B.C.’s Minister of Infrastructure, Bowinn Ma, has responded to View Royal's open letter criticizing a controversial piece of provincial legislation.
On May 14, the town expressed its opposition to the Infrastructure Projects Act (Bill 15), which would allow the province to speed up the approval of major public-sector projects, such as schools, hospitals and post-secondary facilities, through an expedited permitting procedure and environmental assessment process. The bill would also apply to "provincially significant" private-sector projects.
While View Royal claimed the bill would “centralize power, strip local governments of decision-making authority and diminish public accountability,” Ma framed it as a way to deliver infrastructure projects B.C. needs.
“Between June 2023 and June 2024, British Columbia's population grew by 188,000 people, and with that comes the need for more schools, more hospitals – more of everything,” she told the Gazette on May 16.
"We've seen cases where fully funded projects that are ready to go – schools for communities, hospitals for regions – can be held up by permitting problems that are caused by slow, outdated or clunky bureaucratic processes that simply don't meet the real needs of the day."
Premier David Eby expressed a similar sentiment.
“This legislation is designed to speed up permitting and approvals to get shovels in the ground more quickly on priority projects," he said in a May 1 news release.
“At a time of uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs, it’s more important than ever that we create more good-paying jobs by delivering the critical infrastructure projects people need – faster."
Ma also explained the province would always follow a three-step process to work with local governments to find a solution that works for both parties. However, if consultation and attempts to reach an agreement fail, B.C. could "take responsibility for the decision."
“Honestly, we don't want to have to take responsibility for every local government decision," said Ma.
"The three-step process allows for the provincial government and the municipality to work collaboratively on creative solutions to problems, to permitting problems, when those existing processes don't meet the needs of the moment."
View Royal isn't alone in its opposition to the bill.
Interim B.C. Green Party Leader Jeremy Valeriote, for example, said in a May 8 news release that, in its current form, it "grants the NDP cabinet sweeping powers to bypass environmental assessment, municipal authorities and the jurisdiction of First Nations under the guise of fast-tracking major infrastructure projects."
First Nations leaders have also spoken against the bill.
“Throughout our history, we have been advocating that laws, policies and practices need to reflect and respect First Nations’ title, rights and jurisdiction," Stewart Phillip, Grand Chief and Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs president, said in a May 15 news release.
"Unilateralism is not acceptable.”
Bill 15 passed its second reading on May 13.
– With files from Lauren Collins
