Northern Beat Weekly 10
It's raining critics on BC's unrepentant and increasingly isolated Premier
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The B.C. government’s plan to bulldoze red tape is running into some big roadblocks in the form of local governments and Indigenous leaders who say Bill 15 is less about efficiency and more about “dangerous” overreach. Premier David Eby insists the legislation is essential to respond to Donald Trump, but his critics see a pattern of pushing past consultation in favour of control. Eby also drew fire from the Canadian Bar Association this week, which reminded him that calling someone a murderer before trial isn’t how the justice system is supposed to work. As a lawyer and former attorney general, he should probably know that.
Further north, the province’s healthcare cracks continue to garner attention, with specialist doctors who are owed thousands of dollars for travel now threatening to stop coming altogether until Northern Health reimburses their expenses. The government claims it’s just a paperwork issue, but rural MLAs say it's another example of how the Interior and North get second rate treatment from the system.
And in a move no one had on their 2025 bingo card, Energy Minister Adrian Dix threw his support behind dredging Burrard Inlet for oil tankers—proving that while the BC NDP may have once fought TMX in court, they’re now 100 per cent aboard fully loaded ships.
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- Rob Shaw
Northern Beat Roundup
Municipal leaders call for halt to ‘overreaching,’ ‘intrusive’ legislation
B.C.’s new legislation to fast-track projects has no shortage of critics. Indigenous leaders say government failed to consult them and the proposed law is an affront to their rights. Environmental groups say it’s undemocratic, and a power grab that weakens environmental protections.
As locally elected leaders become aware of this rushed legislation, they too are joining the chorus, warning of “dangerous” overreach and harms it will cause, calling on Premier David Eby to withdraw the legislation. Eby won’t give an inch. Bill 15 will give the premier and his Cabinet near unilateral powers to override the environmental assessment process and municipal authority for major projects of “provincial significance,” which is basically any projects of its choosing.
Other factions also weighed in on Bill15: Opposition leader John Rustad says it will allow government to “pick and choose winners” based on politics, and former BC Green MLA Adam Olsen says it “undermines the confidence that the public has in good due process.”
The current BC Green caucus of two is also concerned about the “sweeping powers” in the legislation and both member said they’re going to vote against it on May 28.
Which means government will need all 46 MLAs to show up and vote for the bill if they want to win against 41 Conservatives, three Independents, and two Greens (assuming they vote en masse against the legislation). And since government has made this a confidence vote, if the BC NDP fall short, it will trigger an election. Fortunately, for the NDP, in squeaker voting situations, the speaker can break the tie. Vaughn Palmer talks with Harold Munro about this and more: “The real problem on this bill is the blank cheque aspect,” which will lead to suspicions about political trading and influence peddling, says Palmer.
PODCAST: A conversation with Claire Rattée
Rookie Opposition Conservative mental health and addictions critic Claire Rattée already made her mark at the legislature with insightful questions on the failures of the system. But she also has a personal story to tell about her own journey through addictions. She knows first-hand how government needs to improve treatment services. And she’s trying to advance the system while also balancing the complexity of the issues, the needs of desperate constituents, workflow demands and her own expectations of herself in the job of MLA. She recently sat down with Northern Beat’s Fran Yanor for an extended conversation.
The Legislature
Specialist doctors travelling north aren’t getting paid
Some specialist doctors travelling to hospitals in the North and Interior have not gotten reimbursed for their expenses by the provincial government and are now considering no longer making the trips, according to the Opposition BC Conservatives, who tabled internal health authority correspondence complaining about the issue this week. One doctor spent $10,000 on airfare, hotel rooms and car rentals with no renumeration. Another worked at Bulkley Valley District Hospital without getting any 2024 expenses reimbursed, said Sharon Hartwell, MLA for Bulkley Valley-Stikine.
Health Minister Josie Osborne later told the legislature the problem had been resolved, while her ministry explained there were issues involving the expense forms and what was and wasn’t eligible for reimbursement. Hartwell said the administrative problems are yet another example of why health care services in the Interior and the North are at risk.
Lawyers warn premier of prejudicing justice system
Premier David Eby has had harsh words for the man charged with driving through the Lapu Lapu festival, killing 11 people. But some legal stakeholders say he’s gone too far. Eby said he hopes the driver spends the rest of his life in jail and that no matter what the courts decide he knows the person is a murderer. The Canadian Bar Association pushed back, writing a letter to the premier warning him against prejudicing what could be a trial in the case by making public comments that presume the outcome in a system where people are innocent until proven guilty. Normally, government officials refuse to comment on active police investigations and court cases.
“By ignoring the presumption of innocence and the requirement of due process in your public remarks, you give permission for others to do the same,” reads the letter. Eby was not phased, saying he thinks the legal system can withstand his personal opinions. Both Eby and his Attorney General, Niki Sharma, have been previously chastized by the Law Society of BC law and BC branch of the Bar Association for comments perceived as interfering with the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law, and potentially undermining public confidence in the judicial system, following derogatory remarks by Sharma, backed up by Eby, about a judge’s decision in a court case.
