BC Today – Daily Report September 16, 2020 Quotation of the day “We cannot act on what we do not know.” ​ ​ BC human rights commissioner Kasari Govender says the province needs a law to ensure data ​ ​ about marginalized groups is collected safely and used productively. Today in B.C. On the schedule The house is adjourned for the summer. Furstenau says Greens are focused on pandemic recovery B.C. needs a green recovery in order to pull itself out of the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to newly crowned Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau who is calling for a ​ ​ “thoughtful recovery.” With wildfire smoke continuing to blanket most of the province, Furstenau linked action on climate change to stability and health for British Columbians and a path back to a healthy economy. In her first post-leadership victory interview with reporters, Furstenau faced multiple questions about the Green Party’s readiness for a potential snap election. Despite her conviction that a pandemic-era election this fall would be “highly irresponsible,” Furstenau said she feels good about the momentum the leadership race built up for the Greens. “I'm very excited about the strengths that we have right now,” she stated. She also told reporters the party plans to run a provincewide campaign with “a much more diverse slate” than the Greens managed in 2017, but did not confirm whether leadership hopefuls Kim Darwin and Cam Brewer will be running as part of that slate, saying ​ ​ ​ ​ conversations about candidate nominations are still underway. “Unless we have perspectives that represent everybody in British Columbia, we are not going to be able to effectively make decisions that represent everybody in B.C.,” she said. The new Green leader was diplomatic when asked how her leadership will vary from that of her predecessor, Andrew Weaver, who backed Brewer during the campaign. ​ ​ “I am very focused on collaboration and bringing people together,” she said. Legislation needed for race-based data collection, commissioner says B.C. needs a law to ensure the province can collect data about marginalized people without furthering their marginalization, according to B.C.’s human rights commissioner Kasari ​ ​ ​ Govender. ​ Following a request from Premier John Horgan, Govender’s office spent the summer ​ ​ researching ways the provincial government could “collect and use disaggregated demographic and race-based data to reveal systemic racism and inequities” in B.C. “We cannot act on what we do not know, so data collection is often the first step in making change,” Govender said of her newly released findings. “This is a call for knowledge and a call to action.” Govender’s proposed Anti-Discrimination Data Act would mandate “the collection, use and disclosure of demographic data for social change,” and she recommends that her office and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner be involved in its development. Data collected in other jurisdictions — including the City of Toronto — suggests that the coronavirus pandemic is disproportionately affecting racialized people and those living on lower incomes. But B.C. is not collecting disaggregated data about how people in minority groups and different income brackets are being affected by COVID-19. The province does not collect that kind of information about the impact of the overdose crisis either. While that data is “critical” to informing good policy, Govender warned collecting information on marginalized groups can be a double-edged sword. “There are numerous examples in Canadian history and around the world where data about people’s identities has been collected and used for ill,” she told BC Today in an interview. ​ ​ The ‘grandmother perspective' Govender said the province needs to go beyond the “Big Brother mentality” and get to what her report dubs “a grandmother perspective,” as put forward by Gwen Phillips of the Ktunaxa ​ ​ Nation. The “grandmother perspective” would see the government’s role in data collection shift from “monitoring the lives of citizens” to collecting evidence needed to ensure the government has an accurate understanding of how policies and situations affect marginalized groups. As the name suggests, the grandmother perspective stresses a need for relationships between the data collectors and those whose data is being collected. “We are emphasizing that it’s about relationships as a framework,” Govender said. “That process of being in relationship with a community will really define how this moves forward.” Building trust and empowering community The B.C. government already has established relationships with many Indigenous groups in the province and a health authority dedicated to collecting information about how the province’s dual public health emergencies are affecting Indigenous people. But Govender said trust needs to be built with under-represented groups so they know the data will not be used in ways that are harmful or “people won't participate.” The law should support B.C.’s Human Rights Code and see the creation of several bodies aimed at protecting people’s privacy and ensuring that the information