B.C. Today – Daily Report December 18, 2018

Quotation of the day

“[The NDP] cannot continue to just tax the stuffing out of ​ British Columbians and expect that to lead to prosperity. They have done absolutely nothing new to contribute to prosperity in this province.”

B.C. Liberal Party Leader says his caucus’ top priority in 2019 will be ​ ​ pushing the NPD government to “moderate [its] aggressive tax agenda.”

Today in B.C.

On the schedule The House is adjourned for the winter break. MLAs are scheduled to return to the House on February 12, 2019 for the delivery of the government’s throne speech.

B.C. goes back to the drawing board on George Massey tunnel replacement

An independent review of the George Massey tunnel says the former B.C. Liberal government’s ​ ​ proposal to replace the tunnel with a 10-lane bridge was “the wrong project for the region.” ​

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister announced the report’s findings ​ ​ Monday, which she says back up the NDP government’s decision to cancel the replacement bridge project when they came into power in September 2017.

“Had the former government looked at the options fully and objectively, we wouldn’t be in this situation, but they did push ahead with a $3.5 billion mega-project without listening to communities and we will not make the same mistake,” Trevena said.

The government commissioned an independent review of the project by professional engineer Stan Cowdell at the time of the bridge’s cancellation. Cowdell’s report recommends three ​ possible options for replacing the 59-year-old tunnel:

● A six-to-eight-lane bridge, which could accommodate the majority of traffic predicted for the area by 2045; ● An immersed “tube tunnel” of up to eight lanes, which could be a less expensive option with fewer “negative impacts” than bridge construction; and ● Retrofitting the existing tunnel to use in tandem with one of the above new crossing options.

A new feasibility study should be conducted to determine which option will best address traffic and community needs, per the report.

Trevena said the province will begin consulting with municipalities and First Nations in the new year to determine which of the three options best aligns with transit and community priorities for the South Fraser region.

Most Metro mayors opposed the 10-lane bridge option as “too much infrastructure” and were critical of the Liberal government’s consultation process.

Trevena said the government “hopes” to have a business plan for the new crossing in place by the fall of 2020. In the meantime, the province will invest $40 million to address safety concerns in the congested tunnel, including installing new lighting and “washing the interior more frequently to increase visibility.” The tunnel saw 160 collisions between 2013 and 2017; poor visibility was often a factor.

B.C. Liberal reaction Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson was joined by MLAs (Delta) and ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (Richmond—Queensborough), whose ridings are linked by the George Massey tunnel, to respond to the government’s announcement.

The trio roundly rejected Trevena’s negative characterization of the Liberal government’s consultation process. Johal cited “14,000 pages of consultation over five years, over 100 technical and scientific reports, 100 meetings with Translink, [and the] cities of Delta and Richmond” as proof the Liberal government did its homework before signing off on the bridge.

“We have spent over $100 million already on the prep work for this bridge … and we’ve got nothing for it,” Johal said. “Fourteen thousand Richmond businesses having difficulty retaining employees or hiring employees because of the traffic bottleneck, expected to have answers. Instead, they got kicked in the teeth.”

Wilkinson contended the bridge would be one-third completed by now if the NDP had not cancelled it. “Instead they decided to cancel it because it connects two Liberal ridings,” he said.

Wilkinson said the government’s commitment to invest in safety improvements and congestion mitigation is “a bad joke” that will do little to solve “the biggest traffic jam in Western .”

“For the next 10 years, every time someone misses a flight or misses a ferry or loses a job interview because they are stuck in traffic, they can thank the NDP,” he added.

Today’s events

December 18 at 9:30 a.m. – North Vancouver ​

Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care, and NDP MLA (North ​ ​ ​ Vancouver—Lonsdale) will make an announcement about funding for new licensed child care spaces in North Vancouver at Smiling Stars Daycare.

December 18 at 10:15 a.m. – Surrey ​

Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister and Municipal Affairs and ​ ​ Housing Minister will join Liberal MP Randeep Sarai (Surrey Centre) at the ​ ​ ​ ​ Surrey Biofuel Facility for an infrastructure funding announcement about clean energy projects.

December 18 at 11:15 a.m. – Richmond ​

Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care, will announce funding for new licensed child ​ care spaces in Richmond at Kids & Company.

Topics of conversation

● A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered the Unist’ot’en protest camp near Houston to ​ ​ remove a locked gate that is blocking a bridge and impeding preparations for the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is part of the $40-billion LNG Canada project. ● Following the ruling, Coastal GasLink said the camp will remain undisturbed as work proceeds. “They should feel secure in knowing the camp’s operations will remain unaffected,” company spokesperson Jacquelynn Benson told APTN News. “We simply ​ ​ ​ ​ need to access that public bridge, that public access road, to work on a pipeline right-of-way.” ○ “That gate is a safety issue for us,” Unist’ot’en camp spokesperson Warner ​ Naziel. “We see the land there for healing — not for profit and monetary gain.” ​

● The Ministry of Children and Family Development has begun announcing the 53 child care providers chosen to participate in the province’s universal child care prototype ​ ​ project. Participating operators include Kinderplace Development Preschool, which will ​ ​ ​ offer 74 low-cost, licensed child care spaces in Penticton, and BrightPath Coquitlam with 59 child care spaces. ○ Parents with children in care at both facilities will now pay no more than $200 per month per child.

