B.C. Today – Daily Report June 28, 2019 Publisher’s note: The next edition of BC Today will arrive in your inbox after the Canada Day long weekend on Wednesday, July 3. Quotation of the day “I came here with considerable referee experience in my life and I didn’t have to use any of it.” Despite anticipating a contentious Western Premiers’ Conference, Manitoba Premier Brian ​ Pallister says B.C. Premier John Horgan and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney participated in ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ candid and “very effective” discussions during the interprovincial summit in Edmonton ​ ​ yesterday. Today in B.C. The House is adjourned for the summer recess. Fireworks fail to materialize at Western Premiers’ Conference, despite ongoing legal proceedings between B.C. and Alberta This year’s Western Premiers’ Conference in Edmonton was a surprisingly tame affair, despite much speculation that long-running tensions between B.C. and Alberta would ignite when premiers John Horgan and Jason Kenney met face-to-face for the first time. ​ ​ ​ ​ The leaders of Canada’s four western-most provinces and all three territories discussed mental ​ health and addictions issues, Arctic sovereignty, permafrost and forest fires, and labour mobility and inter-provincial trade. As a result of the annual meeting, the premiers committed to putting forward a signed communique recognizing professional credentials between the provinces and territories, and bringing it to the Council of the Federation next month. Horgan bowed out of the press conference that capped the meeting early in order to catch a flight back to Victoria but said he and Kenney had “robust discussions” about the interests of their respective provinces. “We have worked, I believe, very cooperatively as a group, and I think Premier Kenney and I are off on the right foot,” Horgan told reporters. For his part, Kenney said Horgan now has “a full understanding” of Alberta’s position on its oil exports and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. “I made it clear to Premier Horgan that if we see from any province, obstruction of the movement of our products … in a way that we think violates the constitution, we will take action to defend our vital economic interests,” Kenney said. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, and I believe we’ve begun a productive, professional and respectful relationship so we can discuss these issues with a clear understanding of our mutual goals.” Horgan played down the tensions between the neighbouring provinces, characterizing B.C.’s legal challenges relating to the Trans Mountain pipeline as attempts to clarify the province’s powers. “It’s not been about British Columbia and Alberta — I’ve been steadfast on that for the past two years,” he said. “It’s been about the federal government asserting jurisdiction that I believe is at a minimum shared if not, in some instances, exclusively provincial.” “We have not been dragging our feet on this,” Horgan added of B.C.’s handling of permits related to the Trans Mountain expansion. “Rule of law is paramount in Canada and that’s why we have been proceeding through the courts, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully.” One thing both Horgan and Kenney solidly agree on: B.C.’s reference case regarding the province’s power over heavy oil shipments across its borders should have gone straight to the Supreme Court of Canada, where it was recently submitted for consideration after B.C.’s own appeal court rejected it. Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench is set to begin hearing B.C.’s challenge to Alberta’s “turn-off-the-taps” law today. “I hope we are successful,” Horgan said of the case, where the province will argue Alberta’s law intends to punish B.C. for supposedly holding up TMX. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said he was pleasantly surprised by the cordiality between ​ ​ Horgan and Kenney. “I think it says a lot about the quality of leadership in these two provinces beside me,” he said. “Both these gentlemen and all the premiers at this table are deeply committed to this country and demonstrated it in the candour and the very effective discussions that we shared over the last number of hours together.” Finance Minister unfazed by slow cannabis sales but says B.C. municipalities should brace for meagre revenue-sharing So much for B.C.’s bud-loving reputation. The province’s monthly cannabis sales have yet to break $3 million since Statistics Canada began publishing provincial cannabis sales data in ​ ​ December 2018, making it the lowest legal cannabis seller of any province save Prince Edward Island. Despite sluggish sales, Finance Minister Carole James remains optimistic the province will see ​ ​ more profitability “a year or two” down the road. “I think there are people who thought that B.C. would be at the top of the leaderboard when it came to revenue [from cannabis], but I think the other reality is, because we’ve had an underground market in British Columbia for a long