BC Today – Daily Report December 18, 2019

Quotation of the day

“It would be so weird if there was an election campaign and I was running against John [Horgan] after we've just spent so long working together. It ​ ​ ​ ​ would just be too weird. I couldn't do it.”

BC Green Leader Andrew Weaver, who announced in October that he would not seek re-election, ​ ​ says he just can’t stomach the idea of running against the party his has partnered with for more than two years.

Today in B.C.

After two years of collaboration, Weaver feels ‘weird’ about the idea of campaigning against the NDP Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver has fought his last election; next month, he will step down ​ ​ just as the race to become his successor as party leader gets underway.

Weaver has suggested the Greens would be well-served in choosing a leader from the Lower ​ ​ Mainland and, while he says he does not want to “weigh in” on what the party should do once he’s no longer at the helm, he does have hopes for its future.

“There’s a number of potential paths that can be taken from here,” he told BC Today in a ​ ​ year-end interview. “The path that I tried to take it down is one that's focused very much on small business, focused on evidence-based decision making ... on being there for people … and on doing what's right, not what's politically expedient. I would love to see someone continue that forward.”

“There's some who might want to take the party in a more eco-socialist [direction],” he added. “That's not my kind of preference, but [I’ll] leave that up to the future leader.”

Weaver said he’s aware of one prospective candidate who “shares the same values” he does and, as of last week, had not yet heard of any others planning to get into the leadership race.

His October declaration that he would not seek re-election in 2021 and would step down as party leader — in spring 2020, Weaver said at the time — was abrupt but not out-of-character for a politician who proposed legislation that would limit MLAs to no more than 12 years in office earlier this year.

“I've always believed politics should be a sense of civic duty — you get in, you do what you say you're going to do and then you get out,” he said. “There are far too many people in politics, including in [the B.C. legislature] who have been here far too long. And when you're here for too long, you ... in many cases forget why you were elected in the first place.”

Weaver sees Clean BC, the province’s emission reduction plan, as his crowning achievement. The “ambitious economic plan to build a thriving, climate-responsible and climate-resilient economy” was recognized in the public sector category of Delta Management Group’s 2020 ​ Clean 16 awards in October and prompted Weaver to make his step-down announcement on ​ the first day of the fall sitting.

“I did what I said I'm going to do, and it's nationally recognized — that's the time to move on,” he said. “I don't think you can get any better than we’ve got right now — BC Greens, working very collaboratively with government. I know it's not the typical political thing, because you should always, you know, fight one more election.”

The unique collaboration between the Greens and the NDP government has also contributed to Weaver’s lack of appetite for another election battle. Weaver now thinks of many NDP cabinet ministers as “quite good friends” and his affection for Premier is well-known and ​ ​ thoroughly reciprocated.

“I’d have a hell of a hard time running as a leader against them right now ... because campaigns are very antagonistic and I don't like that,” he said. “I like to get shit done.”

After two years of working closely with the NDP, campaigning against them would feel “weird” to Weaver.

For his part, the premier shares Weaver’s warm sentiments but is more clear-eyed about the realities of election campaigns.

“At the end of the day, we're going to be competing for the same votes,” Horgan told BC Today ​ in reaction to Weaver’s comments.

Horgan also lamented the failure of the 2018 proportional representation referendum, something his caucus and the Greens “worked hard together” on. Had B.C. switched electoral systems, Horgan believes future election campaigns could have been more positive with less of “the anti-other guy rhetoric” often launched prior to the polls closing.

Asked about his own regrets, Weaver did not mention proportional representation, saying instead that he wishes he’d been able to convince the NDP not to proceed with its “generational sell-out,” the courting of liquid natural gas development through a suite of subsidies and incentives.

“The only thing we could have done is caused government to fall,” he said of the party’s options on the issue. “I don’t think we could have done more.”

Some of Weaver’s concerns about the government’s approach to LNG development were mollified by the NDP’s pledge to include the industry’s emissions in its legislated emission targets.

“That avoided an election,” he said of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Amendment Act, ​ ​ which passed in the spring of 2018.

In the next election, Weaver expects the NDP to “go hard against the Greens” as the party tries to move from a minority to a majority in the legislature. After an “ugly” 2017 provincial campaign and disappointingly similar tactics in the 2019 federal campaign, Weaver says he’s ready to leave the political realm.

