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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....
It was a remarkable week in the Legislature in Victoria.On Tuesday, just two days before the fall session adjourned for the decade, all Members of the British Columbia Assembly voted in favour of Bill 41, The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.The Bill was introduced with much ceremony and celebration on October 24th. Following...
This week I received a letter from the Honours and Awards Secretariat notifying me that nominations for the Order of British Columbia is now open. You can find out more information about the Order of British Columbia here. The deadline for submissions is March 6, 2020. The Secretariat has began the process early with the intention of increasing...
In my final statement of the decade I acknowledge the career and passion of Cathy Cook. From the start of my tour of the Saanich Seed Orchard & Nursery, Cathy demonstrated her deep passion for her work. When I heard she was retiring after nearly four decades of service to our forests I knew I needed to highlight...
Today in Question Period Premier John Horgan characterized me as being "gloomy" for highlighting how climate change is challenging our province. Frankly, I'm gloomy because this week's report from the UN warns we are on the path to 3.2 degrees warming - something one expert described as "terrifying." This legislative...
In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast, I return to the original format with a conversation with Salt Spring Island folk singer Luke Wallace. As it turns out, Luke had many more questions for me than I had for him. He is a fantastic interviewer! Over the past few years, I have come to know Luke as a powerful advocate for social justice and...
In the past year I have asked the Minister of Health (Hon. Adrian Dix) about the significant challenges my constituents are having getting access to a family doctor. (Oct. 22/18 - What about the family doctor crisis?, Apr. 8/19 - Addressing the crisis in primary care) The BC NDP government has been working with a...
Is Greta Thunberg a time traveller? Of course not! Don’t be silly. She is a teenage climate activist from Sweden. It's a photo of a girl from the Yukon gold rush in 1898 that surfaced in the University of Washington archives that sparked the Internet conspiracy. Twitter made it viral. While scrolling through the Apple-curated news stories on my...
In the course of my job, I’m regularly reminded of my mistakes, inadequacies and blind spots. I heed the advice without taking the criticism personally.I make mistakes. Not all my responses are adequate. I have blind spots.Recently a constituent let me know that he felt my actions during the labour disruption in the Saanich schools would not be...
In week four of the podcast Nick Gilchrist and Adam Olsen cover quite a bit of ground.They open the episode with a potential new theme song for the series and discuss a possible name other than just the current week. Listeners are encouraged to provide their ideas of possible names for the podcast. The labour disruption in School District #63 was...
Last December, a violent windstorm blew through Southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands. Power and communication lines lay strewn across the roads cutting off both services and leaving residents in the dark. At one point, 100% of the roads on the Southern Gulf Islands were closed and, in addition, ferries were cancelled, snarling...
Earlier this week, I delivered my second reading speech to the Climate Change Accountability Amendment Act (2019). In that speech, I highlighted the overwhelming scientific evidence that we are facing an immense challenge to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Preparing and defending our communities by renewing and reinforcing aging...
People have asked me how one person can represent such a large and diverse community? They ask how I know what my constituents want? With 50,000 people, all with their own opinions, needs, wants, wishes and desires, it’s a steep challenge for sure.The best way to keep the pulse of the community is to create as many connections as possible....
One of the more controversial actions of the provincial government in recent years is the attempt to protect caribou by shooting wolves from helicopters. We can all agree that many caribou herds in British Columbia are at a crisis level. Some herds have gone extinct, some are close to extinction and others are in...
Bill 38, the Climate Change Accountability Amendment Act (2019), strengthens the responsibility of the provincial government to take action on reducing emissions and addressing climate change. It is important that government is accountable because trust us is not good climate policy. The Bill establishes the...
With relief coming to Saanich families and educators as the doors of our public schools are open again and knowledge transfer resumes, I took the opportunity in Question Period to ask a couple of unresolved questions ahead of our deeper look at the future of our public education system in British Columbia. One of the...