EXCERPTS FROM PREMIER GORDON CAMPBELL'S SPEECH

Removing junk food from vending machines

We know that good health starts with our kids. That’s why we’re taking junk food out of our schools. I can tell you today that we’re going to extend that initiative to take junk food out of vending machines in all provincially owned public buildings – including hospitals. We’ll act next spring to ensure all vending machine contracts for those facilities are full of healthy food, not junk food.

Silken’s Active Kids Program

We know this, that for our kids to be healthy in the future, they have to be active today. That’s why the Legislative Committee on health is developing an action plan to help reduce childhood obesity, and help combat related chronic illnesses like diabetes. That’s why we launched our Action Schools program and are extending it to all schools in British Columbia, but we’re going to do more, by supporting a new neighbourhood program that will get our kids out from behind their computer screens and playing again. We will select communities all over B.C. to pilot Silken’s Active Kids programs, where Silken Laumann, a driving force behind getting kids back to play again, will provide opportunities, will provide encouragement, will provide inspiration to get our kids into our parks where they’re playing, they’re healthy, and they’ve got the future they all deserve.

Banning smoking on all school property

Better prevention and health promotion is a key to good health outcomes. So we’re going to do more to fight tobacco use and reduce the damage of second-hand smoke in society. We’re going to act now to ban smoking on all school property in every school across B.C., both public and private. We will take all necessary steps to put that in place in time for school opening in September of next year.

Phase out smoking in all indoor public places

We want to find a cure for cancer, but we need to take steps to prevent it in all parts of the province. That means we have to do more to reduce tobacco use and second-hand smoke in relation. So today I can tell you, that we are going to act now to phase out smoking in all indoor public spaces by 2008.

Now I recognize that this isn’t something that will be universally accepted. We’re going to provide time for transition for those that have invested in new systems to mitigate the concerns we’ve had in the past. But I want to be clear to everyone. We’re not talking about what people can do in their homes, or what they can do in their hotel rooms, but the time has come to put an end to smoking in indoor public places in British Columbia.

Seven provinces and two territories are already ahead of us on this issue, with similar legislation in place. The fact is we must make changes to improve our health and reduce the pressures on the health care system. This is one of them, and it’s one we’re going to do.

B.C.’s Education Guarantee

Education is the key to future aspirations. We are determined to give our children the tools they need to have happy and healthy lives, where they can make their choices freely, and pursue their passions. We’re going to give every student who graduates from high school the skills and knowledge that are required in today’s world. That’s our education guarantee.

Let me tell you what that means. It means we don’t give up on any student in British Columbia; we give them the tools they need to live the life they want. It means graduates that haven’t been able to capture or develop the skills that they need can have free access to any courses or programs in the K to 12 system we’ve got through Learn Now BC. Anytime, anywhere in B.C., they can learn and they can build the future they want. That’s the education guarantee that we want for citizens of British Columbia. The new virtual school that Shirley Bond has just opened now provides learning opportunities wherever you are, as long as you have access to the Internet.

New Strong Start Centers

We’ll work with school boards to open our schools to the community, for libraries, for senior centres, for early learning centres. And for the first time ever, we intend to establish strong start centres and early childhood learning in schools that have space available. Select school boards will provide pilot programs for families, caregivers, and preschool children at no cost to the families.

Today, I can tell you that there will be 16 Strong Start pilot sites that will be established across British Columbia. And we also plan to invest in playgrounds and places that celebrate the arts and physical activities. We want the best public education system possible in British Columbia and we’re going to give that to the young people of British Columbia.

Increase participation of Aboriginal citizens and persons with disabilities in the workforce

People are the critical ingredient of the modern economy. They are our most important natural resource. So we’re going to have to train, attract, and retain workers in this province. Not only are we all getting older, our economy is growing. Our economy is growing. There are only 650,000 young people in our public school system today. Over the next 12 years, we’re expecting to create one million new job openings in B.C. Now just think of that, that’s a shortfall of 350,000 workers. And if we can’t fill those spaces it will cost us almost $50 billion in GDP between now and 2018.

