anonymous - November 18th, 2005
Bill 75: Streamlining or steamrolling
Local lawmakers decry proposed legislation as provincial power grab
By David Burke
Reporter
Local officials’ authority to control major developments within their jurisdictions could be “steamrolled” if a bill currently working its way through B.C.’s legislature becomes law, one local activist said last week. Whistler’s mayor, meanwhile, predicted a “huge backlash” from municipal and regional lawmakers if the provisions of the bill, ominously called the Significant Projects Streamlining Act, are used to override local planning and approval authority.
Bill 75, introduced last week in the legislature by Kevin Falcon, B.C.’s Minister of State for Deregulation, “will create a competitive climate for business and investment here in British Columbia,” Falcon said in the legislature last Thursday. “It will reduce red tape and regulation and streamline processes for both government and business.”
The act would allow the government to assign special status to projects “deemed to be significant and that will positively benefit the economic, environmental and social well-being of British Columbia,” Falcon said.
Under the bill, if the provincial Cabinet believes such a project would be subject to inefficient or prolonged approval processes, it may designated as provincially significant. A minister will then be assigned to oversee the approval process for the project — fast-tracking it through the various levels of decision-making required.
“Once the project is designated, approval authorities will be required to take all reasonable actions to move through the complex decision-making process faster and more efficiently,” Falcon said.
For example, under the legislation such projects could see different ministries review such projects simultaneously, he said.
Local MLA Ted Nebbeling defended the bill, saying it merely helps the government reduce the amount of red tape when a project comes up for approval.
As an example, he cited the Callaghan Valley, where a number of venues related to the 2010 Winter Olympics are planned.
“With the Callaghan, there is forestry impact, First Nations impact, environmental impact, and all these various agencies have to be involved in the approval of that project,” Nebbeling said.
“Because it’s in the SLRD (Squamish-Lillooet Regional District), you deal with the regi onal district as well. You get an enormous amount of benefit by coordinating (the approval process) as one strategy. Declaring it a significant project would force all these groups to come to the table and find ways to bring it to completion.”
But the bill is meeting with vocal and, it appears, widespread opposition.
Eckhard Zeidler, a board member with the Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE), said that as written, the bill would give Cabinet and individual ministers sweeping new powers.
“What’s really scary about it is it trumps local government authority,” Zeidler said. “I don’t see anything barring them from putting a nuclear reactor in the RMOW if they see fit, over the wishes of local residents.
“We stand to get the surprise of our lives in Whistler if the Olympics is one of the things that they have in mind for this, because we could see things happening within our municipal boundaries that people don’t particularly want.
“This is just the latest in a gr eat wave of things in this direction that are coming out of Victoria. If it’s passed, it’ll be just one of many things that local planners have to deal with. If Victoria wants to do something that doesn’t fit with what they’re doing, then our local planners will just be streamrolled.”
At Monday’s SLRD meeting, Susan Gimse, SLRD Area C director and a member of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) board, called Bill 75 anti-democratic.
A motion from Gimse opposing the proposed legislation passed by an 8-1 vote, with only Lillooet Mayor Greg Kamenka voting in opposition.
“This legislation, to me, completely ignores the public’s views and that, to me, is wrong,” Gimse said.
“We agree that, at times, there may be a need for streamlining legislation that can move things forward,” she added, “but we don’t agree with legislation tahat overrides democracy and we don’t think local governments should be included as one of the potential constraints.”
Zeidler compared the bill to le gislation already in place in Alberta. There, large projects may receive pre-approval from a body such as the Natural Resources Conservation Board. Under Section 619 of Alberta’s Municipal Government Act, those pre-approvals take precedence over local planning authority.
In Canmore, Alta., the power of local residents to affect the details of the huge Three Sisters residential and resort project has been limited for many years because of that legislation.
“They ended with all this development that wasn’t part of their plan and there was nothing they could do about it,” Zeidler said.
Mayor Hugh O’Reilly on Friday said that if the Province were to try to fast-track projects without proper review using Bill 75, local citizens and officials would likely be quite upset.
“I would have to think you would have do that with the utmost of caution. I wouldn’t think you could do that (override local authority) without a huge backlash,” he said.
“We’ve been fairly good about negotiating, giving where we could, but standing our ground when we had to. We’ve built a billion-dollar economic engine here. It’s a fragile engine and if it’s not treated very carefully it could be damaged, significantly.”
Nebbeling said the Province isn’t trying to override local authority. It’s merely trying to ensure that important projects don’t get bogged down in bureaucracy.
“When a project comes forward, people have to deal with one level of bureaucracy, and another level, and another level,” he said. “Dealing with them all in one swoop is definitely a big step forward.”
NDP leader Joy McPhail noted that a few months ago, Nebbeling — who is Minister of State for Community Charter — brought forward a new Community Charter, which spells out the relationship between the Province and local governments.
McPhail said Bill 75 takes back much of the power granted to municipalities in the charter.
“Greater independence? Empowering? Greater autonomy? Planning and revenue tools?” McPhail said in the legislature last Thursday. “The Minister of State for Community Charter must be wondering what the heck he’s been doing for the last two years. Bill 75 overrides the Community Charter. It’s paramount.
“This legislation… shows just how sincere this government is about empowering local governments.”
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