BC Today – Daily Report November 30, 2020 Quotation of the day “Got the seal, let’s get to work.” After receiving the Great Seal during the cabinet ceremony, Attorney General David Eby is ​ ​ keen to get working on his new ministerial mandate, which made him the point person on the ​ NDP’s housing priorities. Today in B.C. Written by Shannon Waters On the schedule The house is set to reconvene one week from today for the speech from the throne and a short legislative session. The parliamentary calendar has not yet been updated. A closer look at the new ministerial mandates Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and planning for economic recovery are the “foundational principles” of the NDP’s new cabinet, along with tackling climate change, inequality and racism, and ensuring “lasting and meaningful reconciliation” with Indigenous peoples. The mandate letters for Premier John Horgan’s 24-person cabinet and 13 parliamentary ​ ​ ​ ​ secretaries were made public Thursday. Here are some of the highlights. Hefty responsibilities for the health minister Health Minister Adrian Dix will continue to helm the B.C. government’s response to the ​ ​ pandemic alongside provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. ​ ​ Dix is mandated to ensure B.C. is equipped to respond to “any future pandemic, with state-of-the-art testing, contact tracing, and hospital management procedures and technology” and oversee to the rollout of free Covid vaccines for any British Columbian who wants one — as the premier promised during the election campaign. The health minister is also responsible for realizing several other campaign promises: ● Eliminating single-bed rooms in long-term care facilities owned by health authorities; ● Making private long-term care operators “more accountable” for the public funding they receive; ● Expanding public home care; ● Implementing free contraception; and ● Launching a 10-year cancer strategy. Dix will also be responsible for addressing “systemic racism in the health-care system” based on the results of the independent investigation into Indigenous-specific racism in health care in B.C. led by former child advocate Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. The health ministry’s ​ ​ response will include working with health employers and unions to hire a more diverse health-care workforce that better represents the communities it serves, per the mandate letter. On this file, Dix will have help from Rachna Singh, parliamentary secretary for anti-racism ​ ​ initiatives; Singh is also tasked with working with the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner to “pave the way for race-based data collection essential to modernizing sectors like policing, health care and education.” Another priority for Dix will be working with Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila ​ Malcolmson to “improve” the province’s response to the worsening overdose crisis. ​ Malcolmson’s own mandate letter bids her to work with the solicitor general, attorney general and police chiefs to “push Ottawa” to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use. “In the absence of prompt federal action, develop a made-in-B.C. solution that will help save lives,” Horgan wrote in his mandate letter to Malcolmson. Dr. Henry laid out a provincial pathway to decriminalizing simple possession in April 2019. The province has yet to take action on the report. Eby takes over housing and homelessness During the NDP’s first term, Attorney General David Eby was one of the government’s busiest ​ ​ ministers, tasked with dousing the ICBC “dumpster fire” and determining how duffel bags of dirty cash were allowed to flow through B.C. casinos. ICBC is no longer Eby’s concern — responsibility for the financially floundering Crown corporation now rests with Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth. He will ​ ​ be responsible for overseeing ICBC’s shift to a no-fault model by May and ensuring any surplus profits are returned to drivers in the form of rebates. On money laundering, Eby remains responsible for any recommendations put forward by the Cullen Commission when they are released — but the attorney general is also now the point-person for the NDP’s housing priorities. That includes taking charge of the 10-year housing plan — which aims to create 114,000 affordable homes — and the provincial response to homelessness. Eby’s mandate letter includes developing a homelessness strategy to tackle the issue, which the Liberals hammered the NDP’s progress on during the election campaign. The AG is also tasked with freezing rents through 2021 and formalizing annual rent increases at the rate of inflation as promised by the NDP’s election platform. Eby will also take point on the next round of BC Building Code updates, making sure they prioritize accessibility improvements, with the support of Dan Coulter, parliamentary secretary ​ ​ for accessibility. Eby’s experience wrangling ICBC may come in handy on another of his ministerial priorities: “to control the rising cost of strata insurance” in B.C. The