BC Today – Daily Report September 22, 2020

Quotation of the day

“I believe the best way forward is to put politics behind us.” ​ ​

Premier launches the province into a general election. ​ ​

Day 1: Early election campaign begins

Horgan calls snap election he says will provide B.C. with needed stability After weeks of mounting speculation that an early election call was coming, Premier John ​ Horgan met with Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin Monday to request the dissolution of B.C.’s ​ ​ ​ 41st parliament.

The premier’s request was granted and Horgan announced the province’s 42nd general election outside his home in Langford at 11 a.m.

So begins the first B.C. election conducted under a provincial state of emergency, which the NDP government declared in response to the pandemic on March 18.

The emergency declaration is currently set to last through September 29 — almost a month before E-day, October 24.

A decision that ‘did not come easily’ Horgan told reporters he “struggled mightily” with the decision to call a snap election, but he was bold when describing his reasons for triggering the vote.

“This pandemic will be with us for a year or more and that’s why I believe we need to have an election now,” he said. “For 12 months, to wait for the next election, seems to me to be time wasted when we could be rolling up our sleeves and focusing on the things that matter most to British Columbians.”

The premier and his party have been polling high on acclaim over their handling of the pandemic — and out fundraising their political rivals. ​ ​

But Horgan denied the abrupt drawing up of writs was opportunistic, claiming that the pandemic has changed everything.

“I believe stability is what’s required, not just for the next 12 months but for the next four years,” he said.

While he touted the NDP government’s joint accomplishments with the Green Party — from “the most ambitious climate action plan in the country” to historic legislation on Indigenous rights — Horgan also blamed the Greens for destabilizing the NDP’s minority government.

“The stability that I believe we had over the course of our minority government is not as strong as it was when we began,” he said, citing “challenges with passing legislation” during the summer session due to the Green caucus’s concerns about two government bills, including the controversial Bill 22, which proposed weeklong involuntary holds for young people who ​ ​ ​ ​ overdose.

Finance Minister — who is retiring from politics — will be tasked with liaising with ​ ​ the public service while key cabinet ministers hit the campaign trail during the pandemic.

“There is not a person in that I have more confidence in than her,” he told reporters.

Furstenau fires back, promises to hold Horgan accountable Green Party Leader blasted Horgan’s scrapping of the Confidence and ​ ​ Supply Agreement (CASA), saying she affirmed her caucus’s commitment to the deal during a conversation with the premier last Friday.

“This is not a time when we put the interest of a political party ahead of the British Columbians,” she told reporters shortly after the NDP leader’s announcement. “I am disappointed that this is what John Horgan has chosen to do, and I fully intend to hold him accountable for this ​ ​ decision.”

She also pushed back against Horgan implying that it was the Greens that first violated CASA by refusing to support some of the government’s summer legislation.

“Nowhere in that agreement does it say we have to support every bill,” Furstenau said, noting CASA committed the Green caucus to supporting “confidence bills and budget bills” only.

The Green leader said Horgan can “make all sorts of excuses” for making the snap election call, but “he has to realize that he is out of touch with reality for most British Columbians right now.”

Furstenau said the party intends “to run a provincewide campaign” and is “committed to bringing forward a diverse slate of candidates” but danced around questions as to how many nominations the party has locked in so far.

Snap election is ‘just plain wrong,’ Wilkinson says Liberal Party Leader also had harsh words for Horgan for calling what ​ ​ Wilkinson characterized as “an election nobody in B.C. wants except for the NDP.”

“What kind of person does that in the middle of a pandemic — rip up a deal that would have led to stable government for the next year?” he said of the NDP leader’s decision to disregard CASA.

The Liberal election platform will present a vision for “a very positive future for British Columbia,” Wilkinson told reporters, including “strong environmental messages” and plans to “build the economy and attract investment.”

Wilkinson also promised support for families struggling to balance work and child care and solutions for what he described as “the nightmare of drug addiction dominating our streets.”

He also reiterated messaging from recent party posts, saying the Liberal platform will include “a ​ ​ plan to improve safety on our streets and stop the crime wave rolling over British Columbia.”

Today’s events

September 22 - 25 — Online ​ The Union of BC Municipalities annual convention kicks off today. At 10:15 a.m. a panel — featuring BC Green Party executive director Jonina Campbell and Maria Dobrinskaya of the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Broadbent Institute — will discuss the provincial election. At 1 p.m., UBCM president Maja Tait ​

will host a plenary session on leadership lessons learned from the pandemic featuring Lieutenant-Governor Janet Austin, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and former ​ ​ ​ ​ Tsawwassen First Nation chief Kim Baird. ​ ​

September 22 at 7 p.m. — Online ​ Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau will host a Q&A session via Zoom to respond to ​ ​ ​ ​ supporter questions about the early election.

