Editing Rob Fleming (section)

===38th Parliament===
In the [[38th Parliament of British Columbia|38th Parliament]], Fleming and chaired the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and part way through the 2nd session he was assigned to the Select Standing Committee on Education which focused on adult literacy. He introduced several pieces of legislation, including the ''Payday Lending Act, 2006'', which sought to license payday lenders and regulate the conditions of [[payday loan]]s, including [[plain language]] rules, rights to cancellation, signage requirements.<ref>Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (2006). [http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th2nd/1st_read/m206-1.htm Bill M 206 — 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219030805/http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th2nd/1st_read/m206-1.htm |date=2011-02-19 }} Payday Lending Act, 2006. Queen's Printer, Victoria, BC. Retrieved December 24, 2010.</ref><ref>Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (2007). [http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th3rd/1st_read/m209-1.htm Bill M 209 — 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219015449/http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th3rd/1st_read/m209-1.htm |date=2011-02-19 }} Payday Lending Act, 2007. Queen's Printer, Victoria, BC. Retrieved December 24, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Bermingham |title=Changes eyed for payday loans |newspaper=[[The Province]] |location=[[Vancouver]] |date= May 9, 2006 |page= A28}}</ref> While Solicitor General [[John Les]] stated he was in favour of many of the regulations, he felt the bill was premature and that changes to the federal ''[[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]'' were required before proceeding with such regulations, despite other provinces already having passed similar legislation.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jeff |last=Rud |author2=Lindsay Kines |title=Regulate payday loans, NDP tells government |newspaper=[[Times-Colonist]] |location=[[Victoria, British Columbia]] |date= May 9, 2006 |page= A4}}</ref> The bill was granted first reading on May 8, 2006, but without the government support the bill was not adopted. However, a year later, a similar bill, introduced by Les, the ''Business Practices and Consumer Protection (Payday Loans) Amendment Act, 2007'' was introduced and adopted concurrent with federal amendments to the Criminal Code.<ref>{{cite news |title=Payday lenders targeted |newspaper=Victoria News |date= April 25, 2007 |page= 6}}</ref>

Fleming was assigned the role of critic for advanced education. He introduced the ''Private Post-Secondary Accountability and Student Protection Act, 2007'' which was intended to increase the accountability of private career training institutions and increasing the enforcement abilities of the Degree Quality Assessment Board.<ref>Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (2007). [http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th3rd/1st_read/m217-1.htm Bill M 217 — 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807101751/http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th3rd/1st_read/m217-1.htm |date=2011-08-07 }} Private Post-Secondary Accountability and Student Protection Act, 2007. Queen's Printer, Victoria, BC. Retrieved December 24, 2010.</ref> He spoke out against deregulation that allowed [[diploma mills]] like [[Rutherford University]] and [[Kingston College (British Columbia)|Kingston College]] which advertised to foreign students.<ref>{{cite news |first=Janet |last=Steffenhagen |title=B.C. 'will protect' foreign students from scams |newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |date= January 10, 2007 |page= B5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Janet |last=Steffenhagen |title=NDP calls for tough action against owner of closed private post- secondary schools |newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |date= February 21, 2007 |page= B3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Janet |last=Steffenhagen |title=B.C. blacklists private university |newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |date= June 11, 2008 |page= B1}}</ref> He introduced the ''Restoring Credibility to Universities Act, 2008'' which sought to repeal the ''[[World Trade University|World Trade University Canada Establishment Act]]'' and portions of the 2007 ''Education Statutes Amendment Act'' concerning private post-secondary institutions.<ref>Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (2008). [http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th4th/1st_read/m225-1.htm Bill M 225 — 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218234910/http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th4th/1st_read/m225-1.htm |date=2011-02-18 }} Restoring Credibility to Universities Act, 2008. Queen's Printer, Victoria, BC. Retrieved December 24, 2010.</ref> Fleming also took on the role as the NDP tourism critic and objected to Tourism Minister [[Bill Bennett (politician)|Bill Bennett]]'s decision not to participate in the National Vigil Project (a light display honouring Canadians killed World War One) due to costs<ref>{{cite news |title=B.C. balks at international tribute to WW1 soldiers |newspaper=[[The Province]] |location=[[Vancouver]] |date=November 9, 2008 |page=A18 |url=http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=399f78be-4d47-441f-a3e8-7a11b44e4e8c |access-date=December 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109150749/http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=399f78be-4d47-441f-a3e8-7a11b44e4e8c |archive-date=November 9, 2012 }}</ref> and, in response to funding cuts to [[Tourism British Columbia|Tourism BC]], he criticized government self-promotional advertising.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lindsay |last=Kines |title=Tourism agencies brace for cuts |newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |date= December 29, 2008 |page= A2}}</ref>