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Bob Mackin

The NDP government is paying the head of British Columbia’s troubled coronavirus vaccine rollout $22,000 a month.

theBreaker.news has learned that Vancouver Coastal Health chair Penny Ballem received the $220,000, no-bid contract on Jan. 13 to be executive lead of the Immunize BC program through October.

Penny Ballem (left) and Premier John Horgan (BC Gov)

The existence of Ballem’s contract was confirmed the same week the program was thrust into chaos again, when Fraser Health Authority hosted pop-up vaccination clinics in Surrey and Coquitlam. Prompted by social media, people from outside the hotspot areas flocked to the lineups — some even camped out overnight. But many went home disappointed.

Ballem’s contract is more lucrative than what a retired general got from the Ontario government in late November. Rick Hillier was paid $20,000-a-month, plus expenses, through March 31 to begin the rollout in Canada’s most-populous province.

Ballem was contracted the same day that she appeared with Health Minister Adrian Dix on a hastily organized teleconference to announce she had taken over the job from Ross Brown, the VCH director of pandemic response. Premier John Horgan introduced Brown as the province’s vaccine czar on Dec. 9.

Clockwise from upper left: Terry Wright, Marnie McGregor, Dena Coward and Mary Conibear

On Jan. 17, four days after the shakeup, former Vancouver city manager Ballem hired her former city hall assistant communications director, Marnie McGregor, and three ex-Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics executives: executive vice-president of transportation Terry Wright, managing director of Games operations Mary Conibear and Paralympics director Dena Coward. Ballem joined the VANOC board when she was hired as city manager in 2008.

The four contracts are each worth $56,000 and run through April 30.

Wright’s responsibilities with VANOC included procuring a fleet of motor coaches for Vancouver 2010. After the Games, VANOC reported a $40 million cost overrun for chartering buses and drivers from as far away as Florida.

Dix appointed Ballem chair of VCH at the end of 2018. Ballem, who received $43,000 plus $4,605 expenses in 2020, replaced Brown just two weeks after a key meeting was called to organize the Immunize B.C. operations centre command team.

“The purpose of this committee is to establish oversight and governance for the planning, implementation, and administration of mass COVID-19 vaccination to ensure the province is fully prepared to immunize key populations in B.C. by Jan. 1, 2021,” said the Zoom meeting notice, obtained under the freedom of information law.

Dr. Ross Brown (right) and Dr. Bonnie Henry (BC Gov)

Pfizer/BioNTech announced their vaccine candidate Nov. 9. Health Canada approved its use in Canada on Dec. 9. Six days later, on Dec. 15, Vancouver General Hospital care aide Nisha Yunus became the first British Columbian jabbed.

On March 9, the first day seniors were eligible to book appointments, the Telus phone system crashed. The company apologized.

As of April 29, almost 1.66 million British Columbians had received their first vaccine dose, but only 90,296 are fully immunized. Washington state, by comparison, has delivered 5.2 million jabs.

Meanwhile, a former labour leader scored a $50,000 no bid contract just before Christmas.

Jim Sinclair, the Dix-appointed chair of Fraser Health in September 2017, was given the contact Dec. 20 to chair a COVID-19 workplace safety working group. Sinclair spent 15 years as chair of the B.C. Federation of Labour, which donated $1.4 million to the NDP between 2005 and 2017.

Sinclair was paid $33,239 by Fraser Health for the year ended March 31, 2020.

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Bob Mackin The NDP government is paying the

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Bob Mackin

British Columbia’s top Mountie accused the Surrey Police Service’s chief of poaching.

B.C. RCMP commander Jennifer Strachan (left) and Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski.

In a March 11 letter, obtained via the freedom of information law, Commanding Officer Jennifer Strachan told Surrey Chief Norm Lipinski that she had received complaints from numerous RCMP personnel receiving calls at work from Surrey Police recruiters, asking if they would consider retiring from the RCMP and joining the new police force.

“I want to share my concerns that these calls are coming into colleagues via their RCMP phone numbers and during work hours. A number have expressed their discomfort,” wrote Strachan, who runs the Surrey-headquartered B.C. division. “I fully support you and your team in accomplishing the enormous task of recruiting new employees, but would respectfully request that your human resources team adjust their approach to avoid further complaints.”

