BC Today – Daily Report July 8, 2020 Quotation of the day “Private insurance in British Columbia has a very unfortunate record, whether you're looking at strata insurance right now or the history of car insurance in our province.” Attorney General David Eby takes a dig at private insurance companies trying to influence the ​ ​ government’s ICBC overhaul. Today in B.C. On the schedule The house will convene at 1 p.m. for question period. The government will hold its weekly cabinet meeting in the morning. Premier John Horgan is expected to hold his weekly media availability in the afternoon. ​ ​ Tuesday’s debates and proceedings Bill 9, Evidence Amendment Act, cleared committee stage and it was immediately granted third ​ reading. The bill limits the number of experts and expert witness reports that can be used in automobile injury claims cases and caps the costs lawyers can pass on to their clients. The house then returned to committee stage on Bill 19, COVID-19 Related Measures Act, ​ ​ which would allow the province to extend emergency orders related to COVID-19 beyond the provincial state of emergency. Eby smacks down insurance industry pitch on optional coverage The NDP government’s bill to shift ICBC to a no-fault model has not yet reached committee stage, but that hasn’t stopped the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) from proposing amendments to the legislation. The planned move to no-fault insurance presents “a unique opportunity” to “create a more competitive market” for auto-insurance in B.C., according to a letter from IBC president and ​ ​ CEO Donald Forgeron to Premier John Horgan. ​ ​ ​ ​ Forgeron wants the B.C. government to look to Quebec’s hybrid auto-insurance system, which requires drivers to buy injury coverage from the provincial public insurer but “provides full consumer choice” for vehicle damage coverage — allowing private insurers to offer both mandatory and optional plans. Doing so could cut ICBC’s $1,500 projection for annual no-fault premiums in half, according to Forgeron. Attorney General David Eby called Forgeron’s insinuation that private insurers will have fewer ​ ​ products to offer under the incoming no-fault model “bizarre.” “Just the opposite — there will be new products that they will be able to offer to British Columbians,” Eby told reporters yesterday. “There will be continued competition on the optional side.” The attorney general took the opportunity to hit back at the industry that has dogged the government’s efforts to reform ICBC. “I’m surprised to hear from the IBC at this time — I mean, they're really struggling to deliver affordable strata insurance to British Columbia,” he said, calling the strata insurance costs the industry has been offering B.C. strata buildings “incredibly problematic.” Eby said he doesn’t plan to take the industry’s suggestions, noting the NDP is currently legislating “reforms around their excesses.” He pledged that the government’s planned reforms will reduce auto-insurance premiums for British Columbians — by an average of $400 per year — and pointed to Alberta and Ontario as examples of jurisdictions where private insurers have failed to deliver affordability for drivers. “They're failing in Ontario, they're failing in Alberta, and they're not going to fail in British Columbia because we can't afford to move to the kind of model that they're proposing,” Eby said. The Insurance Bureau of Canada maintains it wants to “be part of the solution to the affordability challenges facing BC drivers.” Topics of conversation ● B.C. confirmed 12 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the province’s total to 2,990. The provincial death toll remains at 183. There were 16 people hospitalized, four of them critical, and with 2,645 people recovered from the disease, there were 162 active cases in the province. ○ The outbreak at Tabor Home in Fraser Health was declared resolved. ○ An exposure alert was issued for the Hotel Belmont in Vancouver. Anyone who visited the bar and nightclub between June 27 and June 29 is asked to self-monitor and, if COVID-19 symptoms develop, to contact public health. ● The provincial state of emergency was extended through July 21 yesterday. ○ Once Bill 19, COVID-19 Related Measures Act, becomes law, the government ​ ​ will have the power to extend emergency provisions created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic “as needed” once the provincial state of emergency ends. ● In an open letter to the country’s premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a suite of ​ ​ retired deputy health ministers, chief public health officers and hospital CEOs stated the “elimination of COVID-19 is not a practical objective for Canada until we have a vaccine” and governments must be “realistic” about how long the development and inoculation period will actually take. The authors’ push is for governments to more clearly inform Canadians about “their true level of risk” so they can deal with the disease and get on with their