Topics of conversation

● B.C. reported 128 new COVID-19 cases yesterday. There were 1,987 active cases (up 184 since Friday) with 60 people in hospital (up one), 21 of them critical (up one). Four new deaths were reported, pushing the provincial total to 227. ○ A new outbreak was declared at Yaletown House, a long-term care facility in Coastal Health where one staff member has tested positive. The outbreak at the Queen’s Park Care Centre in Fraser Health was declared over.

Nomination rollcall

NDP The NDP sent out a list of confirmed candidates to date — including former NDP MP Nathan ​ Cullen as the party’s candidate in Stikine. ​

Election hopeful Annita McPhee got the news her nomination bid was rejected — due to ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ technical issues — on Twitter.

Along with Premier John Horgan in Langford—Juan de Fuca, the NDP released a list a of ​ ​ newly confirmed incumbents who will run in election 42, including:

● —Maillardville MLA ; ​ ​ ● Esquimalt—Metchosin MLA ; ​ ​ ● Kootenay West MLA ; ​ ​ ● MLA ; ​ ​ ● Nanaimo— North Cowichan MLA ; ​ ​ ● North Coast MLA ; ​ ​ ● —Lonsdale MLA ; ​ ​ ● Port Coquitlam MLA ; ​ ​ ● — Coquitlam MLA ; ​ ​ ● Powell River—Sunshine Coast MLA ; ​ ​ ● Saanich South MLA ; ​ ​ ● Surrey—Fleetwood MLA Jagrup Brar; ​ ​ ● Surrey—Green Timbers MLA ; ​ ​

● Surrey—Whalley MLA ; ​ ​ ● Vancouver—Fairview MLA ; ​ ​ ● Vancouver—Kensington MLA ; ​ ​ ● Vancouver—Kingsway MLA ; ​ ​ ● Vancouver—Mount Pleasant MLA ; ​ ​ ● Vancouver—Point Grey MLA ; ​ ​ ● Vancouver—West End MLA ; and ​ ​ ● Victoria—Swan Lake MLA . ​ ​

New faces are: ● Nicole Cherlet in Columbia River—Revelstoke; ​ ● in Langley; ​ ● in North Island; ​ ● in Surrey—Cloverdale; and ​ ● Tesicca Truong in Vancouver—Langara. ​

North Cowichan Councillor Rob Douglas is seeking the NDP nomination in Cowichan — Green ​ ​ Party Leader Sonia Furstenau’s riding. ​ ​

BC Liberals Leader Andrew Wilkinson provided an update on current Liberal MLAs running for re-election, ​ ​ on top of those previously announced and with more to come. Wilkinson’s list featured:

● Prince George—Valemount MLA ; ​ ​ ● Skeena MLA ; ​ ​ ● Vancouver—Langara MLA Michael Lee; ​ ​ ● North Vancouver—Seymour MLA ; and ​ ​ ● Fraser—Nicola MLA . ​ ​

New faces include: ● , CEO of Troika Developments, who has been nominated to run in the ​ —Mission riding where veteran Liberal MLA Steve Thomson will not run again; ​ ​ and ● Matt Pitcairn, president of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, whose candidacy in ​ Richmond—Steveston was announced minutes after Liberal MLA announced ​ ​ he would not seek re-election. ○ Yap joins Liberal MLAs Linda Larson, , , Ralph ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sultan, Steve Thomson and . ​ ​ ​ ​

News briefs

Williams Lake First Nation seals deal on local cannabis retail and cultivation

● A government-to-government agreement between the Williams Lake First Nation legitimizes the First Nation’s cannabis retail outlet, as well as its under-construction cannabis cultivation facility, which will offer farm-to-gate cannabis sales. ○ The nation’s cannabis retail outlet is located on reserve and was not technically legal under provincial law. But B.C.’s cannabis legislation contains an “agreement-making provision” to “allow some flexibility” to address community-specific interests from Indigenous governments, per the solicitor general’s ministry.

● In a separate announcement, the solicitor general’s ministry said “new direct delivery and farm-gate sales programs” are in the works for cannabis producers in B.C. The “targeted launch” for these programs is 2022. ○ BC Today previously reported on the struggles budding craft cannabis producers ​ ​ have faced getting to market.