One year before I was elected to the Central Saanich Council table in 2008, my sister Joni was elected to the Tsartlip Council table. She was the first in our family to be elected to a governance table. 12 years later, Joni's name is back on the Tsartlip ballot. It will be her seventh election. That's right: seven elections in 12 years. We elect...
In a recent podcast with my brother-in-law Nick Gilchrist, we discuss the process for bringing a Bill forward, the formal Legislative steps it goes through prior to adoption and the role of the opposition in the process.He asked me if the role of the opposition is to just simply oppose everything the government does?His question highlights an...
Fish farms have been a flashpoint issue in British Columbia for much of the past decade.There is a growing movement to get open-net operations off the west coast. It’s not just environmental activists and actors, the business community is also demanding action.As I have written before, as extensively as any subject on this blog, there is a hugely...
Last week, my son Silas spent a day shadowing me. He was available because the schools in our district are shuttered due to a labour dispute. Tuesday evening I made the executive decision that if he was not going to learn at school then I would broaden his experience by letting him see first hand what I do on a daily...
I suddenly stopped publishing new episodes of The Public Circle Podcast shortly after launching the "second season" in September. Producing this podcast takes some effort and as we started the Fall sitting of the Legislature my workload increased dramatically. Something had to give - it was the podcast. My brother-in-law Nick Gilchrist works in...
I have spent each morning last week on the picket line listening to members of CUPE 441 and Saanich teachers.In Question Period, I asked the Education Minister about the labour disruption in School District #63 and have subsequently written him a letter seeking further clarification with respect to his responses.There is a great deal of...
For my first two-minute Members Statement of the 2019 Fall session I celebrated the lives of three incredible constituents of Saanich North and the Islands. This year we have lost Vern Michell, Patrick Lane and Bill Foster. Each have made important contributions to our community and our province. It's certainly...
Earlier this summer, I wrote about forestry and watershed protection. It was inspired by a visit to the Comox Valley and a number of meetings with concerned citizens and community organizers about the impact of resource harvesting on the drinking water for all the people living in the valley.I pointed to how costly it is likely going to be should...
British Columbia is the first jurisdiction in Canada poised to legislate the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Changing the relationships with Indigenous people in British Columbia was a priority of the BC Greens in the 2017 provincial election. It is a shared priority with our BC NDP colleagues and...
Bill 41, The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, is a critical change for the future of British Columbia.For the first time in the history of our province, we move from the perspective of the denial of Indigenous rights to rights recognition.It’s 2019 and long past due.When the Bill was introduced on Thursday, many of the...
The negotiation between School District #63 and CUPE 441 is complex and has evolved into a seemingly intractable situation. From as best as I can tell it started 40 or 50 years ago. Back then support staff in the District decided to forego wage increases in order to receive a more comprehensive benefits package. It's...
In February 2018 I stood in Question Period twice, and asked the provincial government who was protecting steelhead. I received vague responses, essentially just deflections. Those questions started 18 months of work on fish policy that resulted in our internal policy paper entitled Standing Up for Wild Salmon that...
Every now and then our household is stricken with the sickness. It’s difficult to determine who was the first to bring it home, but it’s safe to say that everyone yearns for wellness. Each of us is hit differently. Yet, there is always one of us who seemingly makes it through without being taken down. Ella is the lucky one in this round. For the...
This week in question period I asked Hon. Doug Donaldson about the impact of the growing risks of climate change on our forests in British Columbia. Public attention is focussing in recent months on the forest industry that is controlled by multi-national corporations shuttering operations, cutting jobs and putting...
This summer, Minister Doug Donaldson announced the appointment of a two-person panel to lead an Old Growth Strategy Review. The panel members, Al Gorley, a professional forester with 45 years of experience, and Garry Merkel, a registered professional forester also with 45 years of experience in the industry, have instructions to lead an Old...
Yesterday was one of the most important days in the history of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and for all British Columbians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. When the Hon. Scott Fraser stood and introduced the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, it signified the most substantial change in Indigenous relations...
It was a powerful morning in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia with first reading of Bill 41 (The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act). This is the culmination of generations of work by Indigenous leaders to fundamentally change the relationship with the British Columbia government. I will...
Following the Liberal Party of Canada’s platform announcement that they are going to shutter the open-net fish farm industry by 2025 transitioning it to closed-containment, I wrote a post stating my skepticism.Another result of that announcement has been a daily flow of emails from the Google Alert that I have tracking “fish farms.”With the...
As the dust settles on the federal election I raise my hands to all the Green Party of Canada candidates, campaign leaders, volunteers, donors and supporters. Thank you! In the coming weeks it will be clear the how the work of federal Green Party people on the ground in ridings across the country have continued to advance the growth of the...
Security certificate issue has been resolved! I have been blogging uninterrupted every day for the past year. Each day I schedule a post, readers get an email notification and you leave a comment if you feel inspired. It's all been working pretty well. Until last week. Last Thursday evening during my visit to Waglisla (Bella Bella) in the...
I spent the past week in Waglisla (Bella Bella) in the Heiltsuk territory on the central coast of British Columbia. Nations from up and down the coast gathered to open the new big house in Waglisla. There has not been a big house in the community for the past 120 years. The Heiltsuk have been talking about and planning for this event for decades....
Thousands of people have contacted my constituency office expressing their deep concern about forestry policy and practices in British Columbia.The messages are either generated from a third party service delivering a form email or they are just independent responses to the daily news and social media posts.Recently I received a nice note from...
I am pleased with the news that the province has finally funded a year round shelter on Salt Spring Island. Unfortunately, until now, the shelter has never been able to provide year round services to those in need. Previously, it opened from November to May and for the rest of the year the Island’s homeless population had to fend for themselves....
I have a few Google alerts set up. One of them is associated with my name. It turns up stories about me and also every time St. Louis Cardinals team athletic trainer “Adam Olsen” makes the news, I get the update. Additionally, any news that Google picks up about “salmon” and “fish farms” is also dropped into my email inbox. Recently, it’s been...
We watched the movie Yesterday a few nights ago with our kids. They had heard of The Beatles but that was the first time we had “the talk” with them.It goes something like this: “You know kids, there is this band. You have probably heard about them... it’s important you understand just how great they are!”I was introduced to The Beatles through...
Talking with a few leaders of First Nations communities in Saanich North and the Islands and on the north coast recently, a common theme emerged: frustration with the federal and provincial government. The theme and the frustration is not new. Indigenous leaders have been expressing this same sentiment for decades. The storyline goes something...