B.C. Today – Daily Report March 18, 2019

Quotation of the day

“I don’t think people are setting out to pay women less, but that ​ doesn’t mean it’s not happening. I just want to have a conversation and figure out how to fix it.”

Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieux () says her private member’s bill M203, Equal ​ ​ ​ ​ Pay Reporting Act, aims to shed light on B.C.’s persistent gender pay gap.

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The House is adjourned for a two-week constituency break. MLAs will return to the House at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 25.

Committees this week There are no scheduled committee meetings this week.

Government gives cold shoulder to private member’s bill aimed at tackling gender pay gap

The opposition MLA behind a private member’s bill that would force businesses in B.C. to disclose pay gaps between male and female employees is hoping Premier and ​ ​ his government will reconsider its standoffish approach to the legislation.

On March 6, Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieux (Surrey South) introduced M203, Equal Pay ​ ​ ​ ​ Reporting Act, which would require any business with more than 50 employees in B.C. to annually publish the difference in pay and bonuses that their male and female employees receive. The bill would also create a Registrar of Equal Pay Reporting to keep tabs on companies’ compliance.

However, Horgan — who said he and his government are committed to pay equity — was non-committal when asked whether his government would consider supporting the bill or introducing similar legislation of its own.

He also raised the possibility that Cadieux introduced the bill as “a political stunt.”

“[The B.C. Liberals] had 16 years to bring in government legislation … to make the changes that Ms. Cadieux brought forward,” he told reporters. “We will take a look at it.”

“I want to have a conversation,” Cadieux told BC Today about the bill’s intent. “I don’t think this ​ ​ is intentional — I don’t think people are setting out to pay women less, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.”

Gender-based pay discrimination is illegal in Canada under the Canadian Charter of Rights and ​ Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act and in B.C. under the Equal Pay Act. ​ ​ ​

But, in 2017, the average Canadian woman earned just $0.87 for every dollar made by a man, according to Statistics Canada. A B.C. Federation of Labour report estimated the median hourly ​ ​ ​ wage for women in B.C. was $4.45 lower than it is for men.

Canada’s gender pay gap has been reduced by more than 20 per cent since 1981, but almost all of that progress was made before 2011. And while some of the gap can be explained by the fact that female-dominated occupations receive lower wages, Statistics Canada concluded last ​ year that “the gender pay gap owes largely to wage inequality between women and men within ​ occupations.”

Cadieux, a former cabinet minister, hopes increasing transparency around pay discrepancies between men and women working for the same companies will kickstart the pay equity conversation.

“More women go into low paying jobs than high paying jobs … by virtue of the fact that society has determined that we should pay early childhood educators less than we should pay heavy equipment operators,” she said.”Even if we acknowledge that, we still have an unexplained gap of eight per cent so what is going on? And in what places and where and how do we fix it?”

This is not Cadieux’s first kick at the pay equity can. In 2018, she introduced private member’s bill M203, Equal Pay Certification Act, based on Iceland’s approach to legislated pay equity. As ​ ​

with most private member’s bills, M203 died on the order paper months after receiving first ​ ​ reading.

This year’s bill is “less onerous” in terms of its requirements for both companies and the provincial government, according to Cadieux.

While acknowledging that private member’s bills “never see the light of day,” Cadieux remains hopeful that the current government will take some kind of action to address pay equity in the province.

“I don’t expect them to actually pass mine,” she said. “I understand how this works, but I do wish they would put forward something. I’ve now given them two ways to go at it and there are probably others, and I would be supportive of going after the issue in one of these ways.”

A partisan roadblock? Premier Horgan’s criticism of the previous Liberal government’s inaction on women’s issues is not without merit.

Shortly after coming to power in 2001, the Liberals significantly cut funding for domestic violence support services — an action roundly condemned by women’s rights advocates.

"The Liberals have been on a course of policy decisions and cuts that had a very negative impact on women of this province," Shelagh Day, co-founder of the Women's Legal Education ​ ​ ​ and Action Fund, told The Globe and Mail. The Liberal government’s policies between 2002 and ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 2009 were “devastating” for B.C. women, according to Day.

Cadieux said women’s rights have been her “passion forever” but said the demands of her time as a cabinet minister precluded her from focussing on pay equity legislation.

