Item AAAB4364 - Ministry of Human Resources ; Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing ; BC Hydro : [public service announcements]

BC Hydro was created in 1962 when the BC government merged the recently nationalized BC Electric Railway Co. with the BC Power Commission in order to have a utility large enough to undertake massive hydroelectric developments on the Peace and Columbia rivers. When the province acquired BC Electric it took possession of a gas company and a variety of transit lines. BC Hydro began shedding these operations in 1979; by the end of the 1980s it was purely an electrical utility. In 2003 the province created a separate company, BC Transmission Corporation, to operate Hydro's transmission assets. In 2010 Hydro and BCTC reconsolidated into a single company. BC Hydro is the largest of the provincial crown corporations and third largest electric utility in Canada, delivering electricity to more than 94 percent of the province's population. The corporation generates power primarily from hydroelectric generating stations around the province; the rest is produced at steam, gas turbine and stationary diesel plants. It is regulated by the BC Utilities Commission.

The Ministry of Human Resources was established in 1976 when the government renamed the Dept. of Human Resources (OIC 3199/76). The functions of the former Dept. of Human Resources remained virtually the same in this new department. The Ministry of Human Resources was responsible for all matters relating to social welfare, public welfare and social assistance. The department provided the delivery of a broad range of social services and income security programs including income assistance, assistance to the handicapped and the elderly, child welfare services and residential services. In 1986, the housing function from the Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing, was merged with the Ministry of Human Resources. With this change came a new name, as the ministry was now called the Ministry of Social Services and Housing (OIC 1501/86 and OIC 1502/86).

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing was established in 1976 as the successor to the Dept. of Municipal Affairs and the Dept. of Housing (OIC 3199/76). The ministry was organized into a Municipal Affairs Section and a Housing Section with each section headed by a Deputy Minister. The purpose of the Municipal Affairs Section was to administer, review and process by-laws relative to municipalities, regional districts, and improvement districts; evaluate administrative practices and procedures, including financial management of local governments; special programs respecting building regulations; and regional planning processes for municipalities and regional districts. The purpose of the Housing Section was to supervise, acquire, develop, maintain, improve and dispose of housing in the Province; and encourage the creation and support of assisted housing through government grants to municipalities and other organizations.

In 1978, the ministry was renamed the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and the housing function was transferred to the Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing (OIC 3018/78).