Sharma did, belatedly, distance herself from Eby’s remarks about the driver in the Lapu Lapu tragedy. Backfilling the government’s position on May 8, a week after Eby’s first comments, Sharma responded to a question from Conservative MLA Steve Kooner in question Period with this: “I think the member would know as a lawyer that something that’s before the court right now is something we should not be commenting on.”
True, a lawyer, particularly the current or past attorney general, should know that.
Sharma later implied to reporters that Eby’s inflammatory remarks had occurred because he had been emotional (although he did repeat his comments several times, over several days) and that she had cautioned him about it, at some point.
Supportive housing providers call for weapons ban
B.C.’s major non-profit housing providers are calling on the government to ban weapons inside government-funded supportive housing complexes after a recent suspected murder in a Victoria building. Pacific Housing and the Portland Hotel Society helped create a new Coalition for Safe and Sustainable Supportive Housing, and held a press conference this week to ask government to exempt them from the Residential Tenancy Act so that they can better handle violence and complaints involving their unique clients. For example, they are unable to enter the government-funded supportive housing rooms to check for weapons or drugs, or evict anyone, due to the Residential Tenancy Act.
"We have no more rights than an average landlord. And we have infinitely more responsibility than an average landlord,"says Micheal Vonn, CEO of PHS Community Services Society.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon turned down the request, saying his ministry had already made some changes around guest management (related to a death in Foxglove last year) and that the supportive housing facilities were places of last resort before people end up on the street.
Government supports dredging Burrard Inlet for oil tankers
It’s not a stance you’d expect to see from an NDP government that tried but utterly failed to stop the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in court on the grounds a spill could ruin the coast. But Energy Minister Adrian Dix this week said just that. Dix publicly stated his government is in favour of dredging the Burrard Inlet to allow for tankers to carry more oil from the TMX terminal in Burnaby and still fit under the Second Narrows Bridge. Dix said the expansion was complete in 2024, so the debate over TMX is over, and that the issue now is to maximize a national resource the country paid for.
Conservative critic Gavin Dew said it was the right call but extremely hypocritical, especially considering Dix came out against the pipeline project in the 2013 election campaign as NDP leader (he subsequently lost the election).
Rural Reads from Around the Web
‘Holdover wildfire’ season kicks off in NE
It’s hard to believe, but wildfires can survive even the harshest northern winters and then re-ignite themselves the next summer. BC Wildfire Service is monitoring 11 “holdover wildfires” in the Fort Nelson region. Already, they’ve sent crews and planes to fight those fires. [EnergeticCity.ca]
Another day, another BC Ferry fail in the north
The elevator in a BC Ferry vessel connecting several North Coast communities has been broken for two-and-a-half months. Since passengers aren’t allowed to stay in their vehicles, this is forcing people with mobility problems to crawl or find a way to get carried up the stairs, according to the BC Ferry & Marine Workers Union president. [The Northern View]
Opposition health critic tours PG facilities
Opposition Conservative health critic Dr. Anna Kindy toured Prince George this week, joining local MLAs in calling for provincial changes to fix what are worsening rural healthcare problems. [Prince George Citizen]
Million Dollar Jim nears the finish line
A Prince George man is only $33,000 away from his goal of raising $1 million for cancer research in BC. Jim Terrion, who is deaf, says he was inspired to raise money by watching Terry Fox back in 1980. [CKPG]
Lheidli T'enneh chief, council sworn in
Dolleen Logan was re-elected chief and the nation’s expanded council was sworn in at the growing Lheidli T’enneh First Nation. [Prince George Citizen]
Hudson’s Hope urges water conservation
The latest sign that it could be a long, hot, dry summer comes from Hudson’s Hope, where local officials are already urging people to conserve water to protect the reservoir levels. [EnergeticCity.ca]
Okanagan-Similkameen reps grapple with homelessness
Once upon a time, housing and healthcare used to be the sole responsibility of the provincial government, with local or regional governments kicking in the land or other supplemental support for housing projects. Not anymore. These days, municipal governments are increasingly picking up operational costs for healthcare, public safety and housing. Case in point, regional directors from Princeton, Penticton, Summerland, Osoyoos debate investing in a year-round shelter to serve residents from throughout the valley who congregate in Penticton. [Castanet]
Nelson council says no to drugs… sort of
Nelson has long been the hippy-dippy stoner hotspot of Canada where high quality weed was as prevalent as the local good vibes. But this week, city council drew the line, rejecting an application for open cannabis consumption on the patio of a local café. [CBC]
What are you waiting for? Go buy a ticket!
Someone bought a Lotto Max ticket in Surrey worth $80 million. [Hope Standard] Not to be confused with Darryl Woods, who claimed his considerably less, but not-to-be-snuffed-at $5 million ticket purchased in Prince George. Enjoy your truck, Darryl, seems like you deserve it. [My Cariboo Now]
Bonus
Quote of the Week:
“This isn’t hyperbole. This isn’t me exaggerating. These are real risks… rising stabbings, uttering threats with weapons, things like machetes, crossbows, these types of risks being in places like hospitals.” –Opposition public safety critic, Elenore Sturko to Solicitor General Garry Begg about the dangers faced by minimally trained security guards working in hospitals and retail outlets.
Closing
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