I get a lot of questions as your MLA and some of the most challenging have been on the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). In recent weeks we have received a high volume of letters to our office about two ALR issues: the Creating Homefulness Society on Woodwynn Farm, and a proposed cannabis production facility at Stanhope Farm. These are two very...
My colleague Andrew Weaver asked the government about the objective of the housing policy announced in Budget 2018. He did not receive a clear answer. I continued to press government through Finance Minister, Hon. Carole James, on the objective of her budget. Is the goal to stabilize demand, bring down the curve of...
We need a plan! The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife of Canada has recently initiated a seldom used fast track process and concluded that the Thompson and Chilcoten Steelhead trout are at imminent risk of extinction. I asked the Minister of Forest, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural...
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQuOp_eyUbg[/embedyt] Friday, February 16, 2018 The Public Circle LIVE! is a weekly live broadcast by Adam Olsen from the Saanich North and the Islands Constituency Office in Sidney, BC. Adam discusses various issues in British Columbia politics and the riding of Saanich North and the Islands, and...
Throne Speech 2018: We are ready! Today I responded to Throne Speech 2018. I am happy with the direction our government is taking. I support the approach. Despite the speech being light on details, I outlined several opportunities in Saanich North and the Islands where we can work with government on many of the...
Making smiles on the Saanich Peninsula The Oral Care for Children and Adolescents Dental Clinic Society (ORCCA) helps children who do not have dental insurance or whose parents cannot afford dental care. In short, they do great work out of an annex at Sidney Elementary. Today, I not only celebrate ORCCA but also what...
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbSvzmE0Mqg[/embedyt] Friday, February 9, 2018 The Public Circle LIVE! is a weekly live broadcast by Adam Olsen from the Saanich North and the Islands Constituency Office in Sidney, BC. Adam discusses various issues in British Columbia politics and the riding of Saanich North and the Islands, and...
Introducing The Public Circle LIVE! The Public Circle LIVE! is a weekly broadcast (every Friday @ 4:30pm on Facebook) from my constituency office in Sidney, BC. Throughout the Fall of 2017, we established The Public Circle. Our goal was to increase public engagement and participation in provincial politics. In our ongoing series of Community...
On Wednesday, January 24, 2018, we had the honour of hosting Hon. Adrian Dix (Minister of Health) to a Town Hall in Sidney. Health and wellbeing is a priority topic in Saanich North and the Islands and across British Columbia. In January, our community outreach program called The Public Circle, hosted two meetings with health professionals and...
Sonia and I have been trying to visit the fish farms in the ‘Namgis territory since early November. The Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw first nations have been publicly opposed to open net fish farms for the past 30 years. Recently, their fight has become very public. Broken promises and betrayal... We travelled into the territory to tour the fish farm...
Check out the January 2018 email newsletter HERE!
I am on the Public Accounts Committee. In January, we are meeting four times to review and receive the backlog of reports from the Auditor General. "It is in committee that we find common ground." Committee work is some of the most rewarding work in the Legislature. The political divisions diminish and nine MLA's focus on the task at hand. It is...
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkGmOYcFKQg[/embedyt] [Correction! The Jan.24/18 event with Hon. Adrian Dix starts at 6:30pm and doors open at 6:00pm] This morning we hosted an excellent public discussion about health and wellbeing in Saanich North and the Islands. During the month of January we are doing extensive consultations about...
Since my election last May, many of our meetings in the constituency office have been about health and well being. Several important issues have been raised from people and organizations delivering health services in our riding as well as from people who wanted to share their personal experiences with our health system. We quickly realized we...
Housing is out of reach! There is no question, housing remains a top issue in our riding and across British Columbia. Housing continues to be a primary focus for me and my BC Green caucus colleagues, Sonia Furstenau and Andrew Weaver. We demanded urgent action on the housing crisis repeatedly throughout the fall session of the Legislature,...
In the months following the election I have had many meetings about health and wellbeing. We have met with both health service providers and citizens. With so much of the provincial budget dedicated to healthcare, it is important the system is working effectively and that waste is minimal. So, in January we have focussed our community outreach...
The Confidence and Supply Agreement between the BC Greens and BC NDP committed government to take bold action in changing the relationship with Indigenous people. Each member of Cabinet is mandated to deliver on this commitment. As a result, every Minister will be evaluated by how effective they are. It is a measure of success and failure. It is...
This one is for 2018! At the beginning of a new year we can reflect on what we accomplished in the year past, learn the mistakes we made and improve on what we did well. In politics, especially in the opposition, it is easy to get caught up in negativity. I am resolved to be positive and always seek ways to improve as a community advocate and...
Happy New Year In celebration of 2017, here are the top five most shared posts on my website last year. I look forward to continuing to build on our success in 2018. 1. Malahat LNG cancelled! In August 2015, Steelhead LNG and Malahat Nation announced a partnership to explore a proposal to build a 6 million tonne gas liquefaction plant in the...
B.C. GREEN CAUCUS For immediate release December 18th, 2017 B.C. Green caucus responds to the end of the grizzly bear hunt VICTORIA, B.C. - “After years of work on this file, my colleagues and I are absolutely overjoyed this decision has finally been made. The results of the government’s consultation were clear and government has listened – we...
B.C. GREEN CAUCUS For immediate release December 14, 2017 B.C. Green Caucus respond to Ajax mine decision VICTORIA, B.C. - Today the B.C. Green Caucus responded to the news that the B.C. Government decided not to issue an environmental assessment certificate to the KGHM Ajax Mining Project. “We are happy that government is following the...
Check out the December 2017 email newsletter. [pdf-embedder url="http://adamolsen.bcgreencaucus.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/12/⭐-Adam-Olsen-Community-Newsletter-December-2017.pdf" title="⭐ Adam Olsen - Community Newsletter - December 2017"]
A large part of why I love working in governance is the wide variety of "stuff" that happens day-to-day and week-to-week. This job is an emotional roller-coaster. Decisions like the government made this week on Site C are highly charged. They deeply impact people, and they are not to be made lightly. In fact, nothing we do is inconsequential....
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz71ZBya8Y8[/embedyt] The British Columbia government has decided to proceed with building Site C. This has been a controversial project right from the start and after sleeping on it, here is my response to the decision. Transcript I have heard the tremendous outpouring of emotion regarding the...
B.C. GREEN CAUCUS For immediate release December 11th, 2017 Andrew Weaver responds to Government’s decision to continue with Site C VICTORIA, B.C. - Today Andrew Weaver responded to the NDP government’s decision to proceed with the construction of Site C. “Our caucus is extremely disheartened by this decision. It is fiscally reckless to continue...
Check out the winter print newsletter from the Saanich North and the Islands constituency office. [pdf-embedder url="http://adamolsen.bcgreencaucus.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/12/AdamOlsen-WinterNewsletter20171.pdf" title="AdamOlsen-WinterNewsletter2017(1)"]