Infamy Comes
INMany Flavors
BC Mary didn't appreciate my choice of a name for this blog, as she felt that it showed a lack of respect for the Legislature. However my feeling is that the Legislature and the creatures and criminals that inhabit it bring disrespect upon themselves and the beautiful Rattenbury building that they so often disgrace. Also the Legislature Raids and the still unresolved issues behind them are not the only infamous deeds that transpire there. Often people just plain stand up there and LIE. Of course they are "technically" allowed to lie there, as they are protected by so called Parliamentary Privilege and can pretty much say anything they want, even if it is a lie and/or would be considered libelous if said out on the street. Hell, I could even be accused maybe of libel for even suggesting that they tell lies when they are in the chamber. For anyone considering launching such a suit all I can say is "Good Luck" and which guitar do you want? And oh yeah, you'll have to buy new strings for it, maybe a new case also, depending on which one you pick.
As I was waking up this morning to the CBC Radio News, I heard that our MLAs had been going around and around about the issue of the recent crash 
that killed three female farm workers and put eight or so in the hospital. Apparently the van had been carrying 17 people, and was only equipped with TWO seatbelts. Yet also apparently the van had passed an inspection within the last month. Now I guess two seat belts would be plenty, as long as there were only two people riding to work in it. However, it seems unlikely to me that anyone would expect a van capable of carrying (with an appropriate number of seat belts) 12 or 15 (not 17) to be used to carry TWO farm workers.
When the NDP opposition tried to hold the current government accountable for the reduced number of inspections, the Lieberals tried to change the subject to wages. They claimed to have raised farmworkers wages by 23% in 2001. They didn't even seem embarrassed when it was accurately pointed out that those increases had taken place under the previous NDP government in the nineties (source CBC Radio). It turns out that all the current government had done regarding the wages of farmworkers was to remove the requirements to pay overtime and holiday pay. Oh, but they did make it possible/required for the farm owners to pay by direct deposit or something really important like that.
Some amusing and/or disgusting moments from the House from Hansard for last Tuesday the 13th are:
Hon. O. Ilich:(Minister of Labour-kc) I think that the members opposite should get their facts straight. Today the average minimum wage for workers in the agricultural industry is almost $14 an hour.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.
C James:. Well, Mr. Speaker, it's very clear that the minister has not spoken to anybody who actually works on the farm. I'd actually like to give the information to the minister. Workers out in the field picking blueberries must collect 22.1 pounds of blueberries every hour to be able to make minimum wage — every hour. That's almost 200 pounds of blueberries in eight hours. Many of these workers are women and seniors.
It was this government that eliminated the minimum wage for farmworkers. It's this government that doesn't care about workers being exploited.
Interjections.
I'm pretty sure that Ms. James is referring to the "real" minimum wage here, not the imaginary "average" minimum wage of $14.00 per hour. Indeed a little later an NDP member rose to add the following.
R. Chouhan: Yesterday the Minister of Agriculture stated in the House: "The agricultural workers in B.C. are some of the highest-paid agricultural workers anywhere in Canada — $12 and $13 an hour." Now, after 24 hours, the wages have gone up to $14 an hour.
Interjections.
Don't forget, we are living in the most wonderful place on Earth under the rule of the most wonderful government ever, so why wouldn't minimum wages increase by a dollar an hour every night.
At this rate, maybe in a couple months it won't take 68% of the average income in Vancouver to own and maintain a home. Later my own MLA, Corky Evans, had this to say.
C. Evans: Hon. Speaker, I don't live in a wonderland. I live in British Columbia, and as every farmworker knows, this is no wonderland.
Maybe someday, maybe sooner than later, the name of my Blog will become inappropriate. Frankly I would love for that day to be yesterday. But I won't hold my breath.
For those that are masochistic, have lots of time on their hands or just really appreciate weird humor, the whole exchange from last Tuesday follows below the fold, as it were. Just click on the place where it says "Click Here for More!"
More
Oral Questions
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS FOR
FARMWORKERS
C. James: Yesterday in question period the Minister of Labour failed to defend her government's policy to strip farmworkers of basic rights like minimum wage. She and the Minister of Agriculture gave conflicting answers that showed that the B.C. Liberals can't be trusted to protect these vulnerable workers.
To the Minister of Labour: has her ministry conducted an analysis of the pick rate for workers? How many are actually getting minimum wage, and how many are being exploited by this government's policies?
Hon. O. Ilich: As a matter of fact, the changes that were made in 2001 did not have anything to do with what workers were paid or how they were paid. The piece rate for workers was introduced in 1981. It was the same the whole time that the members opposite were in government.