Strachan wanted Lipinski to be mindful that the transition is stressful for those directly impacted, particularly those that work at the Surrey RCMP detachment.

“Ultimately, our two agencies will need to work together in the future, and I know that you are as committed to encouraging positive working relationships among all our employees, as I am.”

When he finally replied March 23, Lipinski denied Strachan’s allegation and delivered a zinger in return.

“I have discussed this issue with my deputy chiefs, and we are not aware of anyone at the Surrey Police Service making the phone calls in such a manner as you indicated. It would be helpful if you could provide specific details,” wrote Lipinksi, a former senior Mountie. “Also, I totally agree that cooperation between the two agencies is important. To that end, it is our view that the RCMP can improve in this realm.”

(RCMP)

The Surrey Police Service recruitment website says that years of prior policing will be recognized in its salary and annual vacation formulas and it includes documents about “pension options for RCMP officers.” Specifically, the transfer from the Federal RCMP Pension Program to the B.C. Municipal Pension Program. Surrey is offering $75,488-a-year for rookies to $145,584 for staff sergeants, plus a benefits package.

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum promised the new police force would be up and running by April 2021, but could take until the end of 2023 or start of 2024. The transition is costing Surrey taxpayers $63.7 million.

The force is expected to employ 1,500 people, including 800 officers. As of April 22, Lipinski had hired three superintendents and 10 inspectors. Another 11 who are sergeants or staff sergeants are starting this month or next.

Most of Lipinski’s announced hires are former Mounties.

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Bob Mackin British Columbia’s top Mountie accused the

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Bob Mackin

More mixed messages from B.C.’s Minister of Health.

Just days after postponing all non-urgent surgeries, Adrian Dix told reporters April 26 that there is more space in hospitals. But he did not elaborate.

Royal Columbian Hospital (Fraser Health)

“The number of base beds that are currently vacant has increased since April 21 from 719 to 912 across the hospital system, and the number of critical care beds that are vacant has increased from 95 to 131,” Dix told reporters on April 26.

theBreaker.news has obtained a Fraser Health Authority memo that indicates at one major hospital the increased space is not because of decreased sickness. Royal Columbian Hospital has opened a satellite unit on the fifth floor to treat more coronavirus-infected patients.

The April 26 memo, titled “RCH Critical Care Pandemic Response Escalation,” says there are 46 beds available, including a four-bed high acuity unit on level 5N. The other 42 beds are spread across intensive care, cardiac surgery intensive care, and post-anaesthesia care units. The total number of beds available is eight more than the previous week.

From an April 26 Fraser Health memo.

“As the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, critical care resources within Fraser Health are challenged,” the memo says. “We continue to work regionally to expand care capacity across Fraser Health while we continue to meet the [higher level of care] mandate of RCH. To achieve this we have moved away from ideal staffing assignments and are working in a team model of care. This is not ideal but is a functional requirement at this stage of our pandemic response.”

On April 26, B.C. government officials announced 484 people hospitalized province-wide, including 158 patients in intensive care. Of that, Fraser Health accounts for 256 hospitalized and 82 in critical care. The true numbers in both categories are likely higher, because the B.C. government does not count those who remain in hospital but are no longer actively infected.

The memo says impacts include the need for sourcing additional supplies and equipment, adjusted pharmacy set-up and limiting the cardiac surgery ICU to four beds.

Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix (BC Gov)

“Last week the next level of our critical care pandemic plan was activated given the ongoing and increasing need for additional COVID capacity. Planning has actively been occurring as we take the next steps to create additional incremental capacity. We know this is challenging and are working to ensure we support er teams to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic response.”

The New Westminster hospital has plans to scale-up to 54, 57 and 71 beds if needed, including double-bunking in intensive care and setting up three beds in an operating room.

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Bob Mackin More mixed messages from B.C.’s Minister

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A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has declared that a child being brought up in a polyamorous household has three parents.

A child, known only as Clarke in the verdict, was born in fall 2018 to biological parents known only by their first names, Eliza and Bill. They sought a declaration that there is a third legal parent, Olivia, and that Clarke’s birth registration be amended accordingly.

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

The petitioners told Justice Sandra Wilkinson that they live in a “triad” — that each has a relationship with one another and each of their relationships is considered equal.

