Daily Report September 18, 2019 Today in BC

B.C. Today – Daily Report September 18, 2019 Quotation of the day “We believe this is a wrong-headed project. We are exercising every bit of jurisdiction we can to defend British Columbia’s environment, our coast, our jobs with regulations and with environmental assessment conditions where appropriate.” Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister George Heyman says the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is “bad for British Columbia” as his ministry gears up to review the pipeline’s provincial environmental assessment certificate following a decision from the B.C. Court of Appeal. Today in B.C. Provincial appeals court gives B.C. the option to reassess provincial conditions on Trans Mountain pipeline expansion It ain’t over till it’s over. A pair of decisions released by the B.C. Court of Appeal yesterday could allow the province to place more conditions on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion — at least on the sections of the pipeline that run through B.C. and in areas that fall under provincial, rather than federal, jurisdiction. The court’s ruling allows for a “limited” appeal of the provincial environmental assessment certificate issued to Trans Mountain by the former B.C. Liberal government because it was based on the same flawed report that resulted in the Federal Court of Appeal overturning Ottawa’s original approval of the project. B.C.’s environmental assessment certificate and the 37 conditions it required of the pipeline expansion project are now subject to “reconsideration and consequent adjustment,” in light of changes the National Energy Board made in its February reconsideration report. The court cases leading to the decisions were filed by the City of Vancouver and the Squamish Nation. The court rejected one aspect of the Squamish Nation’s claim, concluding that B.C. “met its duty to consult and accommodate Squamish.” “It’s not our goal to use this court decision as a tactic,” Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister George Heyman told reporters yesterday afternoon. “We intend to take the direction of the court seriously. We intend to do the job responsibly and within the laws of Canada and British Columbia.” “We want to do this right and we will take the time required to design a process to do this right,” Heyman added, declining to put a time frame on the reconsideration process. The B.C. government and the ministries named in the court filings — Environment and what was once the Ministry of Natural Gas (now Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources) — are still reviewing the court decision and its implications, according to Heyman. While he admitted that it is beyond B.C.’s power to stop TMX, Heyman said the provincial government plans to do “everything [it] can to ensure that British Columbia’s interests are protected.” “We have continually identified for the federal government and the National Energy Board weaknesses that we found in the measures identified by Trans Mountain … to protect against an oil spill,” he told reporters. “Some of this is outside of B.C.’s jurisdiction and squarely in Canada’s. We will continue to advocate strongly for changes and for the greatest possible protections in the event this project goes forward.” While TMX does not “legally require” B.C.’s certification to proceed, Heyman said provincial permits dependent on the environmental assessment certificate “will wait” until the review process is completed. Reaction The Squamish Nation is expecting the province to “consult extensively and deeply” with it and other impacted nations before completing its reevaluation process. “Premier Horgan and his government need to set the bar higher and rethink their approach to the TMX Project, and truly respect Indigenous rights by jointly reviewing with the Squamish Nation and other concerned First Nations whose territories would be directly impacted by the pipeline expansion,” spokesperson Khelsilem said in a statement. “There’s a lot of talk of reconciliation at the provincial level, and this is a critical opportunity for the province to put its words into action.” Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage tweeted her response to the decision on Tuesday afternoon, saying “nothing in the ruling should delay the current construction schedule” given the work the B.C. government has done since 2017. “In the current environment — including severe instability overseas — any potential delay in the construction of this pipeline is deeply disturbing,” Savage said. “We hope that the NDP will not use today’s news as a chance to obstruct and delay this vital national project,” Liberal Environment critic Peter Milobar said in a statement “Constructing this pipeline will provide significant benefits to B.C., helping to alleviate gas prices while creating new jobs and investment in the province.” He accused the NDP government of trying to “obstruct the project at every turn.” “It is high time for the government to get out of the way and allow the project to continue,” he said. “John Horgan must re-approve the environmental assessment certificate and allow British Columbians to get to work building this much-needed pipeline.” Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver described the court’s decision as empowering for B.C. “The court has shown yet again the many shortcomings of the environmental assessment process that leaves our province facing the unacceptable environmental impacts that an expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline threatens to bring to our province,” Weaver said in a statement. “British Columbia’s economic future lies in the innovative, creative industries that are leading global economic growth, not in continued fossil-fuel infrastructure development that created the climate challenges that our communities and resource-based industries are struggling to cope with today.” NDP government ‘throwing in the towel’ instead of fighting for forestry industry: B.C. Liberals Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson’s announcement of $69 million to support forestry workers affected by mill closures and curtailments in B.C.’s Interior will be “little comfort” to workers, according to Liberal MLA Mike Morris (Prince George—Mackenzie), who attended the government announcement in Prince George yesterday. “It appears the NDP is throwing in the towel and conceding that B.C. has too many mills and the industry needs to be downsized,” Morris said. “Today’s announcement does nothing to drive down costs to help existing producers stay competitive and keep workers working.” So far this year, four Interior mills have permanently closed their doors and another 13 have closed indefinitely, according to the forests ministry, affecting up to 1,700 workers. When workers affected by temporary curtailments are included, the total rises to 3,000 people who “could be beneficiaries” of the funding announced yesterday. The aid package includes $15 million for a new short-term forest employment program, focused on getting unemployed mill employees as well as contractors working on fire prevention, community protection and forest resiliency projects. Another $12 million is earmarked to help forestry workers access training programs and to offer grants to employers and communities to provide those programs. A further $2 million will establish a new job placement coordination office responsible for tracking individual forestry workers as they make their way through retraining programs and, hopefully, into new employment. In communities where “a major forest employer” has closed, short-term assistance grants will be made available. Most of the funding — $40 million over two years — will go to establishing a “cost-shared, early-retirement bridging program for older forest workers.” The program will focus on “age-eligible workers” — those 55 and over — affected by the closure or curtailment of their local mill, according to the forests minister, as well as “age-eligible workers whose [job] could be filled by an impacted worker from another facility.” By Donaldson’s count, about 400 people will be eligible for the bridging program in its “first go-round.” But Morris says pushing older workers out of the industry isn’t the answer. “I know for a fact that there are plenty of people in communities like Mackenzie who would rather have long-term job stability rather than simply being shown the exit,” he said. Liberal Forests critic John Rustad blasted the announcement, saying the government’s efforts fail to address market factors driving the B.C. forest industry’s downturn. “Clearly, the NDP does not see its own role in the crisis by making B.C. the least competitive jurisdiction in North America to do business,” Rustad said in a statement. “High taxes and a refusal to make stumpage fees more consistent with current market values is pricing B.C. out of reach.” “There was nothing announced today to help the industry return to a healthy and competitive position,” he added. Donaldson said that while the government is committed to supporting people and communities affected by the province-wide industry contraction, B.C. needs “the forest industry and the federal government to step up and do their part as well.” Asked if the province is considering recalibrating its stumpage fees, Donaldson backed B.C.’s system as “tried and true” and reflective of market conditions affecting log costs and lumber prices. “It's a rigorous, well-tested system,” he told reporters. “It's been the main reason that we've won in the courts around our appeals on the softwood lumber disagreement.” The government has “no plans to decrease stumpage at this time,” according to Donaldson, because doing so would be “very risky” to Canada’s softwood lumber case against the United States. As for why it took so long for the provincial government to lay out its response to the sagging industry, Donaldson said the NDP was waiting on the work of the community transition response teams that were deployed to affected communities shortly after closures and curtailments were announced.

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