I introduced several pieces of legislation, including repealing the $10 fee for freedom-of-information (FOI) requests, protecting bear dens, and banning prolonged solitary confinement in corrections facilities.
These pieces of legislation are aimed at making British Columbia a more transparent and safer place to be for all British Columbians and our environment. Introducing these bills today means prioritizing the conversation around good ideas coming from all sides of the house.
British Columbia continues to be an outlier in Canada in how Private Members’ bills are handled. There is basically no pathway for Opposition Members and Government backbenchers to propose public policy and have it debated and voted on. The public expects their representative to be able to propose public policy and have it considered.
The B.C. Green Caucus appreciated the initial step Premier David Eby took, in his former role as Attorney General, to improve the quality of private members amendments and bills by providing access to the legislative drafters. There are a variety of successful approaches across the country and in the spirit of our democratic institution I sincerely hope Premier Eby and Government House Leader Hon. Ravi Kahlon takes the next logical step to reform the process for consideration of Private Members’ bills, debate and vote.
Background
The Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act:
Proposed changes will get rid of the BC NDP $10 fee for FOI requests. This fee was heavily criticized for obscuring transparency, tampering effective journalism, and restricting Indigenous people from accessing information about their own communities.
Preliminary findings show that media requests for information decreased with the introduction of the $10 fee. In a time of growing fear and misinformation – when people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and less likely to trust their government – the truth needs to be readily accessible and available.
The Wildlife Amendment Act:
This re-introduced bill proposes protections for bear dens often destroyed by logging activity. For more background on this bill, see the previous release from fall 2022.
The Corrections Statutes Amendment Act:
This re-introduced bill proposes to ban the use of solitary confinement in provincial corrections facilities. For more background on this bill, see the previous release from spring 2022.
[Transcript]
BILL M202 — WILDLIFE AMENDMENT ACT, 2023
A. Olsen presented a bill intituled Wildlife Amendment Act, 2023.
A. Olsen: I move that a bill intituled Wildlife Amendment Act, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper, be introduced and read a first time now.
For over 20 years, experts have been advocating for laws to protect bear dens in British Columbia, but the province continues to lack a comprehensive legal protection for bear dens. Despite legislative protections in Haida Gwaii and the Great Bear Rainforest, much of the province continues to lack these mechanisms to protect these essential habitats. As a result, bear dens have been left to a patchwork of policies by logging companies, which are inconsistent and unenforceable.
Earlier this year the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria and the B.C. Sierra Club published a study recommending provincial legislation that protects bear dens. The act before us today makes these essential changes. It sets out that if a person disturbs, molests, damages or destroys a bear den, they have committed an offence.
[1:50 p.m.]
Further, this protection stands on both Crown land and private land, which is an essential component given the proliferation of privately managed forest lands in pockets of British Columbia.
We are currently living through the sixth mass extinction caused by human activity, and it’s more important than ever to protect the biodiversity of our province. This includes protecting bear dens, where bears hibernate and birth and raise their young members.
Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is the first reading of the bill.
Motion approved.
A. Olsen: I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
Bill M202, Wildlife Amendment Act, 2023 introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
BILL M203 — CORRECTIONS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2023
A. Olsen presented a bill intituled Corrections Statutes Amendment Act, 2023.
A. Olsen: I move that a bill intituled the Corrections Statutes Amendment Act, 2023, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper, be introduced and read a first time now.
I reintroduce this bill in this House to continue to raise attention to the human rights of British Columbians held in corrections facilities. On any given day, like today, there are 33 individuals in solitary confinement who have been there for longer than 15 days, some longer than 60 days. Both adults and youth are subjected to this reality.
Solitary confinement disproportionately impacts Indigenous people, in particular Indigenous women and girls. Close to a quarter of people in solitary confinement in this province identify as Indigenous, making up only 6 percent of our province’s population.
In February of last year, the Union of B. C. Indian Chiefs called solitary confinement “a re-traumatizing, abusive and colonial form of control over Indigenous bodies.”
This bill seeks to prohibit the use of prolonged solitary confinement and change standards of living for people in the justice system. This bill prohibits a person from being held in solitary confinement if they are pregnant, at risk of self-harm or suicide, have a prescribed disability or require medical observation.
Finally, this bill requires the provincial director of correctional centres to publish annual disaggregated statistics on the number of individuals held in solitary confinement.
This bill follows advocacy from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the B.C. Ombudsperson, the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth and the decision from the B.C. Court of Appeal. I want to thank the Campaign for the Abolition of Solitary Confinement for their continued advocacy and work to keep this issue in discussion.
Thank you to the members of this chamber for their consideration of this important work, and I hope to debate this bill at second reading.
Mr. Speaker: The question is the first reading of the bill.
Motion approved.
A. Olsen: I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
Bill M203, Corrections Statutes Amendment Act, 2023, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
BILL M204 — FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY AMENDMENT ACT, 2023
A. Olsen presented a bill intituled Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2023.
A. Olsen: I move that a bill intituled Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2023, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper be introduced and read a first time now.
In 2021, the government amended the act to allow public bodies to charge an application fee for making a freedom-of-information request. I was a member of the special committee to review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and heard from many organizations and individuals who opposed the introduction of an application fee.
The special committee recognized that access to information is vital for promoting trust in public bodies. The committee heard that secrecy of information can undermine democracy and lead to extremism and that conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies can arise when citizens do not have access to information held by the government.
The act before us today aims to improve access to information. It sets out to remove the application fee for freedom-of-information requests. These amendments are in line with the sharp criticism from the B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner, Michael McEvoy, who strongly indicated that the $10 fee to access information was not in the interest of the public. He noted that political requests were already in decline before this fee was introduced, and following the fee, journalists, researchers and community groups felt the most significant barriers to getting public information.
Right now there is a waning public confidence in democracy in a time of growing fear and misinformation and a time when people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and less likely to trust their government. This assembly needs to be held to a higher standard. The truth needs to be readily accessible and available.
[1:55 p.m.]
Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is first reading of the bill.
Motion approved.
A. Olsen: I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
Bill M204, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2023, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
Motion approved.
A. Olsen: I move that the bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
Bill M204, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2023, introduced, read a first time and ordered to be placed on orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting of the House after today.
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