This column has given credit where credit is due to B.C. Attorney General David Eby. Faced with billion-dollar deficits at the Insurance Corp. of B.C., Eby has capped sa国际传媒減ain and sufferingsa国际传媒� awards and moved minor injuries out of court to administrative hearings.
Naturally, the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. is in an effort to prevent the loss of the hugely increased income its members have extracted from ICBC, partly due to aggressive U.S.-style personal injury tactics adopted by B.C. lawyers.
The associationsa国际传媒檚 lawsuit notes that the average ICBC sa国际传媒減ain and sufferingsa国际传媒� payout for 2016 was $16,499, which is sa国际传媒渁lmost exactly three times the capsa国际传媒� legislated by the B.C. NDP government. Now $5,500 is all you can get, and ICBC is back on its way to solvency after a $1 billion bailout from B.C. taxpayers that was included in this yearsa国际传媒檚 B.C. budget.
The election of Jason Kenney as Alberta premier highlights another one of Ebysa国际传媒檚 legal adventures, one that isnsa国际传媒檛 going so well.
B.C. now has lawyers working on two separate Alberta cases. One is arguing that B.C. should be able to regulate petroleum shipments from Alberta (diluted bitumen), and the other suggests that Alberta should not be able to restrict shipments of petroleum to B.C. (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel).
Outgoing NDP premier Rachel Notley passed the sa国际传媒渢urn off the tapssa国际传媒� law but didnsa国际传媒檛 enact it. Eby rushed his team into court to argue that itsa国际传媒檚 an unconstitutional infringement on trade, but alas, their case was tossed out.
Come back when theresa国际传媒檚 an actual law in place, Eby was told. With Kenney in the Alberta premiersa国际传媒檚 office, that will be soon, and B.C. pump prices will likely be headed towards $2 a litre. In 2018, the original Trans Mountain pipeline shipped more than half its volume as crude to Washington state refineries, with smaller shares to the Burnaby refinery and Westridge terminal for export. The smallest share of pipeline space is refined fuels to B.C., and itsa国际传媒檚 a safe bet that will get smaller. B.C. may have to buy jet fuel from Asia.
As taxpayers absorbed that billing, B.C.sa国际传媒檚 bid for jurisdiction over heavy crude shipments from Alberta carries on. Itsa国际传媒檚 a sa国际传媒渞eference case,sa国际传媒� basically asking the B.C. Court of Appeal for advice rather than a ruling.
Itsa国际传媒檚 a pathetic little show for anti-pipeline voters, according to Notley, and shesa国际传媒檚 polite about it compared to Kenney.
Now comes the threat of legal action by a group of social services agencies, whose union employees are getting raises three times as big as their non-union workers. In some cases this happens within the same contracted agency, running care facilities for developmentally disabled children and adults.
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The B.C. CEO Network, a Prince George-based group representing more than 120 of these agencies, has served Finance Minister Carole James with that if this sweetheart deal with the B.C. Government Employeessa国际传媒� Union and other NDP-friendly unions isnsa国际传媒檛 fixed, they will go to court.
In a statement released with their lawyersa国际传媒檚 letter, the B.C. CEO Network board notes that 17,000 employees are affected. The network represents union, non-union and partially union agencies, which report their wage payments through the Community Social Services Employers Association every year.
Premier John Horgan claimed the sa国际传媒渓ow wage redresssa国际传媒� money was withheld from non-union employees because their bosses might keep it without a union contract to set pay. Ebysa国际传媒檚 might need more lawyers to defend that statement.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press Media. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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