BC Today – Daily Report January 27, 2021 Today in B.C

BC Today – Daily Report January 27, 2021

Quotation of the day

“Just plain nonsense.”

Liberal Public Safety critic Mike Morris is skeptical of the savings the NDP government says B.C. drivers will see under ICBC’s new no-fault model, launching in May.

Today in B.C.

Written by Shannon Waters

On the schedule The house is adjourned until March 1.

B.C.’s natural resource ministers will participate in a roundtable discussion at the virtual BC Natural Resources Forum this afternoon, sharing their thoughts on the “pivotal role” the industries will play “in restoring the province’s economic prosperity.”

B.C. boasts ‘most robust’ provincial response to Covid: report British Columbia has committed more of its GDP to pandemic spending than any other province by far, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The left-leaning think tank pegs B.C.’s pandemic expenditures through 2020 at nearly three per cent of the province’s 2019 GDP — double Quebec’s commitment of 1.5 per cent of the province’s GDP and well ahead of second-place Manitoba, which earmarked two per cent of its 2019 GDP to pandemic support measures.

Direct pandemic spending measures in B.C. totalled $10,300 per person, according to CCPA, and while just 16 per cent is coming from provincial coffers, the provincial government is still contributing more to that figure than any of its counterparts.

By contrast, Alberta — which has received the most federal funding per capita of all the provinces — chipped in just seven per cent of its $11,200 in per person pandemic spending.

The bulk of B.C.’s direct pandemic spending, $4,500 per person, has gone to individuals. At $800 per person, B.C. has provided far more in individual support per capita than any other province — eight times more than Quebec, the next most generous province.

While the NDP government provided two benefits of up to $1,000 and a $300 supplement for assistance recipients that lasted for nine months, the bulk of individual supports were still paid for by Ottawa via CERB and other programs.

Businesses have received about $4,000 per capita — again, mostly on the federal tab — and direct spending on health measures totalled $1,150 per person. B.C. committed heavily to health spending in the early days of the pandemic before federal dollars began to roll in, but the report estimates that 94 per cent of the province’s pandemic health spending was covered by Ottawa.

Acting early paid off for province B.C. was one of six provinces that did not manage to take full advantage of Ottawa’s pay top-up program for low-wage front-line workers, leaving $29.8 million on the table.

That’s “not for lack of trying,” according to CCPA senior economist David Macdonald, who authored the report.

B.C.’s initial submission to the program in the spring didn’t have enough participants to max out the funds available, so the province made a second submission, capturing more of the money available.

The program’s application process involved a lot of leg work, Macdonald said, making it challenging for provinces to secure the maximum amount they were eligible for.

“They had to go to the feds and say, ‘We’ve got this hospital signed up, and we've got this long-term care centre signed up, and they've got this many people at this wage rate,’” Macdonald told BC Today. “If you didn't get enough hospitals and long-term care homes and so on applying, then you wouldn't necessarily pick up the total amount that was available.”

B.C. is also still sitting on more than $150 million in federal funding — $56.9 million dedicated to early childhood education and $102.4 million to support job training for workers in hard-hit sectors.

Affordable-housing focus primed NDP for housing cash But the NDP government’s focus on addressing housing affordability put B.C. in a prime position to maximize its share of one particular federal program.

“In terms of the Rapid Housing Initiative, [B.C. was] really the only province with a plan in place and so they likely captured a fifth of that money,” Macdonald said.

The fund provided $500 million to provinces keen to create affordable housing quickly — such as by converting hotels and motels into affordable and supportive housing, something B.C. began doing in the early days of the pandemic.

The province has committed $111 million to buy hotels and motels for conversion into housing.

This spring, Macdonald expects to see government spending pivot towards infrastructure — an area where B.C. has not focused its Covid response as heavily as some other provinces.

“The federal government has got another $70 billion to $100 billion on the table that's going to come up in this spring budget … and that will likely be much more devoted to things like physical infrastructure, but also social infrastructure — like long-term care and child care,” he said. “I do expect this picture to change a fair amount once that comes out.”

B.C.’s spring budget is set to drop on April 20.

