By Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone

Kamloops BC Lottery Corporation headquarters on shaky ground

Jan 16, 2019 | 1:06 PM

“It is full speed ahead.” Reassuring words of comfort spoken in July 2018 by David Eby, minister responsible for the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC), in response to media inquiries as to whether the NDP government was committed to the construction of a new BCLC headquarters in Kamloops, a project initiated by the former BC Liberal government.

Sound good? Not so fast. Unfortunately, it now appears that this commitment to Kamloops, like so many others made by the NDP government, could be on its way to the trash bin if it’s not there already.

First, some background on the importance of BCLC’s presence in Kamloops. When BCLC was created in 1985, the government of the day made the bold decision to locate the new crown corporation’s headquarters in Kamloops, departing from a long-standing government practice of locating such head offices in the Lower Mainland or Greater Victoria.

The benefits of this decision for Kamloops have been enormous, resulting in significant and widespread community pride and support for BCLC and its Kamloops headquarters. Not only does BCLC have a strong track record of being a generous community partner, but BCLC’s total cumulative economic impact on the Kamloops economy – by way of employment income, grants in lieu of taxes and community sponsorship – has been estimated to be $1.1 billion dollars in its first 30 years (1985-2015). Today, BCLC employs approximately 450 people in its Kamloops office, has strong linkages with Thompson Rivers University, and serves as an anchoring influence and mentor within the local technology sector.

That’s not to say the ‘practice’ of BCLC’s headquarters in Kamloops during the past three decades has been perfect. Over the years, successive Kamloops MLAs from all political parties have had to be alert to impulses to migrate BCLC employment out of Kamloops to the Lower Mainland. Shortly after being elected MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson in 2013, I was shocked to learn that the vast majority of new positions at BCLC – as they were created – were located in BCLC’s Lower Mainland office, not in Kamloops. Furthermore, it was disconcerting to learn that only one executive was located in Kamloops at that time, and that the CEO’s Kamloops office had basically been turned into a storage room.

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Along with then-MLA Terry Lake and then-Mayor Peter Milobar, I set about to advocate with my government colleagues that the BCLC office in Kamloops had to be more than the headquarters in name. My view was that if Kamloops was truly the location of BCLC’s headquarters, then more BCLC executives needed to be based in Kamloops, the larger share of BCLC employees needed to be based in Kamloops, and broader Kamloops representation needed to be reflected on its Board of Directors.

Thankfully, we were successful. Prior to the transfer of power to the NDP government in July 2017, approximately half of BCLC’s executives were based in Kamloops including the CFO, VP Human Resources, and Chief Information Officer, with the CEO for all intents and purposes also based in Kamloops due to his strong presence within and obvious commitment to the city. Furthermore, the trend of migrating employment to the Lower Mainland was reversed. All of this was accomplished in large part due to having Bud Smith – a strong, experienced, and unabashedly proud Kamloopsian – serve as chair of BCLC’s board of directors during this pivotal time.

Now back to the issue of the construction of a new BCLC headquarters in Kamloops. BCLC’s current Kamloops facility was originally built in 1964 as a Woodward’s department store, and renovated in 1985 to accommodate BCLC’s head office. A building assessment conducted in 2010 identified the need for BCLC to invest more than $20 million to remedy significant workplace, structural, mechanical and electrical deficiencies. In addition, it was anticipated that the headcount at the Kamloops headquarters was projected to increase from approximately 450 to 700 within ten years, but only if more space was made available.

In light of the above, the former BC Liberal government publicly committed to the construction of a new headquarters in Kamloops, authorizing BCLC to explore several options (including build to own; build to own strata units as required; or build to lease) at a total estimated cost to build of $30-40 million. BCLC acquired properties adjacent to their existing Kamloops facility, and environmental remediation of said properties was completed.

Work was underway to determine the optimal development potential of the site, and the financial implications of each option, all the while allowing BCLC to leverage the new construction of an efficient purpose-built facility at the western gateway to Kamloops’ downtown core, and avoid spending $20 million reconditioning the existing building which wouldn’t have the space needed to accommodate BCLC’s projected employment growth in Kamloops.

Which brings us to today. Eighteen months after the NDP government assumed power, concerns are being raised increasingly – including from within the ranks of BCLC’s dedicated Kamloops employee base – that the current NDP government has put the brakes on construction of a new headquarters in Kamloops, with the minister responsible offering nothing more than hollow ‘no comment’ responses to recent media inquiries. This comes on the heels of recent changes the NDP government has made to BCLC’s board of directors, resulting in only one Kamloopsian on the board today out of nine board positions.

I was proud to be part of the former BC Liberal government which recognized not only the need to construct a new, modern BCLC headquarters in Kamloops from the perspective of aging infrastructure, but also as the strongest reaffirmation possible that BCLC’s headquarters – and employment base – must remain and grow within Kamloops over the long term.

In contrast, with the NDP government looking increasingly likely to renege on its commitment to the project, it is more important than ever before that we work together to hold the NDP accountable on this with a focus and fervor that can best be described as “full speed ahead.”