Manitoba politician says he thought he was within his right to push silica mine
WINNIPEG – A former Manitoba cabinet minister says he thought he was following the rules when he tried to push the approval of a silica sand mine after his party was defeated in an election.
Jeff Wharton has spoken to the media for the first time since the province's ethics commissioner issued a damning report last week into the actions of some members of the former Progressive Conservative government after losing the October 2023 election.
The commissioner said despite losing the election, three senior Tories tried to get the planned Sio Silica mining project approved before the incoming NDP government could be sworn in.
The commissioner said former premier Heather Stefanson, former deputy premier Cliff Cullen, and Wharton — the then-minister for economic development — violated the conflict of interest law and should be fined.
Wharton, the only one of the three still in politics, says he accepts the report's findings and apologizes.
Wharton says he thought the outgoing government was allowed to approve the mine under a section of the Environment Act, but now accepts that the belief was wrong.
Tory Leader Obby Khan has stripped Wharton of his Opposition critic duties, but Wharton remains in caucus.
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The NDP government rejected the mine a few months later, citing concerns that included the potential impact on drinking water.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025
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The Province
an hour ago
- The Province
Exclusive: B.C. public sector jobs have more than doubled under the NDP
Since 2017, government, health and education workers rose from 50,000 to 93,000. Total salaries jumped from $4.7B to $11.5B. Paul Finch is the president of the B.C. General Employees' Union. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG The number of B.C. public-sector employees in health care, schools and government ministries who make at least $75,000 a year has more than doubled since the NDP was elected in 2017, data collected by Postmedia reveals. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors In the time since the NDP took power, the total number of taxpayer-funded positions in health authorities, K-12 schools and the core of government have leapt to 104,600, from 49,400. And the amount of money spent annually on salaries for those government workers has jumped from just under $5 billion to more than $11.5 billion in that time, according to the 12th edition of The Vancouver Sun's searchable public sector salaries database. (You can search the database HERE.) British Columbians may scratch their heads when learning that the number of workers paid at least $75,000 from the public purse has doubled — especially if their local emergency department has recently closed due to a lack of nurses or doctors, or if their grandmother's retirement home doesn't have enough care aides, or if there isn't a teacher for their child's classroom. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Union leaders maintain their members in hospitals, schools and community services represent only part of this growth of government workers. They argue the biggest expansion has been in non-union staff and management roles, which they say increased disproportionately compared to workers on the ground. 'We've had this explosive growth in (non-union) management, and that hasn't resulted in a more efficient organization,' Paul Finch, president of the B.C. General Employees' Union, said of the public service. 'That should never have been allowed to happen.' The Finance Ministry, in a statement to Postmedia, said public sector salaries have risen an average of 23 per cent since 2017 through collective bargaining and that the government has launched efforts to hire more in-demand professionals such as nurses and teachers. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It said three-quarters of the public sector is unionized, but did not address the unions' concerns that the overall percentage of non-unionized employees increased at a faster pace than the percentage of front-line workers in recent years. Postmedia's database contains the names and wages of nearly 170,000 workers who made at least $75,000 in 2023-2024 at approximately 100 public sector agencies, including the provincial government, city halls, universities and colleges, school districts, health authorities, Crown corporations, municipal police departments, and other agencies that use taxpayers' money to fund their payrolls. The Sun has created this searchable database for the 12th time because detailed information on how your tax dollars are spent on salaries is not otherwise easily available for the public to search, as it is in other provinces such as Ontario. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The total amount the provincial government spends on salaries for its 600,000 public sector employees is $53 billion, representing 60 per cent of the provincial budget. Our database contains just the 170,000 workers who make more than $75,000. By comparing this database with an earlier version, Postmedia determined the number of people who worked directly for government ministries and were paid at least $75,000 ballooned by 135 per cent since 2017 — a faster pace than health and education workers. Job titles captured in that surge include directors, managers, policy analysts, team leaders and supervisors. The BCGEU's Finch used B.C. Public Service Agency data to determine the number of non-unionized and management workers grew by 45 per cent, increasing to 7,350 in 2024, from 5,202 in 2017. