B.C. Today – Daily Report April 11, 2019 Quotation of the day “I don’t think it’s political — I think it’s ignorance.” Kathleen Connolly, executive director of the Dawson Creek Chamber of Commerce and team ​ lead for Concerned Citizens for Caribou Recovery, says northern communities will be fiscally ​ ​ torched by the government's caribou recovery plans. Today in B.C. On the schedule The House will convene at 10 a.m. for question period. Today is the last day the House will sit until Monday, April 29. MLAs will head back to their ridings for a two-week constituency break. Wednesday’s debates and proceedings Four new pieces of legislation were brought forward in the chamber yesterday. Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Michelle Mungall introduced Bill 28, Zero ​ ​ ​ ​ Emissions Vehicle Act, which, if passed, will require all light-duty vehicles sold in the province to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2040. The bill takes phased-in approach — 10 per cent of new sales by 2025, 30 per cent by 2030 — ​ and includes a points-based compliance system that rates vehicle classes based on their ​ emission profile — greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions earn more points. Attorney General David Eby introduced Bill 29, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act. The ​ ​ ​ ​ bill makes tweaks to several statutes, including the Integrated Pest Management Act; Motor Vehicle Act; Personal Property Security Act; and the World Trade University Canada Establishment Act. Two private member’s bills were also put forward: ● Liberal mental health and addictions critic Jane Thornthwaite introduced M208, Welfare ​ ​ ​ ​ Payment System Reflection Act, which would space out the distribution of social assistance cheques in a bid to avoid what has become a predictable spike in overdoses on the day recipients receive their monthly assistance; and ● Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver introduced M209, Business Corporations ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Amendment Act. If passed, the bill would amend the Business Corporations Act to allow ​ B.C. companies to incorporate as benefit companies, also known as B Corps — a classification for companies that pursue social and environmental goals while still being motivated by profits. Bill 21, Forest and Range Practices Amendment Act, passed second reading and was referred ​ to committee. If passed, the bill will clarify guidelines governing the use of the province’s publicly ​ owned land base and create more opportunities for public input into forest and range use policies. MLAs in the chamber spent the remainder of the afternoon at second-reading debate on Bill 15, ​ ​ Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, which if passed, will alter the governing ​ structure of the Agricultural Land Commission. Committee A continued its review of the estimates for the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. In the House Finance Minister Carole James welcomed former NDP MLA Elizabeth Cull to the chamber. ​ ​ ​ ​ Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister Melanie Mark and Liberal finance critic Tracy ​ ​ ​ Redies both introduced members of the Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C. to the ​ House. Liberal mental health and addictions critic Jane Thornthwaite welcomed members of the B.C. ​ ​ SPCA, including CEO Craig Daniell. ​ ​ Liberal oil and gas development critic Mike Bernier introduced representatives from the ​ ​ Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. ‘This is not ok’: northern B.C. residents call for government to nix current caribou recovery plan Three Liberal MLAs from northern B.C. — oil and gas development critic Mike Bernier (Peace ​ ​ River South), education critic Dan Davies (Peace River North) and forests critic John Rustad ​ ​ ​ (Nechako Lakes) — and several stakeholders expressed concerns yesterday about the NDP government’s approach to consultations for draft agreements aimed at saving endangered caribou. “We feel our voice has not been heard,” Kathleen Connolly, executive director of the Dawson ​ ​ ​ ​ Creek Chamber of Commerce, said at a press conference alongside the MLAs. “We are extremely concerned that these are done deals and government has no desire to actually consult with the people who will be most impacted. We are here today to tell government that this is not ok and they must either stop what they are doing or come and have real conversations.” Connolly, who is also a team lead for Concerned Citizens for Caribou Recovery, said the ​ ​ backcountry closures and industrial curtailment being proposed as part of the draft agreements could have devastating impacts for northern communities and aren’t backed by scientific research or data. “Those people who work for government don’t actually live where we live,” she said. “I would suggest that our experts, our guide outfitters, trappers, backcountry guys, snowmobilers, know the movement of those caribou much better than a biologist who flies in