Bill and Eliza lived together since the early 2000s. They met Olivia in 2013, sparked a romance in 2016 and Olivia moved in with them a year later. 

“Although Eliza’s evidence is that the petitioners agreed prior to conception that Olivia would have the role of parent to the child, it is unclear whether all three of the petitioners were committed to Olivia being Clarke’s ‘full parent’ prior to Eliza becoming pregnant,” Wilkinson wrote. “However, on the whole of the evidence, it is clear that at some point during Eliza’s pregnancy, the petitioners agreed Olivia would be involved in Clarke’s life as a ‘full parent’.”

Since Clarke’s birth, the petitioners shared parenting duties. The court heard Olivia was the first parent to feed Clarke after he was born. 

“It is not disputed that Clarke is being raised by three loving, caring, and extremely capable individuals,” Wilkinson wrote. “Unlike many family law matters which come before the court, this is not an instance of family members taking adverse positions. The petitioners are in agreement that Olivia should be recognized as Clarke’s legal parent, alongside Eliza and Bill. It is their family makeup which brings them before the court.”

Lawyers for the Attorney General were concerned that declaring Olivia the third legal parent would open the floodgates to similar court applications. They also submitted the difference between a parent and a guardian is nominal and Olivia would not achieve “many more, if any more, substantive rights.”

“I do not accept this position,” Wilkinson wrote. “There are clear and tangible differences between being a parent and being a guardian, evidenced, in part, by the legislature’s decision to distinguish between these two roles with separate designations. A parentage declaration is also a symbolic recognition of a parent-child relationship. This difference should not be minimized.”

The judge ultimately found that there is a gap in the Family Law Act regarding children conceived through sexual intercourse who have more than two parents.

“Put bluntly, the Legislature did not contemplate polyamorous families.”

“As the petitioners point out, it is uncommon for an individual to come to court wanting a parentage declaration. In fact, in many family law cases that come before the court, parents are trying to skirt their responsibilities, instead of secure them.”

So Wilkinson ruled that Olivia is a legal parent and she ordered the birth registration be amended by the Vital Statistics Agency.

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Bob Mackin A British Columbia Supreme Court

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For the week of April 25, 2021:

The Cullen Commission on money laundering in British Columbia had its first marquee witness on April 20, former Premier Christy Clark.

Clark was asked, under oath, what she knew and when she knew it about corruption in B.C. casinos and the real estate market. She was also asked about donations from casino companies to the BC Liberal Party while she was premier.

On this edition of theBreaker.news, hear the highlights of her testimony. 

Plus commentary and Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn or Apple Podcasts.

Now on Google Podcasts!

Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.

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For the week of April 25, 2021: The

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Bob Mackin

Email obtained by theBreaker.news under the freedom of information law shows how closely mayors of four Northern Vancouver Island municipalities worked behind-the-scenes with salmon farming lobbyist John Paul Fraser.

John Paul Fraser (BC Gov)

After Liberal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan announced Discovery Islands fish farms would be phased-out by mid-2022, North Island-Powell River NDP MP Rachel Blaney sent a letter to Campbell River Mayor Andy Adams.

“I’ve reached out to the industry to discuss next steps,” wrote Blaney on Dec. 21. “Now is the time for us to work together to make plans that will facilitate this change to protect our wild salmon but to do so in a way that doesn’t leave workers and their families struggling to make ends meet.”

“JP, have you seen this???”Adams wrote to Fraser, the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association executive director, about Blaney’s letter. “Kinda fells like being stabbed in the back, and then pulling it out and saying sorry, followed by being stabbed in the chest.”

Wrote Fraser: “Have not seen, nor do I think any of us been ‘reached out to’.”

(Blaney is married to Homalco First Nation Chief Darren Blaney, who opposes the industry.)

Adams and mayors of Port McNeill (Gaby Wickstrom), Gold River (Brad Unger) and Port Hardy (Dennis Dugas) prepared joint letters to Blaney and other federal politicians to boost the industry. Fraser helped write the letters and advised on timing, while keeping executives of fish farming companies Cermaq, Grieg and Mowi in the loop.

(via FOI/Campbell River)

Adams suggested Dec. 28 that “industry leaders and workers flood the Facebook sites on every post [Blaney] puts out. Can’t let her get away with this BS.”

