Earlier this week I shared a secret with the readers of my blog. For more than twenty years, I was a smoker. For most of the last decade, I smoked exclusively in the dark shadows of my property and rarely did I smoke when I was away from my home base.It's been a year since I walked away from that addiction. I literally walked away from nearly a...
Today is our thirteenth anniversary. Congratulations to me (and Emily)! We are doing so well and even have two great kids who are the product of our work. We are proud at the fact that they are often recognized as the best kids in the world ????. Thirteen years is an accomplishment but today we are celebrating another anniversary, another...
This summer has been a particularly difficult one for people who rely on the BC Ferries. For people who just need a ferry to get home, or to a long-anticipated medical appointment, or work, or an endless number of other reasons, the excuses about a complex governance structure created by one government and maintained by another government, are...
Today is an unusual day. Each day since December 9th I've published something. I know he read each one. Often times he would drop in and leave a little note of encouragement. No longer. So, today in honour of our friendship, his dedication and support for me and the work we accomplished together, my pen will be silent. Bill - much love to you,...
Last year, the provincial government announced $500,000 worth of grants to assist First Nations communities to track down and bring home ancestral remains, “artifacts” and other items from museums and collections from around the world. The program allocated up to $30,000 to more than 20 communities to begin the work of bringing these items of...
A friend recently recommended Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Podcast to me. Carroll doesn’t capture my imagination with all of his episodes; however, his conversation with Canadian/American author, filmmaker and educator Astra Taylor sure did.The episode is titled “The Promise and Challenge of Democracy” so it was right in my wheelhouse.I’ve yet to...
We used to help build each other’s barns. When a family was in need of help the community would come together for a good ol’ fashioned barn raising.The church basement once was the main home of community social services. The doors would be open wide to host soup kitchens or a shelter when our neighbours were in need of warmth in their bellies and...
The days are getting shorter. Each morning is darker for my walk. The daylight is giving way to dusk earlier each evening and the cool air quickly chills the summer heat as soon as the sun drops below the horizon. These are the signs that Autumn is just around the corner. My kids don’t think it’s as fun as I do to talk about the start of yet...
At times it feels like I’m surrounded by bad news: stories about what is wrong with the planet, how a decision ended poorly, how a service is broken, how someone has been wronged or how an expectation has been unmet. It’s the business I’m in I guess.Without balancing that with the good that is also always happening around us, it is easy to be...
In episode 20 of The Public Circle Podcast (and the final episode of the "first season”), I chat with Hunter Lastiwka.Hunter recently graduated from my alma mater Stelly's Secondary. He is an incredibly active young man on a variety of issues which impact him and his peers.I first met Hunter a few years ago. Following my election, he approached...
Coming out of the Spring session this past June, I was wholly dissatisfied with my overall health and well-being.There is no comparison to much of the state of my affairs throughout my thirties, however I could see three years' effort beginning to slip away.2016 was a turning point for me. It started with one of those brutally honest...
It’s really not an exceptional idea. I imagine that many of you reading this post might have cooked a healthy meal to a "Chill Mix" playlist last night. Like me, you may have sat deeply satisfied in your living room with smirked mirth on your face and in your heart. The garlic, ginger and onion juice still on my fingertips are the aromatic...
A little while back, I wrote about a singular memory I have of being surrounded by potted chrysanthemums at the door of a long-gone greenhouse on my families property in Brentwood Bay. It’s one of my earliest and most vivid memories, largely, because my grandpa Ernie is in it. It's the day he advised my parents to name their businesses after the...
Summer is a busy time of year in and around the Saanich Peninsula and the Southern Gulf Islands. I want to invite you to visit and explore the incredible communities that I have the honour of representing in the British Columbia Legislature.One of the most important and exciting parts of my job is to encourage and facilitate a greater sense of,...
We got some new concrete in front of our house recently. A hefty sidewalk. In the little section they added to connect our driveway she etched MO into it. It's going to be there for years to come. She, is Madison Olsen and she is my talented niece. Singer, musician and now songwriter, Maddie has always had a beautiful sound resonating from deep...
It’s one of those memories stamped in my mind. I'm seven or eight years old, lying in my bed and staring at the ceiling through tear-filled eyes. I was growing older. I didn’t want to get older and I really didn’t want my parents to get older either. It’s not clear to me now which thought was worse in my mind back then. My mom and dad took turns...
In the 19th episode of The Public Circle Podcast, I chat with Helen Davis. Helen is a Registered Professional Biologist and owns Artemis Wildlife Consultants. She has been a consultant for the past 27 years. We met at a conference for biologists earlier this year. I was a speaker on a panel about defining the public interest. She had heard of the...
Remember when fast food containers were made of styrofoam? Well those days are long gone and public awareness continues to grow with respect to the huge amount of single-use waste collecting in our landfills and recycling depots.In recent times special attention is focussing on the impact of plastic items that are finding their way into our...
Many of my summer days have been spent in a British Columbia Park. I loved the familiar sound rolling through the trees of the “Two-Wheelers” a ramshackle gang of pre-teens on bicycles thrown together by chance for a few days under the shade of a grove of Coastal Douglas fir, cedar, maple and arbutus. Manning Park was a family favourite, as was...
When Minister of Forests, Hon. Doug Donaldson announced that his Ministry was moving to protect 54 trees on the “Old-Growth Registry”, he made another announcement that is giving hope for the tens of thousands of people in British Columbia concerned about how our province is managing the last remaining old-growth forests. He has appointed Garry...
I was caught tonight. Vulnerable. We had just finished dinner. The four of us eat dinner together mostly every night. Just like when I was a kid, we always ate together. I was doing the dishes and my mind caught the familiar tune “Forever in Blue Jeans” as it floated by. Neil Diamond’s raspy voiced anthems were the soundtrack of my childhood. I...
There is a program in Alberta called P.A.C.E.One of my constituents from Salt Spring Island initially brought this program to my attention back before the 2017 provincial election. He continues to encourage me to advocate for a similar program in British Columbia. He's not alone in this endeavour.First, what is P.A.C.E. you might ask? It stands...
Eco-anxiety is an increasing social cost of climate change. A lot of people are feeling it these days. The Maclean's series on climate change is perhaps the most recent and comprehensive mainstream Canadian news coverage of the environmental crisis we are in. However, they are not the only publication covering it. There is a daily flow of...
In the 18th episode of The Public Circle Podcast I chat with David Smith. David is a fisherman and owner of Professional Components Ltd., located in the Sidney/North Saanich Industrial Park. His company makes Scoremaster soccer goals and Shockwave, shock-mitigating seats. He has been building things on the Saanich Peninsula since 1981. I toured...
There is no question that access to safe, affordable housing is a big challenge for many British Columbians. Addressing this issue continues to be a central focus of the provincial government and it’s not without controversy. It's an emotional issue because home is a central need for people to establish stability and security in their lives....
It's been a weird week in British Columbia politics. Early in the week, I was on Salt Spring Island to celebrate the ground turning for the much-needed Salt Spring Commons housing, this is the feature of my blog post tomorrow. Unfortunately, the forestry and fishery files I have been working on overshadow that positive story. There is irony in...