BC Today – Daily Report June 29, 2020 Quotation of the day “British Columbians simply don’t want to pay more than half a billion dollars for 10,000 lawyers and support staff to fight out car accident claims with ICBC in court.” Attorney General David Eby says the potential loss of thousands of legal support staff positions ​ ​ will be a small price to pay to shift B.C. to a no-fault vehicle insurance model. Today in B.C. On the schedule The house is adjourned until Monday, July 6, for the Canada Day constituency week. Committees this week Two committees are scheduled to meet virtually this week: the Legislative Assembly Management Committee on Thursday and the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Friday. The agendas for both meetings remain TBD. Friday’s debates and proceedings Committee A completed its review of the estimates for the Ministry of Education and moved on to the estimates for the Ministry of Labour. Committee C spent the day debating the estimates for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. Premier watch On Thursday, Premier John Horgan participated in a meeting with Canada’s first ministers. ​ ​ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the ministers could not agree on a statement condemning ​ ​ ​ ​ systemic racism. A looser statement condemning “all forms of racism, discrimination, intolerance and bigotry” was issued instead. On Sunday, Horgan issued a statement of condolence on the death of former B.C. cabinet ​ ​ minister Ed Conroy, husband to Children and Family Development Minister Katrine Conroy. ​ ​ ​ ​ “I've known Ed for 30 years and had the honour of working with him during his time as an MLA and then as a minister,” Horgan said. “Ed was a truly kind and decent man.” Conroy, who was 73, died of natural causes on Friday. His death prompted condolences from both sides of the aisle, including from Liberal Finance critic Shirley Bond, whose husband Bill ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Bond died at the beginning of the month. ​ Today’s events June 29 at 9:30 a.m. – Delta ​ Federal, provincial and local government officials — including federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson; the MP for Delta Carla Qualtrough; B.C. Environment Minister George ​ ​ ​ ​ Heyman; and Sav Dhaliwal, chair of Metro Vancouver’s board of directors — will attend a ​ ​ ​ climate change announcement at Burns Bog. June 29 at 10 a.m. – Online ​ Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister Melanie Mark and Social Development and ​ ​ Poverty Reduction Minister Shane Simpson will hold a teleconference to announce a new ​ ​ COVID-19 recovery program directed at B.C. youth. June 29 at 3 p.m. – Online ​ Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will provide an update on COVID-19 in B.C. ​ ​ ​ June 29 at 3:30 p.m. – Online ​ Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson and Liberal Municipal Affairs and Housing critic Todd ​ ​ ​ Stone will host a virtual town hall on “B.C.’s soaring strata insurance costs.” ​ ​ ​ Topics of conversation ● On Friday, B.C. confirmed 10 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the province’s total to 2,878 (due to a data correction). One additional death was reported, pushing the death toll to 174. There were 17 people hospitalized with COVID-19, five of them critical, and with 2,545 people recovered from the disease, there were 159 active cases in the province. ○ On Friday, Dr. Bonnie Henry joined Dr. Shannon McDonald, acting chief ​ ​ ​ ​ medical health officer for the First Nations Health Authority, for an update on how ​ ​ the coronavirus pandemic has affected First Nations communities in B.C. Through June 14, 86 First Nations people in the province have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Four Indigenous people have died and three active cases remain. ● B.C.’s move to a no-fault insurance model for vehicle insurance — set to take place next year if the government’s legislation passes — could put thousands of legal support staff out of work, according to an industry consultant. Darren Benning, president of PETA ​ ​ ​ ​ Consultants Inc., estimates that between 4,000 and 10,000 paralegals and administrative staff could lose their jobs if the province implements the changes as planned. ○ The new model is supposed to save the average B.C. driver $400 per year on their insurance premiums. ○ “At the end of the day ... British Columbians simply don’t want to pay more than half a billion dollars for 10,000 lawyers and support staff to fight out car accident claims with ICBC in court,” said Attorney General David Eby. ​ ● None of the $1.5 billion in federal funding for oil and gas well reclamation has gone to Indigneous-led efforts thus far, Indian Resource Council president Stephen Buffalo told ​ ​ ​ CBC. Buffalo said he wants to see 10 per cent of the funding to go toward reclamation efforts on First Nations land, but only B.C. has pledged money for Indigenous