With housing costs soaring in British Columbia the BC NDP's market driven for-profit affordable housing is not working. Affordable housing is out of reach for many British Columbians. The BC NDP flagship housing program is called the Housing Hub, it invests $2 billion worth of public money in market rental...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for March 5th, 2022! With a half dozen Bills tabled and awaiting debate, the BC NDP continued Second Reading debate on Budget 2022 for most of the fourth week of this Spring session. I delivered my budget response speech (see link below) on Tuesday. On Thursday morning Hon. Selina Robinson,...
We learned this morning that Coastal Gas Link (CGL) and Trans Mountain Pipelines have purchased steel pipe manufactured by Envraz PLC, a company owned, chaired and run by Russian oligarchs. It is an important question and in the my delivery of my supplemental I unfortunately missed the main point, thinking and talking...
In my response to Budget 2022 I cover a variety of issues that are concerning me with the erosion of democracy in our British Columbia Legislative Assembly. I highlighted several aspects of Budget 2022 including climate action, reconciliation, housing, affordability, primary health care, and equity. [Transcript] I'll...
In Budget 2022, the BC NDP government invested $12 million over 3 years to create the long-awaited Declaration Act Secretariat to better organize the provincial reconciliation efforts. That budget though will just cover the salaries and administration of the office. We know that government funds its priorities and so...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for February 25, 2022! It was budget week in British Columbia. It takes some time to digest the hundreds of pages put on the table by the Ministry of Finance. Understanding the budget evolves over weeks as Members of the opposition, special interest groups and researchers dig into the material. I...
The BC NDP were reluctant to populate the Select Standing Committees that are a requirement in the Standing Orders of the legislative assembly. Committees are a critical component of building consensus across partisan lines and to include the public in our work in the legislature. It is not appropriate for the BC NDP...
I continued my questions to the Minister of Children and Family Development asking why she continues to ignore families who want the government to maintain individual supports while investing $25 million this year in building a hub system that has failed in Ontario instead of investing it directly in the families in...
Over the last few sessions it has been increasingly apparent that the BC NDP government is serving their own partisan interests rather than the people we all represent! 150 years ago the colonial government of British Columbia tried to join Canada without a responsible government. The Canadian government wouldn't...
Will the province protect threatened species like the old growth specklebelly lichen? Well, it does not appear the BC NDP have any clear plans to protect endangered species. A couple of years ago Hon. George Heyman abandoned an initiative to develop biodiversity legislation, and if the response from the Minister of...
Each year the provincial government tables a Bill to adjust parks and protected areas in British Columbia. Mostly the Bill makes minor adjustments to boundaries, adding new lands, and makes name changes official. Unfortunately, this edition of the Bill does not add any new Indigenous names to protected areas and in my...
I had the opportunity to respond to the 2022 Speech from the Throne. The Throne Speech is an important part of our democratic process. It is the opportunity for the government to outline its vision, goals and direction for the province. When the government decides to instead use the opportunity to re-hash their list...
Hundreds of thousands of British Columbians do not have a family doctor. Despite the BC NDP working on this issue for the past five years with little success, there is a potential for big-tech to entirely disrupt our universal primary health care system. I continued the BC Green Caucus line of questioning asking...
The Minister of Health knows that solving the family doctor crisis is a priority of my constituents. With more than 800,000 British Columbians, 15,000 in my riding, we are now seeing growing inequity in access to a family doctor and comprehensive primary health care. I asked Minister Adrian Dix whether he believes in...
Last summer during the peak of the heat dome Lytton, BC registered the highest temperatures ever recorded in Canada, 49.6C (121.3F). Just a day later the entire town burned to the ground. Lytton residents want to move home and eight months later and the provincial government is still struggling to get the recovery...
I rose to share a two minute statement marking the 170th anniversary of the Douglas Treaties in the W̱SÁNEĆ territory. [Transcript] This February 14 marks the 170th anniversary of the agreement between the first British Columbia governor, James Douglas, and my ancestors, the SIÁM of the W̱SÁNEĆ people. Some history...
On behalf of the BC Green Caucus I rose to pay tribute to late-Hereditary Chief Delgamuukw. [Transcript] HÍSW̱ḴE SIÁM , Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Minister of State for his comments and also the member for Vancouver-Langara for his comments as well. Today I stand to pay tribute and...
During the Fall 2021 session of the British Columbia legislature substantial concerns were raised by Members of the opposition, media, and the public about amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. There were many issues raised, the most contentious being a proposed new application fee...
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...
We have seen a troubling erosion of democracy under the BC NDP. My colleague Sonia Furstenau and I have raised our concerns several times. It feels like the government has a disregard for the democratic process. In the Spring sittings, we have seen less time provided for debate on Budget Estimates, the line-by-line...
Despite promises to embrace a new journey of reconciliation with Indigenous Nations in British Columbia, the provincial BC NDP government continue to act like a 19th century resource colony. In order to preserve Crown and corporate interests, the BC NDP government maintain a policy that utilizes Court injunctions to...
It appears that Hon. Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation believes the long-standing conflict over the Coastal GasLink pipeline currently being built in the Wet'suwet'en territory, is the result of "tension and division" among the Wet'suwet'en people. Let's be clear, the fully-armed RCMP...
This Fall sitting of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly Minister of Forests, Hon. Katrine Conroy, has tabled more than 150 pages of amendments to forestry policy. We have long awaited changes to forestry policy, however, tabling these Bills with only a few days to debate them is disrespectful to our democratic...
For weeks now Minister of Children and Family Development (MCFD), Hon. Mitzi Dean, has been defending her decision to change the funding model for children with autism and other neurodiverse conditions. I have asked her a few questions on this issue (here and here) and raised it again in the context of Indigenous...
The Official Opposition requested a Standing Order 35 emergency debate on the response to the severe weather events that have hit British Columbia in 2021. Both Sonia Furstenau and I stood to speak at this opportunity to address the significant impacts of climate change related extreme weather events. [Transcript] I...
During introductions I took the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate 15 years of marriage with Emily Olsen. [Transcript] Mr. Speaker, today I want to just pause and acknowledge that it's our 15th anniversary. Emily and I were married 15 years ago today, for the second time. That was because in August of the same...