What we did do was that we went to a direct-deposit system in 2001, which means that workers actually got paid and they got paid on time. The rate in 2001 was also increased by 23 percent. That was something our government did, not their government.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. The Leader of the Opposition has a supplemental.
C. James: Once again, the minister is without the facts. Direct deposit does nothing for farmworkers if they're not making minimum wage. Yesterday….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. Leader of the Opposition has the floor.
C. James: Yesterday the Minister of Agriculture said that minimum wage, overtime and holiday pay were built into the piecework rates. Today the Minister of Labour can't even answer a basic question, which is about how many workers are actually making minimum wage. And she certainly doesn't seem to care about how workers are being exploited by her government's policies.
So my question to the Minister of Labour is: does she know how many pounds of blueberries a worker has to pick to be able to make minimum wage?
Hon. O. Ilich: I think that the members opposite should get their facts straight. Today the average minimum wage for workers in the agricultural industry is almost $14 an hour.
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Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.
C. James: Well, Mr. Speaker, it's very clear that the minister has not spoken to anybody who actually works on the farm. I'd actually like to give the information to the minister. Workers out in the field picking blueberries must collect 22.1 pounds of blueberries every hour to be able to make minimum wage — every hour. That's almost 200 pounds of blueberries in eight hours. Many of these workers are women and seniors.
It was this government that eliminated the minimum wage for farmworkers. It's this government that doesn't care about workers being exploited.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. Let's listen to the question, please.
C. James: My question again to the Minister of Labour: will she commit today to reinstate the basic rights that workers deserve, which her government took away?
Hon. O. Ilich: The piece rate for farmworkers has been in effect since 1981. Their government did nothing about it, did not make any changes for ten years. We increased it in November of 2001 by 23 percent.
R. Chouhan: Yesterday the Minister of Agriculture stated in the House: "The agricultural workers in B.C. are some of the highest-paid agricultural workers anywhere in Canada — $12 and $13 an hour." Now, after 24 hours, the wages have gone up to $14 an hour.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
R. Chouhan: My question is to the Minister of Labour. If farmworkers are making that much, will she make the necessary amendments to the Employment Standards Act to ensure that the farmworkers are paid the guaranteed minimum wage?
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Hon. P. Bell: I'm not sure what part of this the members opposite don't get. This was the government that in 2001 lifted the piece rate by 23 percent.
What did the NDP do during the 1990s? Let's analyze that. They presided over the largest decrease in ag workers' wages in the history of British Columbia — a drop of 21 percent in a single year.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members from both sides. We're not going to start question period until there's silence.
Member has a supplemental.
R. Chouhan: Mr. Speaker, I do. I hope that in the same loud voice the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Labour will confirm today that farmworkers will be paid guaranteed minimum wage as of today.
Yesterday the Minister of Labour tried to deflect her terrible record and blame a past government. She accused the NDP of shutting down the agricultural compliance team. She was wrong. She was wrong like her other colleagues. The program was established in 1997, not shut down. The team had the power to inspect vehicles on site during unannounced inspections.
Once again we cannot trust this government to represent the workers. When is the Minister of Labour going to stop blaming others for her failed policies and reinstate the rights and protections they stripped away from farmworkers?
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Hon. P. Bell: Mr. Speaker, you know, this is just typical NDP. It's about supporting their big labour friends. Do you know what? I think that they're getting….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.
Interjection.
Mr. Speaker: The Minister of Agriculture still has the floor. Continue.
Hon. P. Bell: This is about the NDP just wanting to support their big labour friends. Let's look at the history. Let's look at the history of what happened. There was rampant UI fraud during the 1990s. Workers were having go cap in hand to their employers to try and get paid. We put in mandatory direct deposits. Workers get paid a fair wage right now in this province, and they're the third-highest-paid ag workers in all of Canada.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. The member for New Westminster has the floor.
C. Puchmayr: In 2002 former Labour Minister Graham Bruce directed the employment standards compliance staff to "reduce their presence in the fields during the harvest." Yesterday the Minister of Labour agreed with Mr. Bruce. She stated in this House: "We obviously know that inspections are not what is required." Well, I say to this House: she is wrong.
Can the Minister of Labour tell this House today how many WorkSafe inspections, how many WorkSafe compliances, how many workplace orders and penalties were written in 2005 and 2006?
Hon. P. Bell: Mr. Speaker, you know, I'm not sure why it is that the opposition just thinks the entire agriculture industry is so disparaged. I can't believe that the members opposite would think this isn't an honourable industry — an industry that has an incredible reputation over the years.
