THRONE SPEECH LAUNCHES B.C. INTO PACIFIC CENTURY

VICTORIA – The third session of the 38^th parliament was launched today with a speech from the throne that calls for bold action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create better choices for students and patients, and a plan to reduce homelessness.

“Over the last five years, British Columbia has established itself as a centre for social innovation and economic development, and as a province where we accomplish what we set our minds to,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “However, we have a responsibility to do better – to reach higher in education, to reduce the impact we have on the environment, to provide more choices for students and patients, and to help those who cannot help themselves.”

Premier Campbell said the Province will build on its reputation for environmental stewardship by establishing targets, actions and processes aimed at reducing B.C.’s greenhouse gases by at least 33 per cent below current levels by 2020.

“Climate change is real, and British Columbians are telling us we must do more as a government and as individuals,” said Campbell. “We will act to stem the growth of global warming and minimize the impacts already unleashed by establishing targets and actions and by working with our national and international neighbours.”

The throne speech includes key initiatives that outline the five elements of the Province’s Pacific Leadership Agenda, an agenda that’s crucial to achieving the Five Great Goals for the Golden Decade. The Pacific Leadership Agenda elements include:

To lead Canada in partnership with First Nations.
To tackle the challenges of global warming and unplanned urban sprawl.
To increase affordable housing, reduce homelessness, and help those who cannot help themselves.
To improve quality, choice, and accountability in our two most important public services – education and health care.
To open up Canada’s Pacific Gateway and strengthen our economic competitiveness.

Initiatives that will further strengthen First Nations relations include:

If the three Final Agreements under the B.C. Treaty Commission are ratified within the next few months, legislation will be brought to the legislature for full consideration.
New curricula will be developed with First Nations historians, oral histories will be gathered from First Nations Elders, and more will be done to preserve First Nations languages.
The Province will work with the Legislative Assembly and First Nations to act on the recommendation of the 2001 review dealing with the artwork in the lower rotunda.

Initiatives to tackle the challenge of global warming include:

The Province will aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 33 per cent below current levels by 2020. That target will place emissions 10 per cent under 1990 levels.
Interim targets will be set for 2012 and 2016 through a Climate Action Team that will determine the most credible, aggressive and economically viable targets.
A longer-term emissions reduction target will be set for 2050.

The Climate Action Team will also be asked to identify practicable options and actions for making the government of B.C. carbon neutral by 2010.
All electricity produced in B.C. will be required to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2016.
Greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry will be reduced to 2000 levels by 2016, including a zero-flaring requirement at producing wells and production facilities.

A new $25-million Innovative Clean Energy Fund will be established to encourage the commercialization of alternative energy solutions such as bioenergy, geothermal energy, tidal, run-of-the river, solar, and wind power.
Tailpipe emission standards for all new vehicles sold in B.C. will be phased in between 2009 and 2016, reducing carbon dioxide emissions from autos by 30 per cent.
A low-carbon fuel standard will be established that will reduce carbon intensity of all passenger vehicles by at least 10 per cent by 2020.
The energy plan will require that 90 per cent of B.C.’s electricity come from clean, renewable sources.
Effective immediately, B.C. will become the first jurisdiction in North America, if not the world, to require 100 per cent carbon sequestration for any coal-fired electricity project.
The $2,000 sales tax exemption on new hybrid vehicles will be extended.
Beginning this month, all new cars leased or purchased by the Province will be hybrids.
A new unified B.C. Green Building Code will be developed with industry and communities.
Legislation will be developed to phase in requirements for methane capture at landfills, the source of about nine per cent of B.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions.
New incentives to retrofit existing homes and buildings to make them energy efficient.
New measures will help homeowners undertake “energy audits” to identify possible energy savings.
Real-time, in-home smart metering will help homeowners measure and reduce energy consumption.
These measures will demand new personal commitment, new investments and new funding. The cost of climate change is directly related to our consumption. Over the next year, the Province will consider the range of possibilities aimed at encouraging personal choices that are environmentally responsible. The Province will explore ways to encourage shifts in behaviour that reduce carbon consumption through tax savings.
Parliament Buildings seismic upgrades will include new standards of energy efficiency.
New strategies will be launched to promote Pacific Green universities, colleges, hospitals, schools, prisons, ferries, and airports.
The Province will substantially increase its tree-planting efforts.
The Province will ensure school curricula inform students how they can reduce individual impacts on the environment at home and at work.
Beehive burners will be eliminated.
Trees infested by the mountain pine beetle will be used to create new, clean energy.

A federal-provincial partnership will invest $89 million for hydrogen fuelling stations and the world’s first fleet of 20 fuel cell buses. The new fuelling stations are part of the initial phase of the hydrogen highway from Whistler to Vancouver, Surrey, and Victoria.
The Province will work with Pacific states to encourage a hydrogen highway from Whistler to San Diego by 2010.* It would be the longest hydrogen highway in the world.
This spring, the Province will invite all Pacific Coast governors and key ministers to B.C. to forge a new Pacific Coast Collaborative extending from Alaska to California.
B.C. will work with its neighbours to create electrified truck stops to reduce idling.
The Premier will meet with governors to assess and address the impact of climate change on our oceans and establish common standards for Pacific ports.
The Province will seek federal co-operation to electrify ports and reduce container ship carbon emissions in all Canadian ports.
The Province will work with the federal government and Pacific partners to develop a sensible, efficient system to register, trade, and purchase carbon offsets and credits.
A new Citizen’s Conservation Council will be established and funded.

