ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for week four of the 2023 Spring legislative sitting for February 27 - March 3, 2023. It was finally budget week in British Columbia. Like every budget before, the government immediately frames it as the best budget that has ever been written, elevating the items they want in the headlines. The...
I keep a pulse on the local business community through regular meetings with business leaders. At the end of British Columbia Chamber of Commerce Week in February, I invited the chambers in Saanich North and the Islands to a video call to hear how I can better advocate for them with the provincial government. Our riding is diverse, as are the...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for week two of the 2023 Spring legislative sitting for February 13-17, 2023. The second week of the Spring legislative sitting was a total mess! In this weekly update I highlight how the mismanagement of the legislative calendar and agenda had Minister’s proving to be woefully unprepared to do...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for week one of the 2023 Spring legislative sitting for February 6-10, 2023. In this edition of the newsletter, I will cover the work I did in the legislative chamber including tabling three private members’ bills (BILL M202 — Wildlife Amendment Act, 2023, BILL M203 — Correction Statutes Amendment...
I am a W̱SÁNEĆ person, living in the W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip) village. We have a familial relationship with the Southern Gulf Islands. For generations, my ancestors lived with, and belonged to, the ṮEṮÁĆES (relatives of the deep) in the W̱SÁNEĆ territory. The ṮEṮÁĆES Revitalization project is important work underway in the Gulf Island communities to...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Season’s Greetings and best wishes in 2023! In this final edition of the year, I take an extensive look back at my blog posts and highlight a handful of emerging themes. I am sure there are items missing from this year in review, however, I think you will get a sense of the volume of work ahead in Saanich North and the...
On Nov. 18, David Eby was sworn in as the 37th premier of British Columbia. The change comes following the resignation of John Horgan and the ensuing leadership event that raised many questions for MLAs and British Columbians alike. Frankly, this change in leadership disrupted a chaotic fall legislative session, one plagued by a mismanaged agenda...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for November 6, 2022! Another busy week in the BC Legislative Assembly is complete and now we begin two weeks in the constituency before returning for one final week of the Fall sitting. As the Assembly does not sit on weeks with statutory holidays, we were scheduled to be closed for next week so...
The Saanich Inlet is a special place. It has fed countless generations of my family it must be protected. I rose and spoke to the importance of this place to my family and to the thousands of people who live around the inlet. [Transcript] SAANICH INLET The environmental degradation of the Saanich Inlet is personal....
VESSEL MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION OPEN FOR PUBLIC FEEDBACK! For years the proliferation of deep-sea vessels using the Southern Gulf Islands as a parking lot has caused environmental and social challenges. We have heard stories of environmental degradation, excessive noise, light and greenhouse gas emissions negatively impacting the Salish Sea. For...
In October 2021, the provincial government struck an Electoral Boundaries Commission to review electoral district boundaries and make recommendations with the goal of ensuring that the weight of all British Columbians vote is equal. Among the boundary realignments the Commission proposed adding six new electoral districts, expanding the...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for October 23, 2022! With the 2022 local government and school district elections in the books, I want to raise my hands in gratitude to all our friends, family and neighbours who courageously put their names on the ballot for our consideration. Congratulations to all the newly elected and...
UPDATE – November 4, 2022 My colleague Sonia Furstenau (MLA, Cowichan Valley) and I met with Minister of Environment and Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) officials on November 3, 2022 for an update. We learned that a request has been made for an Environmental Assessment of the Bamberton Quarry project and the EAO...
In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast, I connect with Jonathan Morris, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association, B.C. Chapter. He has worked in the sector for the past two decades and we start our conversation discussing how he got started and what he and the CMHA is doing today. We cover a variety of relevant topics including, • The...
Joint commentary: BC Green leader Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley and Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands Last week, the provincial government released a report on “prolific offenders” – a small group of people who are responsible for a disproportionate amount of neighbourhood crime. The increase in prolific offenses speaks...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my update for July 2022! With the Spring session now adjourned my focus returns to the constituency. It’s not that the community work stops while I am in a legislative session but my attention is certainly divided. While I am in session I rely heavily on my incredible team of constituent advocates in my community...
Have you ever considered running for public office? If not on the ballot, have you wondered how you can help someone who is running? The decisions at the local government table create the form and character of our neighbourhoods and communities. They are potentially the most impactful on our quality of life and that is why it is so important for...
In August, the province approved a ministerial order to ban new applications for private moorage in the southern gulf islands and southeastern shoreline of Vancouver Island. The order is effective from August 24, 2021 – August 23, 2023. In September, I met with Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Hon. Nathan Cullen, to...
By Adam Olsen and Sonia Furstenau In the four years that we have been Members of the Legislative Assembly, hundreds of British Columbians have reached out to talk about crown/settler-Indigenous relationships. What we have heard consistently in these conversations is that people are frustrated that they have not been taught about the true history...
In Question Period I raised concerns about BC Housing's process for announcing and engaging the community for their proposed supportive housing project at Prosser Road in Central Saanich. Instead of accepting the community engagement process has been lacking, the Minister responsible for housing instead tried to...
All governments have a responsibility to support each other in the collective effort to build welcoming, diverse and inclusive communities. Communications is critically important. Bad communications that lacks information can often turn a difficult situation into an impossible one. I address this in this statement....
2020 was a year of monumental disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic played one part. The profound impacts of the deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota, Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto and Chantel Moore in New Brunswick, in addition to allegations of racist “games” in the British Columbia healthcare system, shook our business-as-usual public...
Special Online Event "Inside and Out" Two perspectives for protecting the natural environment of the Saanich Peninsula A special online evening with Ian Bruce and Bob Peart Hosted by Adam Olsen, MLA Tuesday April 20, 2021 7:00pm RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/rsvp-saanichenvironment Event hosted by the Saanich North and the Islands BC Green Party...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome Spring! Welcome light! Welcome PEXSISEṈ. The third moon of the W̱SÁNEĆ calendar, PEXSISEṈ is the moon of the opening hands. Intrigued? Learn more here. In December, the new BC NDP government opened the first session of the 42nd Parliament with a Throne Speech and eight days of debate on two finance bills, one that...
Special Online Event "Salmon Talk/People Listen" A special online evening with Alexandra Morton Hosted by Adam Olsen, MLA Tuesday March 23, 2021 7:00pm RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/Morton-Salmon Download event poster. Please share widely! Event hosted by the Saanich North and the Islands BC Green Party Riding Association (SAN-RA). The Voices of...