Nos. 14 and 15 VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Ten o’clock a.m.

Prayers by Mr. Gibson.

Order called for “Members’ Statements.”

Order called for “Oral Questions by Members.”

The Hon. A. Wilkinson (Minister of Advanced Education) made a personal statement.

Mr. Dix reserved his right to raise a matter of privilege.

The Hon. M. de Jong presented the First Report of the Special Committee of Selection for the Fourth Session of the Fortieth Parliament.

The Report was taken as read and received.

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

Motion agreed to.

By leave, the Hon. M. de Jong moved —

1. That all reports of the Auditor General of British Columbia transmitted to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 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, S.B.C. 2003, c. 2, which is referred to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services; and,

2. That the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts be the committee referred to in sections 6, 7, 10, 13 and 14 of the Auditor General Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 2.

In addition to the powers previously conferred upon the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Committee be empowered:

a) to appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the Committee;

b) to sit during a period in which the House is adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and during any sitting of the House;

c) to adjourn from place to place as may be convenient; and

d) to retain personnel as required to assist the Committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative Assembly.

Motion agreed to.

By leave, the Hon. M. de Jong moved —

That the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services be empowered:

1. To examine, inquire into and make recommendations with respect to the budget consultation paper prepared by the Minister of Finance in accordance with section 2 of the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, S.B.C. 2000, c. 23, and, in particular, to:

a) Conduct public consultations across British Columbia on proposals and recommendations regarding the provincial budget and fiscal policy for the coming fiscal year by any means the committee considers appropriate;

b) Prepare a report no later than November 15, 2015, on the results of those consultations; and

2. a) To consider and make recommendations on the annual reports, rolling three-year service plans and budgets of the following statutory officers:

(i) Auditor General

(ii) Chief Electoral Officer

(iii) Conflict of Interest Commissioner

(iv) Information and Privacy Commissioner

(v) Merit Commissioner

(vi) Ombudsperson

(vii) Police Complaint Commissioner

(viii) Representative for Children and Youth; and

b) To examine, inquire into and make recommendations with respect to other matters brought to the Committee’s attention by any of the Officers listed in 2 (a) above.

3. To be the committee referred to in sections 19, 20, 21 and 23 of the Auditor General Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 2, and that the performance report in section 22 of the Auditor General Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 2, be referred to the committee.

In addition to the powers previously conferred upon the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, the committee shall be empowered:

a) to appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the Committee;

b) to sit during a period in which the House is adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and during any sitting of the House;

c) to adjourn from place to place as may be convenient; and

d) to retain personnel as required to assist the Committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative Assembly.

Motion agreed to.

By leave, the Hon. M. de Jong moved —

That a Special Committee be appointed to unanimously recommend to the House the appointment of an Ombudsperson, pursuant to section 2 of the Ombudsperson Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 340.

The said Special Committee shall have the powers of a Select Standing Committee and in addition is empowered:

a) to appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the Committee;

b) to sit during a period in which the House is adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and during any sitting of the House;

c) to adjourn from place to place as may be convenient; and

d) to retain such personnel as required to assist the Committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative Assembly.

Motion agreed to.

By leave, the Hon. M. de Jong moved —

That a Special Committee on Local Elections Expense Limits be appointed to:

Examine, inquire into and make recommendations to the Legislative Assembly by June 12, 2015 on expense limit amounts for candidates, including, but not limited to, the general relationship between limits for the various offices, and for third party advertisers in local elections.

The Special Committee shall specifically consider spending data from the 2014 local elections and other comparative information in making the above recommendations.

The Special Committee shall undertake the above examination with due regard for the following:

• The Report of the Local Government Elections Task Force, including principles (May 2010);

• The Expense Limits in Local Elections – Summary Report on Expense Limits Engagement (May 2014);

• The Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, 2014, including its application to elections for mayors, councillors, electoral area directors, Islands Trust trustees, parks board commissioners and boards of education trustees;

• The expense limits model approved by Government in July 2014, which is to have provincially-set limits for candidates and third party advertisers in local elections, with limits to be set using a flat-rate amount for jurisdictions under 10,000 people and a per capita formula for those over 10,000 and third party limits as a percentage of a candidate’s limit in the jurisdiction where the third party is advertising;

• The Special Committee on Local Elections Expense Limit report (December 2014); and

• The nature of local elections and the differences between local and provincial election systems.

The Special Committee shall limit its consideration of campaign finance topics to forming recommendations on expense limits for local elections.

The Special Committee shall have all the powers of a Select Standing Committee and in addition is empowered to:

• Appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the Committee;

• Sit during a period in which the House is adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and during any sitting of the House;

• Conduct consultations by any means the Committee considers appropriate;

• Adjourn from place to place as may be convenient; and

• Retain personnel as required to assist the Committee.

The Special Committee shall report to the House on the above date, or as soon as possible, and shall deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative Assembly.

Motion agreed to.

The House proceeded to “Orders of the Day.”

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

The debate on the amendment continued.

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

And then the House adjourned at 11.56 a.m.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

One-thirty o’clock p.m.

The House proceeded to “Orders of the Day.”

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

Mr. B. Routley reserved his right to raise a matter of privilege.

The debate on the amendment continued.

The House divided.

The amendment was negatived on the following division:

Nays — 45
Horne
Sturdy
Bing
Hogg
Yamamoto
Michelle Stilwell
Stone
Fassbender
Oakes
Wat
Thomson
Virk
Rustad
Wilkinson
Pimm
Sultan
Hamilton
Reimer
Ashton
Morris
Hunt
Sullivan
Cadieux
Lake
Polak
de Jong
Coleman
Anton
Bond
Letnick
Barnett
Thornthwaite
McRae
Plecas
Lee
Kyllo
Tegart
Throness
Bernier
Larson
Foster
Martin
Gibson
Moira Stilwell
Dalton
Yeas — 28
Robinson
Farnworth
Horgan
James
Dix
Ralston
Corrigan
Kwan
Conroy
Austin
Chandra Herbert
Macdonald
Karagianis
Bains
Shin
Heyman
Darcy
Donaldson
Krog
Trevena
D. Routley
Simons
Fraser
Chouhan
Holman
B. Routley
Huntington
Weaver

The debate resumed on the main motion.

On the motion of Mr. Chandra Herbert, the debate was adjourned to the next sitting of the House.

And then the House adjourned at 6.28 p.m.

HON. LINDA REID, Speaker

NOTICE OF BILLS

Thursday, February 26

Mr. Weaver to introduce a Bill intituled Wildlife Amendment Act, 2015.