lives. ○ “We need to accept that there will be cases and outbreaks of COVID-19,” the letter states. “We cannot sustain universal control measures indefinitely.” ○ Their top recommendation is to reopen schools, businesses and health care. ● B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) issued two non-compliance orders to Coastal GasLink last month for not adequately mitigating damage done to wetlands and for failing to conduct required surveys before clearing land, The Narwhal reports. ​ ​ ​ ​ ○ The company is now required to stop construction work within 30 metres of designated wetlands until surveys have been done and the affected sites have been visited by a wetlands conservation expert to “identify options for minimizing” construction impacts. ● British Columbians are the most likely to approve of their province’s response to the coronavirus pandemic with 83 per cent expressing support, according to a poll ​ conducted by Research Co. at the end of June — a 14 per cent increase since May. Albertans are the least impressed with their provincial government’s response at 62 per cent, a six point increase since May. ● Seventy-one per cent of British Columbians think B.C. separating from Canada is a terrible idea, according to a poll from Abacus Data, but 16 per cent said they could live ​ ​ with it and 13 per cent expressed support for the proposal. ○ Seven per cent of those living across the four western-most provinces think it would be a good thing if all four western provinces separated — 81 per cent of them voted conservative in 2019. News briefs Mobile Service BC cards move to virtual activation ● British Columbians can now activate their mobile Service BC cards — required for accessing a variety of government services — by sending a photo and short video of themselves to Service BC, eliminating the need to visit a branch in person. ○ About 4.7 million British Columbians have a Service BC card but must activate and verify the mobile version in order to access the government services currently available online, including StudentAidBC. So far, about 125,000 mobile cards have been activated. Funding announcements ● Dawson Civil Limited of Kamloops has been awarded the $25.9-million contract to ​ four-lane a stretch of the Trans Canada Highway that runs through the Village of Chase. ​ Work is set to begin later this summer. ○ The section is part of the ongoing widening of the highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border. ● The Rose Bowl Restaurant in Campbell River will be converted into bridge housing for ​ ​ people experiencing homelessness after being bought by BC Housing for $985,000. ​ ​ ​ Renovations are set to begin immediately to create space for 20 beds. Vancouver ​ Island Mental Health Society will manage the space, providing people with outreach ​ services, referrals to health services and meals. Question period During Tuesday’s question period, Liberal MLAs split their focus, asking about government support for tourism before returning to the issue of skyrocketing strata insurance premiums. Tourism needs “some faint glimmer of hope” ● “The waters of British Columbia have not seen a complete absence of cruise ships probably since World War II,” Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson mused in his ​ ​ kick-off question. “Our hotels often stand nearly empty … and 130,000 tourism industry workers have lost their jobs.” ○ Wilkinson — noting Ottawa’s announcement of $46 million for tourism in Atlantic Canada and Quebec this week — asked Premier John Horgan ​ when he plans to “ask for B.C.'s fair share” from the feds. ● Horgan said B.C.’s handling of the pandemic so far is “the envy of Canada” and that the province continues to work with Ottawa to secure financial support for various sectors. ● Liberal Tourism, Arts and Culture co-critic Michelle Stilwell asked Tourism ​ ​ Minister Lisa Beare if she plans to restore funding cut from Destination BC’s ​ ​ budget earlier this year. ● Beare noted Destination BC received $6 million from the province’s $5-billion COVID-19 response package — much more than the $1.3 million cut from its budget. ○ Beare said she met with the federal tourism minister and her ministerial counterparts from Western Canada last week “to discuss ongoing funding and, as the previous member asked, the funding allocated to Quebec and Atlantic Canada.” Liberal MLAs spent the remainder of question period grilling Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Selina Robinson over the government’s response to the strata insurance crisis. ​ ​ Leveraging federal funds ● Green Party house leader Sonia Furstenau asked Advanced Education Minister ​ ​ Melanie Mark how much of the $5 million announced last week to support youth jobs on ​ ​ ​ community projects came from Ottawa, rather than provincial coffers. ● Mark said the funding came from B.C.’s Workforce Development Agreement with Ottawa but did not specify whether all or part of the announced funding came from the province specifically.