Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Colombie-Britannique 27e 1re Discours du Trône 23 janvier 1964 Georges Pearkes Lieutenant-Gouverneur British Columbia Social Credit Party Mr. Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly: In opening the Twenty-seventh Parliament of British Columbia, I wish first to express my confidence that you will discharge your duties wisely and carefully, to the lasting benefit of all our people. Again during the past year, our Province welcomed a large number of distinguished visitors and special friends. These included Viscount Amory, who visited British Columbia in May before return to England upon the completion of his duties as British High Commissioner to Canada, and the Right Honourable Sir Ralph Perring, Lord Mayor of London. Other honoured guests included Senora Eva S. de Lopez Mateos, wife of a President of Mexico; His Excellency Ivan F. Skpedko, Ambassador of the Soviet Union; His Excellency Dimce Belovski, Ambassador of Yugoslavia; and His Excellency Sergio Affonso Correa da Costa, Ambassador of Brazil. There were times of sorrow, too, during the past year, and we were saddened again only this month at the death of the Honourable Byron Ingenear Johnson, M.B.E., Premier of British Columbia from 1947 to 1952. The memory of this distinguished public servant will live long in the hearts of our people. We note with regret the passing of the former Chief Justice of British Columbia, Alexander Campbell DesBrisay; his services on the Bench and in other official capacities were numerous and faithfully rendered. We join all Canadians, and indeed all the world, in sorrow at the death by assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, President of the United States of America. On December 4th last, the Honourable William Kenneth Kiernan, Minister of Mines and Petroleum Resources, assumed the additional portfolios of Minister of Recreation and Conservation and Minister of Commercial Transport. My Government has appointed His Honour Judge Charles William Morrow as a Commissioner to inquire into the price structure of gasoline; the report of the Commission will be laid before you in a accordance with the requirements of the Public Inquiries Act. The Honourable Mr. Justice Charles William Tysoe, of the Court of Appeal of British Columbia, has been appointed by my Government as a Commissioner under the provisions of the Public Inquiries Act to succeed the former Chief Justice of British Colombia, the Honourable A. C. DesBrisay, in the completing of the inquiry into the operation and administration of a Workmen's Compensation Act. My Government reports that the year just ended was one of record-breaking economic achievement by the people of British Columbia, and I am gratified to learn that policies to further stimulate the growth will be carried out during 1964. Notable among these is the hydro-electri power development programme, under which construction of the giant Peace River project is already well under way, while that on the Columbia River is expected to begin this calendar year. During the past year, construction and engineering design work being carried out by the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority for the Peace River development received continuing review by the Department of Water Resources. Three large tunnels to divert the river around the site of the Portage Mountain Dam were completed, and the course of the river was successfully changed in September. The contract for construction of the dam was awarded, and I am advised by my Government that work is proceeding on schedule. Contracts for construction of a new road from Chetwynd to Hudson Hope and for a bridge over the Peace River at Hudson Hope have also been awarded. These installations will provide access to the dam-site from the Hart Highway for the efficient transport of supplies. Throughout 1963, my Government also continued its studies relating to the engineering requirements of the Columbia River project in order that the earliest possible start might be made on this great undertaking. It is now my pleasant duty to report that agreement between British Colombia and the Government of Canada on development principles has been followed by cordial and beneficial discussions between representatives of the Canadian and United States Governments. As a result, my Government is hopeful that the Columbia River Treaty will be ratified by the Parliament of Canada early this year, and that actual construction will begin during 1964. I am informed that the forest industries of our Province, which experienced a prosperous year in 1963, are pressing forward with plans to develop additional markets and, at the same time, retain traditional markets. I commend to the close attention of Honourable Members the concerted effort of some elements of the American lumber industry to impose import restrictions on Canadian lumber; this serious potential threat to an important segment of British Columbia's economy is one which my Government will continue to oppose vigorously. The pulp and paper industry in our Province is expanding rapidly, with over $200,000,000 committed to new production facilities. As I have advised you, efforts to increase markets for our wood products are being maintained, and in this connection my Government last year sent a Housing Mission to the United Kingdom in co-operation with the forest industry. The purpose of this mission was to demonstrate the advantages of frame