Votes -- Nos. 17 and 18 -- Thursday, March 1, 2007 -- Ten o'clock a.m.

2007 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 38th Parliament

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

[ Progress of Bills . . . ]

Nos. 17 and 18

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Ten o'clock a.m.

Prayers by Ms. Roddick.

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.

On the motion of Ms. Kwan, the debate was adjourned to the next sitting of the House.

And then the House adjourned at 11.55 a.m.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

One-thirty o'clock p.m.

The Hon. M. de Jong (Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation) presented to the Speaker a Message from Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor, which read as follows:

Iona Campagnolo
Lieutenant Governor

The Lieutenant Governor transmits herewith Bill (No. 5) intituled Ministerial Accountability Bases Act, 2006-2007 and recommends the same to the Legislative Assembly.

Government House,
February 20, 2007.

Bill introduced and read a first time.

Bill Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.

On the motion of Mr. Horgan, Bill (No. M 201) intituled Retail Petroleum Consumer Protection Act, 2007 was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.

The Speaker made the following statement:

Honourable Members:

Several Members of the House have indicated there seems to be some uncertainty as to the appropriate scope of debate and subject matter under Standing Order 25B, the order which provides for daily Statements by Members.

A statement delivered to Members of this House on November 18, 2002, will be of assistance to Members in fashioning their statements under Standing Order 25B.

"Last February 12, 2002, the Standing Orders of the House were amended to adopt under Standing Order 25B, a provision for daily Statements by Members.

There has long existed in this House a similar provision, the weekly Private Members' Statements, under Standing Order 25A. The intent and spirit applicable to weekly Private Members' Statements are also pertinent to daily Statements.

Private Members' Statements have been well canvassed and discussed in a number of Speakers' Rulings in this House, and amply referenced in Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia, 3rd edition at page 46. In order to assist Members with respect to their daily Statements, I will remind the House of the relevant guidelines in this regard. The jurisprudence of this House does not preclude Members from expressing a party's position on political issues or policy. However, the topics covered should not revive discussion on a matter already discussed in the same Session nor should they anticipate a matter already appointed for consideration by the House.

Statements should not reflect negatively on individual Members or groups of Members in the House.

It is also contrary to the intent and spirit of Statements to use these as a vehicle to criticize or rebut another Member's words spoken during other proceedings in the House.

I would ask all Honourable Members to be guided by these principles."

HON. BILL BARISOFF, Speaker

Order called for "Members' Statements."

Order called for "Oral Questions by Members."


By leave, the Hon. M. de Jong moved--: Be it resolved that this House hereby authorizes the Committee of Supply for this Session to sit in two sections designated Section A and Section B; Section A to sit in such Committee Room as may be appointed from time to time, and Section B to sit in the Chamber of the Assembly, subject to the following rules:; 1. The Standing Orders applicable to the Committee of the Whole House shall be applicable in both Sections of the Committee of Supply save and except that in Section A, a Minister may defer to a Deputy Minister to permit such Deputy to reply to a question put to the Minister.; 2. Subject to paragraph 3, within one sitting day of the passage of this Motion, the House Leader of the Official Opposition may advise the Government House Leader, in writing, of three ministerial Estimates which the Official Opposition requires to be considered in Section B of the Committee of Supply, and upon receipt of such notice in writing, the Government House Leader shall confirm in writing that the said three ministerial Estimates shall be considered in Section B of the Committee of Supply.; 3. All Estimates shall stand referred to Section A, save and except those Estimates which shall be referred to Section B under the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Order and such other Estimates as shall be referred to Section B on motion by the Government House Leader, which motion shall be governed by the provisions of Standing Order 60A. Practice Recommendation #6 relating to Consultation shall be applicable to this rule.; 4. Section A shall consist of 18 Members, being 11 Members of the B.C. Liberal Party and 7 Members of the New Democratic Party. In addition, the Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole, or his or her nominee, shall preside over the debates in Section A. Substitution of Members will be permitted to Section A with the consent of that Member's Whip, where applicable, otherwise with the consent of the Member involved. For the third session of the Thirty-eighth Parliament, the Members of Section A shall be as follows: the Minister whose Estimates are under consideration and Messrs. Bennett, Cantelon, Hayer, Horning, Jarvis, Lee, Lekstrom, and Nuraney, and Mmes. McIntyre, and Roddick and Messrs. Bains, Chouhan, Cubberley, Evans, Farnworth, Fraser and Ms. Conroy.; 5. At fifteen minutes prior to the ordinary time fixed for adjournment of the House, the Chair of Section A will report to the House. In the event such report includes the last vote in a particular ministerial Estimate, after such report has been made to the House, the Government shall have a maximum of eight minutes, and the Official Opposition a maximum of five minutes, and all other Members (cumulatively) a maximum of three minutes to summarize the Committee debate on a particular ministerial Estimate completed, such summaries to be in the following order:; 6. Section B shall be composed of all Members of the House.; 7. Divisions in Section A will be signalled by the ringing of the division bells four times.; 8. Divisions in Section B will be signalled by the ringing of the division bells three times at which time proceedings in Section A will be suspended until completion of the division in Section B.; 9. Section A is hereby authorized to consider Bills referred to Committee after second reading thereof and the Standing Orders applicable to Bills in Committee of the Whole shall be applicable to such Bills during consideration thereof in Section A, and for all purposes Section A shall be deemed to be a Committee of the Whole. Such referrals to Section A shall be made upon motion without notice by the Minister responsible for the Bill, and such motion shall be decided without amendment or debate. Practice Recommendation #6 relating to Consultation shall be applicable to all such referrals.; 10. Bills or Estimates previously referred to a designated Committee may at any stage be subsequently referred to another designated Committee on motion of the Government House Leader or Minister responsible for the Bill as hereinbefore provided by Rule Nos. 3 and 9.

