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Update: Week 11 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for May 22nd, 2022! Content warning. This newsletter contains content about residential schools. This was a challenging week for me as a legislator. With the one year anniversary of the public acknowledgement of the 215 unmarked grave sites at the Kamloops Indian Residential School just a few days...
Column: $800 million Royal BC Museum plan is politics masquerading as reconciliation
Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by Adam Olsen (SȾHENEP) Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Saanich North and the Islands (BC Green Caucus) and member of Tsartlip First Nation. Few British Columbians have responded positively to Premier John Horgan’s $800 million new home for the Royal BC Museum (RBCM). It’s a difficult...
Ministerial Statement: Marking one year since confirmation of unmarked graves at Kamloops
As we approach the one year anniversary since Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir (Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc) announced the preliminary findings of 215 graves of children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School I stood and marked the occasion in a response to a Ministerial Statement delivered by Minister Murray Rankin. This...
Why is BC NDP investing $800 million on a new museum and only $500,000 in repatriation?
The BC NDP need to get their priorities straight. They announced an $800 million new Royal BC Museum, when millions of British Columbians are struggling to keep up with the increasing costs of basic needs like food, transportation and housing. And, for months British Columbians have been demanding the BC NDP address...
MLA Column: Police Act committee delivered needed change
For the past 15 months, I have had the honour of serving on the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act. This has been some of the most productive and collaborative work I have been a part of in my five years as an MLA. The 100-page report contains an overview of what the committee heard from the 411 presentations, submissions and 1,500...
Remembering Jim Hume
On April 13, 2022 Jim Hume passed away. He was an extraordinary, and longest-serving member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly Press Gallery. I am grateful to have the opportunity to honour the memory of Mr. Hume. [Transcript] This was prepared by Stephen Hume. Jim Hume surrendered his seat in the press...
Modernization of the Mental Health Act and the Police Act is necessary, will the BC NDP do it?
It has been 25 years since the British Columbia government did a comprehensive update of the Mental Health Act. In 2021, the BC NDP made a record investment in mental health programs and services. However, the Act governing them is outdated and based on ideas and values from a previous generation. Another Act that...
Low Carbon Fuels Act positive step to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, more urgency needed
In the first Bill addressing climate change since the BC NDP got their majority government, the Low Carbon Fuels Act is upgrading the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act (2008). With 37% of the greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia coming from transportation, our pathway to meeting our greenhouse gas reduction targets...
Update: Week 9 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for May 8th, 2022! Happy Mother’s Day! I raise my hands to all the powerful mothers in my life, my mom Sylvia, wife Emily, sisters Joni and Heather, Pat, Rochana, Leila, Sonia, Maeve, Jonina, and so many more. I hold the memory of my late-grandmothers Laura and Phyllis in my heart. So much love to...
Ministerial Statement: National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
May 5th is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry began in 2015 and concluded with a final report on June 3, 2019. In 2021, the federal government released a National Action Plan and the provincial government tabled...
Why is the BC NDP ignoring the environmental racism and harms caused by fracking?
Both the BC NDP and BC Liberals support gas liquefaction for the export market. However, a growing body of research is showing that fracking, the process to extract gas from the ground, causes significant harm to human health. Indigenous communities, children and pregnant people are disproportionately impacted by the...
Service for adults with eating disorders severely inadequate on Southern Vancouver Island
Services for adults with eating disorders across the province are delivered by health authorities with one exception - Island Health. For some inexplicable reason those services are delivered by the Ministry of Children and Family Development. For years, the services have been inadequate but during the pandemic the...
Labour policy lurch continues in British Columbia, more protections needed for workers
For decades labour policy has lurched back and forth. This is a result of a legislative assembly previously split by two establishment political parties, BC NDP and BC Liberals, aligning as pro-labour and pro-business respectively. This has not benefited workers or business owners. Neither of these entrenched "sides"...
Update: Week 8 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for May 1st, 2022! Following a two-week adjournment to accommodate the Easter long weekend, the BC Legislative Assembly resumed the Spring session this week. It is always a shock to the system. The pace of constituency and legislative work is very different and it usually takes a few hours on the...
Province acquiring land for affordable housing in transit-oriented development
In Bill 16, the provincial government is seeking to give the British Columbia Transportation Financing Authority the power to purchase land to allow for more transit-oriented developments. This is a positive change that has the potential to create more deeply affordable housing near transit routes. With inflation...
Reports: Transformational change recommended for policing in British Columbia
For the past 15 months I have been honoured to participate in the Police Act Reform committee. We were given a broad terms of reference to review the entire policing system in British Columbia and provided 11 recommendations for transformational change. This was a collaborative process between all Members on the...
MLA Column: Southern Gulf Islands Forum Addresses Salish Sea Anchorages Issue
For years, my constituents living on the Southern Gulf Islands have dealt with the environmental and social impacts created by large transport ships anchored throughout the Salish Sea. Increased consumer demand for goods from around the globe has stretched supply chains and combined with inefficient operations at the port in Vancouver has meant...
Recognizing the National Day of Mourning and workers safety
April 28th is the National Day of Mourning. This is my 2-minute Members' Statement on the important issue of worker safety and the much needed reform in WorkSafe BC. [Transcript] On the National Day of Mourning, we remember workers who have died, were injured or became ill from their job. We recommit to protecting...
What is the BC NDP doing to protect renters from real estate investment trusts (REITs)?
Large corporate institutional landlords, known at real estate investment trusts (REIT), are purchasing rental apartments at a shocking rate. In many cases, they are renovicting the tenants and dramatically increasing rents. This is another example of the financialization of housing and it is putting many renters...
What is the BC NDP doing about growing corporatization threatening primary health care?
Nearly 1,000,000 British Columbians do not have access to a family doctor or team of primary health care practitioners. More are notified each day that their doctor is retiring or shutting down their practice due to exhaustion and frustration. There is a lurking threat that the BC NDP is doing nothing about, large...
Update: Week 7 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for April 10th, 2022! It was an extremely busy week in the Legislature. With 20 government Bills, 6 Private Members’ Bills and one Private Bill, and Budget Estimates ongoing it makes for a full day in the Assembly. For example on Thursday afternoon, within a span of a couple of hours I was asking...
With LNG Canada looking to expand, how does it fit BC NDP climate commitments?
When the consortium of multi-national corporations decided to invest in LNG Canada they only approved half the project (2 trains). They government regulatory process had approved them for 4 trains. Now they are looking at the possibility of growing their investment to the full 4 trains. The problem for the BC NDP is...
Celebrating Tsawout embracing self-determination and the right to fish as formerly
Tsawout First Nation has created a first-of-its-kind Marine Use Law embracing the principles of self-determination and the right to "fish as formerly" captured in the Douglas Treaty. This has enabled Tsawout to realize economic development opportunities, including with Cascadia Seaweed to grow kelp in the waters in...
Question of Privilege: Challenging the Minister of Forests defense of glyphosate
Today I raised a question of privilege after Hon. Katrine Conroy (Minister of Forests) stated unequivocally that glyphosate is non-carcinogenic and non-toxic. The Minister gave the impression that the science regarding the safety of glyphosate has been settled when it has not. The Minister stated in the same breath...