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In that time, the number of unionized members in the public service increased by 31 per cent, from nearly 25,000 to just over 32,000 seven years later. That trend means that in 2010, there was one manager for every four unionized workers, but by 2024 that ratio was one-to-three, Finch said. 'That's a completely unacceptable ratio,' he said. 'We need to see ceilings put in place on ratios of management to front-line workers.' How to determine those ratios should be based on 'what serves the best interest of British Columbians,' he added. Postmedia's data shows that in some union jobs, such as child protection workers, wildfire fighters, probation officers and correction services staff, the number of people making $75,000 went from zero in 2017 to several hundred by 2024. Finch said those are not all new hires, but include existing staff pushed above $75,000 under collective agreement pay raises. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The health sector also had significant growth in our database, with the number of provincial employees making at least $75,000 increasing by 122 per cent since 2017. B.C. Nurses' Union President Adriane Gear said she'd like the government to assess the number of managers versus front-line workers during the health sector expansion. During that period, BCNU membership grew by just 16 per cent, from 43,000 in 2017 to 50,000 in 2025. 'There have been nurses hired in this province, but has it kept up with the needs of British Columbians? No. Nurses continue to work extremely short-staffed, which means below safe levels of nurses to patients,' she said. Statistics Canada estimates B.C. has 5,600 vacancies for different types of nurses. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Gear stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the premier in September, when the province announced improved nurse-to-patient ratios, in an effort to attract more nurses to B.C. But, she said, the details are still being worked out. 'I'm very frustrated. … We still don't have that deal inked yet,' Gear said. 'I'm puzzled how that doesn't seem to be one of the very top priorities.' B.C. Nurses' Union President Adriane Gear speaks at a recent rally in Vancouver. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG The Hospital Employees Union maintains there is also a desperate need to hire more of their members, especially care aides who are in high demand in care homes and hospitals as the population ages. 'More than 50 per cent of our members are working short (staffed) at least one day and sometimes twice a week. And so this is a really big part of the problem,' said Lynn Bueckert, the HEU's secretary-business manager. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Retention and recruitment are such big issues in the health-care system. Period.' HEU members, including lab assistants, cleaners, and staff who deliver meals, play vital roles for patients in hospitals. But they are unlikely to be represented in the database's 122 per cent growth in health workers making at least $75,000, because 'the vast majority' of those jobs don't pay that much, Bueckert said. The membership of the HEU expanded from 49,000 members in 2017 to nearly 68,000 in 2025, an increase of 39 per cent. Some of that growth was due to recruiting care home staff to join the union, said Bueckert. The third sector analyzed for this story, K-12 education, had a 70 per cent surge in staff making more than $75,000 since 2017. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. During that time, though, the B.C. Teachers Federation said its membership numbers rose from 46,200 to 52,600 — a 14 per cent bump. BCTF president Clint Johnston said he doesn't know the source of the growth in school district numbers. Government is making efforts to hire more teachers, but there is still a serious shortage. 'How many teachers we need versus how many teachers we actually have? That gap is growing every year,' he said. 'You can verifiably see it by the number of uncertified teachers who are being used in the province.' Postmedia's database shows twice as many teachers making at least $75,000 compared to our 2017 version, but Johnston said the number of instructors hasn't risen by that much. The increase could be due to wage enhancements pushing some teachers above the $75,000 threshold, as well as more veteran teachers at the top of the salary grid postponing retirement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. BCTF members have raised anecdotal concerns about a hike in non-classroom staff, such as district learning coordinators or assistant superintendents, who would typically fall into the $75,000-plus salary bracket, Johnston said. 