Motion agreed to.

By leave, on the motion of the Hon. M. de Jong, it was Ordered that leave be given for the Special Committee of Selection to meet while the House is in session today.

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.

The House divided.

Motion agreed to on the following division:

YEAS -- 41
Falcon Reid Coell Ilich Chong Christensen Les Richmond Bell Krueger van Dongen	Roddick Hayer Lee Jarvis Nuraney Whittred Horning Cantelon Thorpe Hagen	Oppal de Jong Taylor Bond Hansen Abbott Penner Coleman Hogg Sultan	Bennett Lekstrom Mayencourt Polak Hawes Yap Bloy MacKay Black Rustad
NAYS -- 18
S. Simpson Fleming Farnworth Ralston Cubberley	Hammell Simons Routley Fraser Horgan	Lali Dix Karagianis Evans	Krog Austin Wyse Sather

The Hon. M. de Jong presented the First Report of the Special Committee of Selection, which read as follows:

First Report

Oak Committee Room,
Parliament Buildings,
March 1, 2007

Honourable Speaker:

The Special Committee of Selection appointed on February 13, 2007 to prepare and report lists of members to compose the Committees of this House reports that the following is the list of members to compose the Select Standing Committees and Special Committees for the present Session:

Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs--Mr. Mayencourt, (Convener) Messrs. Horning, MacKay, Mmes. McIntyre, Roddick, Whittred, Messrs. Chudnovsky, Coons, Lali and Fraser.

Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth--Ms. Whittred (Convener), Messrs. Bennett, Cantelon, MacKay, Ms. Polak, Mr. Rustad, Mr. Brar, Ms. Karagianis, Messrs. Krog and Simons.

Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations--Mr. Rustad (Convener), Messrs. Black, Cantelon, MacKay, Ms. McIntyre, Mr. Yap, Messrs. Evans, Gentner, Horgan and Puchmayr.

Select Standing Committee on Education--Mr. Nuraney (Convener), Messrs. Jarvis, Lee, Mayencourt, Ms. Polak, Mr. Rustad, Messrs. Cubberley, Fleming, Macdonald and Routley.

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services--Mr. Bennett (Convener), Messrs. Black, Bloy, Hawes, Hayer, Lee, Mr. Horgan, Ms. Kwan, Messrs. Ralston and B. Simpson.

Select Standing Committee on Health--Mr. Sultan (Convener), Messrs. Hayer, Jarvis, Nuraney, Mmes. Roddick, Whittred, Ms. Conroy, Messrs. Dix, Sather and Wyse.

Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives--Mr. Horning (Convener), Messrs. Bloy, Hawes, Hayer, Mayencourt, Sultan, Ms. Conroy, Messrs. Dix, Farnworth and B. Simpson.

Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills--Mr. Horning (Convener), Messrs. Bloy, Hawes, Hayer, Mayencourt, Ms. Roddick, Messrs. Dix, Horgan, Farnworth and Ms. Thorne.

Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts--Mr. Fleming (Convener), Ms. McIntyre, Messrs. Black, Hawes, Ms. Polak, Messrs. Rustad, Sultan, Yap, Messrs. Bains, Gentner, Ralston, and Ms. Thorne.