“When you are the minister of a highly charged portfolio for a number of years, you focus entirely on that,” said Cadieux, who spent more than four years as Minister of Children and Family Development.

By contrast, the NPD government has actively promoted itself as supportive of women’s issues and has taken action on several commitments in that arena.

Premier Horgan has touted his gender balanced cabinet — the first in B.C.’s history — on multiple occasions and went so far as to create the province’s first parliamentary secretary on gender equity within the Ministry of Finance, a role filled by NDP MLA ​ (Esquimalt—Metchosin).

Given its professed support for gender equity, Cadieux doesn’t think it would be “a leap” for the ​ government to take action on disparities in the way men and women are paid for their labour.

“I understand there is lots on every government’s plate and that there is a hesitancy to say, ‘We’ll do it’ and then not be able to do to it,” she told BC Today. “This is a relatively simple bill … ​ ​ and I do not think it would take a ton of work.”

Dean was unavailable for an interview last week according to her staff, who cited “various events” in her Victoria-area constituency.

In a written response to BC Today, Dean acknowledged the importance of ensuring all workers ​ ​ receive fair pay.

“This conversation is about more than pay equity — it’s about the pay gap, and that women, on average, earn less than men throughout their career,” Dean said in the statement. “There are different barriers that lead to the pay gap, and removing these barriers is critically important.”

The parliamentary secretary highlighted the government’s actions to support B.C. women, including its $1.3 billion investment to create a universal child care system and plan to raise the province’s minimum wage to $15.20 by 2021 — a move likely benefit women, who are more ​ ​ likely to work part-time and in lower-paying industries.

“We’re also investing in training programs and scholarships for women in STEM and the trades, ​ to ensure they have better access to these stable, well-paid jobs,” Dean added.

Despite being provided with a copy of Cadieux’s draft of the bill, which is still with the Queen’s Printer and has yet to be publicly posted, the parliamentary secretary’s response made no mention of the legislation.

Cadieux remains optimistic that the government will take some kind of action on what she describes as “a pretty mainstream issue.”

“We have to try something concrete if we really want to see this change,” she said. “The ​ question is whether or not [the NDP government] chooses to act or not. And if they don’t for political reasons, that is too bad.”

Today’s events

March 18 at 10 a.m. – Crofton ​ Premier John Horgan and NDP MLA (Nanaimo—North Cowichan) will hold a ​ ​ ​ ​ news conference about the acquisition of Catalyst Paper by Paper Excellence.

March 18 at 10:30 a.m. – Surrey ​ Social Development and Poverty Reduction Minister Shane Simpson will release B.C.'s first ​ ​ poverty reduction strategy at the Options Early Years Centre.

March 18 at 11 a.m. – Prince George ​ Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister will make an announcement ​ ​ that will “open doors” for students at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Upcoming events

April 3 to 5 – Vancouver ​

Premier John Horgan will be the keynote speaker at the B.C. Council of Forest Industries ​ ​ annual convention at the Parq Vancouver Hotel & Convention Centre. The premier will address delegate at a luncheon on Friday, April 5.

May 23 to 25 – Burnaby ​ The B.C. Chamber of Commerce will host its annual general meeting at the Hilton Vancouver ​ Metrotown and Element hotels. The event will feature four keynote speakers: reporter and columnist Rex Murphy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Perrin Beatty, ​ ​ ​ ​ researcher and writer Vivian Krause, and Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business president ​ ​ and CEO Jean Paul Gladu. ​ ​

Topics of conversation

● Canada’s oil pipelines are being fully utilized and oil-by-rail shipping is at or near capacity, according to a new report from the National Energy Board (NEB). Federal ​ ​ Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi tasked the board with “examining short and ​ ​ ​ long-term options to optimize oil pipeline capacity” in Western Canada. ○ “Any notable increase in pipeline or rail capacity would need to come from new major infrastructure projects,” according to the report, which suggests clear pipeline capacity policies, predictable timelines and better market data could help improve market issues in the short term. ○ In the long term, in “the absence of new pipeline capacity,” Ottawa should focus on shipping bitumen by rail or refining it into a higher quality product, thereby reducing the need to import diluent and freeing up pipeline capacity, according to the report, which also suggests pipelines currently carrying diluent could be reversed to export more crude oil.