'That is absolutely an issue that they frequently talk about, the disproportionate growth in district staff who aren't in a classroom teaching, directly supporting kids,' he said. B.C. is short more than 900 teachers and nearly 600 education assistants and other support staff, positions that are advertised on the government's education-related jobs page. Johnston said the provincial education budget is large but does not keep pace with demand, which has forced school districts to cancel special programs like band and to find alternative revenue for inclusive education programs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Interviews with Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, Health Minister Josie Osborne and Education Minister Lisa Beare were requested for this story. They all declined. In written answers to our questions about the 135 per cent increase in government ministry workers, the B.C. Public Service Agency said ministry workers have an average salary today of $67,819. In 2017, the agency said, public service workers, on average, made less than health and school employees, which may explain why ministry workers earning more than $75,000 today have grown at a disproportionately faster rate. 'Those other data sets may already have had a higher percentage over $75,000, which would reflect in (health and education's) lower growth rates over the term,' the agency said in a statement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Lynne Bueckert, secretary-business manager of the Hospital Employees Union. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO / 10108123A The Public Sector Employers' Council said ministries have fewer workers than in health care and K-12 education, which means the hiring of a few new staff can boost the percentage of sector employees more quickly. While the B.C. Public Service Agency and Public Sector Employers' Council minimized the apparent surge of workers in ministries and service agencies making more than $75,000, the government's own budget documents chronicle the growth of ministry employees across all salary ranges. Budget documents show full-time-equivalent staff in ministries and service agencies grew significantly over eight years, to 48,386 in 2025-26 from 32,865 in 2017-18. This includes all ministry workers, regardless of their salaries, and the total money spent on wages for this group grew by 63 per cent over those eight years. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Public Sector Employers' Council acknowledged there are still shortages of key workers in other sectors, including health and education. The government has launched initiatives such as a K-12 recruitment and retention drive to find more teachers, the statement said. 'In health care, many efforts have been initiated to make recruitment easier from out-of-province and international health workers, including a new, fast-tracked credential recognition for U.S. trained and certified nurses last month,' the council said in a statement. The council noted there are three unionized workers for every non-unionized employee, but didn't answer questions about that ratio previously being four-to-one. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Clint Johnston is the president of the British Columbia Teacher's Federation. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG Of the 600,000 people employed by the province, 44 per cent work in health but, on average, have higher wages that account for 52 per cent of money spent on salaries; 17 per cent work in K-12 education but their lower-than-average salaries mean they take up just 15 per cent of the salary budget; and the eight per cent working in ministries collect nine per cent of the money spent on salaries, according to government figures. The Health Ministry, in an email, said the database's 122 per cent growth in health staff is largely attributable to collective agreements pushing some workers' salaries above $75,000 as well as the hiring of more in-demand staff 'to keep pace with an increasing population and corresponding demand for services.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It said the Provincial Health Services Authority, for example, has hired more paramedics, cancer specialists, and Indigenous health leaders. When asked about union allegations that the percentage of non-unionized staff has grown at a faster pace than that of front-line workers, the ministry said these 'non-contract positions' represent more than managers. They also include people who support quality improvements in labs or medical imaging, nurse practitioners and associate physicians, and human resources staff to help with recruiting health workers. The ministry said it has committed to new nurse-to-patient ratios and is fast-tracking credentials for nurses from places such as the U.S. and Australia in an effort to expand their ranks. The number of nurses in B.C. has grown by 27 per cent since 2018, based on statistics from the nurses' regulatory body, the email said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It is not clear why that number is different than the BCNU's 16 per cent increase since 2017. In addition to trying to hire more nurses, the ministry said a program to recruit additional workers for care homes has filled 10,000 positions since 2020. The ministry defended its hiring practices. It said the Canadian Institute of Health Information found B.C.'s ratio of spending on finance and human resources, compared to on front-line health workers, was the second best in Canada. Districts decide on hiring: ministry The Education Ministry did not answer Postmedia's question about the database's finding of a 70 per cent growth in staff in K to 12, or explain what types of jobs had expanded the most. It referred all queries to the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, but later provided this statement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When asked about BCTF allegations of a disproportionate increase of non-union and management staff compared to teachers and others in classrooms, the ministry responded that those decisions are up to school districts. 