Fraser replied: “Folks will definitely pile on. This will happen.”

On the same day, Adams suggested short, mid and long term strategies involving letter writing, petitions and Facebook posts in anticipation of a snap spring federal election. The best outcome, he opined, would be more Liberal MPs, especially on Northern Vancouver Island.

“I am not advocating for any particular party, but the likelihood is that it will be a Liberal majority, and an NDP and PC candidate will not be effective, and as a result we need to have a Liberal candidate that is winnable and can work from the inside in Ottawa,” Adams wrote. “This not about party politics or affiliation, it’s about having our voice heard. Just my 2 cents for thought.”

Fraser sent the mayors a revised version of the letter they planned to send Minister Jordan. “We made a few adjustments to the earlier draft given this is a co-signed letter,” Fraser said.

On Dec. 29, Adams wrote to the other mayors: “JP suggests that we get the letter to Minister Jordan out today, and the letter to [Jordan’s Parliamentary Secretary] Terry Beech tomorrow, and JP is going to make sure that industry employees start filling the Facebook in the newspapers and wherever else its needed. He is also suggesting that we call for an economic summit later next week.”

Campbell River Mayor Andy Adams (YouTube)

On the afternoon of Dec. 30, Adams sent Wickstrom’s draft of the Beech letter to Fraser, who replied: “I’ll have something back to you in the A.M., then we get it off to Terry to really make his New Year’s Eve.”

The mayors’ letters claimed Jordan’s plan would put 1,500 jobs and the $1.6 billion-a-year industry at risk. On April 5, a Federal Court judge ruled Mowi and Saltstream should be allowed to restock farms in three locations, because the economic harms would outweigh any environmental harms. Mowi claimed it would lose $26 million and lay-off 78 people without the injunction.

Fraser was the BC Liberal government’s deputy minister of communications under ex-Premier Christy Clark. He is also the son of Paul Fraser, the late the conflict of interest commissioner who never found an MLA broke the law during his more than a decade in office.

At the end of the BC Liberal dynasty in July 2017, John Paul Fraser scored a $396,000 golden parachute when the incoming NDP government replaced BC Liberal political staff.

Last September, the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists fined John Paul Fraser $500 for failing to report that he had been the assistant deputy minister of labour, citizens’ services and open government.

Fraser is co-hosting a virtual question and answer session with the Campbell River and District Chamber of Commerce at noon April 22.

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Bob Mackin Email obtained by theBreaker.news under the

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And then there was one.

Melissa De Genova is the last Non-Partisan Association councillor left from the five elected in 2018, after Lisa Dominato, Colleen Hardwick and Sarah Kirby-Yung quit the party on April 21.

Their decision was prompted by the Easter Monday bombshell that the board of directors secretly chose Park Board Commissioner John Coupar as the mayoral candidate for the next election in October 2022.

Sarah Kirby-Yung (left), Lisa Dominato and Colleen Hardwick say goodbye NPA

The trio will sit as independents, just like Coun. Rebecca Bligh, who left the NPA in late 2019 in a disagreement with the right-leaning board.

“We have heard loud and clear from NPA members and supporters that the actions of the board and John Coupar do not reflect the standards of transparency, integrity and accountability we all expect from the NPA and each other,” said Hardwick in a prepared statement.”

Hardwick took issue with the board’s decision not to run a fair and democratic mayoral nomination process. 

“The NPA board and John Coupar sidelined the elected members of the NPA and made a backroom deal. By any measure, it was about as old-boys-club as it gets,” she said.

NPA mayoral candidate John Coupar (NPA)

The dispute highlights a culture clash: the three dissidents are Liberal-leaning women, while the board is predominantly Conservative-leaning men.

That board responded with a statement late in the afternoon on April 21, calling the trio hypocrites.

“Each of the three departing councillors were appointed to their role as candidates for the NPA in the exact same manner as our current Mayoral candidate, Mr. John Coupar,” said the board statement.

In an open letter to party members and supporters, the trio said the NPA “as it stands today cannot be trusted to govern fairly or responsibly and that it does not represent the values and standards that Vancouver residents and NPA supporters expect and deserve.”