AG will be working with Finance Minister Selina Robinson on the file; as housing minister, Robinson introduced the NDP’s first steps to ​ ​ ​ address the issue via the Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendments Act. ​ ​ If strata insurance rates in the province “have not corrected by the end of 2021,” Eby and Robinson are required to “explore a public strata insurance option” to address the issue. Other priorities of note Environment and Climate Change Minister George Heyman is now responsible for TransLink ​ ​ and is set to work with Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Rob Fleming to integrate the ​ ​ Lower Mainland transit system with BC Transit, which provides transit services everywhere else in the province. That means Heyman — with a hand from Minister of State for Infrastructure Bowinn Ma — will ​ ​ stickhandle two high-profile rapid transit projects: the Skytrain extension from Surrey to Langley and the Broadway subway line, which is currently set to end at Arbutus Street but will eventually be extended to the University of British Columbia, per the ministers’ mandate letters. Speaking of high-profile projects, Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Minister Bruce ​ Ralston remains responsible for Site C and will have to find a way to “ensure the cost and ​ schedule pressures” facing the project are “addressed in a manner that protects the best interests of British Columbians.” Ralston’s response will be informed by the independent review currently being conducted by special advisor Peter Milburn. ​ ​ Forests Minister Katrine Conroy is tasked with breaking up her mouthful of a ministry — ​ ​ properly known as Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development — by working with Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations Nathan Cullen to ​ ​ create a full-fledged lands and natural resources ministry, which will “develop and implement land use policies that support B.C.’s goals for economic activity, environmental sustainability and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.” Horgan asked Fin Donnelly, the new parliamentary secretary for fisheries and aquaculture, to ​ ​ work to “protect and revitalize B.C.’s wild salmon populations” and develop a strategy to protect coastal habitat along with Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Minister Lana Popham. ​ ​ On the campaign trail, the premier pledged to address open-net salmon farming, saying farms in the Broughton Archipelago will need the support of local and Indigenous communities to avoid phased closure starting in 2022. Meanwhile, Ottawa is looking at transitioning the industry away ​ ​ from open-net pens (but the sector was not specifically mentioned in Horgan’s mandate letters). Today’s events November 30 at 11 a.m. — Online ​ ​ Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond will provide an update on her independent review of allegations of ​ racism in B.C.’s health-care system. November 30 at 3 p.m. — Online ​ ​ Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will provide an update on Covid in B.C. ​ ​ ​ Topics of conversation ● B.C. reported 911 new Covid cases on Friday, a new record high. There were 8,472 active cases (up 573) and 301 people with Covid in hospital (up seven), 69 of them critical (up five). Another 11 new deaths were reported, pushing the total to 395. ○ A cluster of Covid cases at provincial courthouses in Surrey and Abbotsford was reported by Global on Saturday. At least 10 sherriffs tested positive — two at the ​ Abbotsford provincial court and 10 in Surrey — and another 23 were self-isolating along with two other courthouse staff, according to the BC Government and Service Employees’ Union. ○ The Chilliwack Progress reported that a Langley church was fined $2,300 for ​ ​ ​ ​ hosting in-person services yesterday despite the provincial ban on gatherings. ● The 28-member BC Liberal caucus was sworn in on Friday. Interim party leader Shirley ​ Bond promised the official Opposition will “ask tough questions” and work to ensure the ​ NDP “follows through on the promises it has made in areas like child care, mental health and addictions supports, and B.C.’s long-term economic recovery.” Bond plans to assign her shadow cabinet “in the coming days.” ○ The party lauded Vancouver—Langara MLA Michael Lee’s pledge to “hold the ​ ​ NDP to account” in a dedicated news release, which highlighted his previous critic responsibilities on the attorney general and, more recently, Indigenous relations files. ● The Nuchatlaht First Nation is calling on the NDP government to live up to its ​ ​ commitment to the Declaration Act and stop opposing the Nuchatlaht’s title claim. “British ​ ​ ​ Columbia is trying to silence the Nuchatlaht Nation so that it can do whatever it wants to our land,” Nuchatlaht Chief Jordan Michael said in a statement last week. “We will not ​ ​ be silent while our cultural sites are destroyed, salmon creeks are degraded, and old growth forests are clearcut.” ○ The Nuchatlaht have been in court over the title claim since 2017.