'Decisions about hiring are made at the local level for what makes sense in their community.' The statement acknowledged, though, that 'one of the biggest challenges the K-12 sector faces is hiring enough qualified teaching and support staff,' a problem that exists across Canada. B.C. is trying to hire more teachers by reducing barriers for internationally trained educators to work here, by offering hiring incentives of $500,000 for people to work in rural and remote communities, by increasing flexibility in teacher training programs to allow students to remain in their community to study, and by working with Indigenous groups to recruit more Indigenous teachers, the ministry said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Premier David Eby campaigned last year on every K-3 class having an education assistant. The ministry says 75 per cent of those classrooms have an EA, and it is exploring 'ways to support hiring more.' In our database, remuneration includes salary, overtime, bonuses and other one-time payouts or benefits, such as unused vacation time. It does not include expenses. The figures come from publicly available compensation disclosure reports and freedom of information requests. Some of the names and positions in the database may be out of date if someone has retired or moved jobs, but it provides a recent snapshot in time of public sector payrolls in B.C. lculbert@ ngriffiths@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Sports Local News Sports Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver Sun
4 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Exclusive: B.C. public sector jobs have more than doubled under the NDP
The number of B.C. public-sector employees in health care, schools and government ministries who make at least $75,000 a year has more than doubled since the NDP was elected in 2017, data collected by Postmedia reveals. In the time since the NDP took power, the total number of taxpayer-funded positions in health authorities, K-12 schools and the core of government have leapt to 104,600, from 49,400. And the amount of money spent annually on salaries for those government workers has jumped from just under $5 billion to more than $11.5 billion in that time, according to the 12th edition of The Vancouver Sun's searchable public sector salaries database. ( You can search the database HERE .) Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Westcoast Homes will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. British Columbians may scratch their heads when learning that the number of workers paid at least $75,000 from the public purse has doubled — especially if their local emergency department has recently closed due to a lack of nurses or doctors, or if their grandmother's retirement home doesn't have enough care aides, or if there isn't a teacher for their child's classroom. Union leaders maintain their members in hospitals, schools and community services represent only part of this growth of government workers. They argue the biggest expansion has been in non-union staff and management roles, which they say increased disproportionately compared to workers on the ground. 'We've had this explosive growth in (non-union) management, and that hasn't resulted in a more efficient organization,' Paul Finch, president of the B.C. General Employees' Union, said of the public service. 'That should never have been allowed to happen.' The Finance Ministry, in a statement to Postmedia, said public sector salaries have risen an average of 23 per cent since 2017 through collective bargaining and that the government has launched efforts to hire more in-demand professionals such as nurses and teachers. It said three-quarters of the public sector is unionized, but did not address the unions' concerns that the overall percentage of non-unionized employees increased at a faster pace than the percentage of front-line workers in recent years. Postmedia's database contains the names and wages of nearly 170,000 workers who made at least $75,000 in 2023-2024 at approximately 100 public sector agencies, including the provincial government, city halls, universities and colleges, school districts, health authorities, Crown corporations, municipal police departments, and other agencies that use taxpayers' money to fund their payrolls. The Sun has created this searchable database for the 12th time because detailed information on how your tax dollars are spent on salaries is not otherwise easily available for the public to search, as it is in other provinces such as Ontario . The total amount the provincial government spends on salaries for its 600,000 public sector employees is $53 billion, representing 60 per cent of the provincial budget. Our database contains just the 170,000 workers who make more than $75,000. By comparing this database with an earlier version, Postmedia determined the number of people who worked directly for government ministries and were paid at least $75,000 ballooned by 135 per cent since 2017 — a faster pace than health and education workers. Job titles captured in that surge include directors, managers, policy analysts, team leaders and supervisors. The BCGEU's Finch used B.C. Public Service Agency data to determine the number of non-unionized and management workers grew by 45 per cent, increasing to 7,350 in 2024, from 5,202 in 2017. In that time, the number of unionized members in the public service increased by 31 per cent, from nearly 25,000 to just over 32,000 seven years later. That trend means that in 2010, there was one manager for every four unionized workers, but by 2024 that ratio was one-to-three, Finch said. 