Special Committee to Appoint a Conflict of Interest Commissioner--Mr. Black (Convener), Mr. Bloy, Ms. Whittred, Messrs. Chudnovsky and Farnworth.

Special Committee to Review the Personal Information Protection Act--Mr. Cantelon (Convener), Ms. Polak, Mr. Rustad, Messrs. Krog and Lali.

The Report was taken as read and received.

By leave of the House, the Hon. M. de Jong moved that the Report be adopted.

Motion agreed to.

By leave, the Hon. M. de Jong moved--: That the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth be appointed to be empowered to foster greater awareness and understanding among legislators and the public of the BC child welfare system, and in particular to:; 1. Be the committee that receives and reviews the annual service plan from the Representative for Children and Youth (the "Representative") that includes a statement of goals and identifies specific objectives and performance measures that will be required to exercise the powers and perform the functions and duties of the Representative during the fiscal year;; 2. Be the committee to which the Representative reports, at least annually;; 3. Refer to the Representative for investigation the critical injury or death of a child; and; 4. Receive and consider all reports and plans delivered by the Representative (if any during the time period of these terms of reference) to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.; In addition to the powers previously conferred upon Select Standing Committees of the House, the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth be empowered:

Motion agreed to.

By leave, the Hon. M. de Jong moved--: 1. That the reports of the Auditor General of British Columbia deposited with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly during the Third session of the Thirty-eighth parliament be deemed referred to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, with the exception of the report referred to in section 22 of the Auditor General Act which is referred to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, and in addition that the following reports of the Auditor General of British Columbia be referred to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts:

Report No. 13, 2004/2005: Building Momentum for Results-based Management: A Study about Managing for Results in British Columbia (March 2005)
Report No. 3, 2005/2006: Audit of the Government's Corporate Accounting System: Part 1 (June 2005)
Report No. 10, 2005/2006: Building Better Reports: Our Assessment of the 2004/05 Annual Service Plan Reports of Government (March 2006)
Report No. 3, 2006/2007: Treaty Negotiations in British Columbia (November 2006)
Report No. 4, 2006/2007: Province of British Columbia Audit Committees: Doing the Right Things (December 2006)
Report No. 5, 2006/2007: Audit of Government's Corporate Accounting System: Part 2 (December 2006)
Report No. 6, 2006/2007: Monitoring the Government's Finances (December 2006)
Report No. 7, 2006/2007: Government's Post-secondary Expansion -- 25,000 Seats by 2010 (December 2006)
Report No. 8, 2006/2007: Changing Course -- A New Direction for British Columbia's Coastal Ferry System (December 2006)
Report No. 9, 2006/2007: Seeking Best Practices in Financial Reporting: Report on the Province's 2005/2006 Public Accounts (January 2007)
Report No. 8, 2004/2005: Follow-up of 2002/2003 Report 5: Managing Contaminated Sites on Provincial Lands (November 2004)
Report No. 9, 2004/2005: Follow-up of Two Health Risk Reports: A Review of Performance Agreements; Information Use in Resource Allocation (December 2004)
Report No. 12, 2004/2005: Third Follow-up of 2000/2001 Report 4: Management Consulting Engagements in Government (March 2005)
Report No. 1, 2005/2006: Follow-up of the Recommendations of the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts contained in its Fourth Report of the 3rd Session of the 36th Parliament: Earthquake Preparedness; Performance Audit (May 2005)
Report No. 2, 2005/2006: Joint Follow-up of 2001/2002 Report 1: Managing Interface Fire Risks and Firestorm 2003 Provincial Review (May 2005)
Report No. 7, 2006/2007: Follow-up of 2003/2004 Report 4: Alternative Payments to Physicians: A Program in Need of Change (February 2006)
Review Engagement Report re: Partnerships BC Project Report: Achieving Value for Money Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project (December 20, 2005)

2. That the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts be the committee referred to in sections 2, 6, 7, 10, 13 and 14 of the Auditor General Act.; In addition to the powers previously conferred upon the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Committee be empowered:

Motion agreed to.

The Hon. R. Thorpe (Minister of Small Business and Revenue) made a personal statement.

And then the House adjourned at 6.25 p.m.

HON. BILL BARISOFF, Speaker

NOTICE OF MOTIONS

Tuesday, March 6

44 Mr. Chudnovsky to move--: Be it resolved that this House calls on the Government to improve substantially the system of road maintenance in British Columbia.

45 Mr. Wyse to move--: Be it resolved that this House demand the Minister of Health provide the necessary resources required to provide the level of ambulance service determined by the Ministry of Health for each ambulance station in British Columbia.

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