January 11, 2021

BC Today – Daily Report January 11, 2021

Quotation of the day

“I’m very worried NDP incompetence will not help people in need.”

Liberal Jobs critic Todd Stone has concerns about B.C.’s prospects for economic recovery under the NDP in light of December’s labour force survey.

Today in B.C.

Written by Shannon Waters

On the schedule The house is adjourned until March 1.

There are currently no committee meetings scheduled for the remainder of January.

The next committee set to meet is the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services on February 1. The agenda has not yet been posted.

No ‘one size fits all’ approach to implementing Declaration Act

How will B.C.’s Declaration Act — over a year old and not yet fully implemented — affect the NDP government’s approach to legislation in the coming years?

It could mean more time is needed in the lead-up to drafting new bills, according to Premier John Horgan, who told BC Today the law commits the province to “discussing our legislation in some detail beyond what we have done in the past with the First Nations Leadership Council and others who are affected.”

Along with prepping Budget 2021, Horgan said the two-month span before the next session begins will be spent ensuring forthcoming spring bills comply with the act’s commitments.

But not every piece of legislation will have to be hashed out with an eye to the United Nations declaration, according to Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin.

“Many bills just simply will not,” Rankin said, citing legislation related to “financing and finance authorities” as examples of legislation that may not require much consultation with Indigenous stakeholders.

The issue came up during the December session when Liberal Attorney General critic Mike de Jong asked Finance Minister Selina Robinson whether her ministry consulted with Indigenous peoples on the Finance Statutes Amendment Act, which enabled the delay of the 2021 budget. No consultations were done, Robinson said, because “changing a date for the budget, with no interruptions of funding and services, does not have an impact on Indigenous rights and title.”

Indigenous relations minister wants to simplify process with pre-approved template Rankin — whose task list for this year includes crafting a dedicated secretariat to ensure provincial policies and legislation are consistent with the United Nations declaration — suggested “certain categories” of bills and regulations could be crafted via an approved template that ensures their compliance with the declaration (although, during the December interview, Rankin said he had yet to run the idea by Indigenous stakeholders).

Rankin views the full implementation of the Declaration Act as “a machinery of government issue” — building efficient and effective processes will be key to ensuring the legislation process can be conducted smoothly.

“[Some bills] we’ll need to really drill down on depending on the nature of the bill in question,” he told BC Today. “If that's the case — and we have a clear process, which everybody has signed off on — it may not be as difficult as people have suggested it might be.”

“In other words, one size fits all will not work in this field,” he added.

The Declaration Act also requires all of the province’s existing laws and regulations comply with the UN declaration. Asked which undertaking will be more complicated — drafting new laws or reviewing old ones — Rankin suggested that ensuring retroactive compliance may be arduous but could be less complex.

The former federal representative harkened back to the introduction of the Canadian Charter in the 1980s, which required a “massive review” of legislation for issues related to discrimination.

“I don’t remember it being that complicated — it just was time consuming,” Rankin said. “So I don't know that going back in time will be all that difficult — if we start off on the right tone, and we have a good framework in which to do the work going forward.”

Today’s events

January 11 at 3 p.m. — Online Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will provide an update on Covid in B.C.

January 11-15 at 6 p.m. — Online The BC Liberal Party is holding another series of virtual renewal meetings this week to solicit ideas on what the party “needs to do going forward in order to strengthen [the] organization in the years to come.”

Topics of conversation

● B.C. reported 617 new cases of Covid on Friday. There were 6,118 active cases (down 231) with 358 Covid patients hospitalized (down 14), 75 of them critical (up one). Eighteen new deaths were reported, pushing the total to 988. ○ Cowichan Tribes members are under a shelter in place order until January 22 following the confirmation of 23 Covid cases among members since the beginning of the month. ○ The Snuneymuxw First Nation, which is also experiencing an outbreak, reported that 71 per cent of the on-reserve community received a shot of the Moderna vaccine. Island Health is monitoring the effectiveness of the community-based vaccine intervention.

● The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends keeping the interval between doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid vaccine to 21 to 28 days, but — in “exceptional epidemiological circumstances” — the interval can be extended up to 42 days. Supply constraints and high case counts may necessitate a “pragmatic approach” to managing the dosage interval, according to the WHO’s immunization advisory group. ○ B.C. is currently planning to administer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine 35 days apart.

● The NDP government needs to provide more specifics on the province’s Covid vaccination plan, according to the BC Liberals. ○ “People are looking to this government for a detailed plan that answers important questions like how it is being distributed, what the timelines are, and why there are differences in health authorities,” Liberal Health critic Renee Merrifield said

in a statement. “Everyone deserves more answers than what they’ve been getting from John Horgan and the NDP so far.” ○ The province plans to vaccinate about 550,000 people in high-priority and high-risk groups by the end of March.

● The mayor of Castlegar is stepping down in the wake of reporting that he travelled to a family cabin in the Okanagan over the holidays, against advice from B.C.’s public health officer. Bruno Tassone chalked his resignation up to “lateral violence” and “bullying behaviour” from fellow Castlegar councillors and media. ○ “I find it extremely disheartening that certain council members who wish to stand for inclusion, advocation and awareness around mental health have come to be the very people instigating and inflicting pain onto others,” Tassone wrote in a letter to council members.

News briefs

B.C. the only province to add jobs in December ● Employment in B.C. did not change much in December 2020, increasing 0.2 per cent over the previous month. Gains in full-time positions (+24,000) were offset by losses in part-time positions (-20,300) for an overall increase of 3,800 positions. Unemployment in the province barely budged — dropping 0.1 per cent from November — at 7.2 per cent. ○ The accommodation and food services sector saw the largest declines in B.C. while the construction sector made the biggest gains. ○ Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon noted B.C.’s employment is back to 98.7 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Kahlon highlighted “reasons for hope” in long-term economic forecasts, which predict the province will see the highest GDP growth in the country this year, but acknowledged “disproportionate [economic] impacts on people of colour” and bleak outcomes for the tourism and hospitality sectors. ○ Liberal Jobs critic Todd Stone highlighted job losses for youth workers — 3,500 jobs lost in B.C. in December and a 1.1 per cent drop countrywide — and said in a statement he is “very worried NDP incompetence will not help people in need” this year. ○ “We have been urging the NDP government to come up with a sector-by-sector jobs plan and provide immediate economic relief to our distressed labour market, particularly the restaurant and tourism sector,” Stone said. “How can British Columbians expect a faster job recovery when the government makes it so difficult for businesses barely hanging on to get the help they need to survive?”

Funding announcements

● Buzz, Buzz. B.C. beekeepers and apian organizations can now apply for the latest round of grants from Bee BC. Grants of up to $5,000 will go to bee health and habitat preservation projects.

BC Today is written by Shannon Waters, reporting from the British Columbia Legislative Press Gallery.

What did you think of this Daily Report? What else would you like to see here? Email [email protected] and let us know.