I continue to be very disappointed with the approach of the Ministry of Agriculture on the fish farms file. This past summer the Minister announced that the province has a new approach to open-net fish farms. The two new policy ideas were that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had to prove that new farms would not threaten wild salmon,...
Today the Rental Housing Task Force that I sit on with Spencer Chandra-Herbert and Ronna-Rae Leonard announced that we are recommending to Minister Selina Robinson that government change the rent increase formula from the current inflation + 2% to inflation only. Balance and fairness... Criticism came quickly when the government announced earlier...
I have heard of the challenges that Indigenous communities face in repatriating ancestral remains and items of cultural significance to their communities. The cost is immense financially but also in terms of physical and psychological stress as a result of trying to bring these important items home. For many who begin this work it continues for...
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L104FT-5wdo[/embedyt] This past Saturday we launched our proportional representation campaign. I am encouraging all British Columbians to vote in favour of changing our electoral system to a more fair, proportional system. Before I was elected I thought that banning big money was the single most important...
Reflecting on the fallout of the removal of the John A. Macdonald statue from the steps of Victoria City Hall, I was reminded of a comment made to me by my incredibly insightful, historian mother that the complex relationships with Indigenous people in Canada has evolved over more than 150 years and that reconciliation is not going to happen...
With every passing day, and each new generation of British Columbians, the power of the wild Pacific salmon is quietly diminishing. Our shifting baseline of what is normal for wild salmon returning to our rivers is slipping from millions to thousands, thousands to hundreds, hundreds to dozens. The future of these economically important,...
Giant, old trees really capture people's attention. Some of the most intense political action in British Columbia's history has been fuelled by the desire to protect old growth and big, majestic trees. Despite having little depth on this history, the memories of Meares and Moresby Islands are part of my DNA. Forestry practices in British Columbia...
I listen to a lot of podcasts in recent weeks. One such production is PolitiCoast. Ian Bushfield and Scott de Lange Boom are just five episodes from 100. They talk a lot of B.C. politics, and it is an honour to be one of their many guests. Wild salmon have been the focal issue of my legislative work since I was elected. It caught the attention of...
Needless to say, I am very frustrated with the B.C. NDP's decision to allow the open net-pen fish farms to continue in wild salmon migratory routes. This decision is problematic on many levels. Kicking cans... First, the province is kicking the can down the road for another four years. This threatens another full life-cycle of wild salmon. And,...
Fragmented wild salmon policy Wild salmon policy at the provincial level is fragmented. Multiple ministries make decisions that affect the wild Pacific salmon. But, there is no one body that has wild salmon at the centre of their decisions. Both the federal and provincial governments have been perpetually studying, reporting and recommending....
A bridge crossing the Saanich Inlet connecting the peninsula and the Cowichan Valley has long been mused. It surfaces every decade or so, usually after the Malahat is closed by an accident and people are frustrated by gridlock. With increasing congestion on the Malahat and in Langford and Saanich, and the growth of southern Vancouver Island...
There have long been discussions about better connecting the Capital Region and Cowichan Valley Regional District by building a bridge across the Saanich Inlet. There is no doubt that we need better connectivity on Southern Vancouver Island but a bridge is not the solution. Not only will it cost billions of dollars to...
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvaFDq2e5U[/embedyt] Episode 015 - The Public Circle LIVE! Friday, May 25, 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...
This week the BC Green Caucus has been celebrating and highlighting business in BC. Technology, innovation, education, investment in post-secondary skills training have all been front and centre. Entrepreneurs work hard and shoulder tremendous risk to realize their ideas. In many cases they put their staff and...
Looking for a salmon champion! Now is the time to appoint a champion for wild salmon. The crises facing BC’s wild salmon populations, while dire, provide opportunity for action: stakeholders, First Nations, the public and the commercial sector are aligned and eager for provincial leadership on this file...
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...
The government has committed to funding 40% of the Metro Vancouver Mayors' 10-year transportation plan. Investments in transit and alternative transportation options to the single-occupant vehicle are greatly needed in the lower mainland, capital region and other areas in the province. We could be doing much better...
The Camosun Innovates program receives “Technology Access Centre” grant (or TAC grant) funding from the federal government as part of the of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s “College and Community Innovation” program. In 2017, it was one of the only BC institutions to win a CCI grant award....
With the framework for legalizing the recreational use of cannabis moving through the legislature, the provincial government must legislate how it will be distributed. Bill 31 creates the distribution rules for recreational cannabis. Leveraging the well-established liquor distribution system, the province, will at...
The Government of Canada is legalizing cannabis. The provincial government must now develop a framework for the legal recreational consumption of cannabis. Bill 30 is the legislation to control and license the newly legalized industry in British Columbia. Critics on both sides have pushed on this legislation. It has...
I tell salmon stories often. I am a Brentwood kid who grew up on the water; just one in a long line to fish the Salish Sea. We come by it honestly, descendants of the Coast Salish reef-netters, the Pacific salmon are part of our family. So many of us who live in Saanich North and the Islands have fished these waters. Salmon are a vitally...
Bill 23 creates residential rental tenure zoning. The initiative is perhaps the first of its kind provides local governments a tool to ensure important rental housing assets remain rental housing and that town councils can identify areas to zone future rental housing. The Bill amends the Local Government Act and the...
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....
With the legalization of cannabis coming later this summer, the federal government has but the provincial government's under considerable strain to ensure that our laws are consistent. Unfortunately, much of the federal framework is still unknown greater an even bigger problem for the province's. Ending drugged...
The BC Greens campaigned on evidence-based decision-making. We have often criticized government for making a political decision, or decisions that benefit a donor. Bill 18 is mandating local governments to complete and publish a housing needs assessment every five years. The goal of this legislation is to collect data...
The quota system implemented by the federal government has essentially privatized a public natural resource. The result has been that large corporations have purchased the quotas consolidating them and making it harder for owner operators and smaller operations to compete. Since moving in this direction there are far...