Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Colombie-Britannique 35e 4e Discours du Trône 22 mars 1995 David Lam Lieutenant-Gouverneur New Democratic Party of British Columbia Honourable Speaker, Members of the Legislature It is with great pleasure that I address you on the opening of the Fourth Session of the Thirty-Fifth Parliament of British Columbia. In this, my last Speech from the Throne as your humble servant, I cannot help but reflect on the strength of our province, on the confidence we have in ourselves and our future. British Columbians should take great pride in what we are building together and where we're heading. When other Canadians look to our province they are in awe of our magnificent land, inspired by our dynamic economy, the best in Canada. British Columbia is a beacon of hope and progress in a nation turned upside down by a damaging recession. Nothing symbolizes our progress more than how our government and people have moved to bring peace to our woods, and found solutions with typical British Columbian spirit and vigour. Never before have so many people, from every walk of life, participated in the decisions about the future of our forests that so profoundly affect our lives. Grassroots democracy is very much a reality in our province in 1995. People having a say. Changes coming from the ground up. Changes for the better that bear the stamp: Made in British Columbia by British Columbians. Such an open dialogue requires a government confident in the wisdom of the people it serves, that believes the frictions of debate are healthy and natural and not to be hidden. Only through that kind of debate can common ground be found, balance attained, and communities strengthened as they shape the changes we must make. It is perhaps not the easiest way to run a government, but it is the fairest, the smartest, and the best. So as a result, as I speak to you today, I speak of a province that leads the country in so many ways. Landmark environmental protection. Bold initiatives to renew our forests. Skills training the envy of the country. Health care second to none. And Canada's #1 economy -- with the strongest, most consistent growth, the most new jobs, the best credit rating, and the lowest per capita debt. This government is determined to build on those achievements in the year ahead to keep our economy the nation's strongest, providing jobs and opportunities for British Columbians today and our children tomorrow. If we are to continue to lead the way in Canada and compete in a rapidly changing global economy, we cannot rest on our laurels, admiring our successes. But instead we must move forward aggressively, with confidence. There are two opposing visions of how a government should move forward in a modern economy. We can stop building infrastructure, cut public services, reduce wages and lower social standards in a race to the bottom to compete with less developed economies in attracting new jobs. Or, we can invest in our strengths, in up-to-date skills, increase our productivity, add value to what we produce, in an effort to match the advanced economies of Japan and the European Community in attracting new jobs. And so we are faced with a fundamental choice. Some governments in Canada have opted for the first course, persuaded that the answer is to slash budgets, reduce real wages and services, and dismantle laws that protect working people and the environment. British Columbia's government, though, believes that however fashionable this choice may be, and however harmless it appears in the short-term, the long-term economic costs would be devastating. And it is ordinary, working people and their families who would pay the price. So instead of engaging in a race to the bottom, we are choosing the second course, making affordable investments in our land, infrastructure and people, looking to the long-term and a destination of jobs and prosperity. In our changing global economy, when data, capital, plants and products can move with the blink of an eye, governments must concentrate their efforts on those assets which are least mobile and where their economy's comparative advantages lie. That's what we're doing. Building on the Premier's three Summits -- building on an unparalleled new partnership of business, labour and government in our province -- we're moving forward this year with a strategy for jobs and investment in a modern economy. Our B.C. strategy will centre on three key investments: * Investment in our natural resources * Investment in infrastructure * Investment in people Balance and security are at the heart of our strategy. Finding the balance between what we need to keep our economy the best in Canada and what we can afford. Securing jobs and economic opportunity for working people, their families, our businesses and communities. INVESTING IN OUR NATURAL RESOURCES Nowhere are these values more important than in guiding investment in our natural resources. In the first three and a half years of this government, British Columbia has made truly dramatic progress in balancing jobs and our environment. We have moved from a seemingly intractable war in the woods to resolving problems long thought unresolvable. No longer are decisions left in the hands of the large resource companies alone. Working people, environmentalists, and communities now have a place at the table. And they've found common ground and common purpose in renewing our forests. The Forest Renewal Plan, Forest Practices Code, and our land-use plans represent that common ground and the understanding that environmental stewardship and forest jobs can and must go hand in hand. B.C. will continue to lead the way by putting new stumpage dollars back into the forests and communities that created those dollars in the first place, by retraining workers, and ensuring certainty and security for our forest industry and communities. This year, the government will take another giant step forward, moving to enshrine land use plans in law. Legislation will designate an unprecedented number of parks and secure our commercial forest land base. Enshrining land use plans in law will include responsible stewardship of key waterways. In addition, we will take action during this Session to further protect British Columbia's fresh water, rivers and fish. Investing in our natural resources makes British Columbia one of the most inspiring places on earth in which to live and a source of great wealth, jobs and opportunity. Our economy prospers when our waters flow and our land is strong. INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE While renewing