MLA Ward Stamer for Kamloops – North Thompson is once again voicing his criticism over the lack of funding made available from the provincial government to improve safety on Highway 5.
In an interview on Saturday May 10, Stamer told Black Press, “Our section of the transportation network, from Kamloops, through the North Thompson Valley and to the Alberta border is vital to the province, not only to the people that live along our corridor but to the whole province. We are pushing hard as opposition for answers from the Ministry of Transportation on exactly how they prioritize highway improvement funding.”
Stamer gave the example of the expenditure of $261 million on an improvement project on Highway 1 between Tappen and Salmon Arm which he said is “10 times the amount of money that has been spent on Highway 5” from Kamloops to the Alberta border.
“Highway 5 is relied upon many times a year when Highway 1 is closed especially in winter, forcing commercial traffic to reroute back through the North Thompson corridor. Why is the ministry prioritizing such a high investment towards Highway 1 and so little to Highway 5 North?" he added.
On May 7, in the B.C. legislature, Stamer posed the question to the Minister of Transportation and Transit, Mike Farnworth who responded they do assessments in terms of what’s required.
"The kinds of approaches we take are the same for each one. We work with the RCMP, we work with our CVS team, our engineers, to identify options for improvement on all those routes," Farnworth said. "There are many variables, including incidents, traffic volumes, future goods issues, goods movement, and population growth.”
The minister also stated at this time “Highway 1 is the most used inter-provincial route” since the Trans Mountain pipeline project has been completed and Kicking Horse being open.
“Those are the kinds of factors that come into play in terms of how decisions are made.” Farnworth also mentioned speaking with Stamer about these safety issues in the past.
Stamer said he hopes to meet with minister Farnworth to discuss Highway 5 safety, offering him further data from the region and to discuss mandatory dash cams “once again,” something he has supported prior to becoming MLA when he was the mayor of Barriere.
MLA Stamer says the Conservative opposition is “not impressed” with the NDP government’s push regarding “fast tracking” Bills 14 and 15, saying there is “a great deal of concern” which he feels will give the premier and cabinet a “rubber stamp” to “streamline” and push these bills through by the end of May.
Bill 14 is the Renewable Energy Projects Act, which is being put forward by the NDP government to accelerate the permitting of renewable energy projects in the province by expanding the authority of the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) as the only permitting authority for wind and solar projects.
Bill 15 is the Infrastructure Projects Act, which will allow a provincial minister and the cabinet to designate “provincially significant projects” which the Minister of Infrastructure, Bowinn Ma tabled in the B.C. legislature on May 1. Ma described the proposed bill as being a way of “speeding up permitting and approvals” on infrastructure projects in the province.
Stamer addressed the opposition with his concerns about fast tracking these two bills on Thursday, May 8.
“The reality is we have an electrification deficit in this province," he said. "End stop. We knew this was coming years ago. We need to have certainty of supply and plan for the future. When we are looking at streamlining the process, how is this going to work if we are bypassing public consultation, First Nations engagement, and not taking into account other impacted stakeholders? This seems like the government is saying, ‘just trust us and let us get things done’ with only cabinet making those decisions. We have been elected to represent the people and create regulations and laws as their voice. Not for a single cabinet to make those decisions.”
The MLA told Black Press Media he is asking the government where are the numbers. He said there seems to be no clear timeline when these projects will actually be built, plus not enough information provided on Bills 14 and 15 by the provincial government regarding environmental oversights, projected completion and budgets.
“We’ve prided ourselves in this province on having some of the strongest environmental standards in the world. We need to be sure that these standards are maintained and make sure we approach improved electrification with responsible planning. The proper environmental standards must be met. We need assurances regarding cost overruns. We need to be able to make sure that we have an equal balance when it comes to our future growth for electricity in this province.”
