Did you know that a BC Conservative government intends to mandate every school day start with the singing of O Canada?
Probably not, unless you read the passing mention in a sentence at the very bottom of page 43 of the Conservative platform: “We will bring back the singing of O Canada at the beginning of the school day and proudly fly our Canadian and B.C. flags at every school.”
But this is what everyone is doing now—crunching the Conservative platform to figure out what the new government of premier-designate Lorne Doerkson could do in short-order after being sworn in on Nov. 20.
“All of this is ambitious, you guys, and I know that,” Doerkson told his caucus, while reiterating some of his platform promises earlier this month. “But it is exactly what British Columbians elected us to do, and by golly, we’re going to do it.”
Mandating school kids to sing the national anthem is actually one of the easier things a new Doerkson administration could accomplish.
Ministerial orders and directives under the School Act could implement O Canada, repeal the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) learning module, “limit phone use in schools” (whatever that means, exactly), restore letter grades for Grades 4-9, bring back provincial exams and refocus the curriculum on financial literacy, civic, citizenship and other areas promised by the Conservatives.
There are actually a lot of things the Conservatives could do right away with cabinet orders that don’t involve recalling the legislature for a snap fall session before ministers have even had time to read their briefing books.
For example, implementing the long-awaited changes to the 50/50 rule on Agricultural Land Reserve land would simply be a cabinet minister signing an order in council that was already prepared for the previous NDP government.
Promises that could be kept with the stroke of a pen
Many of Doerkson’s major economic reviews don’t require the legislature either, such as launching an independent review of the budget, a 180-day blue-ribbon tax reform panel, an audit of the capital plan and re-establishing business roundtables. All that could be done on day one, with the stroke of a pen.
Much of the forestry promises made by the Conservatives are cabinet orders — though they will require more research and work before a minister signs anything.
Repealing some major NDP policies could also be done immediately if Doerkson wanted.
Ending “safe supply” of government drugs to those suffering addictions is a Minister of Health directive and ministerial order, not legislation. As is shutting down Overdose Prevention Sites.
Repealing the civil litigation directives that limit government court arguments on extinguishment in Aboriginal title cases could also be done by ministerial directive.
December sitting could meet simpler commitments
The situation gets more complicated once money is involved.
For that, Doerkson will require his government’s first budget, which could legally be tabled between February and Apr. 30.
Restoring seniors’ property tax deferral interest rates, exempting capital inputs from the PST for three years, cancelling the NDP’s PST expansion, and a tax credit for businesses that hire youth are all policies that require a budget first.
Then there is legislation itself. Typically, that can take weeks, if not months, to draft, depending on the complexity of the issue.
Doerkson said recently a short fall sitting of the legislature, perhaps into December, is not off the table.
“There are a number of things that we would like to bring before the House,” he said. “I would not rule out a fall session yet.”
Directly after the election, Doerkson said raising the basic personal income tax exemption to $32,000 (the basis for a $1,000 tax cut promise) would be his government’s first legislative priority. Some have speculated it will need to be made law before the end of the year to affect the 2026 tax year, as was Doerkson’s commitment. But it could potentially get passed in the spring and applied retroactively.
Crafting a bill to repeal the NDP’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) could be relatively simple—though much more complex to figure out what to replace it with in the future.
“I won’t rethink my approach to DRPA,” Doerkson said last week. “We’re committed to removing it.”
A promised “Property Rights Defence Act” to uphold the validity of fee-simple private property over Aboriginal title would require a lot of lawyers, writing a lot of contentious law, for example. Doerkson speculated DRIPA would likely be repealed in the spring session.
More complicated legislation will take longer
BC Conservatives should have no problem passing their legislation with a super-majority of 64 seats in the house, compared to the NDP’s 27 and the Greens’ two.
But they’ll still have to go through the legislative procedures for pledges like stopping municipal bans on natural gas connections, legislating firm approval timelines for natural resource projects, repealing the CleanBC zero-emission vehicle sales quotas, creating the “one-in, two-out” red tape law, reforming the Agricultural Land Reserve, establishing a BC Ferries charter of passenger rights and reducing board redundancy, and repeal NDP housing policies on density and municipal oversight.
Legislation to amend the Mental Health Act to enable more involuntary care? A complex, time-consuming endeavour that could clash with Charter rights, to say the least. Don’t expect that in the earliest days of the new government.
But a bill to de-couple the municipal and provincial election calendars after David Eby’s snap election? A lot more do-able as an immediate bill for the first session of the legislature.
The Conservative platform is still online. For now, anyway. Governments tend to remove the documents full of their pesky promises, once they start deciding there are some they can’t actually honour in power.
Still, it’s clear from an early analysis there’s a lot the Doerkson administration could do right away, if it intends to hit the ground running as the premier-designate has indicated.