Dominato called the board out of touch, while Kirby-Yung hinted toward the potential for a new party. “This story is far from over,” she said.

The anointment of Coupar triggered 2018 NPA-backed runner-up Ken Sim’s decision to seek the nomination from the newly formed A Better City party. Mark Marissen, the ex-husband of Christy Clark and founder of the Yes Vancouver party, also said he is running for mayor.

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Bob Mackin And then there was one. Melissa De

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A B.C. Supreme Court judge is charging a Flat Earth, anti-mask protester only $750 in costs after ruling Mak Parhar wasted the court’s time with a “patently absurd and nonsensical” lawsuit.

Parhar sued B.C. Premier John Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Attorney General David Eby in New Westminster last November. Parhar had been arrested and jailed four days for ignoring federal quarantine laws upon his return from a Flat Earth convention in the U.S. last October.

Anti-masker Mak Parhar (centre) at a Flat Earth convention last fall in the U.S. (Facebook)

Except, Parhar deliberately used an Internet boilerplate not recognized by any Canadian court of law.

The Attorney General of B.C. sought $1,000 in costs against Parhar, but Justice Murray Blok decided April 16 on the $750 lump-sum instead.

Blok heard the case for several hours on April 8. It involved two lawyers for the B.C. government, another for the federal government and another for the New Westminster Police Department. The B.C. government lawyers successfully argued that Parhar’s case should be thrown out because it is a version of what an Alberta judge called an “organized pseudolegal commercial argument.”

That is a fancy way of saying Parhar’s case wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. 

“The plaintiff rejects any suggestion that he is bound by, or that this proceeding is any way subject to, the Rules or, for that matter, even most societal conventions, including how he is to be referred to or addressed,” Blok wrote.

“For the sake of simplicity I will refer to him as the ‘plaintiff’ and to the other set of parties as the ‘defendants’ although I fully appreciate that he rejects those terms and in his initiating document he utilized his own terms. Similarly, he rejects the use of the name that was bestowed upon him at birth (Makhan Singh Parhar), viewing it as an artificial construct that does not identify him as a person. Instead, he stylizes his name in a fashion associated with OPCA litigants (i:man:Mak of the Parhar family).”

Parhar called himself a prosecutor and demanded to use a courtroom in New Westminster for his so-called “Parhar Court” trial against those that caused his arrest for violating the Quarantine Act. He also claimed the four lawyers for the defendants in the hearing on April 8 had no standing and that the B.C. Supreme Court was a fraudulent entity.

New Westminster courthouse (B.C. Courts)

“The plaintiff interrupted his submissions at one point in order to yield the floor to a colleague [Ontario’s Christopher James Pritchard], who made a few remarks, though the colleague emphasized he does not act for the plaintiff. These comments were generally to the effect that the plaintiff has a right to a trial by jury so that he may be judged by the people, and that this Court and its rules have no jurisdiction. He said ‘contract makes the law’ and the plaintiff had not consented, which I took to mean the plaintiff had not consented to be subject to the provisions of the Quarantine Act or the Rules.”

Blok ruled that Parhar abused the court process by filing documents “to utilize this Court’s infrastructure for the purposes of his fictional court.”

As for Parhar’s arrest, the judge said “it was a hard way to learn that laws do not work on an opt-in basis.”

Parhar still has an opportunity to challenge the Quarantine Act charges, Blok wrote, “which hopefully he will do on more conventional grounds” during a Provincial Court trial.

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Bob Mackin A B.C. Supreme Court judge

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Former B.C. Premier Christy Clark claimed April 20 at the Cullen Commission on money laundering that the BC Liberal Party received big money donations from those it regulated, because they simply shared the party’s ideals.

Christy Clark testified April 20 at the Cullen Commission (Cullen Commission)

Commission counsel Patrick McGowan asked Clark whether she was aware that casino companies Great Canadian Gaming and Gateway Casinos had donated to her party. Elections BC’s database shows $220,304 from Gateway Casinos from 2015 to 2017 and $127,274 from Great Canadian Gaming during the same period.

Clark downplayed big money donations, like $100,000, as a small portion of a party’s $10 million campaign war chest.

“My view of the reason people gave money to my party, wherever they were from, was because we believe in a strong economy, we believed in lower taxes, a smaller government, more jobs for people,” said Clark, premier from 2011 to 2017.

