 You know ladies and gentlemen, my passion is always about getting on with the job that we have to do. It's not easy, it's complicated, it has many aspects, but the bottom line is that we need to get on with those things that we're passionate about and we can passionately agree and we can sometimes passionately disagree. But that's the beauty of democracy, that's the beauty of organizations like this. And I know the diversity of opinions that sit in this room because I've sat with you. But I do know this, that if you believe in something, be passionate about it. Have a vision for what you believe in, articulate it and do it with respect. So if I have ever said anything to offend any of you in all my life in local government, I apologize but I don't apologize for my passion and I don't apologize for commitment. Now I know everybody last night at the banquet said, what are you going to tell us tomorrow? Well, I'm going to say ditto to what Minister Sohi said about the Clean Water Wastewater Fund. Ladies and gentlemen, $450 million contributed by all levels of government including yourselves largest infrastructure funding in this province in the last 15 years. And I think you should applaud yourselves for that because you're making the contribution. The federal government is making the contribution and the province of British Columbia with our commitment to that is making our contribution of 33 percent. And it's going to make a difference in every one of the communities throughout this province that make application and get projects going to protect the health and welfare of their communities. And I think that is a major step ahead for all of us and we should all look at each other and say thank you for our passion and let's get on with it. Don't suck it up, let's just get on with it. Now, who's going to be eligible? So I'm going to try and keep this really simple for you. Many of you applied on the Building Canada Fund and put in applications for water projects. Minister Sohi alluded to the fact that there are 35 projects under the new Clean Water Wastewater that have been approved. He mentioned a couple of them. I will tell you this, the 35 that have been approved are projects that were applied before under the Building Canada Fund. They have been moved over automatically, you don't need to reapply. And our staff at the provincial desk and on our website as of this morning, all 35 communities will find their names and what has been approved so you can get on with getting shovels in the ground. And the second part of that is as of this morning, the intake for the rest will be opened up and communities can apply and I urge you to go on the website, go to the provincial desk, get the details of how you can apply and the criteria and let's get on with getting these projects done as soon as we possibly can. You know, ladies and gentlemen, I've had the chance to travel around the province, both as education minister and now as the minister of community sport and cultural development and the minister responsible for TransLink. And what I've learned in traveling around in all my life, even when I was a local mayor and I represented all of you in the RCMP contract negotiations, is we've got an amazing province with diversity and with all kinds of opportunities for people, but we also have challenges. When I was in Port Alice and I met with the mayor and her council and they talked about the uncertainty they face because of the pulp mill and the forest industry and things are going through. When we talk about the fastest growing economy in the country, we know clearly there are still challenges in the Northwest. We've done an agreement with the Northeast sector and we're starting to see the payments flow in terms of sharing the prosperity. We are committed to working in communities that are struggling. That's why the rural dividend fund was announced and the intakes, the first intakes have been done, announcements will be made by minister Thompson and his team shortly and we're going to continue to have other applications come in. But because we have a strong economy, we have the resources to invest in those parts of the province that are still having challenges and we do not underestimate those. The premier is passionate that we need to share the prosperity everywhere in the province and to help communities that are struggling and that is our commitment to you as we move forward. We also know and I have had many discussions with UBCM executive about the issue of strong fiscal futures and most of you know me, I tell it like I believe it to be. One of the greatest challenges we as the province faced over the years is the area of compensation and how that relates to our ability to manage costs and to move forward but to respect the workers and the people in our communities that make the contributions. I've been asked by the UBCM executive on a number of occasions to sign an MOU that also ties us beyond a discussion about compensation to other aspects of strong fiscal future and I will tell each and every one of you in this room that the objective of sitting down with your executive and start the conversation on the largest cost driver, namely compensation, is what I want to do as the minister responsible on behalf of our government and then we'll see where it leads us in terms of other opportunities. But we need to start there. I've talked to many mayors and councillors, I realized that myself as a local mayor, our greatest cost is our staff. But we as government are not going to impose anything on local governments. We want to sit at the table and talk about compensation in all of its aspects and to see what we can do. We have some experience at the province. 98% of our collective agreements have been negotiated at the table, not imposed, and we have been able to maintain and control costs but also respecting the rights of workers and we made commitments in those agreements that when the province prospers we will share that prosperity with our workers and ladies and gentlemen this year because of our economy checks are going in the mail to all of the unionized employees that we sign contracts with respecting those agreements, that is what collaboration is all about, that is what working together is all about, and I can tell you we want to do that with local governments and I think we can start with compensation discussions but it is the choice of UBCM and all of the members to get on with that job. I'm committed as minister to doing that and I think we need to get on with it. Last year I was here and we talked about the auditor general for local government. Not without controversy, I read the resolution the day after I had appointed the new individual and I respected the resolution but I didn't agree with it. We are committed to maintaining the auditor general for local government and ladies and gentlemen those of you that have met with Gordon Ruth, have worked with him, have clearly seen that he's living up to the commitment to engage with local governments, to work with local governments and to find opportunities for best practices that can be shared throughout the province and I simply want to say the 18 audits that he's done, the feedback I've had from communities, it's been a worthwhile process, they see the value and we're going to continue to ensure that Gordon and his team as an independent office will continue to work with UBCM and each and every one of you and I applaud Gordon and his team for the work they've done. The proof of the pudding is what they've accomplished in this last year and I believe there's lots more to do. You know in my portfolio there's a number of different elements. Many of you know