our commitment to the land, this government is also moving aggressively to prepare for the 21st century. We're replacing many of the ferries, roads and schools built in the postwar period but since allowed to decline. We are building community infrastructure in the Lower Mainland where every year the population increases by 50,000, which is the equivalent to a city the size of New Westminster. And we will be moving aggressively to build the sophisticated information infrastructure of the future. B.C.'s private sector understands how crucial a strong and modern infrastructure is to attracting new business investment and creating good secure jobs. A government's responsibility is to provide that foundation upon which jobs can grow. From the ground up. Business by business. Community by community. Building on existing projects, we will be moving this year to strengthen the two kinds of highways upon which the next century's economy will depend. The transportation highway that moves commuters to work and goods to market. And the information highway -- the communication networks that link us with each other and the world. This government will be moving forward with a new transportation plan for British Columbia in the coming year, with particular emphasis on relieving congestion in the Lower Mainland and growing regions. This plan will be smarter because it will integrate roads, transit and ferries. It will be cleaner because it will give priority to public transit and emphasize environmental technologies. It will be innovative by drawing not just on private sector know-how but on private sector financial resources. Securing British Columbia an on-ramp on the information highway is another key part of the government's infrastructure plan. Again in partnership with the private sector, we will be investing in technology, creating greater access to the highway for more people, and making sure British Columbians are poised to capture the new jobs of the information economy. Through these investments in new infrastructure for a new century, British Columbia's government is laying the road for a future of jobs and prosperity. INVESTING IN PEOPLE To fill those jobs and ensure that prosperity, B.C. will need a highly-skilled workforce. Investing in our people, equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to meet the global challenge, is fundamental to keeping our economy strong. Building on the new University of Northern British Columbia and the new technological institute in the Fraser Valley, this government will be adding to the unparalleled expansion of 8,100 spaces in colleges and universities last year. Successful partnerships with small and large businesses will be expanded in the coming year to retrain 18,000 working men and women on the job in the workplace. To match workers with local training opportunities, new Skills Centres will be opened to join the sixteen now established throughout our province. Fundamental to this government is that every young person in our province feel valued. New steps will be taken in the coming months to move young people off welfare into jobs and job training. B.C.'s kids will get the helping hand they need to grow with our economy. Together, we will build British Columbia one dream at a time. AFFORDABLE INVESTMENTS All of these investments in our natural resources, infrastructure and people must be affordable. And this government is making sure they are affordable by building a strong fiscal foundation. The banks and bondholders have signaled their approval of this government's record by giving us the best credit rating of any province in Canada. Our goals in the upcoming budget are: * to maintain our top rating by further strengthening our record; * to cut taxpayer supported debt as a percentage of the GDP from the current 20 per cent. This compares to the Alberta debt which stands at 37 per cent of the GDP, and the federal government debt which represents 75 per cent of the GDP; and * to cut real government spending per capita without sacrificing Medicare, public education and other vital services that working families rely on. PROTECTING MEDICARE While further strengthening our economy, we cannot sacrifice what is so important to our quality of life. This government is deeply troubled by the federal government retreat on Medicare. Ottawa, for all intents and purposes, has abandoned Medicare, disregarding its value to the fabric of our nation and the security of Canadians. Private interests are poised to take advantage of this to press for their profit-making hospitals and clinics, where those with money can buy care, and those without are turned away. Dark clouds of two-tier American health care loom on the Canadian horizon. This government will stand in defence of Medicare. We believe that quality health care for each of us is founded on equality for all of us. We will not silently stand by and let Medicare disappear. We are determined to build on our new cancer clinics, further shorten surgery waiting lists, move care closer to home, free communities to set their own priorities, promote preventative care, work to maintain our healthy workforce, and spend our health care dollars smarter. In the face of the dismantling of Medicare by the federal government, British Columbia's government will take the action required to protect Medicare for each and every citizen of our province. PUTTING ORDINARY PEOPLE FIRST Honourable Speaker, those are the choices the government is making for the year ahead. Those choices reflect the values of ordinary British Columbians and a government that puts the interests of ordinary people first. British Columbians work hard for a living. Their families deserve public services they can count on in their day to day lives, and a knowledge that government will extend a hand if they need it. This government is here to serve those families. Its purpose in building a stronger economy is to ensure that more people are better off. Its obligation is to improving the quality of life of ordinary families whenever it can -- creating and maintaining good family-supporting jobs, raising the minimum wage, improving childcare, making the workplace fairer, making housing more affordable, and protecting Medicare. Its commitment is to a British Columbia that is more than a marketplace, a place where people live and work, a place with a heart and a soul. Together, the government and the people of British Columbia have shown what can be accomplished with hard work and a vision of a better future. Let us continue that work for our families, our children, and the generations to come.