BC Today – Daily Report November 26, 2019

Quotation of the day

“Beholden to big labour.”

Liberal MLA () says the NDP government has yet to intervene in the ​ ​ various strikes underway across B.C. because of its union ties.

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The house will convene at 10 a.m. for question period.

Monday’s debates and proceedings MLAs in the chamber spent the afternoon at committee stage on Bill 45, Taxation Statutes ​ ​ Amendment Act, which, if passed will nearly triple the PST on vaping products and increase the tobacco tax.

Committee A continued committee stage on Bill 41, the UNDRIP bill. ​ ​

NDP MLA , chair of the Special Committee to Review the Police Complaint ​ ​ Process, tabled the committee’s report. ​ ​

At the legislature Members of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association were at the legislature yesterday to meet with MLAs.

Representatives from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society met with Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister to discuss “a new coastal protection ​ ​ strategy.”

Members of the Ismaili Council of B.C. were also in the house.

Today’s events

November 26 at 10:30 a.m. — Victoria ​ B.C.’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy and Privacy Commissioner of ​ ​ Canada Daniel Therrien will hold a joint news conference to release the findings of their ​ ​ investigation into Victoria-based AggregateIQ Data Services Ltd.'s use of personal information in providing consulting services to political campaigns in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.

November 26 at 12 p.m. — Victoria ​ Finance Minister will release the province's Second Quarterly Report for 2019-20 ​ ​ during a news conference in the legislature press theatre.

November 26 at 6 p.m. — Victoria ​ BC Liberal Party Leader and members of his caucus will attend a casual ​ ​ pub night fundraiser at the Bard and Banker hosted by the party’s Langford—Juan de Fuca riding association.

Topics of conversation

● Today, the 11th round of bargaining between Coast Mountain Bus Company and Unifor ​ ​ — which represents Metro Vancouver SeaBus maintenance workers and bus drivers — will take place, with Unifor national president Jerry Dias at the table. If no deal is ​ ​ reached by Wednesday, a full-scale work stoppage is planned to run through Friday. ○ Labour Minister remains optimistic the two sides can reach a deal ​ ​ before a major transit disruption takes place. “I'm always hopeful ... because I know and I firmly believe that collective agreements are negotiated at the bargaining table,” he told reporters yesterday. “I hope that they will stay there until the deal is worked out.”

● Mosaic Forestry Management began its winter shutdown early yesterday, citing “very ​ challenging pricing and market conditions” facing B.C.’s forest industry. “As a result, we are shutting down earlier ahead of a usual winter shutdown,” media spokesperson Pam ​ Agnew said in an email. “We are monitoring the situation closely and look forward to ​ ​ ​ restarting production when the market outlook improves.” The shutdown will affect more than 2,000 of workers on Vancouver Island and the coast. ○ Forests Minister called the move “disappointing” and said ​ ​ ministry staff have been directed to reach out to the company to “ensure they are aware of available government resources.” ○ The closure means the forest industry is “effectively shut down along the entire ​ coast,” according to Liberal Forests critic . “After months of calling ​ ​ ​ ​ on and the NDP to aid the forest industry by reducing stumpage ​ ​ fees to increase competitiveness, it’s quite apparent this government is content to sit on the sidelines and do nothing,” he said in a statement. “I met with mill workers and contractors on Vancouver Island this weekend and they are devastated by this government’s lack of action.”

● Midway through yesterday afternoon’s question period, Canfor Corporation announced a ​ ​ two-week curtailment for all of its B.C. sawmills — except the Wynnwood mill near Creston, which will be curtailed for five days — beginning December 23. Current operating conditions are “uneconomic,” according to the company’s statement, due to ​ “the high cost of fibre and continued weak lumber markets.”

● Trans Mountain Corporation is keeping an eye on people who express or demonstrate opposition to pipelines, CBC reports, and some are being designated persons of interest ​ ​ (POI), a law enforcement term usually applied to individuals connected to a crime. A “core POI” is connected to the Tiny House Warriors — a group that has set up camp on ​ ​ Secwepemc land in the Interior in a bid to block the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion — and is described as proof that the group has attracted “fringe and more extreme activists” in the Crown corporation’s internal documents. ○ Trans Mountain has refused to confirm whether it shares the information it gathers with other federal departments or the RCMP. “Trans Mountain's first priority is safety and we are committed to protecting the integrity of our facilities, the safety of our employees, contractors and the general public," the corporation said in an emailed statement to CBC News.

● Ottawa has yet to provide any details on how it arrived at the projection that TMX will ​ ​ pump an extra $500 million in corporate tax revenues into federal coffers, despite attempts by economist Robyn Allan to get details. ​ ​

● Another report critical of B.C.’s subsidies to oil and gas companies was released ​ ​ yesterday. The International Institute for Sustainable Development reckons B.C. handed ​ out more than $830 million in fossil fuel production and consumption subsidies in

2017-18 and has accumulated up to $3.1 billion in royalty credits, which oil and gas companies can claim against the resource royalties they owe the province. That makes B.C. the second highest provider of fossil fuel subsidies in the country, second only to Alberta, according to the institute. “For B.C.’s climate change and economic policies to be effective, the province must identify and reform policies that undermine climate change action,” write authors Vanessa Corkal and Philip Gass. “The longer BC waits to ​ ​ ​ ​ act, the more it loses out on the benefits of transitioning to a low-carbon economy.” ○ Energy Minister said the study has “serious technical flaws” ​ ​ and took issue with its inclusion of B.C. coal operations since the majority involve metallurgical — rather than thermal — coal. “It’s unfortunate that a number of our ​ CleanBC initiatives have been inaccurately characterized in the report,” she said in a statement. “We regularly review royalty programs. Our government will keep working hard to keep BC on the path to a cleaner, better future that creates opportunities for all.”

