In February 2021, I published a blog post celebrating the British Columbia coastline. It was a response to former Premier John Horgan’s editorial proclaiming that a “made-in-BC shipbuilding strategy” was on its way. There was nobody in a better position to make it happen. I wrote, “if this is the plan, let me know how I can help.” Four years...
Introduction There is a story about an emperor who proudly walked unclothed through town in front of his subjects. To me it is a story about exposure, pride, vanity, arrogance, and truth-telling. The emperor was conned into believing weavers could produce magical clothing that is invisible to the foolish. When the emperor is “dressed” in his new...
The exchange with Municipal Affairs Minister Anne Kang is mind-boggling. She had no good answer to how Premier David Eby's housing plans were going to impact communities and no idea if the Islands Trust was included or impacted in any way. Minister Kang encouraged me to go and talk to the Housing Minister. Why then do...
In April the federal government granted conditional approval of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 port expansion. In order to proceed, the controversial proposal must be approved by the British Columbia provincial government. The provincial Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) is accepting public comments until June 8, 2023. Despite potentially...
For months, my colleagues in the BC Green Caucus and I have been discussing artificial intelligence (AI). The AI industry has the power to impact personal privacy and fundamentally change our society and economy. How? That's a problem. We currently have no idea of the extent of the impact. Also, consider that the threats and opportunities today...
When the COVID-19 pandemic began three years ago, it drew the inequalities of our world into the daylight. Disproportionately, it was racialized workers who became ill and died, because they were more likely to work in low-paid jobs deemed essential when everyone else was told to stay home. Gender inequalities in the...
Last Tuesday, I spoke to Bill 13, the Pay Transparency Act. While this Bill makes moderate steps forward, pay transparency alone does little to change the discrimination women and other marginalized people face at work. What we need in BC is pay equity. The cost of not addressing pay inequity is borne by women. They...
On Wednesday, I introduced private member’s Bill M218, the North-Island Coast Development Initiative Trust Amendment Act. If passed, this Bill would get rid of the $60-million cap on funding for development trusts, and allow the government to provide the North Island Coast Development Initiative Trust the $150 million...
It appears the BC NDP are prepared to abandon rural Vancouver Island and coastal communities. Despite spending more than $2.5 billion of so-called surplus money from Budget 2022 on provincial priorities (which I supported), it is unfathomable that the BC NDP has chosen to not re-capitalize the Island Coastal Economic...
Currently, the only regional economic development tool available to rural communities to financially support their local priorities is the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICE-T). As it stands, in the coming months the doors will be closed, and the lights will be off. It is inexplicable. All but two of the ridings in the region are represented by...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for week five of the 2023 Spring legislative sitting for March 6 - March 10, 2023. The pace of the legislative work began to pick up in the final week before the two-week Spring Break. The BC NDP finally started to put legislation on the agenda to be debated when we return at the end of March....
Simply, Budget 2023 feels more like an update to Budget 2022 than the transformative legacy that Premier David Eby could have delivered. Along with the multi-billion dollar surplus that the BC NDP government is rushing to spend by the end of this fiscal year, and the new budget starting on April 1st, Premier Eby had a...
The BC NDP continues to furiously spend the multi-billion dollar surplus before March 31st. In supplementary budget estimates I had a few minutes to ask questions about the decision of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to distribute $1 billion to the Growing Communities Fund to support the priorities of the188 local...
I followed my question on Tuesday, with another on the topic of re-capitalizing the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICE-T). In her response to my initial question, Minister of Economic Development, Hon. Brenda Bailey pointed to the $33 million REDIP (Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program) as an...
As I write this, world leaders gather in Montreal for the next two weeks for COP15, the United Nations summit on biodiversity. They are discussing our fractured relationship with the natural environment. For my colleague, Sonia Furstenau (MLA, Cowichan Valley) and I in the BC Green Caucus, biodiversity has been a key issue since we signed the...
The Coastal GasLink pipeline controversy continues as the BC NDP allow the company to drill and blast under the Wedzin Kwa (also known as the Morice River) while it is full of spawning salmon. The company faces a host of compliance issues with environmental regulations, meanwhile the Minister of Environment and...
As the BC NDP government attempts to move into the post-pandemic world, the scars from our global fight against this vicious virus have been revealed. The pandemic has exposed divisions in our society and as I prepare for the Spring 2022 session of the BC Legislative Assembly, a major focus will be the coming budget. At the beginning of the...
Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, Hon. Murray Rankin, recently published a column about his commitment to protecting old growth. He opens by acknowledging the need to protect biodiversity as our duty to future generations. Minister Rankin claims that protecting old growth has been a priority of the BC NDP “since day one”. The...
Since 2017 the BC Green Caucus have been pressing the BC NDP to take action to protect the grandest, high productivity old-growth forests in our province. Unfortunately, the talking points from the new Minister are the same as the talking points from the last Minister responsible for our forests. Both have routinely...
Vaughn Palmer recently wrote an editorial highlighting the challenges the provincial government is having with delivering its $300 million support program for small-medium businesses. Palmer highlights the significant inconsistencies in the messages coming from the government, specifically what Premier John Horgan is saying the problem is and...
I am excited that Premier John Horgan is leaning into the shipbuilding sector. Why shouldn’t British Columbia be a world leader in the maritime industries? The federal government must decide who is going to build Canada’s next ultramodern polar Icebreaker. Seaspan had won the contract through a competitive process to build the vessel in British...
In the rotunda of the British Columbia Legislature there are four murals representing British Columbia's "founding" industries - agriculture, fishing, forestry and mining. While there remains good opportunity in agriculture and mining, the fishing and forestry sectors have been in a state of decline for decades as a result of horrendous resource...
In September the BC NDP announced a $300 million program to support small businesses in British Columbia survive the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been eight months since the public health and economic crisis began. Small business owners continue to contact me to tell me that the provincial government has been slow to...
During Premier John Horgan's December 15, 2020 media availability Les Leyne from the Times Colonist asked about the rural designation issue impacting the Southern Gulf Islands and Salt Spring Island communities in my riding. I asked new Minister Ravi Kahlon about this situation in question period last week. (Read Leyne's comprehensive opinion...
My work in budget estimates wrapped up with questions to Hon. Carole James (Minister of Finance).My B.C. Green Caucus colleague Sonia Furstenau canvassed issues relating to COVID-19. In the time I had allotted to me I asked about the decision to delay the 2020 scheduled increase of the carbon tax and if September 30th is still the target date...
The overall health of the Site C project has been classified as "red," facing serious cost overruns and schedule delays. Site C is proving to be a colossal waste of money, and we can't afford to just keep digging when we don't know how deep the hole will go. Today I asked the Minister of Energy,...