B.C. Today – Daily Report June 17, 2019 Quotation of the day “We need John Horgan and his government to step up and take action — any action — to help our small, forest-dependent towns get through this challenging time.” Liberal MLA Dan Davies (Peace River North) says the NDP government has not done enough ​ ​ to support forestry-dependent communities, as mills around the province continue to close and curtail production. Today in B.C. The House is adjourned for the summer recess. Committees this week The Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services is conducting public ​ consultations on Budget 2020 this week, starting with a session in Prince Rupert at the Highliner ​ Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre at 2 p.m. today. Committee members will also visit Kitimat, Prince George, Fort St. John and Quesnel before heading back to the Lower Mainland for a consultation in Abbotsford on Thursday. The consultation period ends on June 28. Mill closures and curtailments lead to political jousting As announcements of mill closures and curtailments pile up, the opposition B.C. Liberals are calling on the NDP government to slash stumpage rates and reduce the carbon tax for the province’s forestry sector. “To date, the John Horgan government has thrown up its hands and told forest-dependent ​ ​ communities there is nothing it can do to help them,” Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said in ​ ​ a statement, released in tandem with a letter addressed to the premier last week. “This is failed leadership on the part of John Horgan — plain and simple. Hard-working B.C. families need help and they need it now.” That help needs to be multi-pronged, according to Wilkinson’s letter, which calls on the NDP government to lobby Ottawa for support for affected workers and “to get B.C. the softwood deal it deserves” with the United States, as well as establish a bi-partisan “forestry competitiveness committee” to look at the long- and short-term issues facing the province’s forestry industry. Two sawmills in B.C. are set to permanently close this summer while others reduce shifts. Meanwhile, Chief Shelly Loring, the head of the Simpcw First Nation, said local First Nations ​ ​ were “dismayed” they were not part of the decision-making process ahead of Canfor’s ​ ​ announcement it will close its Vavenby sawmill. Loring said representatives from Simpcw met with Forests Minister Doug Donaldson earlier in the spring, but those discussions included no ​ ​ mention of the company's plan to sell its forest tenures to Interfor. According to Loring, Simpcw ​ Resources Group Ltd. previously expressed an interest in potentially acquiring at least some of ​ the company’s tenures. The fate of forestry in B.C. appears grim, and has for decades. The total number of ​ ​ forestry-related jobs in the province has dropped by half over the past 30 years. “It's the chickens coming home to roost … it's a scandalous waste of riches and it's been true for the last 50 years,” former NDP forests minister Bob Williams told CBC News of the current state of ​ ​ B.C. forestry. Last month, a report commissioned by Woods Markets Group estimated that a dozen B.C. mills ​ ​ ​ ​ could close over the next 10 years. “In the worst-case scenario, 13 mills will close,” Jim Girvan, ​ ​ a professional forester and author of the report, told the Vancouver Sun. “In the best-case ​ ​ scenario, 26 mills will reduce (one shift each). Either way, the impact on lumber production, residual chip production, the impact on employment is the same.” In 2010, Girvan predicted that, by 2018, 16 B.C. mills would close due to the impact of the mountain pine beetle. He wasn’t far off: 12 mills have closed and another six have axed shifts due to a lack of fibre. Another unusually hot and dry summer is expected for B.C. — after two summers of record-setting wildfires — which could worsen the province’s fibre situation. While in Europe during the first week of June, Horgan touted his government’s efforts to ​ address specific regional challenges in Interior and coastal timber areas. ​ ​ ​ ​ “Experts have known for some time that the beetle kill and the knock-on effect of two horrific fire seasons have put us in a position where our fibre supply is a fraction of what we anticipated it to be even five years ago,” Horgan said. “That means we are going to have to do things differently. Part of the rationale for us bringing forward legislation this spring and working with industry and other leaders is to make sure that we go into the transformation of the Interior forest sector together.” Ottawa to decide on Trans Mountain pipeline expansion tomorrow The federal government is expected to release its decision on the future of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion Tuesday. The expansion project was first proposed in 2012 and would twin the existing pipeline, which runs from Edmonton to Burnaby, and more than triple its capacity. Ottawa purchased the existing pipeline last spring for $4.5 billion after Kinder Morgan seemed set to walk away from the expansion after years of uncertainty about its fate. Although the federal government does not intend to permanently operate the pipeline, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau told BNN Bloomberg there are no immediate plans to find a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ buyer for it. At least two First Nations coalitions — Project Reconciliation and Iron Coalition — ​ ​ ​ ​ have expressed an interest in buying a majority stake in the pipeline. Despite Ottawa’s vote of confidence, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously overturned the federal government’s approval of the project last August. The court found required consultations with First Nations were inadequately conducted and concluded the approval was based on the National Energy Board’s (NEB) review, which failed to take into account the impact increased tanker traffic associated with the project would have on local marine life. The NEB has subsequently re-reviewed the project and recommended that it proceed, and a new round of consultations with First Nations was conducted under the oversight of former ​ Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci. ​ ​ While close to 50 per cent of Canadians support the TMX expansion, according to polling from ​ ​ Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail, opponents of the project remain vocal and active, ​ ​ especially in B.C. Last year, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart — then an NDP MP for ​ ​ Burnaby South — was arrested while protesting the project. David Anderson, a former federal ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ environment minister and Liberal MP, sent letters to six members of Prime Minister Justin ​ Trudeau’s cabinet last week saying Ottawa has failed to make a business case for the ​ ​ ​ expansion. B.C.’s NDP government promised to use “every tool in the toolbox” to stop the expansion and still has at least one wrench to possibly throw in the works. The province’s reference case — over whether it has the jurisdiction to restrict shipments of heavy oil, including bitumen, across its borders — is set to head to the Supreme Court of Canada, after being unanimously rejected by the B.C. Court of Appeal. Today’s events June 17 at 10:30 a.m. – Sooke ​ Premier John Horgan will participate in the official opening of École Poirier Elementary School. ​ ​ The premier will not take questions at the event due to time constraints. June 17 at 11:30 a.m. – Surrey ​ Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy will be joined by Ravi Kahlon, parliamentary ​ ​ ​ ​ secretary for multiculturalism and sport, and representatives from the South Asian Mental Health Alliance to launch a new mental health program for South Asian youth in B.C. at Tamanawis Secondary School. June 17 at 1 p.m. – Langford ​ Premier John Horgan and Education Minister Rob Fleming will make an announcement ​ ​ ​ ​ benefiting Sooke School District students at the corner of Westshore Parkway and Constellation Avenue. June 17 at 3:30 p.m. – Surrey ​ Federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, who is also the ​ ​ Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, will make an announcement related to the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive and the Shared Equity Mortgage Provider Fund at the King George SkyTrain Station. Upcoming events June 18 at 6:45 p.m. – Kelowna ​ Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture staff will be at the Kelowna Museums Society to solicit public feedback on the planned modernization of the Royal B.C. Museum. ​ ​ June 20 at 7 p.m. – New Westminster ​ Attorney General David Eby will be the guest of honour at a B.C. NDP fundraiser at the ​ ​ University of British Columbia’s Koerner’s Pub, hosted by Burnaby—Deer Lake MLA Anne ​ Kang. Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth; Environment and Climate ​ ​ ​ ​ Change Strategy Minister George Heyman; Minister of State for Trade George Chow; and ​ ​ ​ ​ Jobs, Trade and Technology Minister Bruce Ralston will be in attendance, as will musical ​ ​ guests Zachary Gray of The Zolas and Peter Graham-Gaudreau. ​ ​ ​ ​ June 26 at 7 p.m. – Victoria ​ The B.C. Green Party’s Victoria—Beacon Hill riding association will host a community engagement event on “mass and regional transit in the Greater Victoria area” at the Fernwood ​ Community Association. June 27 at 8:05 a.m. — Edmonton ​ Premier Jason Kenney, the incoming chair of the Western Premiers’ Conference, will host ​ ​ premiers from B.C. to Manitoba and all three territories at Government House for the Western Premiers’ Conference. Topics of conversation ● Premier John Horgan’s “relationship-building visit” to France, the United Kingdom and ​ ​ the Netherlands was a success, according to the premier. “Forming business ​ partnerships will lead to shared prosperity and greater opportunities for people,” he said in a statement after returning to B.C.