BC Today – Daily Report January 23, 2020

Quotation of the day

“What we are looking at in this project is an affront to Indigenous rights in ​ the Constitution.”

Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May encourages Premier to meet with the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Today in B.C.

Premier shifts jobs, energy cabinet portfolios and replaces citizens’ services minister Premier John Horgan announced three changes to his executive council Wednesday morning ​ ​ ​ ahead of a cabinet meeting in .

The mini-shuffle marks the first time Horgan has shook up cabinet portfolios since the NDP formed government in 2017.

Burnaby—Deer Lake MLA — previously the parliamentary secretary for seniors — ​ ​ is taking over as minister of citizens’ services from . Sims stepped down from ​ ​ cabinet in October when it was revealed a special prosecutor had been appointed to investigate unspecified allegations against her. Since then, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Selina ​ Robinson has been handling the file. ​

The jobs ministry — renamed from Jobs, Trade and Technology to Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness — will now be the responsibility of former energy, mines and petroleum resources minister . ​ ​

Former Jobs Minister will take over the energy portfolio. ​ ​

In her new role, Mungall will continue to focus on promoting the province’s tech sector as well as “economic growth in communities around the province” and supporting the competitiveness of B.C. businesses, according to the premier’s office. Mungall will also be responsible for trade, and engaging with industry stakeholders on the NDP government's “approach to quality economic growth.”

At the energy ministry, Ralston will be responsible for implementing CleanBC and guiding BC Hydro towards delivering the ambitious electrification demands the climate change plan will require.

Ralston retains his responsibility as the lead minister for consular affairs.

Along with the premier, he is a defendant in a defamation case set to go before the B.C. ​ ​ Supreme Court in April. The case relates to comments Ralston made disparaging former MLA Gordon Wilson’s work for the former Liberal government. ​

Wilson had led the Liberal government’s efforts to promote B.C.’s liquid natural gas sector for four years until his position was terminated by Ralston, who falsely claimed there was no evidence Wilson had done any work on the issue — a claim rebutted by more than 180 pages of ​ ​ reports and memos filed by Wilson during his first 15 months on the job and posted publicly on government websites.

Wilson’s suit claims $5 million in damages, alleging the comments aimed to harm his reputation ​ and “expose him to hatred, ridicule and contempt, to lower him in the estimation of others and to cause him to be shunned and avoided.”

‘Minor shuffle ignores major problems,’ Liberals say “It’s no surprise John Horgan had to replace Jinny Sims while she is under criminal investigation by the RCMP, but swapping two ministers and calling it shuffle to try to trick British Columbians into thinking he’s got a handle on things is just embarrassing,” Liberal Leader Andrew ​ Wilkinson said in a statement. “These changes today do nothing to solve the forestry crisis, ​ stop sky-rocketing ICBC rates, stop rent hikes, or stop our province losing jobs every single month.”

Liberal house leader Mary Polak accused the premier of “ignoring” British Columbians’ ​ ​ concerns.

“People are stranded with no ride-hailing, traffic is a disaster in the Lower Mainland, thousands of people in the forestry industry have been out of work for months and John Horgan thinks having two ministers swap offices is a solution to this?” she said. “British Columbians should be angry that this is the level of leadership we’re seeing from the Premier.”

Health officials ‘closely monitoring’ Wuhan coronavirus, but B.C. risk remains low A quarantine of Wuhan — a city in China’s Hubei province with a population of approximately 11 ​ ​ million people — goes into effect today in response to a new coronavirus that has killed 17 people in China and sickened hundreds of others. All public transportation in the city will be shut down, and planes, trains and buses will not be able to enter or leave the city.

Washington state has reported one case of the virus — a man who returned to the state from China last week is reportedly in stable condition at a hospital in Everett. ​ ​

Earlier this week, the Canadian Border Services Agency announced plans to ramp up screening for all international travellers arriving in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — any who admit to visiting Wuhan recently would be subject to “additional screening measures.”

But in B.C. the risk of the virus remains low, according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie ​ ​ ​ Henry. ​

"The BC Centre for Disease Control and provincial and federal authorities are closely monitoring the outbreak of respiratory illness linked to [the] novel coronavirus,” Dr. Henry said in a joint ​ statement with Health Minister . The centre for disease control has also developed a ​ ​ ​ diagnostic test for coronavirus (a comparable test was not available during the SARS outbreak). ​ ​

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said her province is coordinating with B.C., as well as ​ ​ Alberta.

No cases of the virus have been reported in the province or Canada.

Today’s events

January 23 at 11:30 a.m. — Gitaus ​

Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister will announce investments to ​ ​ improve access to trades training for Indigenous peoples throughout B.C. at the Kitselas First Nation Administration Building.

January 23 at 7 p.m. — Williams Lake ​ ​ The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development is holding an information session to provide details about wildfire risk reduction projects in the Williams Lake area. This event will take place at the Miocene Community Hall.

Topics of conversation

● A dozen people were arrested yesterday after a protest occupation of the Ministry of ​ ​ Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources offices in Victoria stretched into the night. The Victoria Police Department said officers used the “minimum amount of force” to remove ​ ​ protestors from the building and sidewalk outside the offices; as of yesterday evening, no charges had been laid. The protestors, including many Indigenous youth, were at the ministry office to support the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing the Coastal ​ ​ GasLink pipeline.

● “All due respect to Premier Horgan — separate levels of government — but he should be meeting with the Wet’suwet’en chiefs,” federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said ​ ​ ​ of the premier’s decision not to meet with the hereditary chiefs. ○ Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser travelled to ​ ​ Smithers yesterday after Horgan — whose suggestion of a phone call between himself and the chiefs was rebuffed — offered a face-to-face meeting with the minister instead.

● The First Nations LNG Alliance issued a pair of open letters — one to B.C.’s human ​ ​ rights commissioner and one to the United Nations Committee to End Racial ​ Discrimination — saying they disapprove of their condemnation of development projects proceeding without unanimous consent from affected First Nations. ○ “It is disheartening to see that the input from 20 First Nations, who participated extensively during five years of consultation on the pipeline, and have successfully negotiated agreements with Coastal GasLink, is so easily dismissed by the B.C. Human Rights Commission,” Karen Ogen-Toews, CEO of the ​ ​ alliance and a former elected Wet’suwet’en chief, wrote in the letter addressed to human rights commissioner Kasari Govender. ​ ​

News briefs - Governmental

Expert panel launches consultations on affordable housing

● The Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability — a joint venture ​ between B.C.’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — has begun consulting with experts, policy-makers and ​ ​ stakeholders as it looks to find ways to build on the NDP government’s affordable housing initiatives. The consultations will wrap up on April 3, and an interim report will be published “in summer 2020” with a final report due to the provincial and federal governments by the end of the year. ○ The panel, which was struck in September 2019, is hoping to hear from ​ ​ individuals and organizations “who are familiar with the housing challenges in B.C. and similar high-priced housing markets around the world.”

B.C. and Yukon partner to promote local food production, security ● A new partnership between the agriculture ministries in B.C. and the Yukon aims “to ​ ​ build food security and increase the supply and production of local food in the North.” A Memorandum of Understanding commits both provinces to collaborate on five goals over ​ the next two years, including reducing barriers to agricultural trade and increasing Indigenous access to “viable and sustainable” food production and agricultural opportunities.