Tuesday, February 28, 2023

BC Budget 2023: From Surplus to Deficit in just under 34 minutes


British Columbians received the financial blue print for the years ahead as Finance Minstar Katrine Conroy delivered her first Provincial Budget and the first for the fellow who promoted her last fall Premier David Eby.

Minister Conroy rose in the Chamber to make her first comments, delivering her path towards the future, the presentation taking just 34 minutes to chart for those in the Chamber and watching at home.

The Finance Minister introduced her financial plan as follows:

"Today I'm honoured to present Budget 2023. 

A budget that builds today for a stronger tomorrow. 

That eases the pressures that we feel in our daily lives and that reflects the priorities of British Columbians.

This years budget will improve health care, build more homes, help with rising costs and make our communities safer.

Budget 2023 will continue our work to build a stronger, cleaner economy for everyone, right across our province.

Mr. Speaker, these uncertain times require  careful thoughtful action. 

Action that addresses the uncertainty ahead, while moving us forward on long standing priorities. 

Like reconciliation, climate change and tackling global inflation.

Action is what British Columbians want from their government and its what Budget 2023 delivers with real results focused on the priorities of British Columbians" -- Finance Minister Katrine Conroy's introduction to Budget 2023

Towards those goals, the BC government will continue to spend money, moving the province from surplus to deficit, all while the global financial picture becomes stormy with challenges anticipated in the year ahead.

The shift form surplus to deficit will see the province hosting a 4.3 million dollar deficit for 20230-24, 3 billion for 2024-25

Among some of the highlights for that spending for 2023 and beyond include:

Expansive funding for Health care, which received the larges volume of monetary note from the budget speech.

Almost $6.4 billion in new investments over three years will strengthen public health care and help people find and stay connected to the care they need. This includes funding to significantly improve cancer care, build up B.C.’s health-care workforce with new training seats, and create better supports for health-care workers and family doctors. This also includes $1 billion in new funding to expand mental-health and addictions services.

Housing and homelessness also is set to see additional funding from the Budget:

Budget 2023 takes more action to get people into homes they can afford, providing an additional $4.2 billion in operating and capital funding over three years – the largest three-year housing investment in B.C. history – for more homes for people who rent, Indigenous people and middle-income families, along with new actions to tackle homelessness.

The much discussed Renter's Rebate is also now ready to be introduced

Moderate- and low-income renters in B.C. will be eligible for as much as $400 a year through a new income-tested renter’s tax credit starting in 2024. The credit will help more than 80% of renter households.

The province has put aside 1.3 billion in new funding for a range of initiatives over the next three years:

This includes giving free prescription contraception for B.C. residents, expanding existing K-12 school food programs, and providing more financial supports for post-secondary students, people receiving income and disability assistance, and foster families and other caregivers.

Public safety is another area to seem some attention from the Province, with near 500 million to be used in a range of programs and policy initiatives.

B.C. is also helping to ensure safe communities by boosting funding by $462 million over the fiscal plan for policing, enforcement, intervention services and access to justice throughout the province.

Ms. Conroy noted of the global economic challenges with just 0.4 per cent growth in the economy this year and 1.5 percent for 2024.

Towards the impact of inflation the BC Government has some significant money to spend on supports for those who need it most.

As global inflation and higher prices stretch people’s budgets, Budget 2023 helps reduce people’s costs and offers extra support to those who need it most. Following almost $2.4 billion worth of temporary cost-of-living supports since summer 2022, the Province will invest another $4.5 billion over the next three years in new spending measures and tax credits to help people with the effects of rising costs and establish stable, sustainable support. 

Approximately 75% of families with children are eligible for the BC Family Benefit. Starting in July 2023, these families will see a 10% increase in their monthly payments. Single parents will receive as much as an additional $500 per year on top of the 10% increase, also to be delivered in July.

There were also initiatives announced towards care of the provinces natural resources, transportation, Post secondary education and skills training, assistance for small and medium businesses towards market challenges.

She also noted of the province's assistance for communities particularly in the area of infrastructure, reviewing the previously announced Growing Communities Funding that will see 1 billion dollars available for the provinces municipal and regional district governments to share in.

Capital spending will also a significant jump, from 12.17 billion dollars from 2022-2023, to 15.8 billion for 2023/2024.

There will be some tax increases coming our way, among them the Carbon Tax in BC will rise by 65 dollars per tonne on April 1st and could rise to 170 per tonne by 2030.

The full information sheet from the Finance Office can be reviewed here.

You can also dig a bit deeper into the financial plan from this feature page from the Ministry of Finance website.

The Finance Minister's presentation can be reviewed below:

Check back later this evening as we compile the findings of the province's journalists, columnists and opinion makers as they review and explain the government's financial planning for the years ahead.