● B.C.’s wireless emergency alert system will be tested tomorrow at 1:55 p.m. The test ​ ​ alert — which will go out over radio, TV and via text message — is one of the biannual tests of the national AlertReady system.

Question period Liberal MLAs continued to focus on various labour disputes in the province during Monday’s question period.

Strikes ‘bedevilling ’ ● “Why do we have a labour minister?” Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson wondered ​ ​ before asking Premier John Horgan what the government plans to do about job action ​ ​ by forest sector workers on Vancouver Island, faculty at the University of Northern B.C. and “an impending massive work shutdown in the Lower Mainland that will leave 1.4 ​ million people waiting for a ride.”

● “The parties are back at the table — we all know that the best agreements happen through free collective bargaining,” Horgan replied. “I appreciate that the members on that side don't understand, because labour, to them, is just ripping up contracts.”

● Labour Minister Harry Bains took most of the Liberals’ questions, professing faith in ​ ​ collective bargaining and castigating the Liberals for underinvesting in transit and education. ○ “They have learned nothing in two and a half years sitting on that side when it comes to labour relations,” he said. “We are going to take no lessons from them when it comes to collective bargaining or labour relations in this province.”

● Advanced Education, Skills, and Training Minister took a question from ​ ​ Liberal Finance critic regarding the faculty strike at the University of ​ ​

Northern British Columbia. Her response — “I appreciate finally getting a question from the official Opposition about education” — was not well received. ○ The Liberal benches loudly reminded Mark that she dodged a question on the UNBC strike from Bond last week, letting Bains answer in her stead.

● Liberal MLA Mike de Jong (Abbotsford West) accused the NDP of failing to intervene in ​ ​ the ongoing labour disputes because they are indebted to unions. “The premier and his colleagues were thanking the who's who of the big union bosses for their generous advertising support at the NDP convention,” de Jong said. “How can British Columbians have any confidence that the NDP government will fulfil their duty to protect the public interest when they are so clearly beholden to big labour and won't even appoint a mediator without the approval of the big union bosses?”

● Attorney General told de Jong he should take his “pretty serious accusations” ​ ​ about possible violations of political fundraising rules to Elections B.C.

Green Party house leader asked Children and Family Development Minister ​ ​ about recent changes that no longer requires social workers in Conroy’s ​ ministry to have a social work degree, citing concerns about qualification. “We have a doctor shortage, but I don't hear anyone advocating that the answer just lies in hiring more people with basic first-aid skills,” Furstenau said.

Conroy said the changes are meant to ensure that potential social workers from diverse backgrounds who have relevant experience can apply to work for the ministry. “Applicants are still required to meet the same competencies and must demonstrate equivalent skills and experience,” she said, adding that those hired then receive additional on-the-job training.

News briefs - Governmental

Special Committee to Review the Police Complaint Process The special committee made 38 recommendations to improve the province’s police complaint ​ ​ process, including requiring police and staff at the police complaint commissioner’s office to undertake cultural competency training, with a focus on Indigenous and newcomer communities.

The office has improved its response time on complaints, completing 65 percent of complaint files within the legislated six month timeframe, compared to 45 percent in 2012, but many newcomers are shut out of making police complaints because they are not aware the process exists.

The First Nations Council told the committee members the current police complaint process allows for “negative stereotyping” and bias when it comes to complaints filed by Indigenous

people, leading the committee to suggest “systemic change” in how police forces interact with Indigenous people is needed to fulfill UNDRIP initiatives.

The committee’s recommendations cover some of the same ground — promoting the Alternative Dispute Resolutions process and improving transparency — and endorse amendments to the Police Act to provide the commissioner with the power to arrange a public hearing at any stage ​ of the process and to consider group complaints about individual police officers, among others.

At the suggestion of the police complaint commissioner, the committee also recommended that retired judges be made the discipline authority for complaint investigations — not mayors, as has previously been the case. ​ ​

Funding announcements

● Victoria’s first urgent and primary care centre (UPCC) is expected to open in March 2020 ​ ​ in James Bay. It will be the third UPCC on Vancouver Island and the 14th in the province. The clinic is currently under construction at the former Whiteye Community Health Centre and is in the process of recruiting general practitioners, nurse practitioners, nurses, and mental health and substance-use clinicians.

● The B.C. Air Access Program is accepting applications for next year’s grants to support ​ ​ ​ ​ infrastructure upgrades at airports, heliports and water aerodromes around the province. Interested communities have until January 13, 2020, to apply. ○ This year's program includes funding incentives for projects aimed at ​ ​ environmental and climate-focused improvements to help aviation facilities align with the province's CleanBC plan.