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 香蕉视频直播減ain and suffering香蕉视频直播� 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 association香蕉视频直播檚 lawsuit notes that the average ICBC 香蕉视频直播減ain and suffering香蕉视频直播� payout for 2016 was $16,499, which is 香蕉视频直播渁lmost exactly three times the cap香蕉视频直播� 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 year香蕉视频直播檚 B.C. budget.
The election of Jason Kenney as Alberta premier highlights another one of Eby香蕉视频直播檚 legal adventures, one that isn香蕉视频直播檛 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 香蕉视频直播渢urn off the taps香蕉视频直播� law but didn香蕉视频直播檛 enact it. Eby rushed his team into court to argue that it香蕉视频直播檚 an unconstitutional infringement on trade, but alas, their case was tossed out.
Come back when there香蕉视频直播檚 an actual law in place, Eby was told. With Kenney in the Alberta premier香蕉视频直播檚 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 it香蕉视频直播檚 a safe bet that will get smaller. B.C. may have to buy jet fuel from Asia.
As taxpayers absorbed that billing, B.C.香蕉视频直播檚 bid for jurisdiction over heavy crude shipments from Alberta carries on. It香蕉视频直播檚 a 香蕉视频直播渞eference case,香蕉视频直播� basically asking the B.C. Court of Appeal for advice rather than a ruling.
It香蕉视频直播檚 a pathetic little show for anti-pipeline voters, according to Notley, and she香蕉视频直播檚 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 Employees香蕉视频直播� Union and other NDP-friendly unions isn香蕉视频直播檛 fixed, they will go to court.
In a statement released with their lawyer香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播渓ow wage redress香蕉视频直播� money was withheld from non-union employees because their bosses might keep it without a union contract to set pay. Eby香蕉视频直播檚 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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