BC Today – Daily Report October 24, 2019

Quotation of the day

“It was a tough election … a very close election. It’s done now. It’s time to move on.”

Deputy Premier Carole James doesn’t think much of separatist sentiments being expressed by ​ ​ some provincial leaders in the wake of Monday’s federal election.

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The house will convene at 10 a.m. The government’s legislation to reconcile provincial law with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) will be introduced during the morning session.

Premier and Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser will ​ ​ ​ ​ be joined by representatives from the First Nations Leadership Council for a news conference following the bill’s introduction.

Question period has been moved to the afternoon sitting.

Wednesday’s votes and proceedings No government legislation was introduced on Wednesday.

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver put forward his first private member’s bill of the fall sitting. ​ ​ M225, Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day, would designate the fourth ​ ​ Saturday in November as a day of remembrance of the three to four million Ukrainians who, between 1932 and 1933, were victims of “a deliberate political strategy of starvation” on the part of the Soviet Union.

Weaver introduced a similar bill in 2017.

Liberal Municipal Affairs and Housing critic introduced private member’s bill M226, ​ ​ ​ ​ Assessment (Split Assessment Classification) Amendment Act, which, if passed, will create a new commercial property subclass that local governments can use to give property tax relief to organizations facing property tax hikes based on the development potential of the airspace above their heads. (More on this below.)

The house completed committee stage on Bill 35, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. ​ ​ 2), and moved on to committee stage on Bill 36, Gaming Control Amendment Act. ​ ​

If passed, Bill 36 will provide for the B.C. First Nations Gaming Revenue Sharing Limited ​ ​ ​ Partnership to receive a share of the province’s annual gaming revenue and for the appointment ​ of a First Nations nominee to the B.C. Lottery Corporation’s board of directors.

Speaker Darryl Plecas presented the latest report from the Auditor General’s office, Managing ​ ​ ​ Human Resources at the B.C. Sheriff Service. The report will be officially published tomorrow. ​

Liberals push for new property tax subclass to give small businesses relief After spending Monday grilling the government on the tax burden facing B.C. small businesses, the Liberals put forward a private member’s bill aimed at providing some property tax relief for “family-owned stores, arts and culture groups, charities, and other small-scale service providers.”

“It’s really short and sweet,” Liberal Municipal Affairs and Housing critic Todd Stone said of the ​ ​ bill he introduced, which would amend the Assessment Act, creating a new subclass for ​ ​ commercial properties.

Under the current property assessment system in , commercial properties are taxed on both their premises and on the development potential of the airspace above those premises — known as the “highest and best use” standard.

Because of this — and the rapid rise of property values in many of B.C.’s urban areas — some small businesses have seen their property taxes increase by up to 300 per cent over the past few years, according to Stone.

“[This bill] would provide that tool that the local governments are asking for — a tool that would enable them to set that … lower property tax rate on that unused airspace above the heads of the small businesses and charities, non-profits, other organizations who are also finding it challenging to keep the doors open,” Stone told reporters. “Secondly, the bill provides maximum flexibility in the use of that tool — it’s the sole discretion of local governments to determine if they want to use this tool and how that tool will be applied.”

Under the proposed amendments, local governments interested in applying the reduced rate would also be able to set that rate at whatever level they deem appropriate and apply it to specific neighbourhoods.

The legislation is based on a resolution put forward by the City of Port Moody during last ​ ​ month’s Union of BC Municipalities convention; it called on the province to “to enable municipalities to lower the commercial property tax rate on properties where development potential has made it difficult to operate.”

Stone emphasized the urgency of the situation, saying he hoped the bill would pass before October 31 — the deadline for making changes to the province’s tax rolls for 2020.

He also stressed that the Liberals made every effort — short of using the legislative drafting service that was made available to all parties in 2017 — to ensure the bill is “as tight and technically accurate” as possible.

