LIBERALS PUSHED HARD FOR LAYOFF EXTENSION
Labour Minister Harry Bains tried to put the best face on the news Thursday in granting employers a temporary extension on a severance obligation that he’d denied them the week before.
The backdown means COVID-19 pandemic-hit employers have until the end of August to decide whether to rehire laid off employees or pay them severance. Otherwise they faced having to make the call early next month.
“We heard loud and clear from employers that they need this extension,” said Bains, speaking via a media release in lieu of granting interviews.
Not mentioned was how, in a letter to employers on June 18, Bains had specifically rejected the extension he was now granting.
The reversal came about only after employers protested publicly via a news release from the B.C. Chamber of Commerce on Monday of this week.
“Organizations representing almost all of B.C.’S 500,000 businesses are frustrated by Labour Minister Harry Bains’ refusal to appreciate the severity of current business challenges,” said the release from the chamber. “At issue specifically is the potential for bankruptcy and insolvency for thousands of small and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profits as they are forced to pay out severance costs due to the unforeseen circumstances brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The businesses pleaded with Bains to grant them “breathing room,” something he could do under the Employment Standards Act with a stroke of the ministerial pen.
The release, coinciding with the reopening of the legislature, provided a ready-made issue for the B.C. Liberals, which they promptly translated into three days’ worth of question periods.
Opposition MLAS were particularly effective in demolishing the Bains argument that if employers wanted a further extension, they could apply for one under the act.
“A bureaucratic nightmare for stressed-out small business owners who are on the brink of bankruptcy,” replied B.C. Liberal MLA Jas Johal.
He noted there was already a backlog of 3,000 applications of one kind or another at the employment standards branch.
The Bains alternative to simply granting the extension was a non-starter, as Premier John Horgan himself pretty much conceded on the first day.
“There is an opportunity for businesses to seek a variance,” Horgan told the house Monday. “I understand from correspondence from them today that’s not adequate to their needs ... I’ll have a meeting with them Thursday. I’m confident we’ll find a way forward that meets the interests of those businesses as well as their employees.”
Having hinted at the reversal to come, Horgan nevertheless let the issue play out for three question periods, amid increasingly chippy behaviour on his part. At one point, he accused the Liberals of quoting only the “salacious” parts of the chamber’s letter. (Salacious? The Chamber of Commerce?)
Later, he had to retreat after violating Speaker Darryl Plecas’ edict against using joke names. (The premier referred to Liberal MLA Mike de Jong as Inspector Clouseau.)
More than once Horgan expressed exasperation over the Liberals pressing the same topic again and again. “I really think that there are other issues we could talk about.”
But the issue worked well for the Liberals, as was evident when the premier had his conference call with business leaders Thursday and Bains emerged afterward in full retreat.
“B.C. Liberals push premier to finally act on layoff extensions,” was the headline on the celebratory news release from the Opposition caucus. “It shouldn’t have taken this long,” added Johal.
Perhaps stung by the Liberals taking a victory lap at government expense, the NDP caucus responded later in the day with a shot at the Opposition. “Andrew Wilkinson and B.C. Liberals refused to ask about health during a pandemic,” complained the New Democrats. “In three days of question period, the B.C. Liberals did not ask a single question about public health.”
But when the New Democrats posted the shot on social media, Opposition health critic Norm Letnick reminded them why the Liberals were not challenging the government over its handling of the pandemic.
“For months Adrian Dix and I, along with both our caucuses, have been working hard together on doing what’s best for the health of our citizens,” wrote Letnick on Twitter. “A collaboration that should be celebrated not turned against us for cheap shots. Shame on you B.C. NDP.”
Health Minister Adrian Dix was not long in responding with an expression of his “continuing appreciation” to Letnick for his “thoughtful contribution and counsel throughout this time of pandemic.”
“It has made a real difference,” added Dix in tacit rebuke to the NDP caucus, which soon took down the offending shot.
The bipartisan approach has made it easier to build and maintain public support for the measures necessary to contain the pandemic.
“I’m grateful to the work of the B.C. Liberal Party, the B.C. Green party and my colleagues in the NDP for taking this challenge on, not as partisans but as people focusing on the needs of British Columbians,” as Horgan said late last month in anticipating the June return of the house. “Although I’d like it to continue on as long as possible, I’ll understand if a partisan rock or two are thrown in the weeks ahead.”
The collaboration and co-operation between the two main parties during the novel coronavirus pandemic has been one of the bright spots in a dark time.
But as the week’s events showed, no one should expect either side to extend that olive branch to other issues.
The release ... provided a ready-made issue for the B.C. Liberals, which they promptly translated into three days’ worth of question periods.