BC Today – Daily Report December 5, 2019

Quotation of the day

“We do not have time at our disposal to ‘play the long game.’ We need help now.”

Port McNeill Mayor Gabriele Wickstrom urges the NDP government to take “swift and immediate ​ ​ action” to end the five-month long United Steelworkers strike at Western Forest Products.

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The house is adjourned for the Christmas break. MLAs will return to the legislature on February 11, 2020, for the speech from the throne.

B.C. not pursuing new federal funding for orphan well cleanup Alberta wants Ottawa to fork out funding to clean up orphan oil and gas wells in the province, but B.C. does not seem keen to follow suit.

Late last month, Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews sent a letter to federal Finance Minister ​ ​ Bill Morneau asking for “new federal funding … to accelerate the reclamation of abandoned ​ wells.”

“This would support your government’s election platform commitment/priorities on the environment, which include giving ‘energy workers … training, support, and new opportunities needed to succeed in the clean economy,’” Toews wrote, suggesting Morneau direct funds to ​ ​ Alberta’s Orphan Well Association and use flow-through shares to encourage investments in ​ ​ well reclamation.

Alberta has an estimated 300,000 orphaned wells. The cost of reclamation is projected at $70 billion, but some estimates peg it as high as $260 billion.

Asked if B.C. might also look for federal help to address the province’s own orphan wells problem, the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources sent BC Today a statement ​ ​ touting a piece of legislation passed in 2018.

“Our government took action in 2018 to address the growing number of inactive and orphaned ​ well sites in B.C. by passing Bill 15, which gives the Oil and Gas Commission additional tools to ​ ​ protect the environment and improve funding for orphan site restoration,” the statement says.

The Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Statutes Amendment Act gives the OGC the ​ ​ ​ power to impose levies on oil and gas permit holders to cover site restoration costs and the ​ authority to require permit holders to clean up inactive sites.

The energy ministry estimated the number of orphan wells in B.C. is about “16 times lower than Alberta” but did not provide a current count of abandoned wells in the province.

“Our regulations, legislative amendments and the industry-funded Orphan Site Reclamation Fund ensures our wells, pipelines and facilities are decommissioned in a timely manner,” the statement concludes.

In March, Auditor General Carol Bellringer estimated there are 326 abandoned oil and gas ​ ​ wells in the province, mostly in north-eastern B.C. The number of abandoned wells increased sevenfold between 2015 and 2018, according to the report, and the funding collected to cover clean-up costs did not keep pace.

“The Orphan Fund, which is funded through security deposits and a tax on operator’s production ... was short by $16.6 million in 2016 and $13.1 million in 2017,” Bellringer said.

She recommended the government take a more proactive approach to site maintenance in the industry.

“The full solution is not in just reacting with enough money to clean up, but also to prevent things from occurring in the first place," she said. "[We] need the oil and gas commission to have the ability to compel operators to do cleanup early in the game, as opposed to waiting until it's too late.”

The audit did not evaluate the likely effectiveness of the provincial government’s legislation. At the time OGC was still crafting the related regulations that will detail the requirements, including timelines to decommission wells and restore sites.

Vancouver Island mayor asks province to intervene in long-running logging labour dispute After five months of strike action by United Steelworkers against Western Forest Products, Port McNeill Mayor Gabriele Wickstrom has written a letter addressed to Premier , ​ ​ ​ ​ Labour Minister , Forests Minister , Transportation and ​ ​ ​ ​ Infrastructure Minister — the MLA for Port McNeill — and Liberal Forest critic ​ ​ , calling for action to help end the labour dispute. ​

“For many Island communities, the effects of the strike have hit us hard and the ripples have been deep,” Wickstrom wrote. “People are utilizing food banks and relying on service clubs to meet their needs.”

Wickstrom says 140 repossessions have taken place in the community recently, including “cars, quads, trailers and furniture.”

