The Orca Podcasts

It’s Christmas time again, and the team at the North Pole are busy making their lists, checking it twice, and finding out who’s naughty and nice.

What will Santa Claus be bringing some of British Columbia’s newsmakers and political leaders? Lumps of coal or something a bit more climate-friendly?

Kris Kringle is the man in charge and he’s in Vancouver today scouting landing spots for his Christmas Eve flight.

That’s right, Santa Claus has come to town, and he joined Rick in studio for this, the final Off the Cluff of 2018.

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau gave Canadians an economic update last week, and the news wasn’t great. The federal deficit continues to grow and will reach $19.6 billion next year – far more than what Justin Trudeau promised in the last election.

Federal officials say the budget won’t be balanced until the year 2045, raising concerns that Canada now has a structural deficit built into the way it spends our tax money. And if a recession hits, that deficit number could more than double.

Jason Clemons is the Executive Vice President of the Fraser Institute and has been writing on federal finances at fraserinstitute.org. He joined Rick via Skype.

Maclean and Jordan break down the week that was in BC politics.

Encana was once one of the largest and most influential companies in North American energy, proudly headquartered in Calgary. Even the name Encana – shortened from the words “Energy Canada” – was meant to stoke national pride in our energy industry.

The company was large enough to fend off American takeover attempts and flourish here. But the politicians, pushed by anti-oil activists – kept interfering, increasing taxes, adding red tape and stopping key projects. Now Encana has moved south – investing billions in the U.S. and closing its Calgary head office.

Gwyn Morgan is the retired founding CEO of Encana, and recently wrote about these issues for The Orca. Gwyn joined Rick via Skype from Victoria.

Maclean Kay and Jordan Bateman talk about what's hot - and not - in BC and Canadian politics.

B.C. – and the Lower Mainland especially – has a rental housing shortage. With less than a 1 per cent rental vacancy rate in Metro Vancouver and other urban areas across the province, something needs to be done.

In the 2017 election campaign, the NDP government made some big promises around increasing rental housing. And now they are considering New York City-style rent controls, a move the Urban Development Institute says would put 12,631 new rental units at risk of cancellation. 

Anne McMullin is the President and CEO of the Urban Development Institute and is speaking out on the danger of government pushing private rental developers out of the market. Anne joined Rick in studio.

At $40 billion, the LNG Canada project is the largest single private investment project in Canadian history. It comes as British Columbia grapples with an aging population and workforce.

 The construction industry already employs nearly a quarter million British Columbians, and it needs more workers. Recruiting, training and retaining workers has become a big part of every construction company’s long term strategy. 

Todd Cumiskey is the Vice President of Workforce Development for the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association and is one of the key figures in addressing this labour crunch. Todd joined Rick in studio.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national carbon tax looks like it will be a major federal election issue in 2019. His Liberal government says it will return collected carbon tax money to taxpayers, but skepticism of that claim abounds.

British Columbia remains the only jurisdiction in Canada with a full carbon tax, and another increase is set for April 1. The NDP Government has also stripped the tax of its vaunted revenue neutrality.

Will the carbon tax issue resonate in B.C. as it is expected to in Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba?

Kris Sims is the BC Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and opposes the tax both provincially and nationally. Kris joined Rick Cluff in studio.

The province's two senior public servants, escorted off the Legislature grounds by police. What is going on?