● The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that cannabis dispensaries currently operating without a licence in Vancouver must close by the end of the month or face “enforcement ​ ​ action.” Lawyers representing a group of 28 cannabis stores argued the city’s licensing regime, which predates federal cannabis legalization, amounted to aiding and abetting criminal organizations. The argument was shot down to the delight of the city, which says the decision “reaffirms the city’s authority over land use and municipal business licensing,” a spokesperson told the Georgia Straight. ​ ​ ○ Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson’s ruling did not address a Charter challenge ​ ​ presented by the cannabis store owners that contended shutting down dispensaries violates the rights of medical marijuana patients to reasonable access to medical cannabis.

News briefs - Governmental

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the City of Nanaimo and the Nanaimo Ladysmith School Board have agreed to work together to redevelop a section of Fifth Street in Nanaimo.

The “Fifth Street corridor” project involves three publicly owned properties, which will be redeveloped into affordable rental housing, an alternative school, a park and recreation centre, and other health and child care facilities.

The project is still at the initial planning stage. Public consultations are expected to be complete by summer 2020.

Funding announcements

● Construction on the Lower Lynn Improvement project has begun. The four-phase project will include two new bridges to replace the current Lynn Creek bridge as well as a pedestrian and cyclist tunnel and various improvements to ease congestion. ○ The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is providing $76.7 million for ​ ​ the project, Ottawa is contributing $66.6 million and the District of North ​ Vancouver is investing $54.7 million. ​

● The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is partnering with the City of ​ ​ ​ Vancouver to build 109 affordable rental homes at 3185 Riverwalk Avenue. The ​ ​ building, which will be operated by S.U.C.C.E.S.S., will feature a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The ministry will provide $9 million to cover capital funding and construction financing costs, while the city is providing land valued at $21 million and offering the operator a 60-year lease at nominal cost. ○ Construction on the building is expected to be complete by early 2021.

Year-end interview with B.C. Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson

Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson began the year in the midst of a tense leadership race ​ ​ and ends it the leader of “a completely united” Official Opposition.

The second-term Vancouver MLA had to make the swift transition after winning the B.C. Liberal Party’s leadership race in February.

“You come in as a new leader thinking, my first job is to make sure that the 42 members in caucus are going to be onside and that the party is going to be onside,” Wilkinson said.

He described September’s B.C. Liberal Party convention in Vancouver as “the chance for a thousand people to decide if [he] was any good or not.” According to Wilkinson, what he heard from delegates was a “resounding yes.”

While the transition to opposition is never seamless for a party that sat in government more than a decade, Wilkinson said his Liberal caucus proved itself “to be an effective opposition throughout the spring and summer.”

“We have a lot of expertise on this team,” he said. “We do a good job of holding the NDP’s feet to the fire.”

The year to come With the party already fundraising on the possibility of an election next year, Wilkinson said his caucus is in “great shape” and most sitting MLAs have plans to run again.

Even if the province doesn’t go to the polls in 2019, the Official Opposition will have its hands full moderating the government’s “aggressive tax agenda,” according to Wilkinson.

“They cannot continue to just tax the stuffing out of British Columbians and expect that to lead to prosperity,” Wilkinson said. “They have done absolutely nothing new to contribute to prosperity in this province.”

The Liberal leader said new and increased provincial taxes are “starting to hurt” British Columbians and 2019 will bring “even bigger bills.”

“People are starting to say, I thought this was supposed to be about affordability but all I’m doing is paying more taxes,’” Wilkinson said, nodding to the NDP’s 2017 election platform.

With the results of the province’s referendum on electoral reform yet to be announced, Wilkinson was cagey about whether his party will challenge the results if voters choose to switch to proportional representation (PR).

Wilkinson has previously said his party would aggressively challenge the results if turnout were below 40 per cent, but with Elections BC reporting turnout of at least 41 per cent, Wilkinson says it is the minutiae that may need his attention.

“If [the vote does go] slightly in favour of pro rep, in terms of the division of the three different offered systems, that gets down to a pretty small percentage of British Columbians,” Wilkinson said. “We could be down to seven per cent of the population telling the other 93 per cent how to vote. That is going to be a concern.”

Bridging the gap in the big tent party One of the Liberal leader’s biggest tests moving into the next election — whenever it may fall — is keeping the many minds of the Liberal caucus in sync.

Looking back at her years as premier, has said she “didn’t get to do as much on ​ ​ ​ social issues” as she wanted to thanks to the conservative elements of the Liberal caucus. Wilkinson sees the diversity of opinion in his caucus, which ranges from “what would be classified as extremely conservative to extremely left wing,” as a strength.

“We have a fascinating caucus that is a huge spread of the political tent, and we uniformly come out with key positions that are basically a consensus opinion,” Wilkinson said, adding his party’s official position on social issues is “suitably and appropriately progressive.”

Not all members of Wilkinson’s caucus embody the party’s progressive values. Liberal children and family development critic Laurie Throness abstained from voting on Bill 50, Human Rights ​ ​ ​ ​ Code Amendment Act, due to his religious opposition to transgender rights and defended Trinity ​ ​ ​ ​ Western University’s convenant that required students to commit to abstain from sex outside of ​ ​ heterosexual marriage.

“If some people have views that are more on the fringes of the party perspective, that’s a good thing to hear them rather than to suppress them and pretend they don’t exist,” Wilkinson told BC ​ Today when asked about his critic’s actions. ​ ​

“The greatest strength of our first-past-the-post voting system is that a large range of opinions ​ are brought in, moderated and made into a forward-looking agenda that is acceptable to a broad range of British Columbians.”