BC Today – Daily Report August 21, 2020

Quotation of the day

“There’s a very easy metric to see if your program is working, because it’s written in the coroner’s report.”

Activist and journalist Garth Mullins says the B.C. government “doesn’t have a plan” to deal ​ ​ ​ ​ with the province’s worsening overdose crisis.

He is one of four advocates who stepped down from the province’s overdose crisis response committees last week.

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The house is adjourned for the summer.

How is COVID-19 affecting minority communities? B.C. doesn’t know B.C. has not begun collecting data that could reveal how minority communities — including

racialized people, ethnic groups and people with disabilities — are being affected by COVID-19 until a national data-gathering system is hashed out.

This week, the health ministry confirmed the province’s plan is stalled.

“This will be part of our new case reporting, but we are waiting on the national framework to ensure B.C. is collecting data that is consistent with what other provinces are doing,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement to BC Today. ​ ​

That national system is “in the works,” according to Dr. Bonnie Henry, but there is no timeline ​ ​ for when it might be implemented.

On June 1, Dr. Henry confirmed the province had not been collecting “disaggregated data by a person's ethnicity or their race.” Indigenous people in the province are an exception; the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) has been monitoring infections and fatalities among First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in the province due to the coronavirus.

Data released by the FNHA in June suggests Indigenous people in B.C. have “fared better” than ​ ​ the general population with 86 people confirmed to have contracted Covid as of June 14. Just three First Nations fatalities were confirmed.

Data from other jurisdictions indicates unequal impact of COVID-19 When it comes to non-Indigenous people, what little data the province has on how the pandemic is impacting different demographics suggests that non-white British Columbians are being disproportionately impacted.

Last week, the province released some of the results from the online survey it circulated in April and May (about 10 per cent of the province’s adult population responded).

Racialized British Columbians were more likely to report negative impacts as a result of the pandemic, but their experience was not uniform. Respondents who identified as West Asian, Latin American and South Asian were more likely to report significant financial impacts while those who identified as West Asian, Latin American and Black were more likely to report losing their jobs as a result of the pandemic.

Multi-ethnic, Japanese, Korean and South Asian respondents were the most likely to report difficulty accessing health care.

The survey results also suggested lower income British Columbians experienced more negative financial and health-related duress due to the pandemic.

However, the data did not provide Covid infection rates among various demographics.

Data released by the City of Toronto revealed Black people represented 21 per cent of ​ ​ infections — despite being just nine per cent of the population — and people who “identified as part of a racialized group” accounted for 83 per cent of the city’s confirmed Covid cases despite making up just half of the population.

Ontario has not made provincewide data on the racial, ethnic or economic status of Covid cases publicly available. Neither has Alberta. ​ ​

B.C.’s human rights commissioner has been asked to provide the province with “guidance, advice and recommendations for action” on demographic data collection with a focus on avoiding privacy issues and stigmatization. Commissioner Kasari Govender is due to report to ​ ​ the province by September 1.

Today’s events

August 20 at 10 a.m. — Online ​ Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General will provide an update on ​ ​ compliance and enforcement measures under the provincial state of emergency as part of B.C’s response to COVID-19

August 21 at 6:30 p.m. — Online ​ The BC Green Party’s Powell River—Sunshine Coast riding association will host a roundtable discussion between leadership hopefuls , Kim Darwin and Cam Brewer. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Topics of conversation

● B.C. reported 80 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. There were 780 active cases (down 18) with 11 people in hospital (up one), four of them critical. Two new deaths were reported, pushing the provincial total to 200. ○ A new community outbreak was declared at a Loblaws warehouse in Fraser Health. Nine cases had been confirmed as of yesterday. ○ All Covid cases on Haida Gwaii are now considered recovered. ○ Airbnb announced a global ban on parties and events at host properties for future ​ ​ bookings.

● B.C. political parties that receive the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy will be required to report how much funding they received through the program as part of their annual financial disclosures, according to Elections BC. The information will need to be included under the “Other Income” section of the Statement of Income and Expenses form, a spokesperson confirmed to BC Today. The 2020 annual reports must be filed by March ​ ​ 31, 2021.

