BC Today – Daily Report February 12, 2020 Quotation of the day “Peaceful protest is a fundamental democratic right in our society.” Government house leader Mike Farnworth says demonstrators who disrupted proceedings at ​ ​ the B.C. legislature yesterday had every right. Today in B.C. On the schedule The house will convene at 1:30 p.m. for question period. The government will hold its weekly cabinet meeting in the morning. Legislature protests postpone prorogation Hundreds of protestors took to the legislature grounds on Tuesday morning to join an ongoing action by Indigenous youth who have occupied the ceremonial gate for several days. They blocked politicians, government employees and press gallery reporters from entering the building. The morning’s prorogation was postponed until the afternoon, and Premier John Horgan’s ​ ​ scheduled media availability was cancelled. Despite the disruption, government house leader Mike Farnworth said most MLAs and staff ​ ​ were able to make it into the building. He emphasized — as did Premier John Horgan in a ​ ​ statement — that people have the right to peaceful protest. ​ “This is the people's house, this is a place where protest takes place,” Farnworth said of the morning’s events. “It's not the first time a protest has happened on this legislature, and I know it won't be the last time.” BC Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson said the disruptive demonstrations at the ​ ​ legislature and around the province were a case of the NDP’s “chickens coming home to roost.” “This should have been addressed two years ago with a clear and mandated approach to resolving the situation,” he told reporters. “They let this blossom into a huge provincewide protest that’s spreading across the country.” Green Party Leader Adam Olsen, who is a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, described the ​ ​ day as “heartbreaking.” “It is tough to be called out in this in this particular way,” he said of having to be escorted by security officers through crowds of chanting protestors. “I was told that I was to stand with the Indigenous people in this province and I said, I'm here to do a job … I have to be inside to do that.” Olsen also backed the rights of those demonstrating outside the legislature to be there. Staying the course: throne speech promises progress on affordability and reconciliation In yesterday’s throne speech, the NDP government promised to build on its efforts to address affordability over the next year, mostly through further spending in previously announced programs and initiatives. These include continued investments to build housing, reforms to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), and moves towards the full implementation of universal child care. Even the initiatives newly earmarked for action this year were telegraphed in advance. Those include the Child Opportunity Benefit, which was announced in Budget 2019 and is set to begin ​ paying out nearly $400 million to B.C. families in October. Other previously announced items in the speech include: ● Increased funding for school districts to better support K-12 students’ mental-health ​ ​ challenges and those from low-income families; ● Up to five days of paid leave for victims of domestic violence; ​ ​ ● A plastics action plan aimed at reducing plastic waste; and ​ ​ ● Rules to bar bots from buying up live event tickets. ​ ​ NDP MLA Bob D'Eith (Maple Ridge—Mission) — who was appointed the government’s point ​ ​ ​ ​ man on issues with cellphone bills in November — will head to Ottawa “later this month” to fight for improved phone bill affordability and transparency. Nearly one-third of the speech was devoted to lauding the government’s accomplishments over the past two and a half years. New items of note include a commitment to “commuter rail out to the Fraser Valley” and forthcoming legislation to “ban guns from schools, colleges, universities and hospitals” and give law enforcement “more tools to block the use of illegal firearms.” The province’s transportation capital plan will also be extended over five years as opposed to the current three. A balancing act The throne speech also reups the NDP government’s commitment to its CleanBC plan while pledging to support the province’s resource industries in the face of “worsening weather” due to climate change and “global economic headwinds.” “As this government charts a new course to a low-carbon economy, powered by CleanBC, British Columbians can rest assured: not only will we weather these storms, we will create the conditions for people and industry to thrive.” There will be further help for the forestry industry and efforts to “keep mining competitive,” per the speech. “From the copper needed for electric cars, to the metallurgical coal that makes wind turbines, the world needs B.C. minerals and metals.” Reconciliation received its own section with the government simultaneously celebrating its efforts so far and promising that the “work has only just begun.” “Reconciliation is rooted in the recognition of Indigenous rights as human rights,” the speech says. “This government is committed to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples.” The UNDRIP bill passed during the fall sitting commits the government to developing an action plan for implementing the declaration, but a timeline for doing so has not yet been specified. ‘Empty words and … no action’ Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson panned the throne speech as evidence of the NDP ​ ​ government’s propensity for “re-announcements and walk-backs.” ​ “There's absolutely nothing in this throne speech,” he told reporters. “It could have been last year's throne speech because there is no agenda whatsoever.” The NDP government has done little to deliver on its promise of increased affordability so far, according to Wilkinson. “Vancouver has the second least affordable housing market in the world, drivers are paying more for car insurance than the rest of Canada, and our forestry industry is in total shambles, but the NDP are pretending that everything is just fine,” he said. “John Horgan talks a big game about increasing affordability but has nothing to show for it.” Today’s events February 12 at 9 a.m. — Vancouver ​ ​ Federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan is scheduled to give a keynote address ​ ​ at GLOBE 2020 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Topics of conversation ● Ottawa will soon begin consultations with Indigenous groups to explore the possibility of First Nations ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline. “This next step will be focused ​ on different models of economic participation such as equity-based or revenue-sharing options and will seek to build momentum towards a widely acceptable option for the groups that we’re consulting with,” federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Monday. ​ ​ ​ ​ “We’ll also explore whether the participating communities are willing to work together, either through an existing entity or a new one.” ● B.C.’s newest political party, the BC Ecosocialists, published an open letter to Green ​ ​ Party house leader Sonia Furstenau, calling on her to make the Green caucus’ support ​ ​ for the upcoming budget contingent on the end of provincial fossil fuel subsidies. Appointments and employments New session brings new committee appointments ● A select standing committee was appointed yesterday to appoint the members of the legislature’s nine permanent standing committees. The committee membership is as follows: ○ Government house leader Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam); ​ ​ ○ NDP MLA Garry Begg (Surrey—Guildford); ​ ​ ○ NDP MLA Janet Routledge (Burnaby North); ​ ​ ○ NDP MLA Jagrup Brar (Surrey—Fleetwood); ​ ​ ○ NDP MLA Ronna-Rae Leonard (Courtenay—Comox); ​ ​ ○ Opposition house leader Mary Polak (Langley); ​ ​ ○ Liberal MLA Eric Foster (Vernon—Monashee); ​ ​ ○ Liberal MLA Jackie Tegart (Fraser—Nicola); ​ ​ ○ Liberal MLA Greg Kyllo (Shuswap); and ​ ​ ​ ​ ○ Green Party house leader Sonia Furstenau (Cowichan). ​ ​ .