Baynes Sound produces half of all BC shellfish. It is an important site for the K’omoks First Nation and is federally designated as a Biologically & Ecologically Sensitive Area. Despite this, the province has allowed ship breaking - one of the most hazardous industries in the world - to occur on its shores. Ship...
The BC NDP have repeatedly promised to protect old growth forests & meaningfully engage with First Nations. They promised a paradigm shift & a deferral on all at-risk old growth. Yet, old growth within this deferral area is actively being logged on Kwakiutl territory. These culturally significant &...
Earlier this week, Premier David Eby stood in front of a million-dollar townhouse to announce his new affordability plan, "Homes for People". Today, he is scattering the homeless population in Vancouver's downtown eastside (DTES). This is not leadership — this is policing poverty. Today marks the 7th encampment...
The addictions treatment system in this province is failing to meet the needs of British Columbians. A lack of public treatment beds has forced hundreds of desperate families to turn to costly, unregulated private facilities to try to help their loved ones. This is unacceptable. Private facilities are the wild west of...
Since the pandemic, mental health referrals and hospitalizations for youth have hugely increased, yet the BC NDP only provide our schools with 1 counsellor for every 693 students. At a time when we need to invest in our children's mental health, we're letting them down. Today in Question Period, I asked when the...
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for week six of the 2023 Spring legislative sitting for March 27 - March 30, 2023. This past week was the busiest I have had in the British Columbia legislature. With my colleague away from the House, it made for a hectic and fast-paced schedule from start to finish. If you have been following...
On Tuesday, I had the chance to speak to Bill 12, the Intimate Images Protection Act. This critical piece of legislation makes it unlawful to distribute, or threaten to distribute, intimate images without consent. The Bill includes provisions allowing survivors to seek monetary damages and have their images removed...
This week, I spoke to Bill 15, the Vital Statistics Amendment Act. Bill 15 will remove the requirement for sex to be on a birth certificate and allow people over 12 to receive care without needing confirmation from a psychologist or a doctor. While there is more work to be done, these are important steps forward that...
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...
In Members' Statements I offered a few words to mark the passing of my friend, community advocate, and environmental activist Denis Coupland who passed away on February 18, 2023. [Transcript] Mr. Speaker, I was elected in November 2008. That night I received a phone call from Denis Coupland. Now I was a...
In Budget 2023, the BC NDP announced a new output-based pricing system (OBPS) for large industrial emitters, which would exempt those who pollute the most from paying the carbon tax up-front. After surpassing a to-be-determined emissions threshold, industrial facilities would be forced to pay a fixed rate on their...
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...
Last Monday, I stood up in the Legislature to provide my perspective on Motion 29, which would amend the Tsawwassen First Nation's treaty to allow them to benefit from tax exemptions. This was an important step forward for the Tsawwassen First Nation in exercising their right to self-determination, and I was thrilled...
The Montney Play in northeast BC is Canada’s largest potential source of greenhouse gas emissions and the sixth largest in the world. By approving new LNG projects in this area, the BC NDP has locked BC into the fossil fuel economy for decades. While industry propaganda promotes LNG as clean energy, we can’t escape...
This week, I rose to speak about Bill 11, the Elections Amendment Act. This Bill provides necessary updates to our electoral legislation, bringing our laws in closer alignment with how modern elections operate. Bill 11 will ensure protections against deliberate disinformation, broader recognition of the use of online...
The Community Industry Response Group (C-IRG) is an RCMP unit that's been accused of unlawful use of force, arrests, detentions, & assaults. They are facing several lawsuits and an internal investigation for misconduct. And still the BC NDP is allocating them $36M. C-IRG was created in 2017 to support the...
Yesterday, my colleagues and I debated Bill 14, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, which removes outdated, gendered language from more than 200 pieces of legislation. For far too long, our province's laws have been written, debated, and passed without the diversity of British Columbians in mind. This Bill makes...
Today, I asked Premier Eby to provide British Columbians with his definition of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. He chose not to answer. Instead, Minister Heyman showcased a fundamental misunderstanding of what scientists have been saying for years. When Premier Eby took his oath he said “we cannot continue to...
Last week, the IPCC released a report delivering a final warning, stating rapid and drastic action are required to keep global warming below the threshold of irreversible damage. The week before, the BC NDP gave another LNG project the greenlight to move forward. This government approved Cedar LNG, claiming the...
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...
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....
In the 30 minutes I had in Budget Estimates 2023 with new Minister Hon. Lana Popham, I asked about support for the tourism industry, museum storage of sacred Indigenous cultural items, support for music festivals, and involvement in the Belleville terminal upgrade in Victoria's Inner Harbour. [Transcript] A. Olsen:...
I met with Eric Falkenberg-Poetz, Frances Pugh and Daniel Kenway from the Saanich Inlet Protection Society at the legislature. They gave me a petition to present to the British Columbia Legislature. The petition had over 700 hand-signed signatures, collected by volunteers in a few short weeks. Petitioners are asking...
Since they formed government the BC NDP has consistently misconstrued promises as actions. They promised for five years to address wage inequity and to deliver free contraception. They finally delivered on the contraception promise but instead of pay equity, British Columbians get pay transparency which is not good...
And, the BC NDP year-end spending spree continues. In a contrast to the billion dollars of one-time funding for local governments, Hon. Nathan Cullen, Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship Minister is using the funds allocated to his Ministry to create a legacy. The Watershed Security Fund, to be managed in 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...