○ Both the BC Liberal Party and the BC Green Party have received the subsidy. The Greens have applied for one period under the program so far — covering March 15 to April 11 — and received $41,134.02, according to a party spokesperson. The Liberals declined to specify how much they have received through the program to date. ○ Both parties are considering whether further applications will be necessary; the program is currently set to run through the end of this year.

● Four members of B.C.’s overdose crisis response committees have quit over concerns about the province’s handling of the crisis, The Tyee reports. Leslie McBain, co-founder ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ of Moms Stop the Harm; activists Garth Mullins and Dean Wilson; and BC-Yukon ​ ​ ​ ​ Association of Drug War Survivors president Hawkfeather Peterson sent a letter to ​ ​ Premier last week, advising him of their withdrawal until he can meet with ​ ​ them to discuss their concerns. ○ “I’m not going to stand at an open hole digging a grave with John Horgan,” Mullins told The Tyee.

● The Conservative Party of Canada chooses its new leader this weekend, and a few members of the BC Liberal caucus have weighed in with endorsements. ○ MLAs , and are backing Peter MacKay. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ No one in the caucus is endorsing his rival Erin O’Toole, but ex-Liberal energy ​ ​ minister Bill Bennett has thrown his support behind social conservative ​ ​ candidate Leslyn Lewis. ​ ​ ○ The results of the leadership campaign will be released Sunday evening.

News briefs

BC Ferries revenue down more than $100 million in first quarter of 2020 ● BC Ferries posted a net loss of $62 million in its first quarter of 2020, even though it cut ​ ​ its operating expenses by $36.7 million. Overall revenue was down $109 million compared to last year. ○ April 1 to June 30, BC Ferries performed 11.4 per cent fewer trips than last year — carrying 2.2 million passengers and 1.3 million vehicles, decreases of 61.5 per cent and 46.7 per cent, respectively. ○ The corporation has deferred capital expenditures and reduced discretionary spending in an attempt to compensate for the losses. ○ BC Ferries will be receiving bail-out funds from the federal government’s Safe Restart program, with a matching contribution from the province, but details of the funding have yet to be announced. ○ The corporation’s second quarter prospects are looking brighter than the first — overall ridership for July 2020 was 66 per cent of July 2019’s volume, the highest percentage since the start of the pandemic.

‘Misleading’ communication from education ministry following release of incorrect exam scores: Ombudsperson ● A “rushed and inadequate quality assurance process” resulted in B.C.’s education ministry posting more than 18,000 incorrect provincial exam scores in spring 2019, according to a report on the incident from the BC Ombudsperson’s office. “Our findings ​ ​ reveal a number of shortcomings in a system that young people were relying on at one of the key points of their lives,” wrote Ombudsperson Jay Chalke. “What followed was ​ ​ poor communication with students, families and post-secondary institutions at a time when clarity was needed.” ○ After sending out “more than 100,000 potentially incorrect transcripts” to post-secondary institutions, the ministry made “a series “of unclear, inaccurate and misleading statements” about the situation, per the report, and gave concerned parents and students “overly broad assurances” that it had the situation “firmly in hand.” ○ The ministry has accepted six recommendations from the ombudsperson — including establishing a compensation program for affected individuals by December 2020 and a forthcoming apology.

Appointments and employments

Two new members for BC Ferry Authority Board ● Jessica Bowering and David Levi were appointed members of the BC Ferry Authority ​ ​ ​ board for terms ending March 31, 2022.

Lobbyist registrations

Consultants who registered as lobbyists from August 14 – August 20, 2020

● Melanie Paradis, McMillan Vantage Policy Group ​ o Clients: POST Promise Corporation ​ ​

● Jennifer Gunter o Clients: Community Forest Association ​ ​

Organizations that registered in-house lobbyists from August 14 – August 20

● Catalyst Business Alliance ● Ridley Terminals Inc ● Science Alberta Foundation (Mindfuel) ● YMCA Okanagan