B.C. Today – Daily Report July 18, 2019

Quotation of the day

“Being in opposition sucks.”

Liberal Forests critic prefers government to opposition. ​ ​

Today in B.C.

The House is adjourned for the summer recess.

Two years of the NDP: Liberal MLAs on life in opposition Two years ago today, Premier and the NDP cabinet were sworn in as B.C.’s ​ ​ government, more than two months after the 2017 election in which the B.C. Liberal Party won a plurality of votes and seats. Despite rampant speculation that the NDP alliance with the Green Party would fail within months, there is little indication the province will be heading back to the polls any time soon.

To mark the second anniversary of the swearing in, BC Today interviewed three Liberal MLAs ​ ​ — two former cabinet ministers and one who is serving his first term in provincial office — to discuss the challenges of serving in opposition.

“Talk about a whirlwind.”

After nearly a decade as a city councillor, Liberal Agriculture critic was elected to ​ ​ represent Delta South in May 2017 and was thrilled to be heading to the legislature as a member of the governing party — or so he thought.

“Winning the election was pretty cool,” Paton said. “We were setting up our offices in the east wing. Then, of course, everything sort of went sideways with the Greens teaming up with the NDP and … suddenly we were in opposition.”

On June 29, the Liberal government fell in a confidence vote, forced by NDP and Green Party MLAs who together held 44 seats to the Liberals’ 42. Despite the efforts of former premier to convince then-lieutenant governor Judith Guichon to send the province back ​ ​ ​ to the polls, NDP Leader John Horgan was given the opportunity to form government and serve ​ ​ as the province’s premier.

For Liberal MLAs like Paton, that meant a serious downgrade in legislature office space.

“Went from a fairly large office to a fairly tiny office,” he told BC Today, somewhat ruefully. “But ​ ​ … for me, being new, it just is a real honour to be there. Still every morning I shake my head every time I walk into that building, going … how did I ever end up here?”

Despite being a lifelong farmer, Paton was surprised to be asked to serve as the party’s Agriculture critic — a role he says has been both challenging and enlightening.

“I know about dairy farming and about growing potatoes and corn but … the portfolio of Agriculture includes tree fruits in the Okanagan, the wine industry all over B.C.,” he said. “It includes canola and wheat up in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, beef cattle up in the Chilcotin. It includes [aquaculture]. There’s been a lot to learn, but I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Paton’s caucus colleague, Forests critic John Rustad, is not as happy about making the ​ ​ ​ ​ transition to opposition.

“Being in opposition sucks,” he told BC Today. “I’m a problem-solver. In opposition, it’s ​ ​ frustrating because you can’t solve problems.”

Rustad, who represents the Nechako Lakes riding in central B.C., was first elected in 2009 and served as minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation before shifting to the forests ministry. Prior to becoming a politician, Rustad founded a forestry consulting business and served as a school board trustee, roles that suited his “solutions-oriented” personality.

“Yes, [opposition means] time to be able to go out and to work with people and to build what you want to look at going forward, but you aren’t solving the problems of the day,” he said, following an extensive discussion about the issues facing B.C.’s forest industry.

Liberal House Leader spent more than a decade as a member of the governing ​ ​ party, but told BC Today that, like Paton, she is enjoying her time in opposition. Polak is the ​ ​ Opposition House Leader, a high profile role she said was “quite petrified” to take on.

“I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to Westminster Parliament — I think it’s the best government system in the entire world — and that means to me that opposition is a valued and noble task,” she said.

The biggest difference between serving in opposition compared to being on the government side? “It’s much more DIY — you don’t have as much staff,” Polak said. “You certainly have to be used to putting your own hands in and doing work.”

While governing is about putting forward policies — as Polak well knows, having held five ministerial portfolios — the job of the opposition is “to either oppose something that [the government is] doing or propose something different.”

