This week in question period I asked Hon. Doug Donaldson about the impact of the growing risks of climate change on our forests in British Columbia. Public attention is focussing in recent months on the forest industry that is controlled by multi-national corporations shuttering operations, cutting jobs and putting...
This summer, Minister Doug Donaldson announced the appointment of a two-person panel to lead an Old Growth Strategy Review. The panel members, Al Gorley, a professional forester with 45 years of experience, and Garry Merkel, a registered professional forester also with 45 years of experience in the industry, have instructions to lead an Old...
Yesterday was one of the most important days in the history of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and for all British Columbians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. When the Hon. Scott Fraser stood and introduced the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, it signified the most substantial change in Indigenous relations...
It was a powerful morning in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia with first reading of Bill 41 (The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act). This is the culmination of generations of work by Indigenous leaders to fundamentally change the relationship with the British Columbia government. I will...
Following the Liberal Party of Canada’s platform announcement that they are going to shutter the open-net fish farm industry by 2025 transitioning it to closed-containment, I wrote a post stating my skepticism.Another result of that announcement has been a daily flow of emails from the Google Alert that I have tracking “fish farms.”With the...
As the dust settles on the federal election I raise my hands to all the Green Party of Canada candidates, campaign leaders, volunteers, donors and supporters. Thank you! In the coming weeks it will be clear the how the work of federal Green Party people on the ground in ridings across the country have continued to advance the growth of the...
Security certificate issue has been resolved! I have been blogging uninterrupted every day for the past year. Each day I schedule a post, readers get an email notification and you leave a comment if you feel inspired. It's all been working pretty well. Until last week. Last Thursday evening during my visit to Waglisla (Bella Bella) in the...
I spent the past week in Waglisla (Bella Bella) in the Heiltsuk territory on the central coast of British Columbia. Nations from up and down the coast gathered to open the new big house in Waglisla. There has not been a big house in the community for the past 120 years. The Heiltsuk have been talking about and planning for this event for decades....
Thousands of people have contacted my constituency office expressing their deep concern about forestry policy and practices in British Columbia.The messages are either generated from a third party service delivering a form email or they are just independent responses to the daily news and social media posts.Recently I received a nice note from...
I am pleased with the news that the province has finally funded a year round shelter on Salt Spring Island. Unfortunately, until now, the shelter has never been able to provide year round services to those in need. Previously, it opened from November to May and for the rest of the year the Island’s homeless population had to fend for themselves....
I have a few Google alerts set up. One of them is associated with my name. It turns up stories about me and also every time St. Louis Cardinals team athletic trainer “Adam Olsen” makes the news, I get the update. Additionally, any news that Google picks up about “salmon” and “fish farms” is also dropped into my email inbox. Recently, it’s been...
We watched the movie Yesterday a few nights ago with our kids. They had heard of The Beatles but that was the first time we had “the talk” with them.It goes something like this: “You know kids, there is this band. You have probably heard about them... it’s important you understand just how great they are!”I was introduced to The Beatles through...
Talking with a few leaders of First Nations communities in Saanich North and the Islands and on the north coast recently, a common theme emerged: frustration with the federal and provincial government. The theme and the frustration is not new. Indigenous leaders have been expressing this same sentiment for decades. The storyline goes something...
I’m just dropping in randomly to celebrate my daily blogging.It’s been 310 consecutive days of producing something and publishing it here in this remote part of the blogosphere. I could have noted significant milestones like 100 or 300, round numbers, but I missed them. Really though, how is 310 that different from 300?I’m beginning to notice how...
The provincial government is developing new legislation, regulations and policies to better support people with disabilities.This is an initiative that many British Columbians have been waiting for for many years. More than 900,000 people (one in four) in our province over 15 years of age live with a disability. It is important that we are...
A friend of mine shared this podcast with me. There was a very brief message attached. "I love this podcast so much!" For every other podcast recommendation I've made over the months has come with some context of how the topic, idea or message is alive in my life. I'm just not going to offer anything more than this. Indigenous cultures and...
When Gayle Baker, on behalf of the Salt Spring Community Alliance, visited me in my constituency office to invite me to participate in their grassroots effort to assist Salt Spring Islanders access the services they need, I did not hesitate to offer my support.The unique governance structure of the Southern Gulf Island communities can make it...
Over the past few weeks, I have heard a considerable lack of excitement about the federal election.In my opinion, the single greatest threat to our democracy is voter apathy. A lack of interest in governance between elections is understandable. When this extends to the election period, it is problematic. After writing this post I ran into a...
We have learned that there are considerable issues with how B.C. Timber Sales is operating. It appears that they are not even following their own rules. This is deeply concerning. I have been asking government of the continued liquidation of old-growth, specifically on Vancouver Island, for the better part of the past...
On Monday, Andrew Weaver announced that he will not seek re-election to the British Columbia Legislature. He has asked the BC Green Party to begin the process of selecting a new leader. His decision has been some time in the making and it has given me the opportunity to step back and reflect on the past six and a half years that we have worked...
The provincial government has introduced Bill 36, The Gaming Control Amendment Act, 2019. This Bill enacts a commitment made in Budget 2019 that provides $3 billion from gaming funds to First Nations communities over the next 25 years. I spoke to Bill 36 and support this initiative. We know how restrictive program...
This past weekend, we watched a couple of episodes of the Netflix series called The Hunt. The series is a powerful mix of beautiful imagery, David Attenborough’s eloquent narration and examples of the complex relationships in nature. The series explores the interconnectivity of predators and prey that makes up the intricate biodiversity on Planet...
A long while ago, I was given some important advice. It’s taken some time for me to deploy it. “I work hard,” I said defensively. “It’s not just about working hard Adam, it’s about working smart!” At the time, I had little idea how I could work “smarter.” Like the other people around me, I was doing the best I could. I was the Interim-Leader of...
We learned last weekend that the Federal Liberal Party is committing in their campaign platform to phase out open-net fish farms on the British Columbia coast. That is the good news!As a Member of the British Columbia Legislature, I have dedicated a tremendous amount of energy and time advancing wild salmon policy.From disease to sea lice, fish...
Remember when the Galiano Island community’s proposal to upgrade their school playground was through a BCAA competition?In the past twenty years, due to chronic underfunding of public education, hundreds of other school playgrounds in British Columbia have been upgraded and built through the volunteer fundraising of Parent Advisory Committees...
I was at a candidate meeting in Saanich-Gulf Islands on Wednesday night and I heard the New Democrat candidate Sabina Singh repeat several times that they are committed to end all subsidies of fossil fuels. After a quick fact check, I found that this is indeed the latest position of the NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. Their ever-evolving policy on...