Today’s events

January 27 at 9 a.m. — Online Federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan will deliver a keynote address at the virtual BC Natural Resources Forum.

January 27 at 1 p.m. — Online Premier John Horgan will hold a media availability.

Topics of conversation

● B.C. reported 407 new Covid cases yesterday. There were 4,260 active cases (down 132) with 313 Covid patients hospitalized (down 15), 71 of them critical (up three). Fourteen new deaths were reported, pushing the total to 1,168.

● Covid vaccine queue jumpers Rod and Ekaterina Baker won’t be getting their second shots in B.C. until they are eligible under the province’s age-based vaccine program, per the health ministry.

○ “There is no room in B.C.’s COVID-19 immunization plan for people who deliberately put vulnerable populations at risk in order to receive their vaccine before the start of their eligibility group,” the ministry said in a statement.

● Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau pushed back against provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s Monday call for British Columbians to “do more” to reduce Covid transmission in the province. “I believe the vast majority of people are already doing literally everything they can,” Furstenau tweeted following Monday’s Covid briefing. “Gov can’t put this all on individuals, we need better leadership.” ○ The Green leader called for travel restrictions, a classroom mask mandate and ventilation improvements in schools, as well as “more data and transparent, consistent communications” about the pandemic’s impact on the province.

● A former BC Lottery Corporation executive has accused Attorney General David Eby of muzzling the agency and interfering in its operations in order to cast the NDP government’s anti-money laundering work in a positive light. ○ Robert Kroeker, BCLC’s former chief compliance officer, told the Cullen Commission Eby’s office prevented BCLC from responding to incorrect media reports in an attempt to control the narrative around suspicious cash transactions and delayed the implementation of measures designed to curb money laundering so they wouldn’t preempt recommendations from Peter German’s report on the issue. Kroeker was let go from BCLC in July 2019. He claims he was fired without cause. ○ Eby’s office has declined to comment on any “evidence that may be put before the commissioner.”

● Stay tuned: Solicitor General Mike Farnworth told reporters yesterday there will be news about an ICBC rebate — reflective of the corporation’s savings due to the pandemic — “very soon,” following discussions with the Treasury Board. ○ The province also dropped a new calculator yesterday to help B.C. drivers determine what their insurance costs will look like under the forthcoming no-fault model set to kick off on May 1. ○ Mike Morris, the Liberal critic on the file, is skeptical. “Until drivers actually see a cheque in the mail, it’s just the NDP once again kicking empty promises down the road,” he said in a statement. ICBC reported net income of approximately $420 million in its second quarter.

● The Justice Institute of BC has trained nearly 2,000 Chinese law enforcement officials and dozens of Chinese state judges through its international law enforcement studies program since 2013, Business in Vancouver reports. ○ BIV’s in-depth investigation maps the expansion of the post-secondary institution’s internationally focused programs — including one developed “through educational partnerships with Chinese police colleges” — which ramped up in the wake of a Memorandum of Understanding between B.C. and China’s Guangdong province, signed by former Liberal advanced education minister Andrew Wilkinson.

New briefs

New supportive housing coming to North Van ● The District of North Vancouver and RainCity Housing are partnering with the province on a proposal to build 60 supportive homes for women at risk of homelessness. The five-storey building would be built on a property owned by the district; a rezoning application is set to go before council on March 29. If approved, construction could start in the fall. ○ BC Housing has planned a series of virtual neighbourhood discussions on the project between February 10 and 25.

Funding announcements

Federal funding for remote air service ● Ottawa will cover up to $2.18 million in costs incurred by remote B.C. communities to get goods and services delivered via small air carriers between July 1 and December 31, 2020. ○ The BC Aviation Council is providing input on how the current funding should be allocated.

New Eagle Mountain Elementary to open in September 2022 ● Construction is underway on the new Eagle Mountain Elementary School in Abbotsford. The new school will also feature a community learning centre with nearly 100 child care spaces. ○ The Ministry of Education is providing $24.7 million toward the new facility with the Abbotsford School District contributing $2.5 million.

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

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