'That's a completely unacceptable ratio,' he said. 'We need to see ceilings put in place on ratios of management to front-line workers.' How to determine those ratios should be based on 'what serves the best interest of British Columbians,' he added. Postmedia's data shows that in some union jobs, such as child protection workers, wildfire fighters, probation officers and correction services staff, the number of people making $75,000 went from zero in 2017 to several hundred by 2024. Finch said those are not all new hires, but include existing staff pushed above $75,000 under collective agreement pay raises. The health sector also had significant growth in our database, with the number of provincial employees making at least $75,000 increasing by 122 per cent since 2017. B.C. Nurses' Union President Adriane Gear said she'd like the government to assess the number of managers versus front-line workers during the health sector expansion. During that period, BCNU membership grew by just 16 per cent, from 43,000 in 2017 to 50,000 in 2025. 'There have been nurses hired in this province, but has it kept up with the needs of British Columbians? No. Nurses continue to work extremely short-staffed, which means below safe levels of nurses to patients,' she said. Statistics Canada estimates B.C. has 5,600 vacancies for different types of nurses. Gear stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the premier in September, when the province announced improved nurse-to-patient ratios, in an effort to attract more nurses to B.C. But, she said, the details are still being worked out. 'I'm very frustrated. … We still don't have that deal inked yet,' Gear said. 'I'm puzzled how that doesn't seem to be one of the very top priorities.' The Hospital Employees Union maintains there is also a desperate need to hire more of their members, especially care aides who are in high demand in care homes and hospitals as the population ages. 'More than 50 per cent of our members are working short (staffed) at least one day and sometimes twice a week. And so this is a really big part of the problem,' said Lynn Bueckert, the HEU's secretary-business manager. 'Retention and recruitment are such big issues in the health-care system. Period.' HEU members, including lab assistants, cleaners, and staff who deliver meals, play vital roles for patients in hospitals. But they are unlikely to be represented in the database's 122 per cent growth in health workers making at least $75,000, because 'the vast majority' of those jobs don't pay that much, Bueckert said. The membership of the HEU expanded from 49,000 members in 2017 to nearly 68,000 in 2025, an increase of 39 per cent. Some of that growth was due to recruiting care home staff to join the union, said Bueckert. The third sector analyzed for this story, K-12 education, had a 70 per cent surge in staff making more than $75,000 since 2017. During that time, though, the B.C. Teachers Federation said its membership numbers rose from 46,200 to 52,600 — a 14 per cent bump. BCTF president Clint Johnston said he doesn't know the source of the growth in school district numbers. Government is making efforts to hire more teachers, but there is still a serious shortage. 'How many teachers we need versus how many teachers we actually have? That gap is growing every year,' he said. 'You can verifiably see it by the number of uncertified teachers who are being used in the province.' Postmedia's database shows twice as many teachers making at least $75,000 compared to our 2017 version, but Johnston said the number of instructors hasn't risen by that much. The increase could be due to wage enhancements pushing some teachers above the $75,000 threshold, as well as more veteran teachers at the top of the salary grid postponing retirement. BCTF members have raised anecdotal concerns about a hike in non-classroom staff, such as district learning coordinators or assistant superintendents, who would typically fall into the $75,000-plus salary bracket, Johnston said. 'That is absolutely an issue that they frequently talk about, the disproportionate growth in district staff who aren't in a classroom teaching, directly supporting kids,' he said. B.C. is short more than 900 teachers and nearly 600 education assistants and other support staff, positions that are advertised on the government's education-related jobs page . Johnston said the provincial education budget is large but does not keep pace with demand, which has forced school districts to cancel special programs like band and to find alternative revenue for inclusive education programs. Interviews with Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, Health Minister Josie Osborne and Education Minister Lisa Beare were requested for this story. They all declined. In written answers to our questions about the 135 per cent increase in government ministry workers, the B.C. Public Service Agency said ministry workers have an average salary today of $67,819. In 2017, the agency said, public service workers, on average, made less than health and school employees, which may explain why ministry workers earning more than $75,000 today have grown at a disproportionately faster rate. 