“I know it bothers some people,” she said. “[Enjoying opposition] certainly doesn’t stop me from wanting to fight every battle we can to be in government again — that’s also my job — but I’m a strong proponent of ‘bloom where you’re planted.’”

The path back to power B.C.’s next election is scheduled to take place in October 2021, and hopes that the Green-NDP alliance will fall apart before then have faded over the past couple of years.

“John Horgan’s just full of glee that he’s the premier, and I can’t see him giving up that opportunity,” Paton said of rumours that circulated this spring about the possibility of a snap election. “He’s not going to give up that job.”

Despite predictions that the NDP would run B.C.’s booming economy into the ground, the province’s financial status remains relatively robust. B.C.’s unemployment is the lowest in the country, and many residents approve of the government’s significant investments in child care and housing. Premier Horgan remains the most popular of the province’s political leaders, ​ ​ and even the much-maligned speculation tax has so far failed to evolve into the wedge issue ​ ​ the Liberals hoped it would become.

The party’s MLAs are investing their time ensuring their rural base — the party holds nearly all of the province’s rural ridings — feels heard at a time when the government is mostly composed of people from urban centres in the province’s south.

Paton will be spending the next few weeks visiting farming-dependent communities in the central part of the province; Rustad has spent much of the time since the House rose in May participating in roundtable events in areas hard hit by mill closures and curtailments. He said many industry stakeholders and local governments feel the provincial government has done little to help them out during a difficult time.

To Paton, the NDP government seems out of touch with rural people and when it comes to agriculture, the Liberals have an especially deep bench compared to the party across the aisle.

“When I look at my side of the House, I can count at least 9 or 10 Liberal MLAs that are pretty closely connected to agriculture — people from farming areas,” said Paton. “And I look across at the NDP side and there’s just a blank stare when it comes to agriculture. There’s nobody over there that’s really done any sort of farming for a living.” He acknowledged Agriculture Minister ’s small grape orchard but said her experience doesn’t stack up against the ​ Liberals’.

Rallying rural British Columbians will be key to a Liberal victory in 2021, and party Leader is already chomping at the bit. ​ “I'm applying for a big job — Premier of ,” reads a recent party fundraising blast signed by Wilkinson. “And the race is on to define how British Columbians see me, and how they see our party.”

The party has released a series of videos, playing up Wilkinson’s time as a doctor in a small ​ ​ northern town and discussing the “values his mother instilled in him.” ​ ​

Wilkinson’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the party’s plans to make it back into the legislature’s west wing.

Today’s events

July 18 at 10 a.m. – Surrey ​ Children and Family Development Minister will be at the Centre for Child ​ ​ Development to celebrate extra funding for families who have children with special needs.

July 18 at 10:30 a.m. – ​ NDP MLAs (Nanaimo) and (Nanaimo—North Cowichan) ​ ​ ​ ​ will join Nanaimo Mayor ; Amber Mitchell, acting vice-president of regional ​ ​ ​ ​ operations for Community Living BC; and representatives from the Nanaimo Association for Community Living to celebrate a new housing project on Uplands Drive.

July 18 at 11 a.m. – Duncan ​

Health Minister will participate in a sod-turning event to celebrate the start of ​ ​ construction on Cowichan Hospice House at Cairnsmore Place.

July 18 at 11:15 a.m. – Kamloops ​ Federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor will participate in training delivered by St. John ​ ​ Ambulance at the Boys and Girls Club of Kamloops and announce federal funding to address the opioid overdose crisis.

July 18 at 1:30 p.m. – Victoria ​ Finance Minister will release the province's 2018-19 Public Accounts, the ​ ​ audited financial statements for Budget 2018.

July 18 at 4:30 p.m. – Victoria ​ Premier John Horgan will join Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a transit-related ​ ​ ​ ​ announcement at B.C. Transit’s Gorge Road facility.

July 18 at 7 p.m. – Quesnel ​ Education Minister will join the B.C. NDP’s Cariboo North riding association for a ​ ​ pub night at the River Rock Pub.

