BC Today – Daily Report November 27, 2019

Quotation of the day

“This investigation demonstrates that we need to have tougher regulation to ensure that Canadians … have trust and confidence in their political campaigning system at the heart of our democracy.”

Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien says millions of British Columbians and Canadians ​ ​ were illegally micro-targeted online by political parties thanks to information garnered by AggregateIQ.

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The house will convene at 1:30 p.m. for question period. The government will hold its weekly cabinet meeting in the morning.

Tuesday’s debates and proceedings

Assistant deputy Speaker Joan Isaacs put forward private member’s bill M230, High Dose ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Influenza Vaccine for Seniors Act, which would make high-dose flu vaccines free for seniors and ensure those living in long-term care homes have access. Isaacs introduced a similar bill in October 2018.

Bill 42, Fuel Price Transparency Act, which, if passed, will allow the B.C. Utilities Commission to ​ collect corporate information related to fuel pricing, received second reading and was referred to committee.

Bill 41, the UNDRIP bill, passed committee stage in the late afternoon and it was immediately ​ granted third reading with unanimous support, making B.C. the first province in Canada to pass legislation implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

At the legislature Representatives from two Vancouver business associations — the Marpole Business Improvement Association and the Kitsilano West 4th Business Improvement Association — were at the legislature to draw attention to “skyrocketing property taxes and potential solutions to provide them with some relief.”

Finance minister further reduces surplus but says B.C. is still on ‘solid footing’ to ‘weather the global storm’ B.C.’s surplus has been reduced from $274 million in the spring budget to $148 million, as of Finance Minister ’ second quarterly report, released Tuesday. ​ ​ ​ ​

However, contingency funding — which took a $300-million hit in the first quarterly update — got a $100-million boost this time around and now sits at $550 million. Combined with the half-a-billion forecast allowance, the province now has a $1.05-billion cash cushion socked away.

“We're working from a balanced budget with layers of prudence and planning built in to the fiscal strategy,” she told reporters. “The solid foundation allows us to respond to changing global economic environments while maintaining B.C.’s position as a strong economic leader.”

As she did in September when the surplus also took a hit, James emphasized rising global economic uncertainty and softening markets. B.C.’s natural resource revenues declined by $235 million in the last quarter — more than enough to eat up the $203-million increase in tax revenue.

The resource sector decline is largely due to the challenges facing B.C. forestry — revenues dropped by $133 million this quarter — but decreased royalties from oil and gas combined with “increased utilization of royalty programs [and] credits” also played a part. Natural gas royalties for the year are now $135 million below what Budget 2019 projected.

Revenue from Crown corporations also went down in the second fiscal quarter. ICBC — now expecting a $91-million loss in the current fiscal year — remains the biggest risk to provincial finances, but the BC Lottery Corporation’s income was $27 million lower than projected due to “lower casino revenues.” While less spending at casinos might be partly attributed to British Columbians tightening their purse strings as the economy slows, part of the drop is likely linked to the government’s efforts to crack down on money laundering — a price worth paying, per the finance minister.

“Although it has an impact on the budget, obviously making sure we get rid of that dirty money and get rid of money laundering is a plus,” she told reporters.

The finance ministry projects the province’s GDP growth at 1.7 per cent for 2019, with a slight improvement to 1.9 per cent in 2020. The Economic Forecast Council is more optimistic, projecting 2 per cent GDP growth for B.C. this year — third highest in the country and well above the Canadian expectation of 1.6 per cent — and 2.3 per cent in 2020, when the Canadian economy is expected to grow by 1.7 per cent.

James said the NDP government has no plans to abandon its “record levels of capital spending” and service investments.

“There are some people who really feel that as government we should … make a different choice around the direction we're heading — a choice between investing in a strong economy or ... investing in the people who call this place home,” she told reporters. “This report will show you that that isn't true — we can and we must do both.”

The Opposition is not as confident, calling the quarterly update “alarming” and saying its GDP projections “have nothing to do with global uncertainty and everything to do with poor economic ​ management by the NDP.”

“’s government has no more money to pay for the billions of dollars of promises ​ ​ they made like $10-a-day childcare, the $400 renter’s rebate, and the elimination of school portables,” Liberal Finance critic said in a statement. “These are all broken NDP ​ ​ promises.”

Cannabis continues to underperform Budget 2019 projected the province would bring in $38 million in federal excise taxes on cannabis — the tax is paid by producers on product volume sold to a province with Ottawa then returning a portion to that province. That figure has now been revised down by nearly 80 per cent to just $8 million.

An anticipated $18 million decline in income for the BC Liquor Distribution Branch — which handles the province’s wholesale cannabis operations and government cannabis retail — is

attributed to “the delayed rollout of private/public cannabis stores and lower than anticipated demand.” And yet, in the corresponding quarter, British Columbians reported some of the highest rates of cannabis use in the country, according to Statistics Canada. ​ ​

James would not confirm whether the home of B.C. bud could end up losing money on its first year of legal cannabis sales, as Ontario and New Brunswick have. ​ ​ ​ ​

“I’m not going to speculate on what we’re looking at by the end of March, but I think there are some positive signals out there,” she said.

Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General told BC Today things have shifted ​ ​ ​ ​ on the cannabis front in recent months.

“That’s old,” he said of the second quarter figures. “Currently … 171 [retail] licences have been issued. We sold more cannabis in the first week of October than the entire month of June.”

Municipalities are still waiting to hear what their share of any cannabis revenues might be — James said the province and the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) are still in discussions about who is responsible for what when it comes to cannabis costs.

“It’s still early,” James said. “I think the revenue speaks for itself … we don't have revenue share at this stage, but we'll continue working with them.”

Asked what will happen if cannabis costs end up outweighing cannabis revenues, James said, “I’m hoping we’ll have revenue to share.”