period of time, it is taking time to make sure that we get everyone in to the legal process and that they go through the process of registering,” James told BC Today. ​ ​ In Budget 2019, the province reduced its expectations for cannabis-related revenues — from ​ ​ $50 million projected in the previous budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year to less than $17 million. “It was not surprising to us that you weren’t seeing huge dollars come in. We were very conservative in our estimates [and] what we’ve seen, in fact, is even a bit less,” James said. “We expect that you’ll see a shift in that as you see more retail open.” Some retailers interested in entering the legal cannabis market are holding off until cannabis edibles become available, according to the finance minister, something Ottawa has tabled for December. B.C. has yet to hash out how it will share cannabis-related revenues with local governments. “I know that the municipalities are very keen to talk about revenue sharing — that’s a big area that they are eager to talk about,” James acknowledged. “There isn’t revenue right now because, when you take the revenue coming in and take the costs off, we haven’t reached a point to be able to have revenue to share yet, but I think we’ll be there.” The province has been in discussions with a working group from the Union of B.C. Municipalities around which levels of government are incurring costs related to cannabis legalization — including policing, licensing and bylaw enforcement — in order to come up with a fair revenue-sharing formula. “We are taking our time to make sure we are doing this right,” James said. Today’s events June 28 at 9 a.m. – Esquimalt ​ Premier John Horgan will be joined by Ravi Kahlon, parliamentary secretary for sport and ​ ​ ​ ​ multiculturalism, as well as Indigenous athletes and community leaders for a funding announcement at the Songhees Wellness Centre. June 28 at 9 a.m. – Burnaby ​ Citizens' Services Minister Jinny Sims will be joined by NDP MLA Janet Routledge (Burnaby ​ ​ ​ ​ North) at the B.C. Institute of Technology for an announcement about provincial action to address climate change. June 28 at 11 a.m. – Victoria ​ Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin and Premier John Horgan will present 15 influential B.C. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ leaders “who have served with distinction and excelled in fields of endeavour benefiting the ​ people of British Columbia and elsewhere” with the Order of British Columbia, the province’s highest honour, in a ceremony at Government House. June 28 at 11 a.m. – Vancouver ​ Health Minister Adrian Dix and Education Minister Rob Fleming will provide an update from ​ ​ ​ ​ the B.C. government’s Vancouver cabinet office on the province’s ongoing efforts to increase immunization rates and protect children against disease outbreaks. June 28 at 1 p.m. – Surrey ​ Attorney General David Eby and Citizens' Services Minister Jinny Sims will host a tour of the ​ ​ ​ ​ newly renovated Surrey Courthouse. June 28 at 1:15 p.m. – Victoria ​ Premier John Horgan, Chief Robert Joseph of Ditidaht First Nation, Chief Jeff Jones of ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Pacheedaht First Nation, and Liberal MP John Aldag, (Cloverdale—Langley City) will sign an ​ ​ agreement to advance treaty negotiations. The signatories will be joined by Elders and members of Pacheedaht and Ditidaht First Nations, representatives of the Government of Canada and Parks Canada, and B.C. Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott ​ Fraser. ​ June 28 at 3 p.m. – Courtenay ​ Green Party MLA Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Islands) will host an informal roundtable ​ ​ event at the Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce. Olsen will then attend a beer and burgers event, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Cornerstone Tap House. Weekend events June 29 at 9:30 a.m. – Campbell River ​ Green Party MLA Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Islands) will host a town hall event in ​ ​ Spirit Square alongside Mark de Bruijn, the Green Party of Canada’s North Island—Powell ​ ​ River candidate in the upcoming federal election. June 29 at 6:30 p.m. – Victoria ​ The Green Party’s Oak Bay—Gordon Head riding association will hold its “Summer Suds at the ​ Moon in June” fundraiser at the Moon Under Water Brewpub. July 1 at 12 p.m. – Victoria ​ Canada Day celebrations will take place on the lawn of the B.C. Legislature. July 2 at 4 p.m. – Revelstoke ​ Liberal MLA Doug Clovechok (Columbia River—Revelstoke) and the Liberal Party’s Columbia ​ ​ River—Revelstoke riding association will hold a free barbecue at the Bernacki residence with Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson as a special guest. ​ ​ Topics of conversation ● Mayors in municipalities affected by the NDP government’s speculation tax can expect to receive an invitation to meet with Finance Minister Carole James and discuss the ​ ​ impact of the tax on their communities early next month.