McGowan asked whether she had a viewpoint on the governing party taking donations from those that it regulated. But Clark’s answer indicated she may be unaware that the NDP government prohibited donations from corporations and unions when it took over in 2017.

“Government, political parties take still to this day take donations from organizations and businesses across the province that we regulate, forestry companies donate to political parties, that’s a regulated business, mining as well, liquor companies also regulated,” Clark said. “I mean, you could go right across. Pharmaceutical companies, also regulated. There’s a lot, that exists right across government. It’s not unique to gaming by any stretch of the imagination.”

For much of her time on the virtual stand, Clark claimed she ran a hands-off approach, leaving it to cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and executives to run their own departments.

“I wasn’t involved in the day to day operations of ministries and Crown corporations, it’s not something a premier would be normally advised about. The premier is siting atop 20 ministries each of which have tons of really important issues and not everything can be reported or is reported back directly to the premier.”

She said her government was “profoundly concerned about public safety and controlling crime in B.C.,” but hers was not a government “always trying to just get more revenue.”

Evidence introduced earlier in the Cullen Commission showed that Clark’s cabinet was indeed exerting pressure on B.C. Lottery Corporation to increase its profitability.

Clark was evasive for a lengthy stretch. McGowan asked whether she was aware or even concerned that casino patrons arrived with shopping bags full of cash.

“If you’d been told that somebody was dropping off a shopping bag at midnight containing $200,000 in $20 bills and that was then being accepted by [a casino] … would you have intervened?” he asked.

Christy Clark testified April 20 at the Cullen Commission (Cullen Commission)

“I can’t answer questions about what might have happened, but I can say that we took significant action in the years that I was [in office],” Clark said.

Clark later said she felt “all crime needs to be addressed appropriately” and that her priority was battling guns and gangs.

She was also asked to recall any specific action taken to counter money laundering. She gave no example, but instead pointed to the 2016 formation of the Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team after cash transactions spiked in mid-2015 at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.

Clark also shrugged at evidence that money laundering contributed to skyrocketing real estate prices during her tenure. She said it was instead a function of B.C.’s attractive environment, low interest rates, a booming economy and high immigration rates from other Canadian provinces and other countries.

Clark testified under oath to Commissioner Austin Cullen via web conference. But, shortly after she swore she would tell the full truth, she was asked her full name and omitted her middle name (Joan) and failed to mention she spent four years as an executive for an immigrant investor fund’s international education subsidiary (RCI Pacific Gateway Education Inc.) and lobbied for other clients of her then-husband Mark Marissen’s Burrard Communications. McGowan did not notice either omission.

Since quitting politics in 2017, Clark has become a senior advisor to the Bennett Jones law firm (she is not a lawyer), and a director on the boards of Shaw Communications, Constellation Brands and Recipe Unlimited, the parent company of The Keg and several other restaurant chains.

Former gambling ministers Mike de Jong (April 23) and Rich Coleman (April 28) are scheduled to testify.

The list of witnesses does not include Clark’s predecessor, Gordon Campbell, who reorganized B.C.’s gambling industry in 2004. Likewise, Patrick Kinsella is not on the docket.

Kinsella is a central figure in B.C. politics who masterminded Campbell and Clark’s rise to power and became one of the most-powerful lobbyists. His clients included Great Canadian Gaming.

Witness testimony is expected to end May 14. Cullen has until December to report to the NDP cabinet.

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Bob Mackin Former B.C. Premier Christy Clark claimed

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Bob Mackin

B.C. NDP Finance Minister Selina Robinson tabled a budget forecasting a record $9.7 billion deficit and $102.8 billion debt April 20.

B.C. NDP finance minister Selina Robinson tables the 2021-22 budget on April 20 (BC Gov)

The pandemic budget was delayed two months, because of last fall’s unscheduled election.

The outlook improved from the fall 2020 update, citing better retail sales, housing starts, home sales, exports, wages and salaries than forecast. Economic activity is forecast to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022, but the recovery is expected to be uneven. The main risk is the duration of the pandemic and its lasting provincial, national and global economic impacts.

The $33.7 billion anticipated tax revenue includes $11.17 billion in personal income tax, $7.87 billion in sales tax and almost $5 billion in real estate-related taxes — $2.97 billion property tax and $1.975 billion in property transfer tax.