that one of the things I look after is sport and I want to thank the sport and the other organizations throughout the province for the great work that they do in communities in celebrating sport and physical activity as part of what makes communities strong and I know there are many, many, many dedicated volunteers in every community in this province that work so hard to give communities and young people the opportunity to live healthy lives and so I want to thank everyone who's involved and our commitment is to continue to fund sport to the levels that we have and as we continue to prosper share more of that prosperity but you know since 2001 we've invested over a billion dollars in sport and I can tell you that is not going to stop. Same thing with arts and culture, important part of our economy in sharing the lifeblood of communities through cultural expression, through creative expression and when you look at our film industry and how it is prospering and growing and contributing to our economy it's because we have a strong foundation of respect and involvement with arts and culture and that is going to continue as well. First Nations, we've worked very hard, the only province in the country to meet with all of the chiefs, we had the third meeting just recently, lots of challenges, lots of opportunity but again our respect and I know your respect for our First Nations and indigenous peoples is so critical. The Premier's announcement of setting up an office in the Royal BC Museum to collaborate with First Nations to identify and repatriate historical belongings that belong to those communities that are the foundation of their history is again a commitment on the part of the province of British Columbia to honor our First Nations and to celebrate their contribution to our province, our country. You know there's lots of things and it's always amazing when you get prepared for a speech like this, the staff gives me this much information and I've got this much time. But there's so many things I'd like to talk about but a couple of examples of announcements that we have made recently. I just met with a regional district the other day who had made requests and went through the process to get a new name. So the Schena Queen Charlotte Regional District is now as a result of my signing the letters patent is now going to be known as the North Coast Regional District and I thank them for their passion and commitment to make that name change that reflects who they are, where they are and they have now got a new name and I know they've got to change all their signage but they're happy to do that so congratulations to them. My colleague Teresa Watt has been talking with local governments and businesses throughout the province and they have talked how do we get our products to other markets, how can we expand our opportunities, it's difficult for us as small businesses to do that and so on behalf of her today I'm pleased to announce that they are going to be establishing a new opportunity for small business that in the next couple of months they're going to be launching what is called the export manager, a 12 month pilot project in four BC communities which will be identified shortly and they will help those companies in those areas to be able to find new opportunities and it's a pilot to work out the bugs so that we can put that right across the province and continue to see small businesses thrive throughout British Columbia. The third announcement is one that I'm delighted to make on behalf of my colleague Norm Letnick, the Minister of Agriculture. Today on his behalf I'm announcing that we are going to be launching a program of Grow Local BC. Again, thank you, again Grow Local BC is providing funding of up to $25,000 for 10 communities as a beginning as they work directly with their local residents in helping grow their own food so that they can show that sustainable agriculture starts at home and again that program is going to set the track for the future throughout the rest of the province. It's a great pilot project and we'll have great results. There's many other things I've spoken about the Peace River Agreement, I've talked about the Northern Rockies Regional Municipal Infrastructure Development Contributions, the small community grants that we work with the federal government whether it's the gas tax, Minister Sohi spoke about all kinds of opportunities but ladies and gentlemen there is unprecedented investment happening in the province of British Columbia because we have a strong economy because you are all working together and working with us to build that economy and our commitment, Premier Clark's commitment is to continue to invest. The announcement by the federal government on the approval of the Pacific Northwest Natural Gas Project, the LNG Project and you know many people said it was a dream, it was impossible but you know what because the Premier, Minister Coleman, Minister Deong and all the members of our government said that is a generational opportunity that we are going to be tenacious on going after even when world markets are struggling. We're going to continue to push and so it's not a question of if, it's a question of when and I know the proponent sees British Columbia as a leader in the world sees British Columbia as an opportunity to help the rest of the world deal with climate change through an alternative fuel and ladies and gentlemen it is going to mean benefits to every single British Columbia no matter where you live and every Canadian and that is why our partners in Ottawa approve the environmental certificate, it's the right decision, it is the one that is going to continue to give to each and every one of us. So I'm going to wrap up here I've got lots more I could say I'm going to ask you to do this for me is go to the provincial desk go on the website see how you can apply immediately for the clean water wastewater projects and then I'm going to do one last thing I'm going to ask the following communities because many of you know the government has committed significant dollars in planning grants but I'm going to ask the district of Stuart the city of Armstrong Bowen Island municipality the city of Chilliwack the city of Furnie the village of Fruitville the town of Gibson's the city of Greenwood the city of Kamloops the village of Midway the village of Necusp the town of Smithers the Columbia Shoe Shwap regional district the Comox Valley regional district the regional district of Kootenai boundary the central coast regional district the regional district of Okanagan-Samilkameen and the regional district of Central Okanagan to go to the view of Royal Room to get a letter from the province of British Columbia approving your applications for planning grants so you can get on with building prosperity and building your communities in this wonderful province in this great country and Minister Sohi I want to say to you in the time that you and I have had a chance to get to know each other as you've said I know we have the same vision as every other person in this room and that is to build strong communities where people live where they work where their children grow up and get their education where they receive the health care and social services they need and I want to thank you on behalf of all of us everyone in the province of British Columbia and I believe every citizen in Canada for the vision that you have to work together and to be stronger together and ladies and gentlemen that's the theme that's the commitment you have it from Minister Sohi and his government and you have it from me and our government and I know I know we will all be stronger together thank you very much