BC Today – Daily Report May 6, 2020 Quotation of the day “Now is the time to be bold and be brave.” ​ ​ In a letter published by the Vancouver Sun yesterday, BC Liberal Party Leader Andrew ​ ​ ​ Wilkinson lays out his suggestions for getting the provincial economy back on track. ​ Today in B.C. On the schedule Premier John Horgan will unveil the government’s plan to begin reopening the province this ​ ​ afternoon. Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will also attend the announcement. ​ ​ ​ NDP continues to lead fundraising, Greens lose ground The Green Party pulled in $70,000 less in donations in 2019 compared to 2018, receiving $643,000 last year — the only one of the province’s major parties to see its fundraising numbers fall. The NDP received about $400,000 more in donations last year, for a total of $3.7 million, while the Liberals raised around $600,000 more than 2019 for a total of $2.9 million. The provincial per-vote subsidy — which last year paid $2.25 for every vote the party received ​ ​ in 2017 — added about $1.8 million to the NDP and Liberal coffers, taking the parties to $5.5 million and $4.7 million respectively. The Greens received $747,745, pushing their fundraising total to $1.4 million. The first per-vote-subsidy payment for 2020 — $2 per vote — was doled out in January. The NDP received $795,527, the Liberals $797,194 and the Greens $332,331. A second, nearly identical, installment will be made in July. NDP sees highest proportion of small donors More than 15,200 British Columbians donated to the NDP in 2019, and 11,200 donated $250 or less. Small donors accounted for about 43 per cent of the governing party’s fundraising total. The Liberals received more than 11,000 donations. While 7,680 donors gave $250 or less, about 80 per cent of the party’s total fundraising take came from the 3,393 donors who gave more than $250. The Greens also raised most of their funding from donations over $250. Just over 3,300 people donated to the party last year. In 2019, donations were capped at $1,225; this year, the cap is $1,253.15 per person. BC NDP grew war chest in 2019 while Liberals continued to rebuild After finishing 2018 with just $250,000 cash-in-hand, the BC Liberal Party ended 2019 on a much sounder financial footing with a $1.6-million surplus, according to annual financial reports ​ released by Elections BC yesterday. The BC Green Party finished 2019 with a $1.3-million surplus — up from $1 million in 2018 — while the BC NDP grew its $5.2-million surplus into $6.7 million by the end of last year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parties were given an extra month to file their annual financials. Twenty-three parties filed ahead of the April 30 deadline while two were granted extensions “due to extenuating circumstances.” The BC Conservative Party has been given until June 1 to file while the neophyte BC Ecosocialists Party is required to file by May 8. Wilkinson proposes pausing PST, new regulations to spur recovery Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson published a letter to Premier John Horgan Tuesday ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ detailing the Opposition’s “B.C. is Back” reopening plan. The top item is a one-to-three-month tax holiday from the provincial sales tax, the employer health tax and the hotel tax. The Liberal leader said the province should also freeze new regulations and policies that could increase costs for B.C. businesses. Wilkinson also wants to see short-term relief for commercial renters that includes an eviction moratorium to ensure small retailers don’t lose their shop space if sinking revenues prevent them from paying rent. “The people of British Columbia have been rightfully focused on what they can do to support [the] government in our collective efforts to combat COVID-19,” Wilkinson wrote. “But they are also growing more and more concerned about how they will deal with the economic devastation that looms ahead.” His requests came one day ahead of today’s release of the NDP’s reopening plan. The government should release “a transparent pandemic management plan,” according to the Liberal leader, complete with a long-term procurement strategy to ensure the province has adequate PPE for workers. Rural communities and the tourism industry should also get special attention to ensure their recovery keeps pace with the rest of the province. Today’s events May 6 at 1 p.m. BC Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson will hold a telephone town hall to “provide an ​ ​ ​ ​ update on the work the BC Liberal team is doing to lead B.C.'s comeback from the pandemic” and take questions and feedback from participants. Topics of conversation ● Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed eight new COVID-19 cases during yesterday’s briefing — ​ the lowest single day increase since March 12 — bringing the provincial total to 2,232. Four