Today’s events

November 27 at 10:30 a.m. — Victoria ​ Health Minister will be joined by Liberal Health critic and Green Party ​ ​ ​ ​ house leader and Health critic to launch a provincewide effort to modernize ​ ​ regulation of health professions in B.C.

Topics of conversation

● AggregateIQ (AIQ), a Victoria-based political advertising company with links to Cambridge Analytica, shared the personal information of millions of voters in B.C., the ​ United States and the United Kingdom without their consent, according to a report ​ released yesterday by federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien and B.C. privacy ​ ​ commissioner Michael McEvoy. Political parties and others used information the ​ ​ company pulled from social media — including information about ethnicity and voting intentions — to microtarget online ads to voters in violation of Canadian privacy laws, ​ ​ according to the report. The ads ran during the U.K.’s referendum on whether to leave

the European Union, political campaigns in the U.S. in 2014 and 2016, and “several campaigns” in B.C., according to the report. “Personal information about political views is ​ very sensitive and is worthy of privacy protection,” Therrien said. “There is currently a gaping hole in privacy protection.” ○ Neither office has the power to levy fines for breaking privacy laws, but AIQ has “committed to taking a number of measures to improve its security measures,” ​ per the report, and both McEvoy and Therrien’s offices are “satisfied with those steps” and plan to follow up to confirm it has taken appropriate action. ○ AIQ, which is still in operation, has been hired by “several political organizations” in B.C. including “a provincial party, certain candidates in the 2017 provincial election, a candidate for the leadership of a provincial party, and a municipal slate in the 2018 local elections,” according to the report. That includes former Liberal leadership candidates and current MLAs and ​ ​ ​ and Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver. ​ ​

● Coast Mountain Bus Company and Unifor reached a deal overnight, averting a three-day ​ ​ transit shut down in Metro Vancouver. ○ Meanwhile, the government is set to appoint a mediator in the ongoing faculty ​ ​ strike at UNBC.

● With the end of 2019 just over a month away, Premier John Horgan enjoys the approval ​ ​ of 51 per cent of British Columbians, according to a poll from Insights West — that’s up ​ ​ slightly from 48 per cent in June. ○ Horgan’s approval is still well above all other provincial party leaders, but Liberal Party Leader ’s time touring B.C. this summer may be paying ​ ​ off. Wilkinson gained eight points over his last approval rating, landing at 35 per cent. Thirty-eight per cent of British Columbians approve of outgoing Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, and BC Conservative Party Leader Trevor Bolin has a ​ ​ ​ ​ 20 per cent approval rating.

Appointments and employments ● Former B.C. Supreme Court justice Victoria Gray was appointed the province’s next ​ ​ conflict of interest commissioner. Gray will serve a five-year term that begins on January 6, 2020. ○ Gray’s appointment was recommended by the Special Committee to Appoint a Conflict of Interest Commissioner and endorsed by the house. She replaces former commissioner Paul Fraser, who passed away in March. ​ ​

Question period On Tuesday, Liberal MLAs once again focused on the government’s lack of action on ongoing labour disputes in the province but also found time to ask about property taxes and the government’s child care promises.

Taxing ‘undeveloped airspace over their heads’ ● Liberal Municipal Affairs and Housing critic Todd Stone asked Municipal Affairs and ​ ​ Housing Minister why the government “has taken no action ​ ​ ​ whatsoever to address the skyrocketing property taxes” threatening small businesses in B.C.

● Robinson said the government is working on “an interim solution for the 2020 tax year” while trying to develop “a permanent fix.”

● When Stone pressed the issue, Robinson blamed the current state of affairs on the previous Liberal government. “Their inaction has led to the struggles that small businesses are facing, and we're fixing it.”

Fudging the numbers on child care ● When Liberal Children and Family Development critic Laurie Throness took a similar ​ ​ tack with Minister of State for Child Care — asking her why only a fraction ​ ​ of the new child care spaces announced by the government are operational — Chen too attacked the previous government’s handling of the issue. ○ “Under the previous government, in about four years, they funded about 4,000 spaces, and we've achieved 10,000 spaces in ... only a little over a year,” she said.

● “You can always tell when the NDP are doing a lousy job because they go on the attack,” Throness said. “It's predictable. It's like clockwork.”

Green Party MLA asked Health Minister Adrian Dix why the province’s primary ​ ​ ​ ​ care strategy has yet to reach his Saanich riding. DIx said the final proposal for an urgent and primary care centre for the area was received last week.

News briefs - Non-governmental

Representative for Children and Youth Caught in the Middle, the latest report from Children and Youth Representative Jennifer ​ ​ ​ ​ Charlesworth, calls on B.C.’s Children and Family Development Ministry to strengthen its ​ oversight of children who move between provinces while in government care and “take a leadership role in bringing about changes to the Interprovincial Protocol,” that guides government support for those children.

The report examines the case of Romain (a pseudonym) who died of a fentanyl overdose in ​ ​ May 2017. During his six years in government care in both B.C. and Alberta, Romain was

moved more than 40 times; at 11, he told social workers he felt he had been “passed around for 20 million years.”

The report draws a direct link between Romain’s death and the “inadequate services” he and his family received in B.C. and highlights “poor communication and coordination between the two provinces regarding his care.”

The report makes a total of six recommendations for the ministry to act on, including establishing an interprovincial coordinator to work with and coordinate regional analysts to support, track and monitor interprovincial cases by December 2020.

Children and Family Development Minister said the province is already working ​ ​ on addressing the recommendations and has already established an interprovincial coordinator.

The ministry is also overhauling its data management system to better track kids in care who have moved between provinces; there are about 100 interprovincial cases in B.C. at any one time, according to the ministry.