Is the B.C. government ‘playing with fire’ with fast-track bills?

It’s nearly the end of the legislative session and the NDP government is upping the stakes for controversial legislation.

A bill aimed at fast-tracking priority projects in British Columbia is a confidence motion, and while the vote isn’t likely to result in a defeat of the NDP government, it does send a message the ruling party is flexing its political muscle.

Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act, would allow the cabinet to cherry-pick which infrastructure projects should jump the line for approvals and permitting to get schools, hospitals, roads and other projects built faster.

The proposal has frustrated opposition parties who are slamming the bill as overreach, paving the way for a rare tie-breaking vote by the speaker of the house, and laying the groundwork for potential backlash from municipal governments, First Nations, and citizens.

“I think the NDP is playing with fire when they continually push measures like this that are supposed to streamline approvals processes, but also come across as railroading decision-making and sidelining those with reasonable grounds to be part of a decision-making process,” observed University of British Columbia political scientist, Stewart Prest.

Opposition in the house

The BC Greens made it clear on Thursday that while they support the New Democrats in a number of areas, this bill is simply too broad-reaching for their endorsement.

“We would have been comfortable with it being hospitals and schools being able to jump the queue on permitting, making the permitting process more streamlined,” said interim party leader, Jeremy Valeriote. “But we can’t just throw open the door for cabinet to decide that anything, including like a pipeline or an energy facility, could be considered significant.”

The BC Conservatives slammed sister Bill 14, the Renewable Energy Projects Act, which focuses on electrical projects.

“They say it’s about streamlining approvals, but let’s call it what this really is: a rush job, a last-minute attempt to expedite projects only after realizing it’s far too late, that we are on the verge of an energy shortfall,” alleged Conservative MLA Hon Chan, during second reading of the bill on Thursday.

The minister responds

Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma downplayed the concerns, insisting Bill 15 is meant to help projects cross the finish line.

“We’re talking about projects that are fully funded already, have support to go underway, and they run into problems that caused delay, particularly when it comes to public infrastructure projects,” she said Friday in an interview with CTV News. “This legislation provides us with tools to find creative ways forward when projects get stuck.”

When asked what kinds of projects and approvals she anticipated would be leap-frogged, or put on the back burner, by cabinet-determined priorities, she didn’t answer directly. Ma emphasized that various ministries are already working to reduce red tape and described Bill 15 as a parallel process to get projects completed in the meantime.

In its announcement of the proposed legislation when it was tabled May 1, the province described the goal is not only accelerating provincial permitting and approvals, but also expediting environmental assessments, providing alternative permit authorizations through “an agreement-seeking approach with local governments,” and allowing the Ministry of Infrastructure to coordinate with various other ministries to “to group multiple projects into a single procurement or allow government to purchase project components for multiple projects at a single time.”