Upcoming events

July 24 - August 14 The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development will hold a series of policy engagement seminars in the Skeena and Cariboo regions to gather input on the ​ ​ Interior Forest Sector Renewal. ​

Topics of conversation

● B.C. Energy and Mines Minister told reporters the Trans Mountain ​ ​ pipeline expansion was not a major topic at this week’s meeting of Canada’s energy and mines ministers in Cranbrook because the ministers “wanted to focus on the issues [they] could collaborate on.” Mungall joined federal Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet ​ Sohi for a post-meeting news conference yesterday afternoon. ​ ○ “At a conference that brings all of Canada’s ministers … on mining and energy together, if we solely focused on one topic that affected two provinces, we would be doing a disservice to the rest of the country and a disservice to those two provinces that actually have a lot to talk about in regard to mining competitiveness … [and] developing a clean energy future for Canada.” ○ B.C. and Alberta prioritized talking about “natural gas and the oil sector” — not impending infrastructure — according to Mungall.

● The B.C. Utilities Commission began hearing testimony from fuel retailers regarding ​ ​ pricing practices and retail margins yesterday as part of its ongoing inquiry into gas and diesel pricing in the province. Technical difficulties disrupted the livestream of the day’s ​ ​ proceedings; the stream is expected to be up and running in time for tomorrow’s hearings. ○ The commission is expected to release an interim report sometime this week; hearings will take place in through Friday.

● Protestors rallied outside Mental Health and Addictions Minister ’s New ​ ​ ​ ​ Westminster constituency office yesterday, demanding that the province decriminalize all drugs. The rally, organized by activist Dana Larsen, follows similar protests outside the ​ ​ offices of Attorney General , Health Minister Adrian Dix and Solicitor General ​ ​ ​ ​ . ​ ○ Larsen said he spoke with Dix following the rally outside the minister’s constituency office and could not get a straight answer as to where the government stands on decriminalization. “I can’t imagine any other public health crisis where the health minister just totally ignores the advice from the province’s chief health officer,” Larsen told the New West Record. “If this was SARS or ​ ​ measles or something, and the chief health officer was saying something and he was like ‘whatever,’ that would just be outrageous.” ○ In April, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry released a report ​ ​ ​ recommending the province decriminalize all drug use. The report included legislative amendments that could effectively decriminalize drug use in B.C. Victoria Police Chief Del Patak spoke in support of Dr. Henry’s ​ ​ recommendations.

● Elections B.C. has levied a $1,000 fine against a Comox man for failing to register as a ​ ​ third-party advertiser during B.C.’s electoral reform referendum. Kevin Anderson paid a ​ ​ little over $1,000 to run a full-page ad in the Comox Valley Record in support of the first-past-the-post system in November 2018. He “did not cooperate with a request for him to voluntarily register as a referendum advertising sponsor” and has “actively avoided communicating” with Elections B.C. ○ While $2,500 is the recommended fine for a first time contravention of the Elections Act, Anderson’s fine was reduced because “his behaviour was not ​ egregious” and the advertisement “appears to be an isolated incidence.”

News briefs - Governmental

Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Fifty-four groves of old-growth trees around the province will be preserved via a new protection measure under the Forests Act that Minister is calling “the first step in a new ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ approach to old-growth management” for the province.

"We are protecting 54 exceptionally large and old trees, each surrounded by a one-hectare grove to act as a buffer zone," he said in a statement. "These trees represent an important part ​ ​ of B.C.'s natural heritage, and British Columbians have said they want them preserved. What we are announcing today is the start of a broader conversation about the future of old-growth management in this province."