construction incorporating timber and plywood, and encouraging results were obtained. In the field of forest-fire prevention, favourable summer weather conditions kept 1963 losses below average, and the provision by my Government of stand-by water bombers and helicopters facilitated prompt suppression action. My Government reports that mineral production in the Province during 1963 surpassed all previously established records. Exploration is continuing at a very high level, and new discoveries are reported from many regions. The production of both crude oil and natural gas increased during the past year, and the pipe-line industry maintained a steady growth with the construction of some 75 miles of gathering-lines. One of North America's greatest reservoirs of natural gas has been established in the Fort Nelson area, and I am pleased to learn that a 30-inch pipe-line, extending 220 miles from Fort Nelson to Chetwynd, is now under construction to provide a market outlet for these reserves. You will be asked to consider a revised Petroleum and Natural Gas Act, and legislation governing the underground storage of hydrocarbons, either as liquids or as gases, will be placed before you. I I am informed that agricultural production continued to increase both in volume and in value during 1963. Farm cash income equalled the record high of 1962 despite a levelling-off in the prices of some commodities. My Government's participation in the new Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Acts programme has now begun, and with the assistance of agriculture and industry groups, market-development studies have been initiated. With the upgrading from Branch status of the Department of Water Resources, my Government has intensified its efforts in the fields of water-resource utilization and water-damage problems. During the past year established communities received engineering assistance in the rehabilitation of irrigation and supply systems, and new communities are being assisted toward economic solutions of their supply problems. Responsibility for the administration of the Southern Okanagan Lands Project was assumed by the Department of Water Resources in 1963, and plans are being prepared for rehabilitation of the project's irrigation service. During the past year, too, a report dealing with the flood-control programme for the Fraser River was submitted by the Fraser River Board. Honourable Members, I have spoken of achievements and plans in the fields of natural-resource development. I wish now to discuss my Government's programmes for the education, health and welfare of our people, who are, of course, our most valuable resource of all. In the field of higher education, Dr. Gordon Merritt Shrum has been appointed as Chancellor of Simon Fraser University. A Board of Governors has also been appointed, and a native son of British Colombia, Dr. Patrick McTaggart-Cowan, has been selected as President. Plans for a construction of new buildings on the University's beautiful Burnaby Mountain site are rapidly being completed. With the elevation to full degree-granting status of the University of Victoria, His Honour Judge Joseph Badenoch Clearihue was appointed as Chancellor, and I am informed that Dr. Malcolm Gordon Taylor has been appointed as President of the University. Six new buildings were opened during 1963 at the University of British Columbia, and four more are under construction. At the University of Victoria, two new buildings were completed and a third is under construction. Pursuant to amendments made to the Public Schools Act by the Twenty-sixth Parliament, my Government is proceeding to establish district and regional colleges in Vancouver, the Kootenays, and the Okanagan. An Academic Board to advice on matters of higher education has also been appointed. The continuing increase in school accommodation during the past year is witness of the enlarging scope of my Government's education programme. In all, 228 schools and school additions were completed, providing 637 classrooms and instructional areas. New facilities for the teaching of technical and vocational courses have come into operation, and the Institute of Technology at Burnaby will open in September. A new dormitory building has been completed at Jericho Hill School, and construction of an additional classroom block is planned. Adult education continues to expand. Enrolment during 1963 was approximately 70,500, as compared with 46,550 during the previous year. You will be asked during this Session to increase grants to school districts, to authorize increased expenditures for higher education, and to provide grants for the operation of vocational schools. Measures to increase financial assistance through scholarships and bursaries will also be placed before you. I am pleased to note that my Government, recognizing the desirability of a rehabilitation approach in welfare services, has provided the means of developing such a programme. A co-ordinated effort of the Departments of Health, Education, and Labour, in co-operation with the National Employment Service, has already obtained excellent results. Through these efforts, many citizens are being restored to useful and independent roles in society. The new Act pertaining to training-schools for children was proclaimed last July. Its policy regulations will greatly assist my Government's on-going treatment programme for the correction and rehabilitation of troubled juveniles. An interim report on a study of juvenile