The BC NDP lost a vote in the legislature

It was on an amendment at a committee, but it shows the limits of the BC NDP's bare majority

On the evening of Monday, May 26th, Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma introduced an amendment in an attempt to respond to the broad criticisms around Bill 15 – Infrastructure Projects Act. The Greens and Conservatives then joined forces to defeat the amendment.

Bill 15, according to it's explanatory note, “provides for the designation of different types of infrastructure projects and the authorization by the Lieutenant Governor in Council to use specified streamlining options in relation to infrastructure projects that have been designated.” The Bill gives the Minister the ability to designate a proposal before the government as a “category 1” or “category 2” project, which allows the Minister to streamline the permitting process and for the project to bypass parts of the Environmental Assessment Act.

I searched my photos for “infrastructure” and this is what came up.

This Act replaces the previous Significant Projects Streamlining Act, introduced in 2003 by the BC Liberal government. Similar to Minister Ma’s legislation, it allows the government to designate a project as “provincially significant”, which then gives the Minister powers to expedite approval processes. However, unlike Ma’s legislation, the original law explicitly does not supersede the Environmental Assessment Act (Section 11, subsection 2, sub-subsection b).

The new legislation also enhances the role of professional reliance that the NDP previously promised to reform. The Infrastructure Projects Act allows industries to pay consultants to sign off and approve permits on behalf of their employers.

Opposition mounts

Opposition to the bill happened swiftly after it was introduced.

“The Wilderness Committee is deeply concerned and shocked over Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act, tabled by Premier David Eby’s NDP government on May 1. The organization says Bill 15 proposes to steamroll over environmental assessments currently required for resource extraction projects in British Columbia.”

–Wilderness Committee, May 7, 2025

“In addition to the government’s breach of its legal obligations to First Nations, the BCCLA is further concerned that the Bill could fast-track politically unpopular infrastructure projects at the expense of vital democratic processes.”

–The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, May 27, 2025

The First Nations Leadership Council expressed “serious concerns about communications and representations that were made about Bills 14 and 15 to the First Nations Leadership Council.”

“If the intention behind these provisions was to set out a requirement that the legislation not be interpreted inconsistently with the Declaration Act or the UN Declaration, amendments to the wording are required. If that was not the intention, we do not understand how you could make the statements you did at the May 15th meeting.”

First Nations Leadership Council, May 26, 2025

Premier Eby responded by designating the legislation a confidence vote, meaning that if it fails in the legislature, Eby would no longer have the confidence of the House and the province would go to an election. Former Premier John Horgan called an early election in 2020 over a piece of legislation he could not get Green support for.

Matters of confidence

The BC Conservatives say the bill is cabinet overreach, giving the executive council the power to make decisions that should be brought to the Legislative Assembly for democratic debate.

“It is really giving cabinet a lot of arbitrary powers and that’s something I am concerned with.”

Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens, May 9, 2025

The BC Greens raised their own concerns, saying, “this is not just a bad bill. It’s a dangerous power grab.” They called for the bill to be withdrawn and started a petition to collect people’s email addresses pressure the government to back down.

Full speed ahead

With so much contention around the Infrastructure Projects Act, the BC NDP made another surprising move — condensing the entire debate to only a few days. Committee stage, when the specific passages and clauses of the legislation are debated, is when amendments are introduced to improve the bill or respond to criticisms.

Minister Ma introduced an amendment that would require herself or any future Minister to pass an Order in Council specifying the eligibility requirements for category 2 projects. This would make the eligibility more transparent, rather than almost entirely at the discretion of the Minister at the time.

However, the BC Conservatives rejected the amendment on the basis that they oppose the entire clause the amendment fell under, as well as the bill itself. Since the amendment would not be enough to gain their support for the legislation, they voted against it. The Green MLA on the committee also opposed the amendment.

“Woot, woot” is parliamentary-speak for “I oppose the amendment”

Because the BC NDP have a bare majority of the seats in the legislature, they only have six members on the committee considering the bill, while the Conservatives have five and the Greens one. The chair is also from the NDP, but only votes in the case of tie, which is what happened last Monday.

“Members, there being an equal number of votes for and against, the Chair must make the casting vote. In accordance with recognized parliamentary customs, the Chair votes against the amendment to keep the bill intact in its original form and as adopted at second reading.”

Hansard, May 27, 2025

The amendment failed, leaving the bill in its original form.

What happened next

The bill, un-amended, returned to the legislature on Wednesday, May 28th. The Greens attempted to pass a motion to change the time allocation, but were (literally) shouted down in a voice vote.

“Leave granted” means everyone shouted “aye”, while “leave not granted” means people shouted “nay”

The Committee continued to deliberate the bill, going over hypothetical applications of the legislation and what concerns may arise related to certain clauses. Committees are often where more thoughtful, considered queries are asked and answered — as opposed to the raucous question period — and both the Greens and Conservatives asked insightful questions.

You aren’t truly a wonk unless you’ve tried to listen to multiple legislative feeds at once.

The time allocated vote came. After only five days to scrutinize legislation with seven parts and 48 clauses, the Bill 15 – Infrastructure Projects Act went to third reading. For both bills up for consideration — the other being Bill 14 – Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting Act) — the vote was 46 to 46, leading to a tie. The Speaker then voted, supporting both pieces of legislation, which allowed them to pass.

Before the Hansard is official, it’s called “the Blues”

This was followed by Peter Milobar, House leader for the BC Conservatives, arguing passionately that another member’s vote should be ruled out of order because they had a blurred background on Zoom. When the Speaker ruled that a previous Chair had already ruled on the matter, the BC Conservatives walked out of the chambers, heckling with disgust.

Actual politicians throwing temper tantrums and getting briefly banned from the legislature over someone blurring their background on a Zoom call.

The Conservatives and Greens may have missed an opportunity. If this legislation was going to inevitably pass, then the amendment proposed by the Minister would have improved the final bill. By voting down the amendment, they were left with the original text, which is now law. Part of the reason passing bills requires the government to put them through these stages is ostensibly to improve them before they become law.

One day, when the NDP is no longer in government, the government that takes its place will have the power to designate projects for the expedited process. At that point, the BC NDP may wish their amendment had passed so they can see, transparently, that future government’s eligibility requirements. In the meantime, it will largely be at the discretion of the Minister of Infrastructure which projects qualify as provincially significant category 1 and 2 projects.