BC Today – Daily Report July 29, 2019

B.C. Today – Daily Report July 29, 2019 Quotation of the day “Appointing a parliamentary secretary to the file is the first job John Horgan has created in the forestry sector since coming to power two years ago.” Liberal Forests critic John Rustad offers his two cents on the appointment of NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon (Delta North) as parliamentary secretary for Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. Today in B.C. The House is adjourned for the summer recess. Premier shuffles parliamentary secretaries, adds new environment secretary gig Premier John Horgan announced new parliamentary secretary roles Friday, including the appointment of the party’s newest MLA — Nanaimo’s Sheila Malcolmson, who won her seat in a byelection in January — as parliamentary secretary for environment. Malcolmson has served as special advisor on marine debris protection since April and will continue to work with Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister George Heyman; her new role includes “making recommendations for provincial action on marine debris, including environmental threats caused by derelict vessels.” There has also been a change to the contentious forestry file. Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon will serve as parliamentary secretary for Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, assisting Minister Doug Donaldson in “working with communities and stakeholders in the Interior as the forest industry faces significant challenges.” Kahlon had served as parliamentary secretary for multiculturalism and sport since the swearing-in of the NDP cabinet in July 2017, and played a role in the reinstatement of the province’s Human Rights Commission. Prior to being elected, he spent six years as the B.C. NDP’s director of stakeholder relations. Liberal Forests critic John Rustad charges that Kahlon was assigned to the Forests portfolio due to Minister Donaldson’s poor performance. “John Horgan has assigned a former NDP political director to babysit his ineffective forestry minister just two weeks after demoting him by removing his responsibility for wildfire recovery,” Rustad said in a statement. “That demotion didn’t go far enough, as Minister Donaldson has dragged his feet for two years, unable to help British Columbians that rely on the forestry sector. He has to go.” The Forests minister says the change — which shifted the responsibility for “coordination of socio-economic recovery from wildfire and other provincial disasters, including community engagement and recovery plans and actions” from his ministry to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General — was a practical one. “My ministry is primarily focused on the land and recovery of the land, and the Minister of Public Safety, through Emergency Management B.C., is primarily focused on recovery for people,” he told BC Today, adding that the change will “better serve people and ... the land.” The Liberals have accused Donaldson of fumbling the fraught caribou recovery plans, framing Horgan’s decision to bring Dawson Creek city councillor and former Liberal cabinet minister Blair Lekstrom on as a special advisor on the file as a “bailout” for Donaldson. Rustad also took the opportunity to tally up the amount of work hours lost to curtailments so far — 119 weeks of operational downtime have been announced by B.C. mills in recent months — and take a dig at the premier’s perceived lack of action on the issue. “Forestry-dependent communities lost 6,600 direct jobs in 2018,” he said. “Appointing a parliamentary secretary to the file is the first job John Horgan has created in the forestry sector since coming to power two years ago.” Also in the shuffle, Burnaby—Deer Lake MLA Anne Kang added the multiculturalism portfolio to her responsibilities as parliamentary secretary for seniors. The sport portfolio has not been reassigned. There are now eight parliamentary secretaries at the cabinet table. Two years into the NDP government’s mandate, Horgan has yet to shuffle his front bench. Today’s events July 29 at 10:30 a.m. – Burnaby Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth and Neil Dubord, chief constable and head of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police traffic safety committee, will hold a news conference to mark the activation of B.C.'s first five automated speed enforcement cameras in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and Pitt Meadows. July 29 at 5:45 p.m. – Kitimat Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson and his caucus will join MLA Ellis Ross (Skeena) for an evening meet and greet at the Hirsch Creek Golf and Winter Club. Topics of conversation ● Between 2015 and 2016, the B.C. Liberal government sold 25 acres of land along the Cambie corridor to development company Onni for $302 million. The company still owes $137 million on the sale, according to reporting from Postmedia, because the government-granted low cost loan does not have to be repaid until 2023. After some rezoning