British Columbia's top political stories of 2016

Richard Zussman, CBC'sLegislative reporter in Victoria, has compiled this look back at the top political stories of 2016.

Foreign Home Buyers Tax

It was a summer surprise. After months of pushing developers to increase the housing supply, Premier Christy Clark made a splash on the demand front,with the announcement ofa 15 per cent foreign home buyerstax.

The taxhad a major impact on home sales in Metro Vancouver. The number of transactions involving foreign buyers plunged, from 2,034 deals in the seven-week period before the tax, to just 60 in the four weeks starting Aug. 2.

Clark said prices were affected too.

"What we have seen is a slowing in the acceleration of the price increase," Clark said during a year-end interview with CBC. "Prices went up 30 per cent in one year. We almost started to think that was normal. And now we are back to more normal increases.

Surging surplus

But so far, the reduction in foreign home buyers hasn't stunted the massive growth in the Property Transfer Tax. The B.C. government is now forecasting a $2.4 billion surplus that is based on stronger-than-expected transfer tax revenues and income tax revenues.

The province has taken nearly a billion dollars and invested it in affordable housing and is now offeringinterest-free loans for first-time home buyers.

Vancouver School Board fired

For just the fifth time in B.C.'s history the provincial education minister took the step of firing an entire, democratically elected school board.

The Vancouver School Board failed topass a balanced budget, which is against the law, and Mike Bernier decided the only way the board would function was to fire them all,and hireformer Delta, B.C. superintendentDianneTurner to step in as an un-elected trustee.

"What we have witnessed from the Vancouver School Board is a misplaced focus on political tactics rather than responsible stewardship," said Bernier at the time.

Fentanyl epidemic

The numbers continue to climb. From January to November, 755 people have died in British Columbia from illicit drug deaths. The provincial government declared a public health emergency in April and still the numbers have climbed.

To combat the drug toll, the province has, among other things, made the overdose-reversing drug naloxone more available, opened mobile supervised injection sites and asked the federal government to help.

So far, Ottawa has delivered with federal regulations on pill presses, an easing of the rules on establishing supervised injection sites anda commitment of more RCMP officers for drug enforcement.

The B.C. NDP has pointed out the province has still not delivered on a pledge to have500 new care bedsin place by the end of 2017.

Kinder Morgan approval

While pipeline approvals may be the story of 2016, protests could dominate headlines in 2017.

The federal government's decisicionto approve the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to Burnabyhas caused a riff between two old friends,NDP Premier Rachel Notley and B.C. NDP leader John Horgan, and will force the B.C. provincial government to finally make a decision on the project.

The pipeline twinning is unpopular in British Columbia and has prompted protestors hereto promise they will do anything possible to stop it, including mass protest.

Petronasapproval

Premier Christy Clark's LNG dreamgot one step closer to becoming reality this year. The federal government granted conditional approval to the Pacific Northwest LNG facility near Prince Rupert, B.C.

But withnatural gas prices still low, Petronas does not expect to make a final investment decision on the project until the summer of 2017.

Cash for access

Premier Christy Clark's $10,000-a-plate fundraisers got a lot of attention in 2016. The conflict of interest commissioner, Paul Fraser,was asked to determine whether the events were indeed a conflict. According to Fraser, they aren't.

The controversy prompted thepremier to changethe way donations are tracked. Now, every two weeks, the B.C. Liberals will post on their own web site information detailing who has donated and how much.

The Opposition parties have complained that this measure isn't sufficient and have pressed for an outright ban on corporate and union donations.

Royal Visit

Almost every where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went on their B.C. fall tour, Premier Christy Clark was nearby. The eight-daytrip thrust some of B.C.'s most iconic natural landmarksinto the global spotlight, leading to jubilation from the tourism industry and an up-close look atPrince George and Princess Charlotte.

The visit also meshed politics and royalty. First Nation leaders told Clark she was not welcome in Haida Gwaii as part of the visit, and paddlerswore 'No LNG' shirts while explaining to the royal couple theimpact the LNG industry could have on the coast.

BCTF wins in Supreme Court

Anear15-yearcourt battle between the B.C. Teacher's Federation and the province ended in a briefappearance in the Supreme Court of Canada. In a rare oral decision, Canada's top court ruled legislation restricting bargaining over class size and composition was unconstitutional.

The two sides are now negotiating on what additional resources are needed to get current classes back to 2002 levels, when the legislation was originally introduced,

Sexual assault on campus legislation

Amidgrowing complaintson university campuses that not enough was being done to prevent sexual misconduct, the provincial government put in place new legislation. The new law requires all B.C. colleges and universities to havesexual misconduct policies in place.

Premier Clark also used the legislation to speak out about her personal story, revealing that she had been attacked by a man at age 13.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond done after 10 years

The province's first Representative for Children and Youth wrapped up her second and final term this year. Often a thorn in the side of the government,

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafondrecommendedhundreds of changes during her time in office and pushed the government to improve conditions for children in government care.