● B.C’s reference case — aimed at determining whether the province has the jurisdiction ​ ​ to limit the volume of heavy oil being shipped into the province — goes before the provincial Court of Appeal today. The provincial government contends it has a responsibility to protect the environment from the risk of a heavy oil spill, even though interprovincial projects fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government. ○ Although the reference case doesn’t not specifically mention the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, it is widely seen as part of the NDP government’s pledge to “use every tool in the toolbox” to stop the controversial project from being completed.

● The Ministry of Finance says it has received 80 per cent of speculation and vacancy tax declarations and, according to the ministry, more than 90 per cent “were completed ​ ​ securely online in just a few minutes.” Those who own secondary homes in B.C. have until the end of this month to complete their declarations.

● The B.C. Care Providers Association (BCCPA) warns that as many as 500 full-time home care workers could lose their jobs as a result of the Ministry of Health’s plan to move privatized home support services under the purview of provincial health authorities. “Labour leaders and the B.C. NDP have been decrying so-called contract ​ flipping for years,” BCCPA CEO Daniel Fontaine said in a statement released Friday. ​ ​

“What is this but the biggest contract flip in the history of B.C. healthcare when you shift over 4,000 employees from multiple employers to other ones? 500 workers and the family members they support were apparently not factored into the Health Minister’s massive expropriation plan.” ○ Health Minister pushed back against the BCCPA’s assertion on ​ ​ ​ Twitter, and B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie said she anticipates “no ​ ​ job loss” as a result of the shift. “Saying there’s going to be 500 jobs lost — ​ there’s no evidence of that and it has not been my experience as someone who’s been through four transitions,” Mackenzie told News1130. “Each one of them, ​ ​ there was no job loss.”

● B.C. now has an Artisan Cheese Association (BCACA), representing the province’s 25 artisan cheesemakers and their suppliers. The association’s founding members include Emma Davison of the Fraser Valley’s Golden Ears Cheesecrafters, who is serving as ​ the inaugural chair of the association’s board; Jason Dykstra, BCACA director and ​ ​ treasurer, of the Mt. Lehman Cheese Company, also in the Fraser Valley; and Raymond ​ Gourlay, BCACA vice-chair and secretary, of Little Qualicum Cheeseworks on ​ Vancouver Island. ○ Over the weekend, members of the association attended a two-day strategic planning session in Vernon with Agriculture Minister and ​ ​ representatives from the B.C. Milk Marketing Board and the B.C. Dairy Association, along with other closely related organizations. The BCACA also held its first annual general meeting.

New briefs - Governmental

Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Seven communities belonging to the Secwepemc Nation signed an agreement with the province ​ ​ ​ at a ceremony in Kamloops last week, committing the signatories to advancing government-to-government relationships and “co-crafting a pathway to true and lasting reconciliation,” according to a government news release.

Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser and Environment and Climate ​ ​ Change Strategy Minister were present to sign the document; Forests, Lands, ​ ​ Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson and Energy, ​ ​ Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Michelle Mungall will also do so. The Secwepemc ​ ​ signatories represent 5,000 members of the First Nation.

Over the next two years, the four ministries will work with the Secwepemc communities to find ways to implement Secwepemc rights and title, share decision-making and build governance capacity.

"Our Ancestors sought to make the most of each situation to ensure the health and well-being of our people and guests in our territory,” Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlúps te ​ ​ Secwepemc and Stk'emlúpsemc te Secwepemc, said of the agreement. “We celebrate this new beginning to a just and reciprocal relationship between our seven Secwepemc communities and the B.C. government.”

Funding announcements

● On Friday, Premier John Horgan joined federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister ​ ​ Jonathan Wilkinson to announce the $142.5 million B.C. Salmon Restoration and ​ ​ ​ ​ Innovation Fund, aimed at building up wild salmon stocks and protecting salmon habitat ​ in the province. Ottawa is providing $100 million to support the five-year partnership program, which will involve conservation groups, Indigenous communities, commercial and recreational fishers, scientists and industry representatives working together to improve survival rates for wild salmon.

● This year, the Ministry of Education will build 50 new playgrounds in 34 B.C. school ​ ​ districts with $5 million from the Playground Equipment Program. ​ ​ ○ The program, which launched in May 2018, has provided funding for 51 playgrounds at schools around the province.