British Columbia Minute: Issue 125

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

📅 This Week In British Columbia: 📅

• Today marks a special milestone for British Columbia Minute: this is our 125th issue! For 125 weeks, we’ve been keeping an eye on the news, legislation, policies, and decisions coming out of the BC government so you can stay informed about what’s happening in the province without having to spend hours following it all yourself. We’re grateful to everyone who reads British Columbia Minute, shares it with a friend, and takes the time to respond - your support helps make this work possible. British Columbia Minute is funded entirely by readers like you, so if you find these updates valuable, please consider making a donation to help us keep watching what’s happening in BC and bringing it to your inbox every week.
  
  
• Premier David Eby says the Bald Range wildfire that forced roughly 20,000 people from their homes in BC's south Okanagan moved so fast that crews had to switch from fighting the flames to helping residents escape. The blaze was detected on August 7th and exploded overnight, with Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Kelly Greene declaring a provincewide state of emergency the following day. By Wednesday the fire spanned about 184 square kilometers, one of roughly 100 active fires in the province, about half of them burning out of control. The Province has booked more than 1,000 hotel rooms in Penticton, Kelowna and West Kelowna for evacuees, and Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says about 50,000 farm animals are affected on 146 agricultural properties under evacuation order. Officials have acknowledged significant structural losses but have released no damage assessments, leaving residents to piece together what happened to their homes from social media. 
  
  
• Finance Minister Brenda Bailey has closed the books on the budget year that ended March 31st with a deficit of $7.7 billion, $3.3 billion below the $10.9 billion the Province forecast on budget day. Most of the improvement came from a single source: BC counted $2.6 billion from its class-action settlement with tobacco companies against last year's books, despite this amount only actually set to be received over the next 18 years. Bailey confirmed that leaves nothing from the settlement to offset the $13.3-billion deficit projected for the current year. The Province also spent $4 billion less than budgeted on capital projects, which Bailey attributed to supply chain delays and labour shortages, and says restricting government travel and shrinking the public service saved $167 million. Provincial debt nonetheless rose about $700 million above forecast, to $154.7 billion.Carson Binda of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said a windfall is not a fiscal plan, and that $7.7 billion in red ink is nothing to celebrate.
  
  
• Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar has left the BC Conservative caucus and will now sit as an Independent, citing differences with leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay over the party’s direction. Milobar, who came last in the recent Conservative leadership race won by Findlay, said his values no longer align with where the party is heading. He had served as the party’s finance critic and was viewed as representing its more moderate wing. His departure comes amid broader changes within the Conservative caucus and staff, including several departures since Findlay became leader, though several independents are also rumoured to be considering rejoining. The BC legislature now has 48 NDP MLAs, 37 Conservatives, two Greens and six Independents.
  
  
• An all-party committee of the British Columbia legislature has recommended the government scrap its planned expansion of the provincial sales tax, in a report signed by three NDP MLAs as well as two Conservatives. From October, accountants, engineers, architects and security companies will have to start charging the 7% tax on their services, a change the government projects will raise $1.4 billion over the next three years. The committee's job is to gather budget submissions from across the province, and repealing the expansion was one of the recommendations that came back. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey has said the government is not looking to back away from the plan, pointing to the cost of health care and education. The committee's NDP chair, Paul Choi, said the report is meant to record what members heard from stakeholders rather than the views of individual MLAs, and that he and his NDP colleagues still support the government's position. Conservative jobs critic Gavin Dew said the recommendation shows some government MLAs have heard what small businesses have been saying since the tax was introduced.

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