BC Today – Daily Report October 28, 2019

Quotation of the day

“I have to scratch my head and say why is there such enormous animosity toward the federal Liberal government that bought the pipeline for the express purpose of getting it built?”

Premier knows “how passionate the Albertans feel” about the Trans Mountain pipeline ​ ​ ​ ​ expansion, but is puzzled by increasingly vocal separatist sentiment from some Western provinces.

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The house will convene at 10 a.m. for private members’ business. Question period will take place in the afternoon.

There are four government bills at second reading stage:

● Bill 33, Securities Amendment Act, which, if passed, will give the B.C. Securities ​ ​ ​ Commission the “strongest enforcement and collection tools in the country to help crack down on white collar crime”; ● Bill 37, Financial Institutions Amendment Act, which, if passed, will modernize the ​ ​ regulatory framework for financial institutions operating in the province; ● Bill 39, Miscellaneous Statutes (Minor Corrections) and Statute Revision Amendment ​ ​ Act; and ● Bill 41, Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People's Act, which would require the ​ ​ province to develop an action plan to meet the objectives of the UN declaration and deliver annual reports on its progress.

Committees this week The Special Committee to Review the Police Complaint Process meets first thing this morning for in camera deliberations.

The Select Standing Committee on Government and Finance has an 8 a.m. meeting scheduled today and Tuesday to continue its annual budgetary review of the statutory offices. The Office of the Human Rights Commissioner and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner are on today’s agenda; Elections BC’s agenda is set to be reviewed during Tuesday’s meeting.

The Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure is scheduled to meet on Thursday to plan for the 2020 Canadian Council of Public Accounts Committees conference, which will take place in Victoria in August.

Today’s events

October 28 at 10:30 a.m. — Vancouver ​ ​ Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General and Jennifer Rice, parliamentary ​ ​ ​ ​ secretary for Emergency Preparedness, will make an announcement in the legislature’s press theatre on provincial emergency management.

October 28 at 6:30 p.m. — Langford ​ ​ The BC Liberal Party’s Langford—Juan de Fuca riding association will hold its annual general meeting at Darcy’s Pub.

October 28 - 31 — Vancouver Island ​ ​ The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development’s Old Growth Strategic Review panel will visit communities in the Skeena and Nechako regions “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.

Upcoming events

November 6 at 5:30 p.m. — Vancouver ​ ​ The BC Chamber of Commerce will host its annual “Pulse Check” dinner at the Fairmont Hotel. Abacus Data’s Bruce Anderson will host the evening, and “a group of BC’s deputy ministers” ​ ​ are expected to attend.

December 4 at 11 a.m. — Vancouver ​ ​ The BC Chamber of Commerce will host a luncheon event with Premier John Horgan and ​ ​ members of his cabinet at the Hyatt Regency.

Topics of conversation

● BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC) president and CEO James Lightbody has been granted ​ ​ ​ participant status in the provincial inquiry into money laundering by Commissioner ​ Austin Cullen. Cullen ruled that much of Lightbody’s potential submissions would likely ​ overlap with those of the BCLC, which is also a participant, but also found a “reasonable prospect” that Lightbody could offer “information or ‘a perspective’ ... that is different from the corporate perspective of BCLC and which BCLC is not privy to.” Lightbody also has a personal stake in the issue, Cullen concluded, “as he may be subject ... to adverse comment or criticism arising from an adverse assessment of BCLC’s corporate actions.” ○ Fred Pinnock, the former commander of the RCMP’s Integrated Illegal Gaming ​ Enforcement Team, was not granted participant status. Cullen determined that Pinnock’s interests align with the commission’s and that his submissions to the inquiry can be delivered as a witness. ○ Participant status is granted to individuals and organizations with unique or special knowledge that could benefit the inquiry and gives them procedural rights, which have yet to be specified.

● expects the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will bring in $500 million per year, once complete — money former finance minister Bill Morneau says will go toward ​ ​ clean energy projects. “We purchased it for a reason,” Morneau told the Canadian Press ​ ​ ​ on Friday. “We now see how it can help us accelerate our clean-energy transition by putting any revenues that we get from it into a transition to clean energy. We think that is the best way we can move forward in our current context.” ○ As of the end of September, more than 2,200 people had been hired to work on TMX, according to Trans Mountain. ​ ​

● Former Liberal MP Stephen Fuhr lost his —Lake Country seat last week, but ​ ​ his campaign manager is already floating an idea for Fuhr’s next political move — running for the leadership of the BC Liberal Party. The day after the federal election,

Wayne Pierce took to Facebook to suggest the BC Liberals “dump [Andrew] Wilkinson ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ and convince Stephen Fuhr to lead the party in the next election.” ○ “I’m not thinking about anything other than winding down my offices and making sure that my staff land on their feet in whatever way I can do to facilitate that,” Fuhr told the Kelowna Capital News. He did suggest that the Liberals “need to ​ ​ bring their policies back towards the centre” to appeal to more voters. “B.C. is a progressive place,” he said.

● Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg’s visit to Vancouver drew huge crowds to the ​ ​ Vancouver Public Library on Friday. Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister was among them. ​ ​ ​

● B.C.’s foreign buyer’s tax is not discriminatory, a B.C. Supreme Court Judge ruled last ​ ​ week in response to a Chinese woman’s attempt to certify a class action lawsuit against the tax on the grounds it discriminates against Asian buyers. ○ Jing Li, who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, bought a Burnaby ​ condo in July 2016 — just before the foreign buyer’s tax went into effect — and, as a result of the tax, was hit with an extra $83,850 when the deal closed.

● B.C.’s construction sector is booming, according to the BC Construction Association’s Fall Stat Pack. Construction accounts for more than nine per cent of the province’s ​ workforce with $115 billion in projects underway and another $206-billion worth of work “on the horizon.” Nearly 1,400 new construction companies were founded in the province over the past year, according to the BCCA, and average yearly wages increased by more than $4,000 to $61,784. ○ “These numbers clearly show the importance of the construction sector to the provincial economy,” BCCA president Chris Atchison said in a statement. “The ​ ​ continued growth of the construction sector in the face of challenges related to skilled workforce availability, prompt payment, business taxation, and disruptive labour policies, is a reflection of the hard work, collaborative approach, and perseverance of the construction companies, associations and organizations who understand this sector best.”

● Business Council of president and CEO Greg D’Avignon and BC ​ ​ Federation of Labour president Laird Cronk are “optimistic for the long-term potential” ​ ​ ​ ​ of the province’s move to legislate the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “This bill gives us hope, and not only for a more certain path towards necessary reconciliation,” the pair wrote in a co-authored op-ed in the Vancouver Sun. “It gives us hope that B.C. can differentiate itself globally, ​ ​ setting the course for to create an economic climate that supports sustainable development and advances the self-determination of Indigenous peoples.”

● The BC Cattlemen’s Association wants the province to take action on high-speed internet access to help its members — many of whom live in remote parts of the province — keep up with their business. "Technology is changing and government ​ regulations require us to fill out a lot of their forms online," rancher John ​ Solecki told CBC. "We need that high-speed internet in order to comply with regulation ​ ​ ​ and stay up to date with whatever information that we need to get." ○ The association has written a letter to Agriculture Minister and ​ ​ Union of B.C. Municipalities chair Arjun Singh, asking them to take action to ​ ​ improve internet access in rural areas.

● In the two years since the province introduced post-secondary tuition waivers for former youth in care, more than 1,100 of them have accessed the waivers to post-secondary programs. That’s an increase of more than 440 per cent since the program launched in ​ 2017, according to the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. ​ ​

● ICYMI: Premier John Horgan addressed the Vancouver Island Economic Summit via ​ ​ ​ video conference last week. The premier delivered a speech and took questions from delegates, many of which focused on simmering separatist sentiments in . “I have ​ to scratch my head and say why is there such enormous animosity toward the federal Liberal government that bought the pipeline for the express purpose of getting it built?” Horgan said. ○ “I had one of my dear friends, Rachel Notley, become just an acquaintance over ​ ​ time over this issue, so I know on a personal level how passionate the Albertans feel,” he added.

Appointments and employments

Ministry of Finance Several appointments were made to the ministry’s Government Communications and Public Engagement team.

● Brendan Wright was appointed a senior public affairs officer, effective October 16, ​ 2019. ● Johann Chang was appointed a senior public affairs officer for a one-year term, ​ effective November 1, 2019.

The following appointments are effective October 22, 2019: ● Brooke Forbes and Sarah Lindstein were appointed senior public affairs officers; and ​ ​ ​ ● Lisa Leslie was appointed a communications director. ​

Ministry of Health

● Lucinda Yeung was appointed a ministerial assistant, effective October 22, 2019. ​ ○ Yeung served as an executive assistant in the minister’s office since July 2018.

Funding announcements

● A new three-storey, 52-unit modular apartment complex is now open in Burnaby. ​ ​ Operated by the Progressive Housing Society, the permanent housing development ​ ​ will offer around-the-clock support services to residents. Six of the units are wheelchair accessible, and all will rent at the monthly shelter rate of $375. ○ The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing invested $10.1 million in capital ​ ​ and construction costs and will provide annual operating funding through the Rapid Response to Homelessness program. The City of Burnaby provided a ​ ​ ​ $250,000 grant from its Housing Fund to cover the servicing costs for the site ​ ​ and leased the land to BC Housing at a nominal rate.

● Agriculture Minister Lana Popham was in Vancouver on Friday to attend the ​ ​ appointment of Anubhav Singh as B.C.’s first food and beverage innovation professor ​ ​ ​ at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Over the next three years, the province will contribute $2.58 million to an endowment fund to support Singh’s professorship, which will aim to help create new potential post-secondary programs in food processing. ​ ○ Singh has worked as an assistant professor of food processing in UBC's faculty of land and food systems. His research has explored emerging technologies for improving the nutrition, quality, processability and shelf life of food.

● The BC Wine Grape Council will use $30,000 from the agriculture ministry to develop ​ ​ ​ an industry resource guide to support new vineyard and winery operators — the first time ​ a guide has has been developed by the provincial industry. Publication is expected in 2020.

Can’t get enough of B.C. politics? Listen to this week’s episode of PolitiCoast on ​ ​ UNDRIP, commercial property taxes and the B.C. Green Party’s online clothing store.