Over the past year I have published a new blog post each day. It started as a way to keep a public journal, a source of personal discipline and an excellent medium to communicate about life in provincial politics in British Columbia. Over the past couple of weeks I have been taking a little break and publishing a list from each month over the...
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When Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announced that he would not be seeking re-election the next time British Columbians go to the polls and that he had asked the BC Greens provincial council to begin the process of electing another leader, I immediately began fielding questions about whether I intended on putting my name on the ballot. At that...
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There are a few notable changes in my life heading into 2020. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Aldous Sperl and Ryan Clayton. Since the summer of 2017, the three of us have worked alongside each other in service to Saanich North and the Islanders and British Columbians. That time has come to an end. Both Aldous and Ryan are moving on. Aldous...
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Since my election to the British Columbia legislature in May 2017, I have been a champion for wild salmon.As I have written often in the pages of this blog, the salmon are not only an important symbol of the abundance of our province, their work of transporting nutrients from the Pacific ocean back home gives life to all other wildlife in our...
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Episode Summary In Week 6, Adam Olsen and Nick Gilchrist have a lengthy discussion about jurisdictional issues and frustrations. The conversation begins with Adam reflecting on the transition between the legislative and constituency focus of his work. There is always a backlog of meeting requests in the constituency when the legislative session...
As I prepare to rest my pen for a few days, I was cleaning out the drafts folder in my blog. Over the past year, a few dozen dust bunnies have accumulated and I decided to go through them and see what was there. Among the forgotten posts was one that I thought was worth resuscitating. It's about governance, politics, people, parties and what...
One year ago, I started listening to podcasts. I found Seth Godin's weekly offering, Akimbo, and it was a life-changer. Seth's podcast opened my perspective and I had a moment of truth about my life. I was measuring my success with the wrong metrics. As an early adopter of social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I had embraced...
I learned in the early days in elected office that when controversy or disagreement erupts it is best to move toward it. Think of grabbing the hot pan just out of the oven with your bare hand, the natural response is to remove it as quickly as possible for fear of getting burned. In politics, it seems the opposite is true. In my experience when...
Living around the Salish Sea, we are all too familiar with the plight of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. We remember Tahlequah, the orca who carried her dead calf for nearly three weeks in August 2018. It sent a message that captured global attention. The W̱SÁNEĆ people have a very close relationship with the orca whales. They have fished...
On Tuesday morning, I attended a breakfast event hosted by the Saanich Peninsula Community Foundation. I have watched their work over the past couple of years as the dedicated volunteer Board have been working to grow the foundation for the benefit of the Saanich Peninsula communities. Aligned with Giving Tuesday, following the growing "consumer...
He has been with me all along the way. I remember, only a few short weeks after my first election in November 2008, pushing his stroller through the snow to the District of Central Saanich office to meet the police chief and administrator. He was born a year previous, in early December, one day after his late great-grandma Laura’s birthday. The...
Throughout 2019, I have had the opportunity to visit many of the incredible businesses that are the economic engine of Saanich North and the Islands. As local business are the engine of the local economy, coffee is the fuel that propels me through most days. I love coffee! So, in my most recent stop in the tour I visited Level Ground Trading.My...
For three weeks this Fall the focus in the Saanich schools was on the quality of public education in British Columbia. I received a lot of feedback from my constituents during the labour disruption. One of those messages was from Judy Reimche, a grandmother and a former journalist on the Saanich Peninsula. I decided to share her perspective here...
In Week 5 of the podcast Adam Olsen and Nick Gilchrist get together to continue their discussion about life in British Columbia politics.They open with a brief chat about feedback Adam received regarding the opening music. One listener literally shook their head in dismay over the song and so Nick is going to head back to the drawing board....