British Columbia Minute: Issue 117

British Columbia Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of British Columbia politics.

📅 This Week In British Columbia: 📅

• Energy Minister Adrian Dix announced upgrades to the provincial hydro system on Wednesday aimed at increasing power supply by about 7%, two days after saying the Government was seriously considering two more dams, one on Bute Inlet and a fourth Peace River dam known as Site E. Dix said the projects will add more than 1,000 megawatts to the system by optimizing existing infrastructure rather than building new generation from scratch, an approach he described as faster and more cost effective. The largest project will expand the Revelstoke Dam with a sixth generating unit adding 500 megawatts by 2032, while the first four units at Revelstoke, six other generating stations, and the W.A.C. Bennett Dam will also be modernized. The Government said the Revelstoke work alone will generate about $60 million in local spending and employ up to 180 workers, but it did not provide an overall cost estimate. Dix compared the work favourably with the John Horgan Dam, previously known as Site C, whose final cost reached $16.6 billion for up to 1,230 megawatts, saying a project like Revelstoke 6 would cost roughly one-sixteenth as much as Site C for its added capacity. The announcement follows a $1-billion commitment in May to the Power Smart program, which BC Hydro says will save or defer more than $2 billion in generation, transmission and distribution costs.
  
  
• On the housing front, several BC mayors are voicing disapproval of the provincial government's housing plan as they race to bring their community plans in line with legislation requiring municipalities to upzone single-family lots by June 30th. The NDP government passed legislation in November requiring municipalities to formally enshrine in their official community plans the changes from 2023's housing law, which allows up to four units on single-family lots in communities of more than 5,000 people and up to six on lots near bus stops. Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West said the rules have put a chill on development in his city, arguing it is cost-prohibitive to upgrade water and sewer utilities mid-block for a single fourplex or sixplex, and that the legislation lacks the parking and green-space requirements applied to other development. West warned that what his council passes may not include everything the Government wants, saying the city will not simply rubber-stamp decisions made in Victoria. New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone took a different view, saying his council has already passed a plan that fully meets the requirements, with an extension until 2029 only for the Queensborough neighbourhood. The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said it does not yet have compliance data because the deadline has not passed, while Simon Fraser University's Andy Yan said the central unresolved question is who will pay for the infrastructure upgrades that increased density will require.
  
  
• BC Children's Hospital is reporting a sharp rise in e-scooter injuries among children, with its emergency department recording 81 visits related to e-scooter use among children and youth from April 1st, 2025 to March 31st, 2026 - more than double the 37 visits the year before. Although provincial rules require e-scooter riders to be at least 16, the hospital says 54% of the emergency visits involved children aged 13 to 15, and that 35% of visits involved fractures, 26% bruises and abrasions, and 17% concussions. Dr. Shelina Babul, director of the hospital's injury research and prevention unit, said many parents are unaware of the rules and that speed and not wearing a helmet are the biggest factors. BC has been testing electric kick scooters under a four-year pilot project now covering 36 communities, including Vancouver, Burnaby, Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George. Riders are required to be 16 or older and wear a helmet, devices cannot exceed 25 km/h, and there are fines of $109 for breaking the rules. Last month Burnaby banned e-scooters on many major roads and in local parks, and the Fraser-Cascade School District barred them from school property. Fraser Health says it is also seeing a clear increase in injuries, but cannot fully track them because emergency records contain no formal coding for e-scooters.
  
  
• The provincial government has announced that adults with mild to moderate hearing loss can now buy over-the-counter hearing aids at retail and online without a prescription, making BC the first province in Canada to allow such sales after approval by Health Canada. Health Minister Josie Osborne said people too often put off buying hearing aids because of cost and other barriers, and argued the change will help more people recognize hearing changes and get help earlier. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt said he hears from many seniors who cannot afford devices, which can cost up to $11,000, and that improved access will help seniors age with dignity and live more independent lives. Levitt called the move a welcome and necessary step toward improving access to hearing care, particularly for older people living on fixed incomes. The change removes a regulatory requirement that previously required buyers to obtain a prescription before they could purchase a device.
  
  
• The provincial government is terminating its deal with the consortium chosen to replace the aging George Massey Tunnel beneath the Fraser River, though it says the $4.15-billion project remains on track. The Transportation Ministry said Monday it could not reach an agreement with Cross Fraser Partnership on the commercial terms for the final construction of the eight-lane tunnel connecting Richmond and Delta, and that it was exercising a termination option built into the process. The Province had worked with the consortium under a design and early works agreement since September 2024, and Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth said BC had received good value from the contractor but was returning to a competitive process to seek the best value for taxpayers. The work will be retendered under a revised strategy that divides the remaining job into several packages, which the Government says will strengthen competition and allow for more local contracts. Early construction that began in January, including tree clearing and utility relocations, will continue while procurement for future phases proceeds, with major construction set to start in 2027 and the new crossing targeted to open in 2030.

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