Earlier this month, my colleague Andrew Weaver asked Hon. Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, about orphan oil and gas wells in British Columbia. The Auditor General of British Columbia reviewed the situation in our province and reported that the number of orphan sites is dramatically increasing and the funds set...
I have had a steady flow of correspondence from my constituents on the Southern Gulf Islands. Indeed, road conditions continue to deteriorate on the islands and the provincial government has under-resourced the Ministry to address the situation. This is not a new problem. Hon. Claire Travena inherited a massive...
PrologueHeads up. This post is dense. It might be one of my densest yet. It takes me back to high school when I was working over a few "isms" like Marxism, capitalism and anarchism. Back to the days when the school administrators called to plead with my mother to get me to stop holding "anarchy sessions" in the smoking pit. I was the kid who...
Since my election in May 2017 it is crystal clear, people who live and work on the Saanich Peninsula want better public transit. They need better transit. This is an issue right across the Capital Region. It is a priority in addressing climate change, reducing congestion and prolonging the life of our aging...
Today is my little girl's birthday. Ella is seven. It is hard to believe really. When she and her brother Silas were still babies, people would remind us that "they grow up quickly" so we should "enjoy them while they are young!" It's true! It is incredible to watch these little people develop. Ella is a deep source of inspiration for me. Back in...
Following the recommendations of an expert panel the BC NDP government is updating the labour relations code. The B.C. Green Caucus appreciates the work of the panel and supports their recommendations.In my second reading debate, I highlight the B.C. Green Caucus effort to address the issue of the historical pendulum...
I remember my photography instructor in the Applied Communication Program stating with authority, "Garbage in, garbage out!"A poorly composed photo will never be anything more than a poorly composed photo. My cohort in the early 2000's was on the cusp of the change from film to digital processing. There was a perception that the new digital...
Earlier this week, I paused to celebrate the accomplishments on my three big issues over my first 24 months in provincial office. It's important to stop and acknowledge the distance travelled. However, it is equally important to be honest about how far we have to go.While navigating the logging roads out to the west coast, it's not possible to...
If you have been following these daily blog therapy sessions over the past few weeks then you may have noticed a creeping darkness here. The initial jovial meditations about morning walks, Pokemon and the useful insights of Seth Godin's podcast have made way for a slightly out-of-focus look at politics, power, philosophy and partisan policy of...
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnoZ0hEO6zg[/embedyt] For her birthday this year my wife Emily is hosting a film screening about a place that is very important to her. It's the home territory of our nephew, the Heiltsuk territory on the central coast of British Columbia. Raven People Rising is a documentary film about the Nathan...
Last weekend we spent a few days in Bamfield. The family weekend on the west coast was a gift from my mom and Tex.It was nice to see my kids, niece and nephews away from their screens and on the dock fishing for piling perch and rock crab. The devices have a way of devouring us these days much the same way as the docks at the Brentwood Inn or...
A few months ago, I wrote on the whiteboard in my office boardroom "big bears, big fish and big trees." Those words have been there ever since. They are three world-famous icons of British Columbia. In a previous post, I said that we are still acting like a resource colony. My critique of our decision-making process is that we have a culture in...
I had an interesting conversation with a couple of friends about the threat of digital intrusions. How far will you let the perception of convenience justify your personal vulnerability? Is it too much work to care about how corporations are using the data we trade for access to their latest time saving/consuming application or service? Does it...
In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast I connect with Dr. Ambrose Marsh. Dr. Marsh is a primary care physician in Sidney, B.C.He has worked on the Saanich Peninsula since 1985 and is the former Chief of Staff at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.There is a growing crisis in primary care in Saanich North and the Islands and across British...
I have received a few emails and phone calls into my office about Bill 16 and specifically the proposed name change at John Dean Provincial Park on the Saanich Peninsula. As has been widely reported, Bill 16, which is currently working its way through the legislative process, is a response to grade 3 students at the ȽÁU,WELṈEW̱ School. They...
The first ever Wild Salmon Day was held on the B.C. Legislature grounds yesterday. The event is a collaborative effort between the province and the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) to continue the work of raising the awareness of British Columbians about the critical importance of wild salmon to our province. Premier John Horgan and Minister of...
The BC NDP government is finally calling for a public inquiry into money laundering. Government announced the appointment of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Austin F. Cullen to lead the inquiry.Following two weeks of questions at the beginning of this session the B.C. Green Caucus called for an independent public inquiry.The superb investigative work...
A few weeks back I did a two-minute statement about the emergence of territorial acknowledgements over the past few years. The trailblazers have been identifying territory for a bit longer, but this is a new cultural tradition in the long history of our country and province.Frequently, someone will contact me seeking advice on how to do a...
There have been a lot of words about old-growth thrown around from the Minister of Forests recently. The sense I am getting from the flow of correspondence coming to me is that people are not buying the story he is trying to pitch.Here he is quoted from Hansard in response to me in Question Period."We're blessed with amazing forests in this...
The B.C. Green Caucus has been questioning Hon. Doug Donaldson on the continued logging of old-growth on Vancouver Island. 79% of the productive old-growth on Vancouver Island, including over 90% of the high productivity old-growth in valley bottoms, has already been logged. Only 8% of these forests have any...
The level of cognitive dissonance in the British Columbia legislature regarding global warming is astounding. There seems to be a complete disconnect between the scale of the problem and the response we need to muster to address the issue. It appears that most people within the the walls of the stone building on Belleville feel it is enough to...
Hey mom, this post is for you. Just you! As I get older Mother's Day has become a celebration of an increasingly large group of amazing and powerful people in my life. No doubt this is exciting and enriching, and they are special people for sure, they include the mother of my children and my sister's, but none of them are my mom. Only you can be...
Guest post by Emily Olsen A year ago this week, I shared a stage with two brave souls to talk about my mental health experience. Five months after that, I hosted a mental health storytelling event called the Connection Project. Three months after that, a documentary about the Connection Project was released on YouTube. This Sunday, Mother’s Day,...
My 12 year-old nephew plays in Pokemon tournaments. Last weekend Emily and I agreed that we would give him a ride to his next tournament because his parents were busy juggling the rest of life.On the way back from town, we got talking about his birthday. He will be thirteen this summer and it's an important milestone for him. He's clearly proud...
One of the exciting ways we are looking after each other on the Saanich Peninsula is the 1000x5 Children's Book Recycling Program.A few weeks ago, I attended Books for Breakfast. It's an event run by the volunteers of the non-profit organization and the benefits of their work were on full display. Emily and I are only a few years past caring for...
The BC NDP government continues to stubbornly defend clear-cutting high productivity old-growth forests. The defense that has been vocalized by the Minister of Forests is that he has a clear understanding of the value of old-growth for biodiversity, but he balances that with an understanding of the economic value of...