Those notes will be presented below:

BC Budget: Renters' rebate, welfare boost, expanded tax credits among affordability measures
BC Budget: $462 million earmaked for public safety, including 250 new RCMP officers
BC Budget: Province becomes first in Canada to offer free prescription contraception  
BC Budget: $4.2B deficit forecast amid new program spending, economic headwinds 
BC Budget: Student loan maximums doubled, repayment terms eased 
BC's budget rings up $4.2 billion deficit, carbon tax to fund new housing and health care spending
BC's budget forecasts revenue from forestry sector to tumble amid industry slump
BC budget forecasts years of deficits, but spends bi on health, housing, families
$4.2 billion deficit forecast as BC budget keeps spending to tackle affordability crisis
BC Budget 2023 bets focus on tax credits and rebates will work amid continued housing uncertainty 
Maximum BC climate tax benefit set to more than double: budget 
BC budget to pay for free contraception 
BC NDP mostly delivers on renters' rebate promised in 2017 - as a tax credit
BC budget predicts years of deficits as spending on health and housing hiked
BC Budget 2023: What the $4.2 billion deficit funds - and what it doesn't  
BC Budget: Some financial relief for families, but not all will benefit
NDP leaves plenty of wiggle room in budget 2023-24
Budget includes $4.6B in new funding for health care and training in BC
BC budget promises help for renters, free contraception and increased health spending 
BC Budget focuses on increasing treatment options in Toxic Drug Crisis 
Budget includes spending on housing, health and to cushion rising cost of living
Spending much more than we have 
Health budget includes free contraception, $1 billion boost for mental health and addictions
'Beacon of Hope;" BC advocates cheer free contraception promise in 2023 budget
Deficits and government spending highlight the 2023 British Columbia budget 
Provincial budget earmarks $868 million for mental health and addictions services 


More notes from the Legislature can be reviewed here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

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North Coast Fishery items themes for MLA Rice Legislature presentation and focus for UFAWU petition to House of Commons


The North Coast Fishing is gaining some additional attention this month, from a presentation from MLA Jennifer Rice in the British Columbia Legislature to a call for signatures to a petition from the UFAWU-Unifor.

The importance of the fishery to the North Coast was the theme for MLA Rice on Monday morning, with her focus that of the challenges facing the commercial fishing industry and the impact on local communities and First Nations. 

Commercial fishing is one of the founding industries of this province, and its significance can be found painted on the ceilings of the B.C. Legislature along with representations of the mining, forestry and agricultural industries. 

The fishing sector is a cornerstone in the economic and social fabric of B.C.'s coast, and fishing and fish processing is deeply rooted in our history and our culture. 

But fishing communities are struggling, and fishermen nowadays are unfairly portrayed as the perpetrators of all negative impacts to fish. 

In fact, many influences, including fisheries mismanagement, poor policies, warming oceans and habitat destruction all impact global fisheries. 

First Nations make up the vast majority of commercial fishermen on the north and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii, and they rely on good stewardship for food, social and ceremonial purposes as well as income.

Every year fewer rural fisherman can go commercial fishing. 

Older fishermen who want to retire from fishing find that they can't sell their licences at a reasonable price. Younger fishermen can't afford to buy in to the more lucrative fisheries, primarily owned by multinational corporations. 

The cost to buy a license or quota is in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars

Ms. Rice's presentation also noted of the need for more local control over fishery resources for the communities that harvest them.

Northern and rural shore workers are also seeing processing move to the Lower Mainland or to Asia. However, globally, fishing is increasingly providing more value to communities, even though we may be catching less fish. 

Independent fish harvesters need protections to rebuild the backbone of the rural middle class along our coast. 

We can promote policies that support local fishermen to benefit from B.C. resources and shore working employment in coastal communities with adjacency policies like those found in the forestry sector. 

Rural community benefits can be achieved through offering fishermen, or communities control over access to fish. 

While there may be limited awareness of commercial fishing among the general public, it remains a mainstay of rural coastal economies, many of which are First Nations communities who have lived and fished the coast for millennia.




For UFAWU-Unifor, which represents many of the workers in the industry on the North Coast, the concerns over the selling off of the industry to global interests is the theme of a petition they have recently launched.

The petition features seven areas where the petitioners believe the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard is not addressing the areas of concern from those in the industry.

Among some of the themes explores in the petition: 

An absence of restrictions on foreign ownership of fishing licences and quotas, how that foreign investment is in direct competition with DFO and First Nations pursuit of acquisitions of fishing licences and how Foreign ownership compromises domestic food security.

click to enlarge


More notes on the Fishing industry on the North Coast can be explored from our archive page.

A look at the work of the MLA's of the Northwest at the BC Legislature can be reviewed here.

