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BC Today – Daily Report November 20, 2019 Quotation of the day “All roads lead to an increased cost of construction because of this policy.” Vancouver Regional Construction Association president Fiona Famulak says the NDP ​ ​ ​ ​ government’s use of Community Benefits Agreements is creating uncertainty for contractors and decreasing competition for affected projects. Today in B.C. On the schedule The house will convene at 1 p.m. for question period. The government will hold its weekly cabinet meeting in the morning. Tuesday’s debates and proceedings Finance Minister Carole James introduced Bill 45, Taxation Statutes Amendment Act. ​ ​ ​ ​ If passed, the bill will amend the Provincial Sales Tax Act and the Tobacco Tax Act, increasing ​ ​ ​ ​ the provincial sales tax on vaping products from seven per cent to 20 per cent, and boosting both the cigarette and per-gram tobacco tax rates by two cents, effective January 1, 2020. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Lisa Beare tabled the 2018-19 Report on Multiculturalism. ​ ​ ​ ​ With the end of the fall sitting fast approaching, Government House Leader Mike Farnworth ​ called for Committee A to begin considering legislation, in addition to the house. In the chamber, MLAs completed second reading on four bills: ● Bill 38, Climate Change Accountability Amendment Act; ​ ● Bill 39, a Miscellaneous Statutes Act; and ​ ● Bill 43, Election Amendment Act; and ​ ● Bill 40, the daylight saving time bill. ​ Bill 40 passed second reading on division, with the three-member BC Green Party caucus ​ voting nay. The house spent the rest of the afternoon at committee stage on Bill 37, Financial Institutions ​ ​ Amendment Act, which, if passed, will modernize the regulatory framework for financial institutions operating in the province. Committee A spent the day at committee stage on Bill 41, the UNDRIP legislation. ​ ​ ​ At the legislature Members of the BC Seniors Living Association were at the legislature for a day of meetings with MLAs, as were representatives from Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claire Trevena welcomed members of the BC Coast ​ ​ Pilots to the house. Liberal Environment and Climate Change critic Peter Milobar welcomed guests from several ​ ​ construction sector organizations — including the Christian Labour Association of Canada, Canada Works, the Progressive Contractors Association, and the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association — who were in the house to watch question period. Later that morning, the group held an event on the back steps of the legislature to voice their opposition to the government’s use of Community Benefits Agreements. Attorney general planning legislation to bar government from pilfering ICBC profits Next spring, Attorney General David Eby plans to propose a bill that would protect ICBC profits ​ ​ from the sticky fingers of future governments. Over a six year period, the former BC Liberal government shifted $1.2 billion in ICBC profits to ​ ​ keep the provincial budget balanced. Eby told reporters he has heard from “many British Columbians … concerned about the previous administration taking a billion dollars out of ICBC’s capital.” “It was their feeling, and it is my feeling as well, that that money actually belongs to drivers and that insurance revenues from the optional side shouldn’t be used as a tax, essentially, on British Columbians — it should be used for insurance,” he said. Eby emphasized that the idea of ICBC being profitable is purely theoretical at this point — the floundering Crown corporation has received a roughly $2-billion funding infusion since the NDP came to power and is still expected to post a loss in its current fiscal year. “My expectation is that we will be able to turn that around and that ICBC will be profitable, and will be able to offer lower rates to British Columbia,” he said of the government’s efforts. “We should be prepared for that day before the temptation arises.” On a separate ICBC issue, Eby said he expects to have a decision on whether or not to appeal the B.C. Supreme Court decision rejecting the government’s plan to cap expert witness ​ ​ testimony in ICBC cases by next week. ‘Simply bad policy’: Liberals join CLAC and allies to voice opposition to Community Benefits Agreements Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson and members of his caucus joined more than 100 members ​ ​ of the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) and several contractor associations to call for the NDP government to scrap Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), which they argue discriminates against non-union workers. “These are people who are good at what they do — they earn their way,” Wilkinson said as he stood in front of the crowd. “The people here are simply asking for the right to work on public sector projects. That seems so obvious, so fair, so reasonable but somehow the NDP have decided that they are going to pick winners and losers. They're going to pick friends and