and subdivision, the property is now valued at $842 million. ● The Coastal Gaslink pipeline does not fall under the National Energy Board’s jurisdiction as it is “not vital or integral” to any federally regulated pipeline, the board ruled Friday. Last year, Smithers-based environmental consultant Michael Sawyer filed an application to have the NEB consider whether the pipeline — which would supply fuel to the much-anticipated LNG Canada project in Kitimat — should have received a federal environmental assessment even though it does not cross provincial borders. ○ The board heard from “13 active participants” on the application. ● Taseko Mines has filed a suit in B.C. Supreme Court in an effort to get the provincial environmental assessment for its proposed Prosperity gold mine near Williams Lake extended again. The original certificate was issued in 2010 on the condition that the company make a substantial start on the project within five years; an extension was granted in 2015 but expires in January 2020. ○ The Tsilhqot’in Nation, which opposes the project, told PostMedia it believes the company is not lawfully entitled to a second extension. ● The Liberal Party of Canada’s national director is asking the federal elections commissioner to look into mass emails sent by conservative activist groups Canada Proud and B.C. Proud, soliciting donations ahead of the fall federal election. While Canada Proud is registered as a third-party campaigner, B.C. Proud is not. ○ “I am concerned that B.C. Proud has incurred partisan activity expenses more than $500, triggering the immediate requirement for registration,” Azam Ishmael wrote in a letter released Friday. “Second, I am equally concerned that Canada Proud and B.C. Proud are sharing resources in such a way that may enable either or both of these third parties to circumvent the maximum spending limit applicable to third parties during the pre-election period.” ● The Trans Mountain Pipeline board approved $5 million in bonuses for executives and employees, according to reporting from CBC. Ten members of the management team will split $3.01 million, while 81 non-executive members will split $2.48 million in bonuses. The bonuses were approved at the end of 2018 but will be paid in 2021. ○ The bonuses hinge on four conditions: that the National Energy Board and cabinet approve the pipeline by June 2019; the pipeline must remain ready; the company must meet and exceed health, safety and environmental targets; and the project must stay on schedule and on budget. ● SNC-Lavalin has pulled its bids for two major infrastructure projects in B.C.: the $1.4-billion Pattullo Bridge and the $2.8-billion Broadway subway. The retractions came shortly after the company announced plans to restructure certain aspects of its business and pull back from contracting on certain projects. The company also pulled bids for two infrastructure projects in Alberta; together with the B.C. projects, the company is passing up more than $7.4 billion in potential contracts. ○ Liberal Transportation critic Jordan Sturdy blamed the company’s decision to pull out of the projects on the NDP government’s Community Benefits Agreement. “With only two companies now bidding on the SkyTrain extension project, the lack of competition means taxpayers will be forking out more on top of added costs from John Horgan’s union benefits agreement,” Sturdy said in a statement. ○ SNC-Lavalin built and operates two transit lines in the Lower Mainland. ● The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) is celebrating after a B.C. judge ruled that its challenge to the NDP government’s Community Benefits Agreement will be heard by the Supreme Court. “We’re now full-speed ahead on our legal challenge of this unfair, regressive, union-only monopoly,” ICBA president Chris Gardner said of the decision. “We look forward to making our case against this sweetheart deal the NDP has handed their best supporters. The choice of which union to join, if any, should be made by the workers through a secret ballot, and should not be forced by government.” ○ Lawyers for the government sought to have the challenge heard by the B.C. Labour Review Board, but Justice Christopher Giaschi ruled that the board does not have jurisdiction over much of the content of the ICBA’s complaint. However, he did strike or stay several aspects of the challenge — including “claims for injunctive and declaratory relief” — as outside of the provincial Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. News briefs - Governmental Fisheries and Oceans Canada Seven B.C. coastal First Nations signed a new agreement with Ottawa last week that will result in more commercial fishing opportunities for the nations and establish “a collaborative governance and management arrangement” between the signatories and local stakeholders. “This agreement will get families and fishers back on the water and re-establish a small boat fleet in our communities,” Heiltsuk Chief Marilyn Slett said of the new agreement.

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