EventAction
BC Bills 14 and 15 pass third reading 46-46 on the Speaker's casting vote
On 28 May 2025, British Columbia's legislature passed Bill 14, the Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act, and Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act, at third reading after each vote tied 46-46, according to BC Hansard. On each bill the Speaker cast the deciding vote in favour, noting that the bill had passed earlier stages; the Bill 14 result was announced at about 7:25 p.m. and the Bill 15 vote was taken at about 8:10 p.m. CBC News reported that the BC Conservatives, the BC Greens and three independent MLAs voted against the bills, while Speaker Raj Chouhan cast the tiebreaking votes. Opposition MLAs Sheldon Clare and Peter Milobar argued that the vote of the Minister of State for Trade, who took part remotely with a blurred video background, should not count; the Speaker ruled that he did not consider a blurred background to be a virtual background. CBC reported that Bill 15 is aimed at fast-tracking public-sector projects and private projects deemed "provincially significant," and that the B.C. Chamber of Commerce came out against it on the day of the vote, including criticizing the province's decision to exclude pipelines and LNG facilities from such projects as "arbitrary and short-sighted."
- Date
- Kind
- Legislation
- Where
- British Columbia
- Evidence
- Action: Something was done: a law switched on, a tariff imposed, money committed. How evidence is weighed
- Who
- BC New Democratic Party (acted); Conservative Party of British Columbia (counterparty); Green Party of British Columbia (counterparty); Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (acted); Lorne Doerkson (subject); Elenore Sturko (subject)
Sources
- Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, “Hansard, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, Afternoon, Issue No. 72 (43rd Parliament, 1st Session)” (external site), . source record
- CBC News, “B.C. NDP government narrowly passes controversial bills to fast-track projects” (external site), . source record
Laws and agreements
- Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act (BC Bill 14) (Bill 14 (BC); SBC 2025, c. 12): this event is its “Passed” stage
- Infrastructure Projects Act (Bill 15 (BC)): this event is its “Passed” stage
Claims that rest on this event
- Winning parties rarely spelled out their controversial fast-track tools before the vote: in our own count of 41 post-election actions by five tariff-period winners, checked against their platforms, 2 of 19 controversial actions were clearly promised, against 14 of 22 routine ones. The rally widened what could be done after the vote. This is a way to read platforms, not proof of concealment, and it supports 'Ottawa opportunistic' only weakly.
BC fast-track laws passed after a 2024 election where they were not promised.
- Cross-party support is for the projects, not the fast-track instruments: BC's Conservatives voted against both BC fast-track laws even though they promise more building.
Passed 46-46; every opposition MLA voted no.
How it bears on the outcome
| Explanation | Fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| O0 No meaningful speed-up | Against weak | Passing fast-track permitting laws would be somewhat surprising if there were no push to speed up the build-out; the effect on actual pace is not yet observed. |
| O1 Faster, but the extra output goes mostly elsewhere | Fits weak | Two BC laws to fast-track permitting for renewable energy and provincially significant projects passed, though pipelines and LNG are excluded from the latter; this is consistent with a faster build-out but says nothing about which buyers get the output, so it fits O1 and O2 equally. |
| O2 Faster, and more volume reaches the US (this level or higher) | Fits weak | Two BC laws to fast-track permitting for renewable energy and provincially significant projects passed, though pipelines and LNG are excluded from the latter; this is consistent with a faster build-out but says nothing about which buyers get the output, so it fits O1 and O2 equally. |
| O3 Locked-in preferential terms for the US | Neutral weak | No US terms are involved. |