Northern Beat Weekly 2
Budget smudget, relationship lows, and BC's neglected advantage
Why, hello there!
It’s usually the biggest event on the B.C. political calendar, but this year’s provincial budget was swamped by fast-moving developments on American tariffs. Nonetheless, we break down some of the numbers and what they mean for rural B.C.
Spoiler alert: It’s not great.
We also take a dive into the advantages the province has on energy, be it natural gas, electricity or the potential for more pipelines. The sky’s the limit, in theory, but there are some problems holding the province back from its potential.
We’ve got some exciting new developments for Northern Beat in the weeks ahead as well, so stay tuned. Share, subscribe and we’ll see you next week.
- Rob Shaw
Northern Beat Roundup
Record deficit, lack of investment put BC in ‘weak position’ for tariff fight
If you were looking for new programs and services in Tuesday’s provincial budget — well, keep looking. They aren’t there. Despite a record new $10.9 billion deficit, it was mostly a budget to hold steady on healthcare, education and social services. The lack of support for the industries of agriculture, farming, forestry and resource extraction caught the ire of the Opposition BC Conservatives, who say there’s little there for residents of the Interior or North.
Western Canada on track to be energy superpower
The Americans might be trying to bully Canada with new tariffs, but experts are saying their oil production is starting to peak and decline, leaving a big opening for Alberta and British Columbia to step in to help the country become an energy superpower. Columnist Tom Fletcher delves into what’s needed to make that happen.
Clean BC targets, Alaskan LNG threaten BC’s neglected advantage
It’s taken a lot of political effort to get B.C.’s LNG industry to the point where it’s at now: with the first plant preparing to come online and several more in development. But whatever edge the province has in LNG could be lost if Alaska ramps up its own export industry. Columnist Geoff Russ takes a look at whether B.C. can speed up and hold onto its lead.
The Legislature
Family Feud
B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad characterized disagreements within his party as similar to those inside an ordinary family. If so, that family feud spilled into the public this week, after Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie gave an online interview attacking her fellow Conservative MLAs.
Brodie was criticized for her social media posts and letter to the BC Law Society in support of Victoria lawyer James Heller, who was called a racist after requesting a correction to Indigenous course materials for lawyers.
Heller submitted a resolution to the Law Society to alter lawyer-training content wording from “graves” found at the Tk’emulúps residential school to “potential graves,” given ground-penetrating Lidar has so far detected ground anomalies, with no graves yet identified. The society refused and instead published a letter from the BC First Nation Justice Council accusing Heller of being racist and a denier of Indigenous genocide. Heller is suing the society for defamation.
Brodie weighed in on the situation to both the Law Society and the Attorney General.
For more details on Heller and the Law Society, read Michael Higgins’s column in the National Post.
“No one should be afraid of the truth. Not lawyers, their governing bodies, or anyone else,” wrote Brodie on X in February.
Conservative house leader Á'a:líya Warbus, a member of the Sto:lo Nation, responded without naming Brodie, urging that “questioning the narratives” of residential school survivors was “nothing short of harmful.”
Rustad asked Brodie to take down a post stating “zero” bodies had been found at Tk’emlups.
Brodie refused.
This week, Brodie said Warbus had sided with the NDP in criticizing her, and that some Conservative MLAs were secretly New Democrats. She also said about 20 members supported her.
At a caucus meeting Thursday, Brodie refused to apologize and challenged MLAs to fire her. There was shouting and yelling, before Brodie stormed off.
A visibly upset Warbus emerged to say she’s unsure why she’s at the legislature if people like Brodie are on her team.
By late Friday, Rustad had kicked Brodie out of the caucus.
“As a result of her decision to publicly mock and belittle testimony from former residential school students, including by mimicking individuals recounting stories of abuses — including child sex abuse, MLA Brodie is not welcome to return to our Conservative Party of BC Caucus," Rustad said in a statement.
"I believe strongly in free speech — however, using your stature and platform as an MLA to mock testimony from victims alleging abuse, including child sex abuse, is where I draw the line.”
Sources say there is more going on beyond Brodie’s posts and appearance on a podcast. Rumours of a caucus split and challenges to Rustad’s leadership have been swirling since the election. This week, some of that discontent hit the fan.
As of press time, Jordan Kealy and Tara Armstrong had followed Brodie out the door. If the three of them form a party, they’ll surpass the caucus size of the Greens by one and attain third party status.
“I stood up for a fellow MLA who was harassed for speaking the truth, only to become a target myself,” Kealy posted on X last night.
“... under John Rustad’s leadership, one compromise after another has transformed that party into something I no longer recognize,” wrote Armstrong.
This is a still fluid situation, but that’s where it stands at the close of Mar. 7.
B.C. Retaliates Against Trump
Premier David Eby said Thursday he’ll introduce legislation next week to bring down inter-provincial trade barriers and permit a tax on American trucks travelling through British Columbia to supply Alaska.