Despite eight months of bargaining and the intervention of experienced mediator Vince Ready, ​ ​ the two sides remain at an impasse and Wickstrom says her community can’t wait much longer for the situation to resolve.

“With each week that passes, it will be harder and harder for us to recover,” she wrote. “We are respectfully asking the Government to intervene in this situation. The tool that could provide the best optics for you and the least interference would be to appoint an Industrial Inquiry Commission.”

Minister-appointed Industrial Inquiry Commissions can be mandated to intervene in labour disputes “to promote conditions leading to the[ir] settlement” with both sides agreeing to be ​ bound by the commission’s recommendations.

The letter, which was sent to media by the BC Liberal caucus communications team, was accompanied by a video of a tense, closed-door meeting between Trevena and frustrated ​ ​ constituents in Campbell River. In the video, one speaker characterizes the USW union actors as “extremists.”

“Those two sides will never settle without government intervention,” he says.

Another asks Trevena why it took so long for her to make time for a face-to-face meeting with constituents. She pleads the pressure of her duties as a minister.

“People are telling me their local MLA is missing in action while the provincial government does ​ nothing to save the forest industry or jobs in their own communities,” Rustad said in a statement accompanying the premier. “We are now entering the sixth month of the strike at Western Forest Products, and unless Premier John Horgan decides to finally act and end the dispute, we are going to see more trucks repossessed and more defaults on mortgages.”

Today’s events

December 5 at 9:30 a.m. — Surrey ​ Education Minister , Public Safety Minister and NDP MLA Garry ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Begg (Surrey—Guildford) will announce the expansion of a provincial school-based gang ​ prevention program at North Surrey Secondary School.

December 5 at 10 a.m. — New Westminster ​ Mental Health and Addictions Minister (New Westminster) and New Westminster ​ ​ Mayor Jonathan Coté will celebrate the completion of the Stewardson Way Overpass at Lower ​ ​ Grimston Park.

December 5 at 11 a.m. — Vancouver ​ Premier John Horgan, Finance Minister and Health Minister will be ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ joined by “a B.C. family” at the Vancouver cabinet office to mark the end of Medical Services Plan premiums in .

December 5 at 11 a.m. — Vancouver ​ Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister will host a ceremony in honour of exemplary ​ ​ British Columbians who have been selected for the Medal of Good Citizenship at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

December 5 at 12 p.m. — Delta ​ NDP MLA Garry Begg (Surrey—Guildford) will make an announcement regarding ​ ​ improvements to safety in the party-bus industry on behalf of Transportation Minister Claire ​ Trevena. ​

December 5 at 12:30 p.m. — Victoria ​ Lieutenant-Governor Janet Austin will celebrate the holiday season by welcoming eight Grade ​ ​ 3 classes to Government House to decorate trees in the ballroom and her office.

December 5 at 4:30 p.m. — Kamloops ​

The BC Liberal Party’s Kamloops riding associations will host a holiday social at The Noble Pig Brewhouse. MLAs (Kamloops—South Thompson) and Peter Milobar ​ ​ ​ (Kamloops—North Thompson) will attend.

Topics of conversation

● B.C. and Alberta will be back on opposite sides of a courtroom in 2020. Alberta has decided to appeal a federal court injunction against its turn-off-the-taps legislation, which ​ ​ would allow Alberta to limit oil exports to other provinces. Written arguments from each side are expected to go to the Federal Court of Appeal early in the new year, with a ​ hearing anticipated in March. “The province has been clear that we will defend the interests of British Columbians regarding this legislation, which is unconstitutional and designed to punish people in B.C.,” the attorney general’s ministry said in a statement to BC Today, adding that further comment would be “inappropriate” as the matter is before ​ the courts.