Let's look at the facts, because I think that's appropriate. If we look at the inspections, in the year 2000 under that government there were 20,000 inspections that occurred in the province of British Columbia in the agricultural sector. In 2006 there were 26,000. That's a 30-percent increase.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. I remind members: through the Chair when you're speaking. The member has a supplemental.
C. Puchmayr: Less than 1 percent of all inspections in industry in British Columbia were done on farms in 2006 — less than 1 percent. Do you know how many penalties there were? In 2005 there was one penalty issued; in 2006 there were none.
Will the Minister of Labour stand up and tell this House that she will increase the inspections and look at the regime that is left by this government — that this government has left behind and is no longer respecting farmworkers?
Hon. P. Bell: Clearly, the NDP are living in Wonderland out there somewhere, because they can't transpose the numbers. They don't have a mathematician amongst them. In the year 2000 there were 34,000 orders written; in the year 2006, 46,000 orders — a 35-percent increase and $1.5 million worth of orders written. Those are the facts; those are the numbers.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
C. Evans: Hon. Speaker, I don't live in a wonderland. I live in British Columbia, and as every farmworker knows, this is no wonderland.
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I find it somewhat offensive that this debate tends, especially from folks on the other side, to be, "We're the
[ Page 6154 ]
best, and you're the worst" or "You're the worst, and we're the best," and….
Interjection.
C. Evans: Just hang on. You'll get your chance, Member.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.
C. Evans: I find it somewhat offensive….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
C. Evans: The real issue isn't which government is the best. The real issue is whether or not farmworkers, as a class of citizen, are denied what everybody else in this building and everyone in the gallery and what we expect for all of our children…. In fact, if you take politics out of it, you want to say: "We stand up for farmworkers."
Will the Minister of Agriculture please agree to simply give farmworkers the same guarantees under the Labour Code and the laws of British Columbia that every other worker in the province has?
Hon. P. Bell: I can actually do better than that. I can guarantee this member that British Columbia ag workers have the same rights and privileges as in every one of the other nine provinces in Canada. Our regulations are exactly the same. They all work under piece-rate legislation opportunities. Our rules are the same as every province in Canada.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
The member has a supplemental?
C. Evans: Sure. Do you see how the bafflegab works, hon. Speaker? We ask…
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
C. Evans: …if agriculture workers could be treated like every other worker in British Columbia, and the hon. minister says: "Oh, we treat them like farmworkers in every other province."
What we're asking is that every citizen here be treated the same — every worker. Whatever you expect for your children, give the same protection to farmworkers — not what works in Canada.
Will the Minister of Agriculture give farmworkers, regardless of what language they speak or where they came from or their citizenship status, the same rights and privileges as every other worker in the province today?
Hon. P. Bell: I find that a little tough to take from the minister of the day who actually cancelled the compliance team in 1997 when he was the minister. Yesterday he got up and gave us a little outburst in the House that showed a passion for ag workers.
Well, you know what, Mr. Speaker? Accidents and fatalities have decreased dramatically under this government. In 1997 in the agricultural sector, 1,300 injuries. In the year 2005 in the agricultural sector, 500 accidents. In the year 1997, 12 fatalities. In the year 2005, three.
We deliver real results. We look after farmworkers in British Columbia.
M. Farnworth: What has become patently clear in this House over the last six days is that when it comes to farmworkers, there is no Minister of Labour in this province.
I'm going to give the Minister of Labour a chance to redeem herself. Does she believe that women and seniors who pick berries for eight hours a day without a break are big labour? Or does she believe that they should stop being treated like second-class citizens and get the rights and protections that everybody else deserves?
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Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
Hon. P. Bell: I'll tell you what this government doesn't believe is appropriate for ag workers: a 23-percent wage decrease in the years 1999-2000. That's not what this government supports.
What did we do? First year in government, we raised the piece rates by 21 percent. That's looking after agricultural workers.
Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.
M. Farnworth: I noticed there was some confusion over there as to who is the Minister of Labour, so I'm going to give the person who is supposed to be the Minister of Labour for British Columbia — who is supposed to be the Minister of Labour for farmworkers in this province — the opportunity to answer a question.
Does the Minister of Labour believe that seniors and women who work a minimum of eight and sometimes 12 or 13 hours a day in this province picking crops after machines have done all the easy work…? Does she consider them to be big labour?
Hon. O. Ilich: It is plainly obvious that the members opposite are not interested in the facts, and they only want to score cheap political points based on a tragic accident.
This government has been committed since 2001. I will continue to work on making sure that farmworkers are paid the proper amount and on time, that they are paid when they should be, that they're educated as to their rights, that employers know their obligations and that we have the safest work environment, because that is the right thing to do.
[ Page 6155 ]
Interjection.
Mr. Speaker: Member.