projects (Saskatchewan and Alberta are also getting pieces of the $1.5-billion pie). ○ Of the $120 million directed to B.C., $5 million has been allocated to mitigating lingering impacts from oil and gas activities on wildlife habitat and areas traditionally used by Indigenous Peoples. ○ The $10-million Dormant Sites Reclamation program — the first stream of ​ ​ funding to open for applications in B.C. — allows Indigenous peoples to nominate dormant sites for reclamation, along with landowners and local communities. ○ On the first day of applications, the program received more than 1,100 applications from more than 80 companies and contractors proposing reclamation work at over 2,400 inactive well sites in the province. ● Saanich Peninsula Hospital has been named as the site of a racist game allegedly played by doctors and nurses, in which they try to guess the blood alcohol content of inebriated Indigenous patients. But an unnamed paramedic told CBC the game isn’t ​ ​ racist because it is “targeting drunks,” not just Indigenous people. ○ “This is something that is done, it's always been done, and after the dust settles, whenever the dust settles after this, it will continue to be done,” said the paramedic, who CBC has declined to name due to concerns they could lose their job for coming forward. ○ Daniel Fontaine, chief executive officer of the Métis Nation British Columbia, ​ disputed the paramedic’s claim and “said the allegation came from a health-care worker who witnessed the game being played in an emergency room and that it targeted Indigenous people,” according to reporting by CBC. ● Vancouver police Chief Adam Palmer is claiming systemic racism is not a problem in ​ ​ ​ ​ Canadian policing. Palmer, who serves as president of the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs, called the suggestion that racism is a system issue in Canadian law enforcement — rather than a matter of racist individuals within the system — “offensive.” ○ Harsha Walia, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said ​ Palmer’s comments were “appalling.” ● The provincial government has been picking up the tab for “any international travellers arriving in B.C. who were provided self-isolation accommodations” due to not having an adequate self-isolation plan in place upon arrival — but “total costs for the program are not yet available,” according to Emergency Management BC told BC Today. ​ ​ ○ The self-isolation plan protocol and accommodations have been in place since April 10. On June 20, the province handed over screening at border checkpoints to federal officials. ● The Liberal Party’s Tourism, Arts and Culture co-critics are calling on the province to do more to support tourism operators, warning the NDP’s hope that domestic travel will sustain the sector this summer are unfounded. ○ “There is no guarantee that British Columbians have the confidence to resume travelling this summer and with over 500,000 more residents unemployed due to the pandemic, many do not have the money to do so,” Michelle Stilwell, MLA for ​ ​ Parksville—Qualicum said in a statement. ○ Stilwell and co-critic Doug Clovechok (Columbia River—Revelstoke) want the ​ ​ NDP government to roll out specific supports for the hard-hit industry, where more than 130,000 people in B.C. have lost their jobs. ● Teachers and parents may not know what the 2020-21 school year will look like until late August. According to a letter sent to members of the BC Teachers’ Federation, the provincial government could wait until August 20 before confirming how schools will resume in September, the Richmond News reports. ​ ​ ​ ​ ● Just over half of Canadians now say a four-day, 30-hour work week is a good idea, according to a survey from Angus Reid — a six per cent increase in the sentiment since ​ ​ 2018. People who voted for the federal NDP were most likely to support the idea, with 67 per cent saying it was a good idea. ○ Fifty-four per cent of B.C. respondents gave the idea a thumbs-up. ○ Green Party house leader Sonia Furstenau is promoting the possibility of ​ ​ reworking work hours in B.C. as part of her bid to become the party’s next leader. News briefs Positive reviews for community meetings on Columbia River Treaty negotiations ● In October and November 2019, more than 350 people attended a series of 12 community meetings to hear from public officials about the progress of the renegotiation of the Canada-United States Columbia River Treaty, according to a summary report ​ released by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. ○ Participants heard from the province’s negotiating team, as well as First Nations representatives. The Ktunaxa, Secwepemc and Syilx/Okanagan Nations, who are official observers in the renegotiation process, are also leading efforts to address ecosystem health in the Columbia Basin. ○ Members of the Columbia River Treaty Local Governments' Committee also shared their updated recommendations for the treaty’s modernization.