The spring legislative session in Victoria is limping to its conclusion next week, and the B.C. NDP government is hoping for a summer reset after four months of being buffeted from all sides on Indigenous issues, the cancellation of numerous health-care projects, and a $13.3 billion deficit burning a hole in government finances.
Late-Night Sittings and Stalled Bills
Debate has been slow-going on controversial changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which critics say would make it harder for the public to obtain information from the province. Legislators sat until 4 a.m. last Thursday as the government forced it through second reading and on to the committee stage. It will still have to pass committee and third reading before it can be signed into law.
Indigenous Relations Challenges
The NDP is also facing challenges to the two treaties they’ve agreed to with the K’omoks and the Kitselas First Nations. Multiple First Nations and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs have called for a pause to the legislation due to overlapping land claims. Additionally, legislation that would have suspended the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was pulled after Vancouver-Strathcona MLA Joan Phillip said she wouldn’t support it, and numerous other MLAs voiced their concerns privately.
Falling Approval Ratings and Leadership Speculation
Premier David Eby’s approval ratings are falling, according to some polls. The B.C. Conservatives are openly running ads that assume the premier will be replaced before the next election, with specific focus on Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon and Attorney General Niki Sharma as possible successors.
Jeff Ferrier, a founding partner of Framepoint Public Affairs, said that the only person who knows whether the NDP will have a new leader going into the next election is Eby himself. “I think that I would be thinking more of a cabinet shuffle. We’re almost at the halfway mark of the government’s time in office, and if they were looking to freshen things up, put a bit of a new face on government, show a bit of a new direction, I think it would be more likely to be a cabinet shuffle than anything about the leader,” said Ferrier.
Mixed Record and Future Challenges
Ferrier noted that the NDP have had to navigate a number of challenges over the past few months but have done a good job of putting forward solid improvements, from the approval of critical mineral mines to signing up hundreds of U.S. health-care workers. At the same time, he said the summer is likely to pose further challenges with the possibility of a nursing strike, the need to ensure priority projects get approved, and the continuing issues with Indigenous relations.
Hamish Telford, a University of the Fraser Valley political scientist, said the government has had a tough few months and needs a reset. “They have a lot of work to do, and it may be the case that they’ve just been a little bit too cautious trying to please as many people as possible, spreading themselves thin, as it were, and not really satisfying anybody, and so they might want to think about how they could be bolder in some areas to try and shore up support,” he said.