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Midwives the themes for Monday morning presentation in Legislature for MLA Jennifer Rice


North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice had all the audio Gods on her side on Monday, her first opportunity since Thursday to return to her remote feed to the BC Legislature and thankfully for the MLA, the audio gremlins that plagued her Thursday efforts were cleared up by yesterday.

The topic for her morning address to the Chamber was that of Midwives, a theme she has been putting forward for much of the month, that following an announcement on February 17th of new seats at a UBC program .


Monday the North Coast MLA who is also Parliamentary Secretary for Rural health expanded on the practice of Midwifery and the new opportunities that the UBC program will provide.

Here in B.C. and around the world, midwives help to facilitate positive birth experiences for parents. They do this by focusing on patient-centred and evidence-based care. Not only can midwives provide families with the opportunity to access primary maternity care from the comfort of their own homes, but they specialize in healthy and low-risk pregnancies, effectively reducing pressure put on hospital resources. These incredible caregivers work meticulously to ensure the health and well-being of newborns and mothers before, during and after delivery. 

This fundamental type of care has provided my family and many other parents across B.C. with access to this skilled maternal support care when it is needed most. In British Columbia, we are fortunate enough to have over 500 highly trained midwives accredited through the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives who provide trauma-informed, culturally safe, inclusive and effective services to families across the province. 

Midwives assist in just over 12,000 births a year, which is approximately 27 percent of births in the province. This is the highest proportion in Canada. 

You don't need a referral to see a midwife, and midwifery services are covered by the B.C. services plan. Midwives have been regulated and legally recognized as autonomous health care practitioners in B.C. since 1998. We need more midwives in B.C., especially for rural, remote and First Nations communities. 

That's why British Columbians will soon have improved access to primary maternity care, as our B.C. government adds 20 seats to the University of British Columbia's midwifery program. This brings the total annual intake to 48 seats, an increase of more than 70 percent. We're adding 12 seats to the bachelor of midwifery program, bringing the total annual intake to 32. Four of the seats were added in last September, and the additional eight seats are being added this coming September. We've also added eight seats to the internationally educated midwives bridging program, bringing the total annual intake to 16 seats. 

Ms. Rice also put some focus on the approach that the program is taking towards Indigenous communities and towards a rural support program.

 In recent years, the midwifery program has updated its curriculum to reflect the core cultural competencies identified by the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives. It has also appointed an Indigenous midwifery coordinator to support students and cultural learning experiences. 

The midwifery program has also committed to implementing actions contained in Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond's 2020 report, In Plain Sight, addressing Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in B.C. health care. 

The government is also committed to supporting Indigenous midwifery through various initiatives. The Midwives Association of B.C., in partnership with the Ministry of Health, is working on the rural support program and the rural midwives locum program and provides additional information about midwifery for Indigenous families and aspiring Indigenous midwives. 

Our government is working with partners, including the First Nations Health Authority, to explore ways to support Indigenous midwifery in such areas as reclamation of Indigenous birthing practices and Indigenous remote birthing. 

Our government provides funding to the Midwives Association of B.C. for an Indigenous midwifery stipend for the association's Indigenous midwives advisory council. The Indigenous midwifery stipend is intended to offset the increased time commitment of participating in additional cultural activities when providing maternity services to Indigenous clients. 

In January of 2022, UBC launched an advanced placement program for registered nurses interested in becoming midwives. This advanced placement study enables most RN applicants to reduce the 143-credit bachelor program by 27 credit hours, thereby reducing the cost required to complete this degree. Creating career development pathways for midwives is a key aspect of B.C.'s health human resources strategy, which was announced in September. 

This strategy puts patients first by ensuring that they get the health services they need and are cared for by a healthy workforce. It focuses on 70 key actions to recruit, train and retain health care workers while redesigning the health care system to foster workplace satisfaction and innovation. 

The new seats also support the province's primary care strategy by increasing access to primary maternity care and supporting family practices to care for low-risk births in community and closer to home.



BC Liberal MLA Coralee Oakes was the follow up speaker to the topic and she spoke to the theme of the midwifery program and hopes that it will deliver on the outcomes anticipated. 

The Opposition MLA  also noted of the past stresses on families and  highlighted some gaps in the provincial program in some communities in the province.

Despite some hints by government suggesting that maternity services could be added to the new hospital later on if needed, a freedom of information search by the opposition revealed the following from Fraser Health: "As pediatric and maternity services are out of scope for the new Surrey hospital and B.C. cancer centre project, there are no clinical services planning documents available that pertain specifically to this site." 

These challenges in accessing maternity care are not just isolated to the Lower Mainland. In Kamloops, the Thompson regional family obstetrics clinic, which delivers 60 percent of the babies born each month in the city, has announced a permanent closure after raising concerns for nearly a year. 