'Those other data sets may already have had a higher percentage over $75,000, which would reflect in (health and education's) lower growth rates over the term,' the agency said in a statement. The Public Sector Employers' Council said ministries have fewer workers than in health care and K-12 education, which means the hiring of a few new staff can boost the percentage of sector employees more quickly. While the B.C. Public Service Agency and Public Sector Employers' Council minimized the apparent surge of workers in ministries and service agencies making more than $75,000, the government's own budget documents chronicle the growth of ministry employees across all salary ranges. Budget documents show full-time-equivalent staff in ministries and service agencies grew significantly over eight years, to 48,386 in 2025-26 from 32,865 in 2017-18 . This includes all ministry workers, regardless of their salaries, and the total money spent on wages for this group grew by 63 per cent over those eight years. The Public Sector Employers' Council acknowledged there are still shortages of key workers in other sectors, including health and education. The government has launched initiatives such as a K-12 recruitment and retention drive to find more teachers, the statement said. 'In health care, many efforts have been initiated to make recruitment easier from out-of-province and international health workers, including a new, fast-tracked credential recognition for U.S. trained and certified nurses last month,' the council said in a statement. The council noted there are three unionized workers for every non-unionized employee, but didn't answer questions about that ratio previously being four-to-one. Of the 600,000 people employed by the province, 44 per cent work in health but, on average, have higher wages that account for 52 per cent of money spent on salaries; 17 per cent work in K-12 education but their lower-than-average salaries mean they take up just 15 per cent of the salary budget; and the eight per cent working in ministries collect nine per cent of the money spent on salaries, according to government figures. The Health Ministry, in an email, said the database's 122 per cent growth in health staff is largely attributable to collective agreements pushing some workers' salaries above $75,000 as well as the hiring of more in-demand staff 'to keep pace with an increasing population and corresponding demand for services.' It said the Provincial Health Services Authority, for example, has hired more paramedics, cancer specialists, and Indigenous health leaders. When asked about union allegations that the percentage of non-unionized staff has grown at a faster pace than that of front-line workers, the ministry said these 'non-contract positions' represent more than managers. They also include people who support quality improvements in labs or medical imaging, nurse practitioners and associate physicians, and human resources staff to help with recruiting health workers. The ministry said it has committed to new nurse-to-patient ratios and is fast-tracking credentials for nurses from places such as the U.S. and Australia in an effort to expand their ranks. The number of nurses in B.C. has grown by 27 per cent since 2018, based on statistics from the nurses' regulatory body, the email said. It is not clear why that number is different than the BCNU's 16 per cent increase since 2017. In addition to trying to hire more nurses, the ministry said a program to recruit additional workers for care homes has filled 10,000 positions since 2020. The ministry defended its hiring practices. It said the Canadian Institute of Health Information found B.C.'s ratio of spending on finance and human resources, compared to on front-line health workers, was the second best in Canada. The Education Ministry did not answer Postmedia's question about the database's finding of a 70 per cent growth in staff in K to 12, or explain what types of jobs had expanded the most. It referred all queries to the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, but later provided this statement. When asked about BCTF allegations of a disproportionate increase of non-union and management staff compared to teachers and others in classrooms, the ministry responded that those decisions are up to school districts. 'Decisions about hiring are made at the local level for what makes sense in their community.' The statement acknowledged, though, that 'one of the biggest challenges the K-12 sector faces is hiring enough qualified teaching and support staff,' a problem that exists across Canada. B.C. is trying to hire more teachers by reducing barriers for internationally trained educators to work here, by offering hiring incentives of $500,000 for people to work in rural and remote communities, by increasing flexibility in teacher training programs to allow students to remain in their community to study, and by working with Indigenous groups to recruit more Indigenous teachers, the ministry said. Premier David Eby campaigned last year on every K-3 class having an education assistant. The ministry says 75 per cent of those classrooms have an EA, and it is exploring 'ways to support hiring more.' In our database, remuneration includes salary, overtime, bonuses and other one-time payouts or benefits, such as unused vacation time. It does not include expenses. The figures come from publicly available compensation disclosure reports and freedom of information requests. Some of the names and positions in the database may be out of date if someone has retired or moved jobs, but it provides a recent snapshot in time of public sector payrolls in B.C. lculbert@ ngriffiths@