Plans to build on the Province’s environmental protection and conservation records:

Several new Class A parks and conservancies will be established and existing ones expanded.
Changes will be introduced to strengthen forest stewardship and reduce forest fire risk.
Actions will be taken to improve forest health, encourage better utilization of beetle-killed timber and salvage fibre, and strengthen actions against those who damage B.C.’s forest or range resources.

Initiatives that will be taken to address housing and urban sprawl include:

Encouraging local governments to exempt small-unit supportive housing projects from development cost charges and levies.
A new assessment class and new tax exemptions for small-unit supportive housing will be developed over the next year for the legislature’s consideration.
Changes to existing funding and transfer payments to ensure integrated regional transportation and housing planning.
Working with the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the private sector to develop new incentives to encourage smaller lot sizes and smaller, more energy efficient homes that use less land, less energy and less water, and are less expensive to own.

New steps to boost student achievement by improving quality, choice and accountability in British Columbia’s education system include:

Amendments will be introduced to the School Act to broaden the Education Minister’s capacity to create provincial schools and offer more choice in learning.

The Province will act to give teachers new recognition and financial incentives to reward improvements in student achievement and promote professional development, as laid out in the 2005 election platform.
Voluntary leadership certification, new resources, professional development, and online supports will be offered to teachers.
A Premier’s Award for Teaching Excellence will be established.
Changes will be made to broaden the mandate of school boards, reflected in a new title: Boards of Education.

Boards will be able to offer “special academies” with approval of school planning councils and consultation with parents.
Boards will be authorized to charge fees approved by school planning councils to defray non-instructional costs or additional costs incurred in offering special academies, trades programs, and band instruments.
The role of district superintendents will expand to be responsible to boards for improving student achievement.
Boards of Education will be required to develop district literacy plans.

Up to 80 StrongStart Centres will open in underutilized school spaces over the next year to help B.C.’s youngest students enter school ready to learn.
New provincial Superintendents of Achievement will be appointed by the Province to report and make recommendations on improving student achievement in school districts.
New “sunshine legislation” will shed new light on school district companies’ best practices, and new public reporting and auditing requirements, as well as new obligations for their directors to be arm’s length from parent boards, will be established.
The Province will ensure new residents can obtain support in ESL training and streamlined professional and skilled labour certification to help them use the skills they bring to B.C.
A pledge to use underutilized school spaces as public spaces to deliver on public priorities.
Government will also work with boards to better manage capital planning across all school districts.
A new process to ensure schools or school lands are used for their highest and best use for maximum public benefit.

Further initiatives will reflect the government’s 2005 election commitments to:

Establish a teacher employment registry, administered by the College of Teachers, to publicly report the names of teachers disciplined for misconduct involving emotional, physical or sexual abuse.
Require annual public reports for all public schools on the statistics relating to teacher hirings, terminations, disciplinary actions and professional development.
Require all Boards of Education to establish codes of conducts for students that meet provincially set standards and that institute “zero tolerance” of bullying in B.C.’s schools.
Give government the ability to directly communicate with all teachers.

Further health-care initiatives that will build on the Conversation on Health and fundamental health reforms that will increase choice and maximize health services include:

A new electronic Surgical Patient Registry will give patients more control over surgical options, improve public reporting of wait times, and enable better surgical treatment planning.
A new Electronic Medical Records system will be launched to give physicians better access to patient records.
The BC HealthGuide will be available in Punjabi and Chinese.

New initiatives to support B.C.’s growing economy include:

Several amendments will be introduced this session to enhance mineral exploration and to afford private property owners new rights of notice before anyone can enter their land for mineral exploration.
New legislation will be tabled to facilitate resort development and establish new resort municipalities that open up B.C.’s potential for tourism.

· B.C.’s new tourism strategy will target new markets for growth in the Asia-Pacific and new potential for growth in eco-tourism, agri-tourism, Aboriginal tourism, and cultural tourism.

· This year, a new Children’s Education Credit will be established and a new Pacific Leaders Fellowship will be created to provide university students new financial incentives to pursue careers in the provincial public service.

· Campus 2020 will help shape the vision of B.C.’s post-secondary system for years to come.

· The Provincial Nominee Program will be substantially expanded and new efforts will be made to expedite entry for temporary workers in skills-shortage areas.

· The government will invest in B.C.’s ports, airports, railways, roads and bridges to capitalize on British Columbia’s core competitive advantage – our location as Canada’s only Pacific province.

· Legislation will be introduced to end mandatory retirement.

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The full text of today’s speech from the throne is available on the Legislative Assembly website at www.leg.bc.ca/38th3rd/4-8-38-3.htm.

*Note: The online version of this news release has been amended to correct this date.


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

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