“I don’t want to do that again,” he told BC Today. “I want to leave on a high note.” ​ ​

Today’s events

December 18 at 11:30 a.m. — Duncan ​

Education Minister will be joined by students, educators, school district staff and ​ ​ community members at Cowichan Valley Secondary School for an announcement about supporting local students.

December 18 at 1:30 p.m. — Nelson ​ Children and Family Development Minister will be joined by Energy, Mines and ​ ​ Petroleum Resources Minister , MLA for Nelson—Creston, to celebrate a new ​ ​ campus-based child care centre at Selkirk College's Silver King Campus.

December 18 at 5 p.m. — Quesnel ​ Liberal MLA () will attend a Christmas event at the Quesnel ​ ​ Legion, featuring hot chocolate and a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

December 18 to 20 — Cariboo and Okanagan regions ​ ​ The Ministry of Forests’ Old Growth Strategic Review panel will visit communities in the ​ ​ ​ ​ Okanagan and Cariboo regions “on or around” these dates to gather “perspectives on managing the province's old-growth forests for ecological, economic and cultural values.” The final sessions are set to take place in the Kootenays in early January.

Topics of conversation

● After two years, Premier John Horgan is considering a cabinet shuffle in 2020. “We ​ ​ ​ need to re-tool, we are at the halfway point,” he told Global News in a year-end ​ ​ interview. “There will be some members who will probably not be running again. I need to have those conversations over the winter break. There will probably be some changes in the new year and that’s appropriate.” ○ Since the NDP cabinet was sworn in in July 2017, the only cabinet portfolio shift has been Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister adding ​ ​ Citizens’ Services to her responsibilities, after NDP MLA resigned ​ ​ her cabinet post in October following news that a special prosecutor was investigating unspecified allegations against her.

● Finance ministers from across Canada joined federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau in ​ ​ Ottawa this week to discuss national pharmacare, equalization, the fiscal stabilization ​ program, and the Canada Pension Plan. Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews pushed ​ ​ ​ for changes to the fiscal stabilization program — backed by Canadian premiers in their joint communique signed at this month’s Council of the Federation meeting — such as removing the $60 per capita cap, lowering the qualifying threshold for resource and non-resource revenues, and making retroactive payments to provinces underserved by the program over the last five years. Morneau said any changes to the program will not be made until next year.

○ In 2020-21, the Government of B.C. is scheduled to receive $5.6 billion from the federal health transfer, and another $2 billion in social transfers. That equates to $1,495 per capita, the same amount as Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

● B.C. and Ontario’s information and privacy commissioners have launched a joint investigation into the cyberattack on LifeLabs that may have compromised the personal ​ ​ information of up to 15 million Canadians. The laboratory testing company first reported a potential breach in November and later confirmed the attack had affected the personal information — including names, addresses, logins and passwords, health card numbers ​ and lab tests — of millions of customers. While the company has retained outside cybersecurity consultants to investigate and help resecure its data, the provincial commissioners plan to look into the incident to determine if LifeLabs could have taken steps to prevent and contain the breach and look at ways to improve its cybersecurity and avoid further attacks. ○ "I am deeply concerned about this matter,” B.C. commissioner Michael McEvoy ​ said in a statement. “Our independent offices are committed to thoroughly investigating this breach. We will publicly report our findings and recommendations once our work is complete."

● BC Cannabis Stores are expected to have cannabis edibles, extracts and topicals for ​ ​ sale as of tomorrow but only via online sales. Licensed private retailers will be able to begin placing orders for the newly legal products on Thursday, but likely won’t have any in stock before Christmas. ○ Don’t expect much of a selection — the BC Liquor Distribution Branch says the 260 products it plans to sell will become available “in dribs and drabs.”

● The BC Labour Board has agreed to hear United Food and Commercial Workers ​ ​ (UFCW) local 1518’s challenge to Uber and Lyft’s employment practices. The union argues the companies’ contracts imply that drivers — who work as independent contractors — are not allowed to join unions, which is in violation of B.C.’s Labour Code. The board will hear submissions from both sides in January.