“We have worked with a number of external experts, municipal experts and municipal lawyers who have reviewed the language that we have included in this bill to ... sign off on its technical viability,” Stone said.

The party pointed to a 2016 article published by the premier’s chief of staff, Geoff Meggs — ​ ​ ​ ​ then a city councillor — that suggested the city could benefit from a split assessment structure. Asked why the Liberal government of the day did not amend the Assessment Act at ​ ​ that time, Stone said there “was no broad coalition of support for action back then.”

“What we have today is an absolutely unprecedented unanimity amongst metro communities and other stakeholders that are saying, not only is this a big, big problem, but here's a practical solution ... that didn't exist ... years ago.”

Stakeholder reaction In addition to various municipalities, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is backing the bill. The organization’s Western economist, Aaron Aerts, called it “good public ​ ​ policy.”

“This proposal is one that many stakeholders have come out in support of,” he said of Stone’s bill. “The policy would help save some of the businesses being pushed out of our neighbourhoods from a phenomena completely out of their control.”

Government reaction Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister said the government is taking a ​ ​ multi-pronged approach to addressing property tax pressures on B.C. businesses.

Robinson told reporters a stakeholder working group and the finance ministry are involved in developing both short- and long-term solutions, but was vague on the details and the timeline. She did say that the government is “working toward [the] goal” of having something in place in time to provide relief for businesses in the upcoming tax year.

As she did in question period on Monday, Robinson blamed the previous Liberal government for “ignoring” the mounting real estate crunch.

“The previous government took zero action on this file, and so we are playing catch up,” she told reporters.

Today’s events

October 24 at 12:30 p.m. — Victoria ​ ​ Deputy Auditor General Malcolm Gaston will hold a news conference to discuss the office’s ​ ​ latest report, Managing Human Resources at the B.C. Sheriff Service. ​ ​

October 24 and 25 — Vancouver Island ​ ​ The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development’s Old ​ Growth Strategic Review panel will visit communities on south-central Vancouver Island “on or ​ ​ ​ ​ around” these dates to gather “perspectives on managing the province's old-growth forests for ecological, economic and cultural values.” Future sessions are planned over the next three months.

Topics of conversation

● The B.C. government, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and FortisBC are working to establish the first ship-to-ship liquid natural gas (LNG) marine refuelling service — also

known as bunkering — on the west coast of North America, according to a news ​ ​ release from the premier’s office and the jobs ministry. A FortisBC commissioned study, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, has indicated that a five-year construction period for LNG bunkering infrastructure could create the equivalent 14,000 full-time person years of employment and contribute $1.8 billion to B.C.’s GDP. A fully operational bunkering industry could yield an annual economic impact of $930 million and facilitate about 3,170 full-time equivalent person years of employment, according to the study’s initial findings. ○ B.C.has contributed $25,000 to the study to fund environmental and social impacts analyses as well as a competitiveness assessment, building on work already done on risk, safety and demand. ○ Premier John Horgan said his government is “confident in B.C.'s ability to join ​ ​ the global network of ports that deliver clean-burning LNG direct to the ships of the future.” Horgan visited the world's largest LNG bunkering facility at the Dutch port of Rotterdam in July 2019. "This will allow B.C. to have a direct impact on global emissions by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from visiting vessels,” the premier said in a statement.

● Deputy Premier Carole James has little patience for separatist sentiments being voiced ​ ​ by some provincial governments in the wake of Monday’s federal election results. “We're always going to have agreements and disagreements,” she told reporters yesterday. “But I think our opportunity to come together — to be able to look at the issues that we can agree on and to look at how we best serve the people of our provinces and our country — is what we have to focus on.” ○ Meanwhile, Former Conservative and Reform Party MP Jay Hill — who ​ ​ represented the British Columbia riding of Prince George—Peace River for 17 years — told CBC Monday’s results have turned him into a “reluctant separatist” ​ ​ and floated the idea of a western secession that includes northern B.C.

