A new poll finds that 78% of British Columbians say the BC Supreme Court’s Cowichan decision will hurt BC’s economy by undermining property rights. The decision granted Aboriginal title over approximately 800 acres of private land in Richmond – including farms, small businesses, and individual homes. Opposition crosses every region and every political party. The poll was commissioned by the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA), Canada’s largest construction association. According to the poll, the Cowichan decision has heightened concerns about private property not just in Richmond, but across BC. “Farmers, ranchers, small businesses and homeowners are struggling to understand the implications of this decision on land values, on when, and how, they can sell their properties, and on how projects get approved – there is a real risk that if the Government is not clear on its policy approach and what all of this means, BC will become uninvestable,” said ...
HARMAN BHANGU: Bill-9 says the government will get to decide whether your request is good enough to bother answering
Bill-9 could directly restrict how I do my job as an opposition MLA. Freedom of information is one of the only real tools we have to figure out what government is actually doing behind the scenes. Press releases tell you what the government wants you to hear. The real story lives in briefing notes, internal emails, and reports that only come out when someone forces the government to hand them over. Bill 9 weakens that system. Right now the law says government must respond “without delay.” Bill 9 replaces that with “without unreasonable delay.” That might sound like a small wording change, but anyone who has dealt with bureaucracy knows exactly what it means: more wiggle room to stall, more excuses, and more waiting while the government runs out the clock. The bill also lets ministries decide whether a request has “enough detail” before they even start looking for records. In other words, the government gets to decide whether your request is good enough to bother answering. ...