● The BC Liberals are calling on the NDP government to increase funding for veterinarian training programs for B.C. students, citing a shortage of trained vets in the province. “If ​ ​ ​ the veterinarian shortage continues, there will be acute consequences – especially in rural B.C. and Island, which already have little to no access to veterinarians,” Liberal Agriculture critic said in a statement. ​ ​

● The BC Chamber of Commerce released its annual Collective Perspectives report, an ​ ​ online survey of 1,555 business leaders in the province. While most respondents reported steady confidence in their business ventures, about half said the provincial economy has worsened over the past year — a similar percentage said the same in 2018. B.C.’s tight labour market is an issue of concern for many business owners, and

more than three-quarters of survey respondents said their operating costs increased significantly over the past year. ○ Just over half of respondents think the provincial government is supportive of B.C. businesses — an improvement over the 46 per cent that said the same in 2018 but a far cry from the 78 per cent who felt they had the B.C. government’s support in 2016.

News Briefs - Governmental

Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions Minister announced a new guideline aimed at filling “a crucial gap” in B.C.’s care ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ for people with substance use disorders.

“Today, alcohol use disorder is the most common disorder in the province,” Darcy said, as she made the announcement at the B.C. Centre on Substance Use. “Hospitalization rates for alcohol-related conditions have increased 45 per cent over the last 15 years ... primary care visits to hospitals dramatically increased, and perhaps the most troubling is the rise of problematic drinking among young people, most of whom have their first drink by the age of 14.”

Family doctors should take an active, early role in screening their patients for problematic drinking, per the guideline, by asking patients as young as 12 about their alcohol use. It also includes new tools for withdrawal management and guidance for continuing care. ​

The guideline is part of the province’s effort to improve mental health and addictions care and ​ ​ was developed by a committee of 43 clinicians, researchers, scientists and policy experts, as well as people with lived experience. It will be updated by the committee every three years to ensure it is based on the most current research available.

"The health system has generally failed people who use alcohol,” said Dr. Keith Ahamad, an ​ ​ addictions specialist and member of the development committee. “We're left managing the devastating effects rather than preventing and treating the addiction itself. We have a responsibility to provide easy access to upstream, evidence-based treatment and to look to guide people earlier toward treatment and recovery. These guidelines provide the tools to empower primary care in doing just that.”

The Centre on Substance Use is currently working on two supplements to the guideline, one in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority, which will give clinicians the tools to provide culturally safe, holistic care to Indigenous peoples. The second will support doctors helping pregnant women manage alcohol-use disorder.

The centre is also helping co-ordinate the implementation of the guideline across the province through a series of in-person seminars and a free, self-paced course that will be offered in partnership with the University of .

New training and specialist supports for primary care teams will be implemented early next year in collaboration with Doctors of B.C.

Funding announcements

● Pacific Gateway Constructors General Partnership — which includes Aecon ​ ​ Infrastructure Management Inc., BelPacific Excavating and Shoring and ​ ​ ​ McElhanney Engineering Services Ltd. — has been awarded the $260-million ​ ​ ​ contract to design and build the Highway 91/17 Upgrade Project in Delta, which will add two new interchanges and upgrade the existing infrastructure. Major construction will start in early 2020 with completion scheduled for 2023. ○ This project is being delivered by the Ministry of Transportation and ​ Infrastructure with support from Ottawa’s New Building Canada Fund. ​ ​ ​

● Two new housing developments will provide 19 affordable rental homes for people in Nakusp by October 2020, according to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. ​ ​ ​ ​ The Arrowtarian Senior Citizens Society has begun construction on a three-storey, ​ ​ wood-frame building on 7th Avenue that will provide nine affordable, adaptable and accessible homes for seniors. The Arrow and Slocan Lakes Community Services ​ Society is in the process of developing 10 affordable units on 1st Avenue. ​ ○ The ministry is providing providing $1.45 million in capital funding and $587,000 in construction financing for the 7th Avenue development, with the society contributing $170,000 of its own equity and the land valued at $72,000. The Columbia Basin Trust is also providing $275,000 for the project. ​ ○ The 1st Avenue project is receiving a total of $1.88 million from the province and the Columbia Basin Trust, and the Arrow and Slocan Lakes Community Services Society is contributing land valued at $70,000, which was purchased at a discount from the Village of Nakusp for the purpose of providing affordable ​ ​ housing. The federal government, via the National Housing Co-Investment ​ Fund, is providing $757,000. ​

● Island Life Early Learning Centre is creating 12 new infant/toddler spaces at the ​ ​ ​ Salvation Army community church in Campbell River with support from Childcare BC's ​ ​ ​ New Spaces Fund. ​