Economy

Media Statement September 15, 2016
Andrew Weaver Renews Call to Reform Medical Service Premiums
For Immediate Release

Victoria, B.C. – While a freeze in Medical Service Plan (MSP) premium increases is certainly welcome, the government has lost the opportunity to fully reform this regressive tax says Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head and Leader of the B.C. Green Party.

“British Columbians will see this MSP announcement for what it is, a cynical ploy to gain votes as we head into an election year”, says Andrew Weaver. “We need to eliminate the MSP, not simply tinker around its edges.”

“Over the last three years I have consistently and continually called for the MSP to rolled into the income tax system with premiums calculated on taxable income rather than the current system which is a flat tax no matter what people earn.” says Andrew Weaver. “This would turn a regressive tax into a fair system much like has already been done in Ontario”

In Ontario, if you earn $20,000 or more a year you pay the Ontario Health Premium (OHP). It ranges from $0 if your taxable income is $20,000 or less, and goes up to $900 per year if your taxable income is more than $200,600. Instead of the mail-out system we have in BC, the OHP is deducted from the pay and pensions of those with employment or pension income that meets the minimum threshold.

“Remember – only Ontario’s top earners are paying $900 per year. Right now people in British Columbia are paying $900 a year regardless of whether they earn $42,000 or $4,200,000 a year.”

“As Leader of the BC Green Party I can affirm that a B.C. Green Party government would eliminate the regressive monthly MSP premiums. Instead, a B.C. Green government would introduce a progressive system in which rates are determined by one’s earnings. And a net and substantive administrative savings to taxpayers would arise in rolling MSP premiums into the existing income tax system.” says Andrew Weaver

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Background:

Call to eliminate MSP premiums:

Moving Forward with MSP premiums:

Media contact:
Mat Wright – Press Secretary, Andrew Weaver MLA
1 250 216 3382
mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

Media Statement – August 19, 2016
Climate Action Announcement Definitely Not Leadership
For immediate release

Victoria B.C. – Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head and leader of the B.C. Green Party calls the B.C. Government Climate Action announcement disappointing and lacking leadership.

“Not only has the Clark government dismantled many of the existing climate policies, but they are also ignoring key recommendations from their own expert panel on what needs to happen for B.C. to once again become a climate leader.

“For the past few years it has become painfully clear that the B.C. Liberals have chosen to forgo any leadership on this file, instead choosing to chase the LNG pipedream.

“As we go into another year with temperature records again being smashed across the world and in B.C., this government is content to fiddle and play games with carbon accounting. Without increasing the carbon levy there is no hope that British Columbia will meet its GHG reduction targets.

“For fifteenth consecutive month in a row, July 2016 emerged as the warmest month since measurements have been collected. Average global temperatures for the year-to-date period January-July 2016 shattered the previous record set in 2015. The government’s plan doesn’t demonstrate leadership. It demonstrates complacency and a wilful disregard of the urgency of dealing with climate change.

“British Columbia has an opportunity to become a leader in this world, establishing a 21st century economy built on innovation and clean technology. This goal cannot be realized with the current administration’s directionless approach to governance.

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Backgrounder – Changes since Christy Clark became Premier

Under Premier Gordon Campbell, British Columbia emerged as an international leader in climate policy. But since Christy Clark has taken over at the helm, we’ve move from being a leader to becoming a laggard. The legacy of Premier Clark’s so-called climate leadership to date is as follows:

1. The Clean Energy Act was amended to exclude emissions for liquefaction in LNG industry;
2. The Pacific Carbon Trust was shut down;
3. Carbon tax increase were halted;
4. Cap and Trade enabling legislation (designed to bring big point source emitters in with California) has been repealed;
5. We have a new Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act that introduces an “emissions intensity” framework that is more about supporting an LNG industry than limiting emissions;
6. The LiveSmart BC program has essentially shut down;
7. Emissions have gone up year after year;
8. We will not reach our legislated 2020 GHG reduction target.

Media contact
Mat Wright – Press Secretary, Andrew Weaver MLA
1 250 216 3382
mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

Media Statement: July 25th, 2016
Weaver Responds to Housing Bill
For Immediate Release

Victoria B.C. – “Despite legislation tabled today by the BC Liberals, there is still no comprehensive plan when it comes to the affordability crisis facing British Columbians,” said Andrew Weaver, Leader of the B.C. Green Party and MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head. “We need the government to come to the table with practical and province-wide solutions, rather than their six talking points.”

The legislation tabled today gives Vancouver the ability to introduce a vacancy tax. However, no other communities in the Province have been granted such powers.

“This piecemeal approach to the affordability crisis is simply pitting one jurisdiction against another. It makes no sense at all for one side of Boundary Road in Vancouver to potentially have a vacancy tax applied, while a vacancy tax cannot be applied on the other side of the street.

“Any attempt to solve the affordability crisis facing British Columbians needs to start with honestly recognizing the scale of the problem. For many, we are long past the threshold of affordability. This crisis is beginning to reverberate throughout B.C. as people get squeezed out of their communities and are forced to move.

“Skyrocketing real estate markets across the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island are dragging the rental market with them. Given the severity and reach of the housing crisis, a reactive piecemeal policy approach amounts to little more than blowing out birthday candles in the midst of a house fire.

“The legislation introduced today closes the bare trust loophole for offshore buyers that I have been attempting to get government to address for a number of years now. However, once more this is only being applied to the Vancouver market. All this will accomplish is to push foreign investment into neighbouring jurisdictions, furthering the affordability crisis in areas such as southern Vancouver Island.

