Votes -- No. 167 -- Wednesday, April 28, 1999 -- Two o'clock p.m.

1998/99 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 36th Parliament

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.

[ Progress of Bills . . . ]

No. 167

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Wednesday, April 28, 1999

Two o'clock p.m.

Prayers by Mr. Coleman.

Order called for "Oral Questions by Members."

The Hon. M. Farnworth (Minister of Employment and Investment and Minister Responsible for Housing) tabled the following:

BC Housing Annual Report, 1997-1998;

Job Protection Commission Annual Report 1997;

BC Hydro Annual Report 1998.

The Hon. J. Kwan (Minister of Municipal Affairs) tabled the Ministry of Municipal Affairs Annual Report 1997/98.

The Hon. D. Lovick (Minister of Labour) made a ministerial statement recognizing April 28, 1999, as a national day of mourning for workers killed or injured on the job in British Columbia.

Mr. Krueger made a statement.

The House observed a minute of silence.

The House proceeded to "Orders of the Day."

Pursuant to Order, the House resumed the adjourned debate on the motion "That the Speaker do now leave the Chair" for the House to go into Committee of Supply.

The debate continued.


63 Mr. Campbell moved, seconded by Mr. Plant--: Be it resolved that the motion "That the Speaker do now leave the Chair" for the House to go into Committee of Supply, be amended by adding the following: "But the House regrets that the government has presided over successive downgrades to BC's credit rating; the government has not balanced the budget in eight years; the government has brought BC Ferries to the brink of bankruptcy with its fast ferry program; the government has wasted billions of dollars on the Skeena Cellulose bailout, Nisga'a propaganda, inoperable minibuses, assorted union sweetheart deals, and numerous other boondoggles; the government has committed millions of dollars of taxpayers' money to the Vancouver Convention Centre, without knowing what the project will cost or how taxpayers will pay for it; the government has failed to keep its promise to create jobs under the Jobs and Timber Accord and has threatened the survival of forest-dependent communities around the province; the government has constantly broken its legislative commitment to homeowners, renters and small businesses by arbitrarily cutting municipal grants by almost $800 million in seven years; the government has signed Skytrain contracts which have been kept secret from taxpayers and will add billions of dollars in unnecessary costs to the project; the government has allowed surgical wait lists to grow and health care to deteriorate, particularly in rural regions; the government has failed to adequately protect children and implement the recommendations of the Gove Commission; the government has failed to protect Burns Bog, while giving a $25 million loan to a private company for the development of a theme park in that fragile ecosystem; the government's economic mismanagement has made BC the only province to suffer a drop in private sector investment from 1992 to 1999, and has caused an unprecedented exodus of people, jobs and companies from BC; the government has increased taxpayer-supported debt by 133% since 1991 and that this government is in a state of disarray and utterly incapable of restoring confidence in our economy and governing generally."

The debate on the amendment continued.

On the motion of the Hon. P. Ramsey, the debate on the amendment was adjourned to the next sitting of the House.

Order for Private Members' Statements called.

And then the House adjourned at 6.56 p.m.

GRETCHEN MANN BREWIN, Speaker

[ Progress of Bills . . . ]

[ Return to: Legislative Assembly Home Page ]