H. Lali: There's a pattern that has been forming with this government since 2001. They have systematically discriminated against the lowest-paid workers in this province. They went after the HEU, where the members are mostly women and people who are immigrants — people of colour. And it's the same thing they've done here with farmworkers….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members. Member for Yale-Lillooet has the floor.
H. Lali: Then this Liberal government has systematically discriminated against farmworkers, most of whom are women, seniors, immigrants and people of colour. They have….
Interjections.
H. Lali: My question is to the Minister of Labour. Does the Minister of Labour still believe that the lowest-paid workers in this province, the farmworkers, are big business? And what is she going to do to give them their rights back?
Hon. O. Ilich: The members opposite may think that they are defenders of the workers, but in fact we have done more for workers since we've been in power than they have ever done. Today there are jobs. We have….
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Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members, until I can hear…. Members. Listen to the questions. Listen to the answer.
Minister of Labour, proceed.
Hon. O. Ilich: Today the unemployment rate is 4 percent. When they were in power….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
Continue, Minister.
Hon. O. Ilich: When they were in power, the unemployment rate was over 10 percent.
A. Dix: We talk about respect for workers. It was this government, after the Premier personally promised hospital workers, that engaged in the largest layoff of female workers in the history of Canada.
I say to the Minister of Labour that the government's decision to take away minimum-wage protections and to take away overtime protections from farmworkers was irresponsible. It targeted the workers in society the least able to defend themselves. I suggest to her that it's her job as Minister of Labour to defend those workers and not make excuses for the actions of the Premier.
So my question to the Minister of Labour is very simple. Will she reverse course? Will she ensure that farmworkers in British Columbia get access to the same minimum-wage protections?
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Members.
Continue, Member.
A. Dix: The Government House Leader….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. The member for Vancouver-Kingsway has the floor.
A. Dix: I think it's shameful that the Government House Leader, who stood in this House and stripped farmworkers of their rights, should try to shout down questions from the opposition. My question to you: were they braying and sneering when they stripped farmworkers of their rights? Was the Government House Leader braying and sneering when he took away the rights from farmworkers in British Columbia? Was that the attitude that led to those terrible decisions?
My question is to the Minister of Labour. Why not restore those protections today? Why not restore minimum-wage and overtime protections to farmworkers?
Hon. P. Bell: I know that, actually, the member likes to revisit history. In fact, often he likes to postdate the history.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
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Hon. P. Bell: I have a question for the member opposite. I'm wondering: in 1999-2000, when the wages for ag workers dropped by 21 percent, was that their attempt to make sure that people earned minimum wage? I'm not sure.
Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
Continue.
A. Dix: Well, the members over there will know that when farmworkers come here from Mexico, they're guaranteed minimum-wage protections that farmworkers in British Columbia don't get today.
[ Page 6156 ]
I think that what we're talking about here is a group of workers who had their rights stripped. No amount of yelling, no number of insults will take away the record of this government, which took away minimum wage, overtime and basic protections from farmworkers. They can yell, and they can scream. They can cheer, and they can do whatever they like, but we're talking about workers who work terribly hard for very little money and deserve more respect from a government than this.
My question to the Minister of Labour is: how about some respect? How about some respectful behaviour for people who work hard and deserve the protections of the law? Why not apply the same laws in British Columbia that you would apply to other workers? Why not give farmworkers back the rights that your government stripped?
Hon. P. Bell: You know, obviously the numbers are painfully obvious to the members opposite. In 2002 when we made the adjustments to the structure of agriculture worker programs, the average wage rates went from $11.83 an hour to $12.77 an hour. That's an 8-percent increase as a result of those changes.
Respecting agricultural workers means that B.C. has the third-highest-paid agriculture workers in all of Canada. You know, if they really want to know if the way we're treating ag workers is appropriate, maybe they should go talk to their cousins in Saskatchewan where the rules are exactly the same as they are in British Columbia.
[End of question period.]
Mr. Speaker: I want to remind members that maybe after today, they might want to go back and watch the tape of what took place today. The decorum of this House has been something that I think, as members, we've been pretty proud of, and I've been proud as a Speaker going across Canada. But I think all members should go back and watch exactly what took place today.
I will second that advice Mr. Speaker - kootcoot
So since I'm not as willing to censor him as he is to even censor himself at his place, I am creating this thread just for him, or anybody who has any thing to say about him or what he says. I may have to just delete it all pretty soon, he seems to lose it quite rapidly. But we shall see. If you want to see the kind of hate-mongering stuff this pompous poser posts at his own cesspool, The Sentinel, just click on the name he uses when he's not posing as somebody else, and good luck with your stomach!
