In my last newsletter of 2022 I highlighted a number of initiatives that I will be working with my colleagues in the provincial government, community leaders, and constituents from Saanich North and the Islands in 2023. This is not an exhaustive list. If you see any glaring omissions, let me know at Adam.Olsen.MLA@leg.bc.ca. Agriculture &...
Southern Gulf Islands
Looking ahead to 2023: Healthcare, housing, transportation, governance, forestry, biodiversity, and more…
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Navigating the Complexity of Governance in the Southern Gulf Islands
I am a W̱SÁNEĆ person, living in the W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip) village. We have a familial relationship with the Southern Gulf Islands. For generations, my ancestors lived with, and belonged to, the ṮEṮÁĆES (relatives of the deep) in the W̱SÁNEĆ territory. The ṮEṮÁĆES Revitalization project is important work underway in the Gulf Island communities to...
The Royal BC Museum Rebuild: A Billion-Dollar Mistake for the BC NDP Government
The BC NDP's 7-year, $800 million proposal to re-build the Royal BC Museum ended up being the most explosive issue of 2022 for the government. It demonstrated a major misunderstanding about museums, highlighting how the sacred items of cultural significance stored on their shelves have been reduced to collectables, just curiosities from another...
BC NDP Must Stop Undermining Democracy and Trust in Government
Throughout the year, I have repeatedly expressed concerns about how our provincial government has shown contempt for democratic debate and our democratic institutions. This is evident in how they manage legislative agenda. In the legislative assembly, this issue is often seen as "insider baseball," meaning it is important to those who work there,...
Looking back at 2022: Housing, healthcare, governance, transportation, forestry, biodiversity and more
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Season’s Greetings and best wishes in 2023! In this final edition of the year, I take an extensive look back at my blog posts and highlight a handful of emerging themes. I am sure there are items missing from this year in review, however, I think you will get a sense of the volume of work ahead in Saanich North and the...
MLA Column: Green MLAs voice concerns over Bamberton project
If you have been in the Saanich Inlet recently, or live on its shores, you may have seen a growing quarry on the industrial site at the former Bamberton cement plant. Adam grew up on his father’s fishing boat in the Saanich Inlet and remembers trawling past the Bamberton industrial site thousands of times. The site had been a contentious property...
BC NDP fails to protect biodiversity while promoting economic values of natural resources above all else
As I write this, world leaders gather in Montreal for the next two weeks for COP15, the United Nations summit on biodiversity. They are discussing our fractured relationship with the natural environment. For my colleague, Sonia Furstenau (MLA, Cowichan Valley) and I in the BC Green Caucus, biodiversity has been a key issue since we signed the...
MLA Column: Premier Eby needs to get control of chaotic government
On Nov. 18, David Eby was sworn in as the 37th premier of British Columbia. The change comes following the resignation of John Horgan and the ensuing leadership event that raised many questions for MLAs and British Columbians alike. Frankly, this change in leadership disrupted a chaotic fall legislative session, one plagued by a mismanaged agenda...
Changes to Strata Act leaves many questions unanswered
As we get to the last week of the Fall sitting, the BC NDP government tabled amendments to the Strata Act to remove rental and age restrictions. This was a recommendation of the Rental Housing Task Force I participated in in 2018. This recommendation has not been acted on until now. It was one of the more contentious...
Housing legislation aims to increase supply. Will it?
Premier David Eby begins to move his housing agenda forward two new bills in the last week of session. Bill 43 aims to increase supply. However, significant questions remain about what kind of supply is being built. In addition to market housing supply, will these changes lead to affordable non-market housing such as...
Will Premier Eby scrap proposed changes to individual autism funding model?
For more than a year, families with neuro-diverse children have been demanding the Minister of Children and Family Development, Hon. Mitzi Dean, scrap a proposal that ends individual funding for supports and instead creates a hub model. The Minister has consistently told British Columbians that she is listening to...
Will Premier Eby increase income and disability assistance rates above the poverty line?
