ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for May 1st, 2022! Following a two-week adjournment to accommodate the Easter long weekend, the BC Legislative Assembly resumed the Spring session this week. It is always a shock to the system. The pace of constituency and legislative work is very different and it usually takes a few hours on the...
Saanich North and the Islands
Province acquiring land for affordable housing in transit-oriented development
In Bill 16, the provincial government is seeking to give the British Columbia Transportation Financing Authority the power to purchase land to allow for more transit-oriented developments. This is a positive change that has the potential to create more deeply affordable housing near transit routes. With inflation...
Reports: Transformational change recommended for policing in British Columbia
For the past 15 months I have been honoured to participate in the Police Act Reform committee. We were given a broad terms of reference to review the entire policing system in British Columbia and provided 11 recommendations for transformational change. This was a collaborative process between all Members on the...
MLA Column: Southern Gulf Islands Forum Addresses Salish Sea Anchorages Issue
For years, my constituents living on the Southern Gulf Islands have dealt with the environmental and social impacts created by large transport ships anchored throughout the Salish Sea. Increased consumer demand for goods from around the globe has stretched supply chains and combined with inefficient operations at the port in Vancouver has meant...
Recognizing the National Day of Mourning and workers safety
April 28th is the National Day of Mourning. This is my 2-minute Members' Statement on the important issue of worker safety and the much needed reform in WorkSafe BC. [Transcript] On the National Day of Mourning, we remember workers who have died, were injured or became ill from their job. We recommit to protecting...
What is the BC NDP doing to protect renters from real estate investment trusts (REITs)?
Large corporate institutional landlords, known at real estate investment trusts (REIT), are purchasing rental apartments at a shocking rate. In many cases, they are renovicting the tenants and dramatically increasing rents. This is another example of the financialization of housing and it is putting many renters...
What is the BC NDP doing about growing corporatization threatening primary health care?
Nearly 1,000,000 British Columbians do not have access to a family doctor or team of primary health care practitioners. More are notified each day that their doctor is retiring or shutting down their practice due to exhaustion and frustration. There is a lurking threat that the BC NDP is doing nothing about, large...
Update: Week 7 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for April 10th, 2022! It was an extremely busy week in the Legislature. With 20 government Bills, 6 Private Members’ Bills and one Private Bill, and Budget Estimates ongoing it makes for a full day in the Assembly. For example on Thursday afternoon, within a span of a couple of hours I was asking...
With LNG Canada looking to expand, how does it fit BC NDP climate commitments?
When the consortium of multi-national corporations decided to invest in LNG Canada they only approved half the project (2 trains). They government regulatory process had approved them for 4 trains. Now they are looking at the possibility of growing their investment to the full 4 trains. The problem for the BC NDP is...
Celebrating Tsawout embracing self-determination and the right to fish as formerly
Tsawout First Nation has created a first-of-its-kind Marine Use Law embracing the principles of self-determination and the right to "fish as formerly" captured in the Douglas Treaty. This has enabled Tsawout to realize economic development opportunities, including with Cascadia Seaweed to grow kelp in the waters in...
Question of Privilege: Challenging the Minister of Forests defense of glyphosate
Today I raised a question of privilege after Hon. Katrine Conroy (Minister of Forests) stated unequivocally that glyphosate is non-carcinogenic and non-toxic. The Minister gave the impression that the science regarding the safety of glyphosate has been settled when it has not. The Minister stated in the same breath...
Indigenous food security threatened by glyphosate spraying of forest lands
I followed up my previous question to Hon. Katrine Conroy (Minister of Forests) about her defense of the aerial spraying of glyphosate on B.C. forest lands. Ultimately, the food security that the provincial government talks about does not include Indigenous practices of hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild foods...
Bill 12: BC NDP again demonstrate contempt for democracy in tabling Bill with no detail
Bill 12: Property Law Amendment Act is the legislation promised by Minister Selina Robinson (Finance) last Fall to introduce a “cooling off period” which government is now calling a “Homebuyer Protection Period.” This Bill is another example of the BC NDP using enabling legislation to give them the power to create...
MLA Column: Lack of family doctor means diminished quality of life
Family doctor system is no longer feasible for most doctors today An estimated 15,000 residents of Saanich North and the Islands are without primary health care. Without a family doctor, or a primary care network, you will find yourself sitting in walk-in clinics or emergency rooms addressing each issue, not your overall health, with a doctor who...
Update: Week 6 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for April 3rd, 2022! It was a busy week for me in the legislature. With the Police Act Committee meeting on Monday and Wednesday evenings it made for long days. In Private Members’ Motions on Monday morning, MLA Mike Bernier (Peace River South) tabled, “Be it resolved that the House support...
BC NDP Forests Minister defends spraying glyphosate and other poisons
The BC government continues to use glyphosate and other poisons to clear forest lands of unwanted vegetation. Unwanted only by the forest industry. The species that this government is killing are the same species that Indigenous Peoples have harvested, and continue to harvest, since time immemorial for food and...
BC NDP continues supporting fossil fuel expansion in a climate emergency!
Following the tabling of the Declaration Act Action Plan, I rose in Question Period to ask Premier John Horgan how his BC NDP government can justify the expansion of fossil fuel extraction and liquefaction infrastructure knowing the human rights violations, environmental and Indigenous rights. In my follow-up question...
Response to Ministerial Statement on Declaration Act Action Plan
The BC Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in November 2019. Section 4 of the Act requires the government to table an Action Plan to ensure key steps toward reconciliation are taken, to ensure the government is accountable for their commitments to Indigenous...
Wildlife Act amendments acknowledge Indigenous hunting agreements
In my second reading speech to Bill 14: Wildlife Amendment Act 2022 I share some of the W̱SÁNEĆ stories about our relationship with nature and all other life. The amendments in Bill 14 provide for the official acknowledgement of sheltering agreements between Indigenous Nations. In addition, the Bill provides a...
Celebrating gold medalist Micah Zandee-Hart
Micah Zandee-Hart is from Saanichton, BC in my riding of Saanich North and the Islands. In February, she was part of the Canadian Women's Ice Hockey team that defeated the United States 3-2 to win gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics. [Transcript] In February, we were lucky to cheer on 215 Canadians competing in the...
Raising my hands in gratitude to the powerful women in my life on International Women’s Day
On International Women's Day, I rose in the Assembly to acknowledge and raise my hands in gratitude to the amazing and powerful women in my life. [Transcript] Laura, Phyllis, Sylvia, Emily, Joni, Heather, Ella, Yetsa, Madison, Patty, Sonia, Laura, JoJo, Maeve, Jonina, Stephanie, Hailey, Laura, Sarah, Claire and Rose....
The BC NDP promised to make prescription contraception free, two budgets later we’re still waiting!
In the 2020 election the BC NDP promised to make contraception free for all British Columbians. As a cisgender male, free or near-free condoms are widely available, vasectomies are covered by MSP, however for women, trans-men and gender diverse people, getting prescription contraception requires a visit to a medical...
Where are the investments in non-market housing options?
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...
Update: Week 4 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
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,...
Will B.C. insist companies we subsidize stop using steel made by Russian oligarchs?
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...
Response to Budget 2022: Is life really more affordable for you?
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...