● Monday’s minority parliament was the “best case scenario” for Indigenous people, according to Assembly of First Nations B.C. Chief Terry Teegee. “I think to some degree ​ ​ ​ ​ the Liberal Party have been positive in terms of collaborating on policy changes such as child welfare and minorities," he told the CBC. “But I think other parties such as the NDP and then, in terms of climate change, the Green Party, would be more receptive and possibly bring forward a more Indigenous perspective.”

Question period During Wednesday’s question period, Liberal MLAs returned to the government’s handling of the crisis affecting forestry-dependent communities across B.C. Premier John Horgan was ​ ​ once again absent from the house.

The ‘missing in action’ minister

● Liberal Leader once again warned that thousands of families in ​ ​ forestry-dependent communities face “a very dark Christmas” due to the NDP government’s dismissal of the forestry crisis. ​ ○ “When can the employees, or former employees, of the Hammond Cedar sawmill in Maple Ridge look forward to any kind of substantive answer from the forest minister?” he asked.

● Forests Minister Doug Donaldson outlined the government’s actions on the file, ​ ​ including the “forest support program” for the Interior and the coastal forest revitalization initiative announced earlier this year. He also accused the Liberals of ignoring the issues facing the forest industry while in government.

● Liberal MLAs continued to press Donaldson on what supports are being offered to workers affected by mill closures and curtailments outside of the Interior, since the forest support program specifically targets Interior communities. ○ “We have a $12-million allotment for the retraining aspect of forestry workers, and that's available to the workers at Hammond [in Maple Ridge] and Teal-Jones [in Surrey] as well,” Donaldson said.

‘Stealing’ from the Rural Dividend fund ● Liberal Finance critic called on Donaldson to “immediately reinstate” this ​ ​ year’s Rural Dividend funding, which was reallocated to the forestry support program last month.

● “The opposition benches are full of revisionist history as far as when it comes to what we've done for the forest sector and what they haven't done,” Donaldson said. “The Rural Dividend fund has been put temporarily in abatement until the next fiscal year.”

● Bond fired back: “While the minister over there wants to stand up and attempt to tout his record, here’s what he did — he took money out of the Rural Dividend fund, and he didn't have the courage to look communities in the eye and actually be honest about that.”

● Liberal caucus chair tried a personal approach. “Communities in my riding ​ ​ have been hard hit by the forestry crisis,” she said. “The last time I raised it in this house, the premier told me to stop whining.” ○ “Have you picked up the phone and called Trans Mountain pipeline to see if there is an opportunity for our local workers in Merritt to do the prep work?” she asked Donaldson.

● Donaldson took the opportunity to criticize the Liberal government’s record on the forestry file. “When I think about the forestry workers in Merritt, I think about the Merritt Tolko mill that was closed down under the previous government,” he said. “I think about

those workers who are not allowed to avail themselves of a $69-million worker support program that we put in place.”

The threat of climate change ● Green Party House Leader asked Environment and Climate Change ​ ​ Strategy Minister why the government did not widely report its ​ ​ Preliminary Strategic Risk Assessment for B.C. report. Instead, the document was ​ released quietly during the summer break, without even a news release. ○ “It was a dramatic document that outlined future climate risk for the province: frequent flooding, more wildfires, longer periods of drought, sustained heatwaves and long-term water shortages, among others,” Furstenau said.

● After a rambling answer by Heyman — outlining all the work done on the preliminary report and further reports to come — Furstenau replied, “Clearly, the minister is proud of the work that they did — It doesn't quite answer the question of why the report was quietly released without even a press release to indicate that it was being put out.” ○ She then asked Heyman how he is working with the forests minister “to ensure that forests in the future will mitigate climate effects rather than exacerbate them.”

● Heyman outlined the government’s recent investments in “wildfire risk reduction, reforestation and forest rehabilitation,” and said his ministry is working with the forests ministry “and other ministries on the environment and land use commission” to develop “a comprehensive land use planning program that takes into account all of the values of forests.”