These impacts will be felt deeply by families in Kamloops, and those in rural communities as well, as demand for the clinic has increased as smaller regional operators have also lost doctors. Communities like 100 Mile, Lillooet, Barriere and Merritt relied on services of this clinic, so there is much uncertainty for them right now. 

I'll note that the news of the facility's closure comes less than a month after another clinic, Sage Hills community midwives in Kamloops, announced its closure.

That was area of opposition concern that was highlighted earlier this month by the Liberals.


You can review both MLA's presentations to the Legislature through the Video archive of the Monday morning session, the North Coast MLA begins her commentary at the 10:54 AM mark.

The transcript of the comments can be found from Legislature Minutes at the same time mark as the video archive.

A look at the UBC program is available here.

More notes on the work of Northwest MLA's a the Legislature can be reviewed from our archive page.

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Monday, February 27, 2023

Victoria Viewpoints: Saturday-Monday, February 25-27, 2023




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene for Saturday-Monday, February 25-27, 2023


Globe and Mail


CBC



Vancouver Sun 


Victoria Times-Colonist 



Victoria News

 

Global



The Tyee                                                                   

CHEK TV





Miscellaneous


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Ottawa Observations: Saturday-Monday, February 25-27, 2023



Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Saturday-Monday,  February 25-27 2023



CBC



Toronto/Vancouver Star



Toronto Sun


National Post



Global          



Miscellaneous            




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Price Caps could be on the way for BC Ferries fares as BC Government puts more money into transportation service

The Northern Adventure at dock in Prince Rupert

500 million dollars in new funding for BC Ferries will pay off for passengers next year,  with the government looking to the ferry transportation provider to cap their fares in the years ahead. 

That as the government noted of a recent submission to the BC Ferries Commissioner that highlighted the prospect of significant fare increases over the next four years.

The Government plan of action came as part of a Sunday information session hosted by Premier David Eby.

“Every day, people use BC Ferries to get to work, and visit family and friends, as well as plan vacations. We know the cost of everything continues to go up due to global inflation, but by acting now, we can prevent double-digit fare increases from hitting people who depend on our ferries.”

The province noted yesterday in their information release that  through a recent submission to the BC Ferries commissioner and the impacts of global inflation over the past 18 months, it was clear BC Ferries users could face fare increases of 10.4% a year for the four-year period of 2024 to 2028. 

With this $500-million investment, the B.C. government’s goal is to keep annual average fare increases below 3% a year. Final fare increases will be determined by the BC Ferries commissioner. 

The increase in core costs like fuel, along with higher inflation are factors in driving up overall costs for BC Ferries. The $500 million will also support greenhouse-gas-emissions reduction through electrification of vessels and other initiatives to green the fleet and operations. Businesses will benefit from affordable ferry rates as many small businesses rely on BC Ferries for the movement of goods through freight transport.

As they noted the BC Ferry Commissioner is in the process of determining the preliminary annul fare increases for the next four years. That final amount will be announced in September of this year and take effect as of April 1, 2024.

Transportation  and Infrastructure Minister Rob Fleming noted the importance of BC Ferries when it comes to moving travellers and goods around the province.

“Our government recognizes the importance of reliable and affordable ferry service for travel and goods movement. It is vital that people living in B.C.’s coastal communities that depend on ferries — and all British Columbians — are well served and supported by this service.”

You learn more about Sunday's announcement here.

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice shared some of the same themes as the Premier and Minister Fleming through her social media page on Sunday, noting of the ferry rate plans for her constituents.

More notes on marine related transportation on the North Coast, Haida Gwaii and Central Coast can be reviewed here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review. 

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City expands on guidance for residents during current snow experiences

Second Avenue West looking east over the noon hour today

As this Monday has moved forward, Rupertites have been getting a wide overview of what Mother Nature can offer when it comes to winter weather.

From snow overnight, to freezing rain during the on the way to work period, to more snow again over the Noon hour, shovelling and slogging have been the two main activities for residents over the last 96 hours.

As we noted earlier this morning, the City's Operations Department has made use of a range of options to take on the daily volume of snow since Friday and even as the latest burst of flakes arrived on the noon hour, city crews and contractors were busy on city streets, as were Ministry of Transportation ploughs on the main Highway through the city.







Snapshots of the city from the afternoon 

Towards some additional guidance from the City of Prince Rupert, the City through its social media page provided some notes for the public as we work our way through the late February reminder that we are part of Canada and from time to time we get the weather to prove it.

Among the advice a reminder not to toss your snow into the roadway, ensure that your property in the way of boats, RV's and such are stored on your property and not on city streets. As well as to keep some proper distance between yourself and those snow removal vehicles on the road.




Past  notes related to road conditions both in Prince Rupert and along Highway 16 can be reviewed from our archive.


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