National Observer
4 hours ago
- National Observer
Nova Scotia's ambitious 'Wind West' offshore energy plan gets support with conditions
Two leading environmental groups are giving a thumbs up to Nova Scotia's ambitious plan to dramatically expand its fledgling offshore wind energy industry. But both groups were quick to add caveats. On Monday, Premier Tim Houston said the province's plan to license enough offshore wind farms to produce five gigawatts of electricity would be increased eightfold to 40 gigawatts, well beyond the 2.4 gigawatts Nova Scotia needs. He called on Ottawa to help cover the costs of his new Wind West project, saying the excess electricity could be used to supply 27 per cent of Canada's total demand. "Nova Scotia is on the edge of a clean energy breakthrough," the Progressive Conservative premier said in an online video, adding the province is poised to become an "energy superpower." Gretchen Fitzgerald, executive director of Sierra Club Canada, said the premier's bold plan, which includes building transmission lines across the country, represents an exciting opportunity for the province. "It could be a game-changer for the region and for Canada," she said in an interview from Ottawa. "But it needs to be done correctly and with consultations." Fitzgerald said the Nova Scotia and Canadian governments must focus on securing long-term benefits from the nascent offshore wind industry because they did a poor job on that front when dealing with the offshore oil and gas sector. "We have to make sure that we are not selling out what is a massive resource for less benefit than communities should have," Fitzgerald said, adding that Nova Scotia continues to suffer from a high rate of energy poverty. In May of this year, utility affordability expert Roger Colton produced a report showing that 43 per cent of Nova Scotians were struggling to pay their energy bills — the highest proportion in Canada. While Fitzgerald applauded Houston's clean energy plan, she criticized what she described as the premier's populist penchant for taking decisive action before consulting with experts and the public. "Moving from a couple hundred turbines to thousands in the next decade needs to be done in a staged way so we learn how to do this right," she said, adding Houston appears to have adopted a "'move-fast-and-break-things mentality." "(That) can lead to unacceptable harm to sensitive ocean life," she said. "From a community benefits and acceptance point of view, breaking trust can be the biggest barrier to getting to good climate solutions." In October 2023, the Public Policy Forum released a study saying Sable Island Bank, an ocean area about 180 kilometres south of Nova Scotia, is among the world's best locations for wind energy generation. "It and several other similarly endowed areas off the coast of Atlantic Canada hold the potential to place the region among the leading global hubs of offshore wind-powered energy development," says the report from the independent non-profit think tank. It goes on to say that as the world shifts from a dependence on fossil fuels to forms of energy that do not emit climate-changing greenhouse gases, Atlantic Canada is facing "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ... to recover an economic vitality comparable to the Age of Sail — fittingly built again on the power of wind at sea." The report says the installation of 15 gigawatts of offshore wind generation would create about 30,000 direct jobs annually. Despite the hype, the industry must also earn acceptance from Nova Scotia's fishing industry, which in 2023 contributed $2.5 billion to the province's economy and employed 19,000 people. In Halifax, a spokesman for the Ecology Action Centre called on the provincial government to build public trust, especially with coastal communities. "There really needs to be a priority on stakeholder engagement for all ocean users," said senior energy co-ordinator Thomas Arnason McNeil. "We're going to need to prioritize ecological safeguards and preserve the existing livelihoods that we have. That includes the fishing industry. That's half the economy in Nova Scotia." Still, he said the province's big push for clean energy is on the right track, especially when it comes to building out its electricity grid to better connect with the rest of the country. If done right, the payoff would be enormous, Arnason McNeil said. "We're talking serious job creation here and a lot of revenue potentially," he said. "The bottom line is that you have to do this right. (But) the prize at the end of the road is monumental in terms of the benefits." A call for bids to build enough offshore turbines to generate five gigawatts of electricity is expected as early as this year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2025.