delinquency in rural British Columbia has already been prepared and circulated, and a similar study is now proceeding in urban areas. In close co-operation with private social agencies and Federal services, my Government is assisting in the development and operation of special placement facilities for disturbed children. Emphasis is being placed on the adoption programme to alleviate the shortage of adoption homes suitable for the placement of the large number of children requiring this care. My Government will continue to render financial assistance to senior citizens, to co-operate in the programme of boarding-home care for the aged, and to provide welfare service to Indians. I am happy to learn that the provision of housing and recreation centres for elderly citizens is continuing at an expanded rate, and that my Government will maintain its support of these programmes through grants-in-aid. During the past year, the public health laboratory services provided by my Government were significantly increased through the establishment of a virus laboratory. Speedier diagnosis and more effective action against many communicable diseases will result from this measure. My Government is co-operating fully with the Federal Government, and with private citizens and organizations, on the matter of smoking and health. An education programme especially designed for children is being pursued vigorously. My Government is keenly aware of the potential dangers involved in the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides a special committee has been appointed to examine the situation and recommend appropriate preventive measures. The hazards attendant upon the increasing use of radioactive materials in industry, research, and medicine are also under close scrutiny; an efficient inspection programme has been developed to ensure the protection both of workers in those fields and of the general public. In the field of protection from communicable disease, the adoption of oral vaccine for immunization against poliomyelitis is positive forward step in support of the existing programme of vaccination by injection. My Government is expanding its program for the provision of regional mental health centres throughout the Province. The first of these centres, at Kelowna, is now providing psychiatric services or the Okanagan Valley region, while those at Nanaimo and Trail will be completed and in operation this year. Plans are now being developed for the extension of these services to other parts of the Province. Mental health service has also been increased through the expansion of the after-care programme for patients who have been discharged from the Provincial Mental Hospital at Essondale. Increased acommodation has now been provided for the admission of mentally retarded patients to the Tranquille School, and the old Provincial Mental Home at Colquitz will shortly closed. As a result of my Government's active study of modernized mental health legislation, you will be asked to consider a new Mental Health Act. Land has been purchased in Victoria for an acute psychiatric and out-patient facility, and construction plans are proceeding, The continuing success of the hospital insurance programme is amply demonstrated by the record of daily payments to hospitals, which now total $165,000, as compared to $50,000 in 1949. My Government estimates that payments to hospitals during the current fiscal year will total more than $63,000,000. The accelerated programme of hospital construction continues, with the completion in 1963 of 13 major hospital projects involving 551 beds, at a cost of over $9,000,000. Still under construction are projects involving over 600 beds at a further cost of $11,500,000. With the counsel and guidance of the medical profession, my Government has proceeded with the development of the Rehabilitation and Activation Care Plan. It is estimated that this programme provided or 92,400 patient-days of care during 1963, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year. I am heartened to note that 1963 was a peaceful year in the field of industrial relations, and that further real progress was made toward the achievement of better understanding between management and labour. A Labour-Management Conference on Industrial Relations brought together more than 600 representatives of labour, management, and government from many parts of North America; the resultant exchange of view-points and experience will, I am confident, be of lasting value. The Board of Industrial Relations continued its programme of revising minimum wage orders, and travelled to various parts of the Province to hear representations from trade-unions, employers, church groups, and women's organizations. Virtually all orders of the Board have been revised in recent months in order to establish sound and comprehensive protection for working men and women. You will be asked to consider legislation which will prohibit discrimination in employment against the older worker. The construction of buildings owned by the Provincial Government continued at a record pace during 1963, with 28 major structures completed at a cost of more than $15,000,000. Other buildings are nearing completion in various parts of the Province, and further construction is being planned. My Government is co-operating with the Government of Canada in the administration of the Municipal Development and Loan Fund. You will be asked to consider amendments to the Municipal Act and to a Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act. The year just ended was a busy one for highway construction, and included completion of the new Salmo-Creston section of the Southern Trans-Provincial Highway. This new 40-mile section climbs to more than 5,800 feet, the highest elevation in our highway system. During 1964, major Trans-Canada Highway projects in the Greater Vancouver area and through the Fraser Canyon will be completed, and an accelerated construction programme will commence on two new major Provincial highways. These are the extension of Highway No. 16 east from Prince George to McBride and reconstruction of the North Thompson Yellowhead Highway between Kamloops and Tête Jaune. The benefits to all sectors of the Provincial economy of my Government's active programme of highway construction were demonstrated once again in 1963, as the Rogers Pass section of the Trans-Canada Highway completed its first year of service. Some 25 major trucking companies whose routes previously detoured through the United States now utilize this all-Canadian transportation link and the Southern Trans-Provincial Highway. You will be asked at this Session to authorize the removal by my Government of toll charges on the Oak Street Bridge and the Deas Island Tunnel, and the payment in full of the remaining amounts owing on the cost of these structures. This authorization will be sought in keeping with my Government's announced programme for the removal of all bridge an highway tolls, and when granted will complete that programme. I am informed of further progress during 1963 in the services and patronage of the Ferry Authority. Four major new vessels were in operation on the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen route, additional service was provided on the Horseshoe Bay-Nanaimo route, and service between the Gulf Islands and the Mainland began in July. During 1964, two new vessels will provide additional service on the Horseshoe Bay-Nanaimo route, a new and larger ship for the Gulf Islands service will be constructed, and tenders will be celled for a vessel to provide a marine highway link between Kelsey Bay and Price Rupert, commencing in 1965. The contract for a new car ferry to link Comox and Westview across Georgia Strait has also been awarded by the Department of Highway. My Government advises me that a new record for in-tourist spending was established in 1963. It is worthy of note that over one million Canadians from other Provinces visited British Columbia during the year-an increase of 40 per cent. This month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of service on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and the performance of the railway during 1963 was indeed rewarding to the faith of my Government, which in the past decade has completely modernized and greatly expanded the railway's operations. Last year, the railway established all-time records both in tonnage carried and in revenue; there is every indication that even greater success will be attained this year. As a further demonstration of its confidence in the vital role which the Pacific Great Eastern Railway will play in the development of our economy, my Government has caused construction to begin on an extension of the railway from Summit Lake to the Fort St. James area, a distance of approximately 100 miles. General improvement of existing facilities and the addition of new equipment are also planned this year. The number of electricity and gas consumers served by the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority continued to increase last year. More generous extension policies have resulted in power being made available to many rural areas, which were not previously served. A major new transmission-line from Bridge River brought service for the first time to several areas of the Cariboo in 1963, and the line will be extended to Prince George this year. My Government is pleased to report that the Authority has already been able to reduce its rates to the extent of $11,200,000 per annum; further reductions will be made. You will be asked at the present Session to consider legislation designed to further the functioning of County Courts and County Court Judges in order to bring about further improvement in the public service rendered by the Courts. Honourable Members, I have spoken to you of our achievements and aspirations in a broad range of industrial, educational, cultural, and commercial undertakings. As a further measure of encouragement to the balanced development of our economy, it is the intention of my Government to support all positive measures which will make British Columbia and our commercial capital of Vancouver in particular, a centre of Canadian finance. Accordingly, you will be asked at this Session to authorize my Government, on behalf of our citizens, to become a limited shareholder in a federally chartered bank which will be established in this Province. The Public Accounts and the reports of the departments of my Government will be laid before you. Measures to cope fully with both the current needs and the continuing requirements of our economic growth are embodied in the ways and means of supply to be granted to Her Majesty during the forthcoming year. Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, I leave you now to the discharge of your legislative duties. I am confident, that your deliberations, guided by Divine Providence, will be in the best interests of all our citizens.