The exact amount of the surcharge is unknown, and is to be set later by cabinet after the legislation passes. The move will penalize American trucks that take the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek, through the Yukon, en route to Alaska. It is the only route for trucks to supply Alaska.
B.C. follows Nova Scotia, which has doubled tolls at its Cobequid Pass on American supply traffic.
Μuch interest in debt
Premier David Eby is set to add almost $21 billion in new government debt this year, as part of a more than doubling of provincial debt from $65 billion to $157 billion since the BC NDP took power in 2017.
The cost just to pay interest on the debt has risen from $2.6 billion a year in 2017, to $5 billion forecast in 2025-26 and as high as $7 billion by 2027. Opposition BC Conservatives tried to put that into perspective in question period on Thursday.
“Deficit and debt levels have reached an all-time high,” said Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford. “ In fact, every single minute that passes by is $13,000 to pay on interest. During this question period alone, half an hour, that's $400,000.”
“This government has mismanaged B.C.'s economy so badly that it is spending more on debt interest than critical mental health services,” said Skeena MLA Claire Rattée.
“The amount of debt servicing in one year is $7 billion. That could fund 20,000 treatment and recovery beds.”
“In the next 21 minutes, slightly more time than is left on the clock in today's ritual bloodletting, this government will spend over $275,000 — nearly the equivalent of an ER physician's annual salary — just on debt interest,” said Courtenay-Comox MLA Brennan Day. “Meanwhile, rural ERs are shutting down due to a lack of doctors and nurses.”
“Instead of spending $18 billion on debt-servicing, we could have doubled the budget for the Ministry of Education and Child Care to hire more teachers, EAs, counselors, psychologists,” said West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Lynne Block. “School boards are struggling with finite resources, deferred maintenance costs and mushrooming portables — they grow overnight.”
“Debt interest payments are so high it could have paid the salaries of 60,000 RCMP officers,” said West Kelowna-Peachland MLA Macklin McCall. “That's three times the size of the entire RCMP force currently posted across Canada.”
Rural Reads from Around the Web
Fort St. John data stolen in hack
The situation just keeps getting worse and worse for the City of Fort St. John after news it actually had data stolen in a recent cyber attack. The city now says a “small subset” of data was accessed by hackers, and it’s still trying to figure out if any sensitive personal information was stolen. [Energetic City]
Heiltsuk Nation sues RCMP for failing to enforce bylaws
The Heiltsuk Nation is taking the RCMP to court, arguing police officers’ refusal to enforce trespass bylaws is allowing drug dealers and other criminals to operate freely in their community. [Vanderhoof Omineca Express]
American tariffs “unbelievable” says sawmill owner
South Slocan sawmill owner Ken Kalesnikoff says the forestry sector will be hard hit by the new U.S. tariffs. [My Kootenay Now]
Enbridge to expand T-North natural gas pipeline
Energy giant Enbridge Inc says it will spend $400 million to expand the T-North natural gas pipeline by 2028. The pipeline is one of 20 projects the B.C. government has promised to fast-track into approval as part of its resource development response to American tariffs. [Energetic City]
Storm reveals history at SGang Gwaay
After five years of restoration from a storm at the Haida village site on Wailing Island, traditional elderberry, twinberry and other culturally significant Haida plants are flourishing, as part of all sorts of new discoveries and developments at the remote site. [Haida Gwaii News]
Bonus
Quotes of the Week:
“Thank you Mr. Speaker, and I pledge to be on good behaviour today because of one of the guests in the chamber. No it's not Terry Lake that I'm making that pledge for. He would probably disown me, but my wife Lianne is here from Kamloops for the next few days, and she decided to stop in and see what question period is like today, so will the House please make Lianne welcome.” - Peter Milobar, Kamloops Centre MLA.
“If that's the case, we are going to ask her to come here every day.” - Raj Chouhan, Speaker, March 3, 2025
—
“Now, the term ‘whip’ might conjure up images of Indiana Jones, but in politics, the Whip serves a different purpose. Historically, the whip is responsible for ensuring party discipline, corralling members for votes, and occasionally preventing certain members from straying. Nowadays, the job is more complex than that. The Whip, today, is a counsellor, a sympathetic ear, a coach, and it has often been compared to herding of cats, an image I find not only accurate but amusing. - Bruce Banman, Opposition BC Conservative Whip, Abbotsford South MLA, March 3.
—
“I want to thank Peter Milobar. I never thought I’d say that sentence.” - Premier David Eby, March 6, praising Milobar for speaking out on residential schools.
—
“We are tied with the Americans, and we trusted the Americans as our trading partners, for good reason. But at the same time, we continually undermined our own province, our own people, with these vulnerabilities, to the place now where we have a change south of the border and now we know who has been swimming without a bathing suit.” - John Rustad, March 5.
Political Calendar:
● March 14, 2025: BC legislature adjourns for two-week spring break.
Closing
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