Trees were selected based on the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Big Tree Registry, ​ ​ which includes nearly 350 iconic trees from across the province. Selection criteria for the arboreal candidates focused on size and diameter in relation to known maximums for each species. For example, the largest known coastal Douglas fir has a diameter of 4.23 metres measured at diameter breast height (DBH). The protection threshold for coastal Douglas fir is 50 per cent of this size — at least 2.12 meters DBH. Only three of the trees made the cut — two Douglas firs in the Capital Regional District and one located in .

The Sitka spruce is currently the most represented species on the list: 14 trees from the Skeena and Haida Gwaii areas have been given protected status, along with four others on Vancouver Island.

Further action will come this fall, when a two-person panel will begin engaging with First Nations, industry stakeholders and communities on new old-growth management strategies informed by the “ecological, economic and cultural importance of old-growth trees and forests,” according to the ministry.

The panel members are: Gary Merkel, a forester and natural resource expert, and member of ​ ​ the Tahltan Nation, and Al Gorley, a professional forester and former chair of the Forest ​ ​ Practices Board. They will report back to government in spring 2020 with recommendations to inform a new approach to managing old-growth.

Green Party reaction Green Party MLAs slammed the announcement as a distraction from the NDP government’s failure to take quick, comprehensive action to protect the province’s remaining old-growth stands.

“Today's announcement setting aside 54 hectares around old-growth specimens does nothing to change the status-quo of old-growth logging in B.C.," Green Party MLA said in ​ ​ response to the announcement. “If government were serious about protecting B.C.’s old-growth forests they would be immediately protecting the few remaining, high productivity old-growth ecosystems — not a handful of trees.”

The government is also padding the numbers regarding the amount of old growth being protected, according to Green Party House Leader . ​ ​

“The amount that government says is protected has been inflated by unproductive forests that are not as ecologically valuable or economically productive — adding 54 trees to that number is not going to be enough to ensure that these forests are intact for years to come,” she said.

Ministry of Health Vancouver’s second urgent and primary care centre (UPCC) will open in East Vancouver later this summer — the ninth UPCC announced under the province’s primary care strategy. ​ ​

“Tens of thousands of area residents who currently lack a primary care provider will benefit from increased access to same day and ongoing primary care,” says Health Minister Adrian Dix. ​ ​

As with other UPCCs, the East Vancouver centre will be staffed by a team of health-care providers, including doctors, a variety of nursing staff, social workers and a clinical pharmacist.

Some urgent primary care services will be available in early August, and the centre is expected to be fully renovated and operational by October.

Renovation and associated one-time costs are estimated at $1.48 million; annual staffing and operating costs for the centre are projected at approximately $2.65 million.

Funding announcements

● On the final day of the 2019 Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference in Cranbrook, federal Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi announced a new $4.5-million ​ ​ ​ ​ Impact Canada challenge aimed at “accelerating made-in-Canada battery innovation to ​ ​ ​ better position the country in the highly competitive global market.” ○ The 18-month Charging the Future Challenge will see five finalists pitch their ​ ​ concepts to an expert jury for a chance to win up to $700,000 each to develop their battery prototype. The most promising battery breakthrough will be awarded a $1-million grand prize.

● The 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation Americas Olympic Qualifier ​ ​ ​ tournament will take place at Softball City in Surrey August 25 to September 1. The ​ ​ Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is providing $150,000 to support the event ​ through the Tourism Events Program and the Major Events Program. Team ​ ​ ​ ​ Canada’s women’s softball team will be vying for a spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. ○ Event organizers estimate the tournament will be a $10-million economic boon ​ ​ for B.C.

● Residents of the Chilcotin affected by heavy rain and flooding earlier this month can now ​ apply for Disaster Financial Assistance from the Ministry of Public Safety and ​ ​ ​ ​

Solicitor General. Applicants can receive up to 80 per cent in eligible damage costs, up ​ to a maximum of $300,000. ○ Assistance is available to “homeowners, residential tenants, small business owners, farmers, charitable organizations and local governments that were unable to obtain insurance to cover their disaster-related losses,” according to ​ the ministry.