By Christian Codrington, CHRP

BC’s provincial election is set for May 14, 2013 and pollsters such as Ipsos Reid currently have the BC NDP party comfortably out in front.  The posturing and campaigning is starting but will be in full swing in the coming weeks.

In December, BC HRMA had the opportunity to hear first-hand some thoughts around the election. The association continued its government relations outreach with a visit from Shane Simpson, chair of the NDP Caucus and MLA for the riding of Vancouver-Hastings since 2005. Simpson worked as the director of Policy and Communications for Smart Growth BC, chair of the Vancouver City Planning Commission, instructor in the Community Economic Development program at Simon Fraser University, executive director of the Worker Ownership Resource Center, legislative coordinator for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and as a self-employed consultant on business and economic development for labour, co-operative and non-profit groups.

Simpson began the BC HRMA Government Relations Forum by outlining the three areas of focus for the NDP platform: improving productivity, reducing inequity, and increasing sustainability in the environment. The discussion then moved to the three areas of his current portfolio that would be changed should the NDP become the province’s ruling body in May 2013: WorkSafeBC, the Employment Standards Act (ESA), and the labour code.

On the issue of WorkSafeBC, concerns were raised about a model that assumes healthy investment returns as key to underwriting the costs of maintaining the insurance system. Simpson stressed the importance of active disability management, holding health authorities up as a model.

In regards to the ESA, Simpson was emphatic in stating that the current self-help model for dealing with violations simply does not work and has committed to increasing enforcement levels should the NDP gain the majority.

Simpson closed a lively Q&A emphasizing that any legislation or model that was developed 25 years ago should be open to review and, if necessary, change. Those comments were made in specific reference to increasing enforcement of the outdated ESA, as well as the principles behind the Public Sector Employers Act and Public Education Labour Relations Act.

The dialogue during these forums continues to deepen and BC HRMA is building a pipeline to Victoria for our membership. To that end, mark January 31, 2013 in your calendars.  Dave Byng, Deputy Minister, BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation will be in the BC HRMA provincial office. During this forum, BC HRMA members will have an opportunity to dive deeper into areas and legislation that impact our day-to-day work.

Christian Codrington, CHRP, is the senior manager of operations at BC HRMA. He has had the good fortune to contribute to the success of a number of organizations over his career in human resources including Human Resources Development Canada, Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of BC, Best Buy Canada and Starbucks Coffee Canada. Christian earned his business undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University, specializing in organizational behavior. ccodrington@bchrma.org