additional deaths were also confirmed, pushing the death toll to 121. As of yesterday’s update, there were 78 COVID-19 cases in hospital, 21 of them critical, and 1,472 people were considered fully recovered. ○ After becoming the first COVID-19 outbreak in the province, Lynn Valley Care Centre was declared clear yesterday. Outbreaks at Hawthorn Park Orchard Manor in Interior Health and MSA Manor in Fraser Health were also resolved, along with 18 other facilities to date. A total of 23 health-care facilities are still dealing with outbreaks. ○ North Vancouver’s Evergreen House became the latest long-term care facility to declare an active outbreak, along with two additional hospitals, Ridge Meadows and Richmond. Health-care facility outbreaks now account for 442 COVID-19 ​ cases, including 271 residents and 171 staff. ○ After implementing “the appropriate measures,” Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry has reopened, according to Dr. Henry. One additional COVID-19 case was reported in connection with Superior Poultry. ● A Leger survey on COVID-19 found 87 per cent of British Columbians were satisfied with ​ ​ Premier John Horgan’s handling of the pandemic. However, the survey only received ​ ​ 151 responses from British Columbians on that particular question. ○ Eighty-three per cent of countrywide respondents said they were satisfied with their premier’s performance. Horgan’s rating is second only to Quebec Premier François Legault’s 88 per cent satisfaction rating. ​ ● Since March 20, the BC Nurses’ Union (BCNU) says it has received more than 1,700 ​ complaints from nurses who say they aren’t getting the equipment they need to keep ​ themselves and their patients safe. ○ “Nurses are getting only one mask per shift,” BCNU president Christine ​ Sorensen said in a statement. “Others have been told to leave their used mask ​ on a piece of paper towel when they go on a break.” ○ Dix said yesterday that 503,000 gowns, 100,000 surgical masks and 29,000 goggles have arrived in B.C., but they need to be tested to ensure they are up to standard. ○ The persistent shortage raises questions about how the health-care system will handle protecting nurses and other front-line workers as the pandemic wears on, BCNU said yesterday. ● Ottawa’s offer of $252 million to help Canada’s agriculture sector weather the COVID-19 pandemic is “profoundly underwhelming,” according to the BC Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA). The federal aid is less than 10 per cent of what the Canadian Federation of Agriculture estimates is needed to maintain food security in Canada. ​ ​ ○ BCFGA president Pinder Dhaliwal said the federal funding will help livestock ​ ​ producers and processors but leaves fruit producers hanging. ● A story in The Tyee explores the implications of the lack of data on how COVID-19 is ​ ​ ​ ​ impacting racialized communities in Canada. News briefs Arena will provide transitional housing ● A 45-bed emergency response centre is being set up at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria to provide shelter for people who have been living in Topaz Park and on Pandora Avenue. PHS Community Services Society will work with BC Housing to ​ operate the centre, which will offer wraparound supports to people staying there. ○ The centre will be the first to feature “pop-up pods” — provided by Staples Business Advantage — to provide privacy. The province has “plans to expand their use at other emergency response centres.” ○ BC Housing is also partnering with the Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness to set up 12 emergency shelter spaces at a different location for Indigenous people experiencing homelessness. ○ As of Monday, 92 people in Victoria had been moved into accommodations as had 162 people from Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver. B.C. launches digital emergency support registration ● British Columbians who are forced to leave their homes due to disasters can now digitally register for Emergency Support Services. A new virtual registration system was piloted last year — in Prince George, Kamloops, Tk'emlups te Secwepemc and the ​ Regional District of Central Okanagan — and other communities are now being trained in its use. The new digital registration system will allow volunteers to prioritize helping the most vulnerable during an evacuation, according to the public safety ministry. ○ This summer, the digital system will enable safe physical distancing measures to protect both volunteers and evacuees. ○ On average, about 30,000 people access emergency support services in B.C. every year. Funding announcements ● The Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS) has been chosen as the ​ ​ provincial hub for Resilience BC. In November 2019, the NDP government announced ​ ​ ​ the program — its “provincewide approach to challenging racism” — would be built on a hub and spoke model.