Earlier this summer, I wrote about forestry and watershed protection. It was inspired by a visit to the Comox Valley and a number of meetings with concerned citizens and community organizers about the impact of resource harvesting on the drinking water for all the people living in the valley.I pointed to how costly it is likely going to be should...
Thousands of people have contacted my constituency office expressing their deep concern about forestry policy and practices in British Columbia.The messages are either generated from a third party service delivering a form email or they are just independent responses to the daily news and social media posts.Recently I received a nice note from...
There has been a lot of chatter in the public about the collapsing British Columbia forestry industry. In every community I visited this summer, forestry issues were central to the concerns of the people I met with. Many people had worked a full career in the forests and they had very little positive to say about the state of the industry and the...
Last weekend I visited Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops on a whirlwind three day trip that ended with a tour of the Kamloops Fire Centre. While in Kamloops I had a BBQ with the local BC Green riding association. I took the opportunity to provide an update on our work in the Legislature and had the opportunity to meet Alan Forseth. Alan has been...
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...
A reader's suggestion for a future blog topic was to highlight how climate change is impacting the Saanich Peninsula and the Gulf Islands. The name of this geography, including the ocean in between, is W̱SÁNEĆ. This is the setting of many of my stories.As the request settled into the back of my mind, mixing and churning over, I began paying...
Tension is growing in the forests across British Columbia so I thought it was appropriate to reflect on my work in the Spring session of the legislature standing up for our most treasured ancient creatures. Fresh images of devastating clearcuts hacked from the valley walls of Schmidt Creek, Naka Creek, Tessium Creek and Upper Tsitika Watersheds...
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...
The BC Green Caucus is committed to changing the current BC NDP approach to managing old-growth forests. These ancient creatures are the largest and oldest on earth. They are a non-renewable resource and while the Minister of Forests claims that his Ministry is developing a management plan they continue to auction of...
On Thursday we finally had the second reading debate for Bill 16, Protected Areas of British Columbia Amendment Act (2019). Each year there is an amendment Bill similar to this one, where government will open up the legislation to make adjustments to park boundaries.In this instance, there are a handful of parks that...
[UPDATE] I have received a response from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. BC Housing has entered into a lease agreement with a local farmer to harvest hay. The lease has a strong covenant to comply with environmental laws and a related indemnity not to use or permit to be used any harmful or hazardous...
It is not very often that Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) will stand and continue the debate on a Bill at 3rd reading. It's as unusual for MLA's to vote 14 times on a Bill. By 3rd reading most of the substantive work is done. There is a considerable amount of opportunity to debate legislation at 2nd reading....
Why do we close doors that are better left open?This question came up in a recent coffee chat with a friend who works at an environmental non-government organization (ENGO). The question was why ENGO's limit their advocacy to only certain political parties? (So much fodder for future posts!)Individuals also do this. We are intensely tribal. We...
BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver called for an emergency debate in the BC Legislature to respond to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations (http://www.ipcc.ch/) "on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global...
Following significant discussion with my BC Green Caucus colleague Andrew Weaver, and our legislative staff, we have decided to intervene in the latest effort of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline. All this, without following through on his promise to ensure the project would be considered by a new National Energy...
I am relieved that the Federal Court of Appeal has quashed the Justin Trudeau Liberal government’s approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project. As an individual intervenor in the National Energy Board review of the proposal, I have been an outspoken critic of their process for the past four years. It was a terribly flawed process on...
Climate action starts with setting goals and accountability measures. British Columbia was a leader in climate action. Former Premier Christy Clark decided not continue the work of her predecessor Gordon Campbell. We have a responsibility to future generations to do our absolute best to make decisions today on their...
Indigenous place names have marked and identified important locations throughout British Columbia for countless generations. Following contact and settlement of European people new names were added and signs were erected. Bill 19 expands parkland and begins to reattach Indigenous place names to those important places....
Protecting our coastline I responded to a Private Members' Motion that was originally put forward by MLA Dan Davies (Peace River North). As Mr. Davies is away, MLA Peter Milobar (Kamloops-North Thompson) put the motion on the floor. The motion is as follows... Be it resolved that this House urge the Government of B.C....
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...