Yesterday, the legal team for ICBA and several other associations, employers, workers and two progressive unions, filed a factum with the BC Court of Appeal making the case to overturn a BC Supreme Court decision on the Horgan Government’s so-called “Community Benefits Agreements.”

ICBA and others are challenging the Transportation Minister’s ability to discriminate against 85% of B.C.’s construction workforce by creating the NDP government’s labour framework for the sole purpose of benefitting its Building Trades Union (BTU) supporters.

Earlier this year, a judge ruled that the government-appointed Labour Relations Board should deal with the industry’s concerns. But ICBA’s legal team argues otherwise in this factum: “There are no labour relations issues under the Labour Relations Code that need to be adjudicated,” it says. “The issue is solely whether the Minister reasonably exercised her statutory authority under theTransportation Act, which comes within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in our constitutional system.”

ICBA is simply asking for a fair shot at government-tendered work for its members and the hundreds of thousands of men and women they employe. The BC Court of Appeal is expected to hear the case in the coming months.

Read the full factum HERE.

ICBA Training is busy adding both webinars and on-demand online courses — everything from Excel to Bluebeam to HR. icba.ca/webinar

Kerry and Jordan discuss a number of new 90-minute webinars added to icba.ca/webinar and icba.ca/online, and what books/Netflix shows are getting them through the pandemic.

ICBA president Chris Gardner joined seven other key B.C. business groups to pen this joint op-ed:

British Columbia has done a good job of flattening the curve in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 through the leadership of the provincial government and public health professionals, and because British Columbians have done their part.

This Team B.C. approach has worked to help protect the health of British Columbians. We now need to apply this same approach to advancing economic recovery safely.

As organizations representing employers big and small in communities throughout our province, we agree with the government and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry that a safe and phased return to work is the best path forward. We believe it is possible.

It’s now time for government and public health agencies to map out a phased plan to safely get British Columbians back to work. Working in partnership, it’s time for businesses across the province to do the same. In doing so, we all need to double-down on our pledge to keep workers and communities healthy as the number one priority. But, with thousands of people out of work and over a third of businesses saying their survival is in doubt – all of us need to take up the challenge and responsibility of economic recovery with the same sense of urgency and spirit of cooperation employed to attack the public health crisis.

BC businesses are committed to making sure we get it right. As we look to the short, medium and long-term re-opening of BC’s economic sectors – from small shops and restaurants, to construction, mines, pulp mills and energy projects – we will continue to build on the robust health and safety measures we have already put in place and will follow further Provincial Health Officer guidance. We will do so transparently and will communicate what measures we are taking to keep workers and the public safe every step along the way. We owe that to our employees, front-line workers and all British Columbians who have sacrificed so much to get us to where we are now. We also owe it to those who have lost their livelihoods and look to a brighter day ahead.

That day can, and will, come. Powering up B.C.’s main economic engines from professional services, to natural resources, construction, transportation, agri-food and accommodation – in a thoughtful and measured way – is the surest path to addressing unemployment, minimizing permanent business closures, and restoring revenues so the government can continue to deliver the services British Columbians count on.

Through this unprecedented crisis, British Columbians have rolled up their sleeves and shown we are serious about our collective responsibility to keep our families, friends and colleagues healthy. We have shown it can be done. In true Team B.C. spirit, we can do it again and seize the opportunity to ensure a safe economic recovery that leads to a brighter future.

• Chris Gardner, President, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association
• Val Litwin, President and CEO, B.C. Chamber of Commerce
• Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO, B.C. Council of Forest Industries
• Laura Jones, Chief Strategy Officer, Canadian Federation of Independent Business
• Greg D’Avignon, President and CEO, Business Council of B.C.
• Bridgitte Anderson, President and CEO, Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
• Michael Goehring, President and CEO, Mining Association of B.C.
• Bryan Cox, President & CEO, B.C. LNG Alliance

Maclean and Jordan discuss a range of COVID-19 topics, including minor hockey, Haida Gwaii, restarting the economy, other provincial plans, bilingualism, the CFL, Michelle Rempel Garner’s whereabouts, and whether Andrew Wilkinson can “win the peace.”

Kerry and Jordan discuss ICBA’s online ladder safety course, plus upcoming webinars this week:

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29, at 10AM, we host Rebuilding BC: Real Estate and Construction in the COVID-19 World with Bob Rennie and Andrew Ramlo.