enemies, and these people are amongst the enemies of the NDP.” The government contends that CBAs maximize apprenticeship training opportunities, prioritize diverse hiring and provide competitive wages while also giving hiring priority to local workers. Non-union workers are not excluded from affected projects, according to the transportation ministry, but those working on site for more than 30 days are required to join a union for work specific to the project. Ryan Bruce, CLAC’s director of government and public relations, called the NDP’s ​ implementation of CBAs on certain public sector projects “a costly mistake.” “It tramples on workers’ rights, jacks up the cost of taxpayer-funded infrastructure, and is driving away good contractors,” he told reporters. Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) president Fiona Famulak emphasized ​ ​ the association’s non-partisanship, prefacing her comments by saying they were “not a direct attack on the NDP government, per se” but rather a criticism of a problematic policy. “It doesn't work, it's simply bad policy,” she said of the CBAs. “Nobody can give us real clarity on how the policy is going to be rolled out on the ground.” She said BC Infrastructure Benefits, the Crown corporation tasked with administering projects being delivered under CBAs, has been unable to answer crucial questions posed by contractors. “We need to secure our labour from BCIB [but] we don't know the number and the quality of people that we will get — how do we price that?” she said. “We don't know where the labour is going to come from, so how do we price a living allowance?” The lack of answers poses “an unimaginable risk” to contractors, according to Famulak, which drives up construction costs. “They either choose not to bid, because there's a lack of clarity … [and] too much risk and they step away, which means the lack of competition will drive up prices,” she told reporters. “[Or] they will choose to bid ... and they will price the risk, which again drives up the cost of construction for which the taxpayer is responsible for.” “All roads lead to an increased cost of construction because of this policy,” she added. CLAC and the Progressive Contractors Association — along with the VRCA, the Independent Contractors and Business Association, the BC Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and others — are challenging the government’s use of the agreements in court, arguing CBAs infringe on workers’ constitutional rights. The case heads to court in February 2020. Today’s events November 20 at 10:30 a.m. — Ottawa ​ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet will be sworn in by Governor General Julie Payette at ​ ​ ​ ​ Rideau Hall. November 20 at 11:30 a.m. — Victoria ​ Parliamentary secretary for Gender Equity Mitzi Dean and NDP MLA Spencer Chandra ​ ​ ​ Herbert (Vancouver—West End) will be joined by invited guests and community members for ​ the raising of the transgender flag at the legislature for the first time in history on Transgender Day of Remembrance. November 20 at 12 p.m. — Victoria ​ Premier John Horgan, along with Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Lisa Beare and NDP MLA ​ ​ ​ ​ Anne Kang, parliamentary secretary for Multiculturalism, will announce new supports to help ​ fight racism and hate as part of B.C. Multiculturalism Week. November 20 at 7 p.m. — Victoria ​ Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth and Education Minister Rob ​ ​ ​ ​ Fleming will host “an evening of Whiskey tasting, light refreshments, and good conversation” at ​ The Argyle Attic. Oops! Tuesday’s edition of BC Today reported that the ninth round of negotiations on the Columbia ​ ​ River Treaty were scheduled to take place on November 19 and 20. However, the negotiations have been postponed at the request of the United States negotiating team. Topics of conversation ● The Alberta government is getting in on the daylight saving time debate, announcing an online consultation on whether the province should continue to observe the time ​ ​ switch. ○ This is not the first time Alberta has considered the idea: in 2017, NDP MLA Thomas Dang introduced a private member’s bill to kill the time change, but ​ it was defeated. ● The Star Vancouver is laying off its reporting team, including its legislative reporter, ​ ​ as parent company Torstar announced job cuts and the shuttering of StarMetro ​ papers across the country. The last print edition of the StarMetro papers will be ​ ​ published on December 20, although the company says it plans to open up smaller digital bureaus. ○ According to Unifor, Torstar laid off 121 employees, most of them journalists, ​ ​ on Tuesday. Question period On Tuesday, Liberal MLAs took the government to task on its use of CBAs. ‘The turkeys at CLAC’ ● Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson kicked off by asking Premier John Horgan to ​ ​ ​ ​ apologize for “demeaning and insulting” comments he made in 2016 during an address at an operating engineers’ union convention.

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