once a year to do a count.” Clay Bassendowski, a councillor for the village of Chetwynd, said the proposed recovery plans ​ involve the possibility of closing the local mill, a move he said could result in 500 job losses in his area — a devastating blow for the community of little more than 2,600. The NDP government cancelled meetings with local stakeholders in the lead-up to the release of the draft agreements, according to Peace River Regional District vice-chair Dan Rose — a ​ ​ move that has obviously left a sour taste in many residents’ mouths. “We had meetings with the federal government that the province intervened in and cancelled them for us,” Rose said. “There has been a lot of talk about open, honest, transparent consultation and engagement but it hasn’t happened.” Tempers have been running high at the consultations and attendance has as well. Bernier said 20 per cent of Dawson Creek turned up at a recent meeting. Connolly presented a 30,000-signature petition calling on the government to halt the current consultation process immediately and conduct “a socio-economic impact study that outlines the science behind the current draft agreements.” She added that her concerns are not partisan. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the government in power,” she told reporters. “I think it is ​ that they are actually uneducated and they are shoving something down our throat that we don’t believe is fundamentally correct.” Ending the current consultation process could open the door to an emergency order from the federal government under Section 80 of the Species at Risk Act, which would likely result in large swathes of the province being closed entirely to both recreational and industrial activity. However, the certainty of an emergency order would be preferable to the uncertainty generated by the current consultation process, according to Connolly. “In some ways, we would prefer that they would section-80 it because at least then we would know what they were doing and we would know what to expect,” she said. “Right now, we have no idea what the provincial government is actually looking at doing.” Who bears the blame? Southern mountain caribou were first listed as a threatened species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act in 2003. In 2012, Ottawa asked B.C. to come up with an effective protection plan. In 2018, the feds found the province had not complied. ​ ​ Bernier said the Liberal government did take action, adding that caribou populations in northern B.C. had begun to rise as a result. “We made a conscious decision,” he said of the previous administration. “We weren’t going to make a rash decision that was going to put a whole community at risk and jobs on the line without looking at all the science and making the best decision ... for everyone.” The current draft agreements would likely result in a 3,000 to 4,000 cubic metre reduction in the annual allowable cut for northern forestry operations, according to Bernier. “Our region can’t afford the potential shutdown of the mill in Chetwynd or the mine in Tumbler Ridge simply because the goal of John Horgan’s caribou plan is to simply meet an artificial ​ ​ deadline set by the federal government,” he said. “The fear that I have is that this is the first nail in the coffin for rural B.C.,” he added. “If they shut down these areas, they’re going to continue looking at other areas of the province where there could be other resource-based communities and companies that will be out of business.” Caribou are range animals that travel vast geographic areas — much of which is being disturbed by natural resources development and, increasingly, by climate change, per a recent Globe and Mail investigation. Some scientists say Canada’s herds are hitting their minimum ​ ​ population thresholds. Weaver expects his second ‘B-corps’ private member’s bill will pass with government support The NDP government has agreed to support Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver’s second ​ ​ private member’s bill aimed at protecting businesses who want to pursue social and ​ environmental goals as well as profits. “This legislation is part of positioning our province to be a leader on the cutting edge of global economic trends,” Weaver said of the bill, which he introduced for the first time during the last spring session. “B.C. is already home to number of socially responsible companies but government should do more to support those companies that want to create environmental and social value.” He added that providing a supportive framework will encourage more companies to follow early adopters of the corporate philosophy. The bill’s current incarnation is much the same as last year’s, but Weaver said slight adjustments were made after consulting with interested businesses and the Canadian Bar Association. A release from the Green Party quoted Finance Minister Carole James, thanking the Greens ​ ​ for bringing the bill forward. “We’ve worked closely with our minority government partners to create this opportunity for B.C.