“What is needed is a province-wide, coordinated approach involving all levels of government and across all communities. We need to ensure that our communities will be livable, that small businesses will thrive, and that the next generation will see opportunities to start families in our cities.

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Media Contact:
Mat Wright – Press Secretary, Andrew Weaver MLA
1 250 216 3382
mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

Imagine the joy in the BC Liberal back rooms when on May 19, Fortis announced that a small, yet important, 20-year agreement had been reached “to deliver 800,000 metric tons of LNG annually to Hawaiian Electric from Fortis BC’s Tilbury LNG facility in Delta, British Columbia, starting in 2021“.

Richard Coleman, BC’s minister of natural gas was obviously thrilled with the news. But were the BC Liberals celebrating too early? As has been so common with this government, the answer is yes.

On July 19 Fortis quietly announced that the deal had collapsed when a merger between Hawaii Electric and Florida-based NextEra Energy Resouces fell through. The significance of this announcement was not lost on Gordon Hoekstra of the Vancouver Sun who penned a story shortly after thereafter.

But what’s the real reason for the collapse of the deal? It’s quite simple. Hawaii presently supplies 23% of its electricity from renewables. They are committed to obtain 100% of their electricity from renewables by 2045 and it made no sense in 2016 to invest in new fossil fuel infrastructure.

This is but the latest example demonstrating how BC is being left behind. As I have detailed numerous times before on this site, the BC Liberal quest for an LNG windfall is reckless. It is inconsistent with its claim to be leader on climate policy and it is out of step with the rest of the world in the journey to decarbonize our energy systems.

Unfortunately it gets even worse. As BC goes all in on LNG, doubling down on the way, we have killed our once vibrant clean energy sector. BC taxpayers are building Site C for a non existent LNG industry. BC taxpayers will construct what will inevitably be an outrageously expensive Massey Bridge (instead of widening the existing tunnel) so that LNG supertankers can head down the river to Fortis’ Tilbury facility.

British Columbians deserve better.

On Saturday June 25, Squamish became Canada’s 5^th solar city. Initiated by the Canadian Solar Cities Project, Squamish joins four other British Columbia communities in meeting the ten criteria required for this designation. These ten criteria are:

1. The municipality has a climate change plan with short-term and long-term targets and time-frames in place
2. The municipality has a community energy plan in place
3. The municipality has an energy plan in place for its own facilities
4. The municipality has adopted targets for a proportion of total community energy demand to be met by renewable energy
5. The municipality has established policies and incentives for solar electricity and solar thermal utilization for residential homeowners
6. The municipality has established policies and incentives for solar electricity and solar thermal utilization for commercial ratepayers
7. The municipality has a communication plan in place to build awareness of its renewable energy projects and policies
8. The municipality has established policies for land use planning to promote and encourage energy efficiency
9. Community renewable energy, energy efficiency technologies and green living demonstration projects are developed, supported and encouraged by the city to demonstrate these concepts to the public
10. The municipality has policies in place to encourage district energy projects within its jurisdiction

Canada’s first solar city was Dawson Creek which received its designation in June 2012. It was followed by Colwood (in March 2013), the T’Sou-ke Nation (in September 2013) and North Vancouver (in March 2014).

Squamish resident Matt Blackmon spearheaded the initial drive to Solar City status which was supported by numerous local residents, environmental groups and Squamish Council. The award was also made possible by the generous support of local realtor Andrew Laurie, seen to the right shaking hands with Bob Haugen, Executive Director of the Canadian Solar Cities project, and Matt Blackmon at the microphone on his left.

Accepting the award — a stunningly crafted bronze sundial — on behalf of the District of Squamish was Mayor Patricia Heintzman. Councillor Karen Elliott was also in attendance as were numerous other local area residents and civic leaders.

I had the distinct honour of speaking at the event and took the opportunity to congratulate District of Squamish for their leadership.

A lot of lot exciting things are going on in Squamish these days. Carbon Engineering, a Canadian company that has developed innovative technology to create liquid fuels from atmospheric carbon dioxide, recently set up shop in Squamish. This potentially revolutionary technology also has the ability to capture and sequester human produced carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. I had the pleasure of touring the Squamish facility back in April of this year.

In addition, UBC’s Clean Energy Research Centre, the District of Squamish, the Squamish Nation, Newport Beach Developments Limited Partnership, and Carbon Engineering recently signed an agreement to explore ways in which a centre for clean energy research and education could be established on the waterfront brownfield industrial site located at the head of Howe Sound. This exciting opportunity would mean the creation of a satellite campus of UBC in Squamish focused exclusively on Cleantech education, research, and development. It’s precisely this type of investment in innovation that I have been advocating for since the time I got elected as it is critical in terms of positioning British Columbia at the forefront of tomorrow’s economy.

Ironically, as Squamish takes bold steps to lead British Columbia through innovation towards a 21st century economy, it is having to deal with the unwanted Woodfibre LNG proposal that would be located a stone throw away from the town. The fact that the Squamish Council voted against this project; the fact that West Vancouver and Lion’s Bay Councils voted against it;  the fact that it goes against their district’s branding as Hardwired for Adventure; the fact that it undermines Squamish’s efforts to become a leader in cleantech seems utterly lost on the BC Liberals. For in their desperate and reckless quest to land an LNG plant to fulfill their irresponsible election promises all that matters is “getting to yes”. But at some point, you need to ask what the question is.

Let’s get to yes on Squamish becoming a centre for Cleantech education, research and development while saying no to doubling down on chasing the losing proposition of LNG.