For a so-called progressive government to allow the provincial income and disability rates to languish $10,000 below the poverty line is totally unacceptable. The BC NDP government likes to tell a story about this themselves and the fact that they have allowed disabled people to continue to live in poverty is...
BC NDP adjust sitting hours (yet again) to accommodate chaotic legislative agenda
Well, I wish I could tell you different, however, the BC NDP continues manipulate the Parliamentary calendar to suit their sloppy management of their own legislative agenda. As a companion to my comments from earlier in November, here are the comments I made on November 21, 2022 in response to the Government House...
Changing the law is the first step in improving Indigenous child welfare in British Columbia
The good news is that the Ministry of Children and Family Development has taken the first step in improving Indigenous child welfare in British Columbia. As the Minister said in her introductory speech of Bill 38: Indigenous Self-Government in Child and Family Services Amendment Act, "this proposed legislation would...
BC NDP cancels four sitting days and democratic process
The BC NDP are carefully managing the entrance of their new leader Premier-designate David Eby, and they are cancelling important democratic processes to make it happen! Even though Mr. Eby won the leadership event weeks ago the province has been operating with maybe one, or two, Premiers. One Premier who essentially...
Changes coming to WorkSafeBC
Bill 41 makes seven key changes to the Workers Compensation Act to better support workers (detailed below). Five of these changes fulfil recommendations from the Patterson report; all of the recommendations work to bring BC in line with other Canadian jurisdictions. - This legislation establishes a more independent...
Update: Week 16 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for November 6, 2022! Another busy week in the BC Legislative Assembly is complete and now we begin two weeks in the constituency before returning for one final week of the Fall sitting. As the Assembly does not sit on weeks with statutory holidays, we were scheduled to be closed for next week so...
Saanich Inlet: The place I belong to
The Saanich Inlet is a special place. It has fed countless generations of my family it must be protected. I rose and spoke to the importance of this place to my family and to the thousands of people who live around the inlet. [Transcript] SAANICH INLET The environmental degradation of the Saanich Inlet is personal....
Will the Minister review the Mental Health Act?
The Minister of Mental Health and Addictions has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a broken system of mental health services. At the centre of that is an outdated Mental Health Act. Several organizations such the Representative for Children and Families, the Ombudsperson, and several other community...
Active Vessel Management Program seeking public input until November 30, 2022
VESSEL MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION OPEN FOR PUBLIC FEEDBACK! For years the proliferation of deep-sea vessels using the Southern Gulf Islands as a parking lot has caused environmental and social challenges. We have heard stories of environmental degradation, excessive noise, light and greenhouse gas emissions negatively impacting the Salish Sea. For...
Will the Minister require an environmental assessment for Bamberton quarry?
My colleague Sonia Furstenau and I have received hundreds of emails from concerned citizens living around the Saanich Inlet about the proposed expansion of the Bamberton quarry. (Learn more at https://adamolsen.ca/2022/10/public-comment-open-for-bamberton-quarry-expansion-application) The fact that a proposal to...
MLA Column: Municipal candidates show dedication to community
With the 2022 local government and school district elections in the books, I want to raise my hands in gratitude to all our friends, family and neighbours who courageously put their names on the ballot for our consideration. Congratulations to all the newly elected and re-elected mayors and councillors in Saanich North and the Islands. I look...
Update: Week 15 – 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament
ÍY SȻÁĆEL (Good Day), Welcome to my weekly update for October 30, 2022! MLAs returned to Victoria for the third week of the Fall sitting of the Legislative Assembly. The BC NDP leadership event is now completed and former Attorney General, David Eby, has been confirmed to be the next Premier of British Columbia. We await his swearing in ceremony...
Unfunded inflationary pressures threatening public education system
I have been hearing about the challenges that school districts are facing managing the unfunded inflationary pressures that are piling up. Especially in districts of stable or declining enrollment newly elected school board trustees will be tasked with challenging decisions about what is going to get cut. The BC NDP...