  • John Horgan’s office is getting another $3.3 million, leapfrogging the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, which is getting only $23,000 more.

The budget includes $14.68 million for the Office of the Premier, a $3.3 million increase from last year’s $11.33 million. Mental Health and Addictions saw just $23,000 more to $12.74 million.

Horgan’s office is growing with a new planning and priorities division. Minister of Finance Selina Robinson was asked why it needs such an infusion.

“As a government and as leader of the government, the premier it’s really important that the premier hears from British Columbians from all regions of the province, that he’s able to engage with all stakeholders and that he talks to regular British Columbians, who are very focused on taking care of their families, they need to hear from him,” Robinson said. “That’s absolutely critical, we’re attempting to make sure that he has access to British Columbians.”

Premier John Horgan, April 19 (BC Gov)

Robinson said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Selina Robinson delivers services through the Ministry of Health, which is getting another $500 million as part of its overall $26.1 billion envelope. 

  • The B.C. Public Service is expected to grow by 350 full-time equivalents to 32,750. There are nearly 490,000 people in B.C.’s public sector, with government and Crown corporations, schools ,colleges, universities and healthcare. Of that, 385,000 are union members.
Commercial Crowns ups and downs 

Commercial Crown corporations are expected to bring $2.87 billion.

The budget was delivered April 20 — or 4/20 for marijuana aficionados.

The Liquor Distribution Branch service plan says it has sold only $400 million in wholesale cannabis since the weed was legalized in October 2018, $250 million of which in the last fiscal year.

“Prices have steadily declined, making legal products more competitive with illicit offerings,” said the LDB service plan. “The number of different products listed and available to our customers increased to 1,362, from 971 in the prior year. As selection grows so does the complexity of delivering that product to both wholesale and retail customers.”

“Legalizing cannabis we’ve always had known it would take time to shift over from the black market, and we’re seeing it, we’re seeing it grow year after year,” Robinson said. “Enforcement is still there, that hasn’t changed, but moving the market over to a legal market and keeping children safe has been our priority.”

LDB is forecasting $1.15 billion net income for the year ended March 31, 2021, on sales of $4.15 billion. Next year’s forecast is $1.09 billion net income on $4.22 billion revenue. It estimates the cost of wholesale pricing for the hospitality sector will reduce revenue by $71 million.

“It is anticipated that a majority of British Columbians will have received a COVID-19 vaccination by fall 2021. This will assist the recovery of the hospitality industry with increased dine-out and social events.”

ICBC is forecasting $709 million net income after a $376 million loss a year earlier, “mainly as a result of favourable COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 claims trends, as well as improved investment income,” said its service plan.

B.C. Lottery Corporation net income plummeted to an estimated $394 million, according to its service plan. The Crown corporation hopes to rebound to pre-pandemic levels of $1.31 billion by 2022-2023. The closure of casinos in March 2020 devastated the gambling monopoly.

The service plan assumes reopening of casinos in late June at limited capacity, scaling up to normal capacity sometime by the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Any delay would mean a loss of $20 million per week.

B.C. NDP finance minister Selina Robinson tables the 2021-22 budget on April 20 (BC Gov)

Robinson was asked whether that is realistic, due to the worsening pandemic in B.C.

“If casinos do open in June safely, then that’s a possibility, if it has to wait it has to wait,” Robinson said.

B.C. Pavilion Corporation, the Crown operator of B.C. Place Stadium and Vancouver Convention Centre, expects a loss of almost $5 million from last year and $24.8 million this year. Gatherings and events have been banned since March 2020. The Vancouver Convention Centre has hosted a B.C. Centre for Disease Control contact tracing centre, vaccination centre and field hospital. The latter has yet to be activated.

Even after the green light is given to hold conventions and sporting events, PavCo faces another curveball.

“As a response to the pandemic, the global meetings industry has seen an increase in digitally hosted events. PavCo will need to balance the expectations of its clients to incorporate digital with live events; however, it is unknown how much of an influence this trend will continue to have as the sector stabilizes.”

BC Hydro expects at $712 million net this year, to stay the same through 2023-24.

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Bob Mackin B.C. NDP Finance Minister Selina

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