be introduced to save B.C. businesses time and money.
Companies will soon be able to use a single business number to
complete several business processes at one time, from incorporation
to registration and data maintenance.
Amendments will also be tabled to the Coal Act, the Mineral
Tenure Act, the Mines Act, and the Petroleum and Natural
Gas Act to streamline administration and stimulate investment
in those sectors.
New legislative measures will open up ICBC, BC Ferries and BC Hydro
to independent regulatory oversight that better protects ratepayers,
free of political interference.
Legislation will be introduced to open up fair and transparent
government procurement practices; modernize the Waste Management
Act; improve contaminated sites regulation; streamline and strengthen
the Pesticide Control Act; and enhance planning for agriculture
and the right to farming.
Opening Up
Prosperity and Opportunity
There is much to be done to build a New Era of hope, prosperity
and public service for British Columbia.
The challenges at hand will not solve themselves. The opportunities
that lie in wait will not be found unless we search for them.
The future we all want for our families, communities, province
and country will not materialize by clinging to the status quo.
Real progress always necessitates change... movement... growth.
Never has that been truer than it is today.
No region should be left behind as our province moves forward.
No segment of our society should be marginalized by a lack of will
to make things better.
No sector of our economy should be hamstrung by policies that close
off opportunities, turn away investment, or deny job creation.
Your government understands that it too must strive to balance
the need for positive change with British Columbians' desire for
certainty, stability and manageable reform.
Finding that right balance is always open to debate and constructive
criticism. Your government will do its best to listen, learn and
act accordingly.
Undeniably, the challenges are great and cannot be surmounted without
error. Yet British Columbians know what needs to done.
This is the year to do it.
This is the year to open up our economy to new investment and job
creation by opening up our lands and resources. This is the year
to open up our minds to new ways of meeting our common interests,
and to open up new partnerships with First Nations, other governments
and private enterprise.
This is the year to win the right to host the 2010 Olympics and
showcase our entire province to the world. This is the year to revitalize
our forest industry and optimize growth in every sector of our economy
and in every region.
Your government will open up our province to the free flow of people,
goods, services and knowledge. It will modernize and improve crucial
public services by putting the interests of patients, students and
people in need first.
In short, it will put ideas into action.
Let this be the year that we earn our way forward with bold steps,
hard work and a relentless commitment to the next generation. Let
this be the year we win the world for British Columbia and Canada.
This truly is our time to shine.
Thank you.
|