One way to help meet those needs is to draw more people into the workforce. As I’ve said before, the fastest growing youth segment of our province is Aboriginal British Columbians. So we’re going to close the gaps in education and economic opportunity to help them fully participate. We’re also going to put new measures in place to increase the participation in our workforce for persons with disabilities in British Columbia.

Keeping people in the workforce longer

And another way to reduce pressures, to find new workers, is to keep people in the workforce who are not ready for retirement. Personally, I see no reason whatsoever why we should force any able-bodied, able-minded person in B.C. to stop working against their will. The fact is, we need their help and we should be removing the barriers to getting it. The new world we live in demands more flexibility, not less.

$1,000 Children’s Education Credit

These measures are going to help, but you know, they won’t be enough to fill all the new job openings in the years ahead. More than two-thirds of those million new jobs will require some form of post-secondary training. So I can tell you today, that beginning in 2007, $1,000 will be invested in the name of each new child born here in British Columbia to help them meet their post-secondary skills development needs and learning in the future.

That $1,000 will grow through their young lives, and will contribute to their choice in learning after graduation. It will say to them, your learning is important to us. The B.C. Children’s Education Credit will help B.C. families and it will help B.C. children. It will help us build the kind of future we want for British Columbia.

2,500 new graduate spaces

You know that we’ve been adding 25,000 new spaces in colleges and universities, the largest post-secondary expansion in 40-years in British Columbia. It turns out that many of those 25,000 new seats may be under-subscribed, in part because the economy is so hot. That’s compounding the challenge we have in developing specialized skills in the workforce that we need for the future. We need more trades training, and more highly educated workers. So today I can tell you that we’re going to work with our post-secondary institutions to convert at least 2,500 of those 25,000 spaces into post-graduate spaces in master’s and doctorate degrees in British Columbia.

A new Pacific Leaders Fellowship program

Moreover, we intend to provide a new level of assistance to graduate students. I want them staying in British Columbia, and putting their hard earned knowledge to work for all of us. The government will establish a new Pacific Leader’s Fellowship for graduate studies. It will help foster excellence in our universities. The Fellowship will be available for graduate students in British Columbia institutions and the province’s public service. Recipients will have the opportunity to become part of B.C.’s professional public service and to provide new intellectual energy and enthusiasm as we continue to build the best public service in Canada, right here in British Columbia.

7,000 new apprenticeship spaces

As well, we’re going to add 7,000 new apprenticeship spaces between today and 2010 in our province.

Increasing the number of industry training organizations

We’re going to substantially increase the number of industry training organizations in partnership with the private sector and the industry training authority.

As we’re doing more to train new workers, we’re also going to have to attract skilled workers from other provinces and other countries. We have a significant competitive advantage here in British Columbia. Sometimes we forget it. We try not to. We live in the best province on earth.

Our rich cultural diversity and ties to the Pacific and China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and India are also huge advantages for us in attracting skilled workers. We have to take advantage of that diversity. We’re going to do that. In a word, we’re going to make sure that immigration is working for British Columbia and for Canada again.

Expansion of the Provincial Nominee Program

I want everyone to understand in British Columbia that this Premier, this government, and this party, recognizes the importance of the contribution that immigrants have made to our province and to our country for our entire history. We’re proud of that contribution.

The fact is we need immigrants to help us build B.C.’s future. We’ll beef up the tools under our direct control to expedite immigration and integration into our workforce of foreign workers in skill shortage areas. That will involve a dramatic expansion of the provincial nominee program.

Attracting more foreign-trained professionals

It will mean new efforts to help foreign-trained professionals meet our standards in areas where we are in desperate need of skilled workers.

Greater tax relief for families

Within this mandate, we will provide even greater tax relief for families in British Columbia.

You know the fact is that tax cuts work. We’ve proven that. They increase take home pay, that’s good for families. They increase confidence, that’s good for families. They increase investment and job creation, that’s good for families. And here’s what’s important. They keep people working and they bring our children home to British Columbia and that’s good for families.

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Media contact:	Mike Morton Press Secretary Office of the Premier 250 213-8218

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