collected is used to the benefit of communities. A diverse and representative “community governance board” would be created to inform what kind of data is collected. “The goal there is really community ownership of this kind of data — communities being able to make the decisions for themselves about how this is used and how it's collected,” Govender told BC Today. ​ Today’s events September 16 at 12 p.m. — Online ​ Health Minister Adrian Dix will be joined by NDP MLA Jinny Sims for an update on seniors' ​ ​ ​ ​ care in Surrey. September 16 at 6:30 p.m. — Online ​ NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon, parliamentary secretary for forests, will host a fundraiser for the ​ ​ Skeena BC NDP where he “learns how to knit.” September 16 at 7 p.m. — Online ​ Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson will announce his party’s candidate for Vancouver—Point ​ ​ Grey, currently held by NDP Attorney General David Eby. ​ ​ Topics of conversation ● B.C. reported 97 new COVID-19 cases yesterday. There were 1,590 active cases (down four) with 63 people in hospital (up five), 16 of them critical (up four). No new deaths were reported, leaving the provincial total at 219. ○ The provincial state of emergency was extended through September 29. ● The Christian Heritage Party of BC has acclaimed Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson its next ​ ​ ​ ​ leader. She has previously run for office in both B.C. and Alberta, finishing fourth place in both races. ○ In 2019, Tyler Thompson was the People’s Party of Canada candidate in the Burnaby South byelection won by federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. She then ​ ​ ran for the party in Alberta’s Red Deer-Lacombe riding during the federal election later that year. Election: Nominations and departures NDP ● Two rookie NDP MLAs announced they will be running for a second term: Ravi Kahlon ​ in Delta North and Bob D’Eith in Maple Ridge—Mission. ​ ​ ○ Kahlon has held several parliamentary secretary posts: formerly Sport and Multiculturalism, currently Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. D’Eith recently helped launch ShowcaseBC and is the premier’s point-man on cellphone affordability. ● Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne has thrown her hat in the ring for the NDP nomination in ​ ​ the Mid Island—Pacific Rim riding where Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser will not be seeking re-election. ​ ​ News briefs Report outlines five crossing options for North Shore rapid transit ● Three tunnels and two bridges — those are the best crossing options possible for a high-capacity rapid transit crossing from Vancouver across the Burrard Inlet to the North Shore, according to the most recent feasibility study. All would connect the Lonsdale ​ ​ corridor to existing rapid transit lines. ○ One crossing option included in the first phase of the study — adding a rapid transit line underneath the existing Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Bridge — has been eliminated due to shipping impacts and seismic safety requirements. ○ Translink will now analyze which option will work best to meet ridership demand within the existing transit system, according to the transportation ministry. Second navigation centre for homeless people proposed for Nanaimo ● BC Housing, the City of Nanaimo and Island Health are working on a proposal for a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ navigation centre to provide people experiencing long-term homelessness with accommodation and support. The centre will be run by a non-profit partner selected by BC Housing through a request for proposals. ○ The navigation centre will be the second of its kind in the province; the first is expected to open in Vancouver next spring. ○ The centre’s budget and location have not yet been determined. Funding announcements ● A $110-million annual investment from the health ministry will create 22 new primary care networks across the province — more than doubling the number of networks. “In the next three to four years,” a total of 39 primary care networks are expected to provide team-based care services — in lieu of care primary care delivered by individual family doctors — to 300,000 people, per the health ministry. ○ Getting the networks up and running will require filling 660 full-time equivalent health professionals, from family doctors to pharmacists and social workers. The positions will be filled via a combination of recruitment and expanded training programs within the province, according to Health Minister Adrian Dix. ​ ​ ● The Chappell Family Building for Nursing and Population Health is now open at ​ ​ Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. The building will be home to the university’s ​ health-care services programs. ○ The Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training provided $8 million ​ ​ toward the project’s $37.3-million budget. ● Construction has begun on Ambrosia, a 43-unit affordable housing development in ​ ​ Keremeos being built through a partnership between the province and the Lower ​ ​ Similkameen Community Services Society.