● Tanya Fir, Alberta’s minister of economic development, trade and tourism, is in ​ ​ Vancouver this week, looking to attract investors and strengthen trade ties as well as “restore investor confidence in Alberta’s industries.” The four-day itinerary includes a tour of the Port of Vancouver; an address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade; and meeting with financial institutions, investment professionals and officials from India, Asia and Latin America. Fir is scheduled to meet with B.C. Jobs, Trade and Technology Minister today to discuss “discuss areas of mutual benefit,” and ​ ​ international and interprovincial trade expansion opportunities.

● The B.C. government has begun the forfeiture process on the Shawnigan Lake-area landfill owned by Cobble Hill Holdings due to the company’s outstanding tax bill. The problematic property has been an issue due to the company’s storage of contaminated soil in an abandoned quarry — a move some say threatens local groundwater. The company’s permit to operate the site was pulled in 2017, and the deadline to perform clean-up operations was extended until the end of this year. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy says the forfeiture will not affect the closure plan, the spill ​ ​ prevention order currently in effect or “any associated environmental monitoring ​ obligations” at the site. ○ Green Party house leader Sonia Furstenau has brought the issue up repeatedly ​ ​ ​ in the legislature. “It really undermines the public's ability to feel that government is able to enforce its orders and its regulations and to have compliance on what they say to companies to do,” she told CBC when the site’s closure deadline was extended in October.

● Speaker Darryl Plecas sat down for a live chat with Global News yesterday. In the ​ ​ ​ ​ interview, Plecas says he has not completely ruled out running for office again after previously saying he would not stand for reelection in 2021.

○ “It was nothing short of a gongshow,” he says of the state of the legislature before he began his investigation into former clerk Craig James and ​ ​ sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz, adding that he “wouldn’t change a thing” about the ​ ​ way he handled the situation. Plecas promises more revelations related to the legislature scandal in the new year.

● As part of its Affordable BC campaign, the BC Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU) has launched a petition calling on the province to cancel next year’s rent ​ ​ increase. B.C. landlords will be able to raise rents on existing leases by 2.6 per cent next year.

News briefs - Governmental

Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy BC Timber Sales will no longer be issuing timber licences in the Silverdaisy area of the Skagit River Valley, effective immediately. Known as the “Donut Hole,” the area was removed from the surrounding Skagit Valley Park and E.C. Manning Park in 1995 and 1968, respectively.

Timber harvesting under the most recent licence, issued in 2015, has ended. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson said the decision not to issue further licences was made in response to ​ concerns from “individuals and groups” — including the Wilderness Committee and Seattle ​ ​ ​ Mayor Jenny Durkan— about logging’s impact on the ecologically sensitive area. ​ ​ ​ “While we are committed to conserving the environment for future generations, we also need to protect forestry jobs as well,” Donaldson said as he made the announcement yesterday. “To do ​ ​ this, we've been working with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy to secure access to new harvest areas within the Fraser timber supply area.”

Tom Curley, Canadian chair of the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission, welcomed ​ ​ ​ the move.

“This transitional biogeoclimactic zone creates critical habitat for several unique species and species at risk, including Western Spotted owl, grizzly bear and trout,” he said, adding that the commission continues to work “diligently” to get Imperial Metals to give up its mineral rights in the area. The company currently has plans for a new copper mine. ​ ​

Funding announcements

● The B.C. Institute of Technology (BCIT) has completed the first round pilot of a new electric vehicle (EV) maintenance training program, aimed at ensuring there are enough technicians to service the growing number of EVs on B.C. roads. The program was developed and tested with 12 Red Seal mechanics and will be offered publicly next year.

○ The province provided $325,000 to support the program, which will ensure B.C.’s ​ ​ “workforce has the skills and training needed to support more electric vehicles on the road.” Under the CleanBC plan, all new light-duty vehicles sold in B.C. by 2040 will be zero-emission vehicles.

● Formula Contractors Ltd. has completed the replacement of two bridges between the ​ ​ ​ Haida Gwaii communities of Port Clements and Tlell. The old single-lane, timber structures were replaced with two-lane concrete and steel spans with an expected 75-year lifespan. Total cost for the replacements was $5.7 million.