Issue #1 - February 6/25

The past two weeks have flown by. I’ve been working with my amazing constituency staff, my small but mighty Caucus Team, and my fellow Green MLA, Jeremy Valeriote, in addition to meeting with Ministers, other MLAs, individuals and groups pretty much non-stop. 

The Accord: The BC Green Caucus and BC NDP Government have agreed to work together on shared goals. This means the Green Caucus gets a say in important decisions, while the government gets more support to move things forward. It’s not a merger—more of a way to get things done quicker on issues that matter to you. Priority joint initiatives include Community Health Centres, Non-Market housing and reviews on Forests, Clean BC and Electoral Reform. We have been holding meetings with government, individuals and organizations to plan successful implementation of these initiatives. A big shout out to the BC Association of Community Health Centres (BCACHC), a great organization spearheading innovative change. 

Opioid Crisis I attended the Expert Panel on the Opioid Crisis where we were reminded that the path forward involves compassion, support, caring and connection not judgment, stigma and resorting to involuntary care. With five people a day dying in this toxic drug crisis and with roughly 16,000 deaths since it was declared a Public Health Emergency, there is so much more we need to do. 

Housing  A consortium of organizations focused on the delivery of non-market housing in BC -  Housing Central -  is providing the Green Caucus with invaluable support and advice as we work with the BC Government to deliver 7,500 net new non-market housing units per year under CARGA (Cooperation and Responsible Government Accord).    

First Nations  Over 200 First Nations met in 1300 meetings with the BC Government last month to discuss priority issues which provided me with a great opportunity to reconnect with Nations I have worked with over many years.  I was reminded about how important in-person meetings are to building consensus on the path forward in 2025. I thank Grand Chief Stewart Phillip for clarifying his firm opposition to expansion of oil and gas pipelines and infrastructure in BC. 

Community Meetings Twenty-four community groups on Pender Island met with me to provide more information about their organizations and the ways in which we can support their important work. Thank you to Maryanne Pare and Kathy Cronk for organizing this terrific gathering.  The contribution by so many community members, with some wearing two or more hats, is what makes Pender so special.

Sonia Furstenau Starts a New Chapter 

Sonia’s leadership of our BC Greens has been a source of inspiration for all of us. 

Every day over the past decade, Sonia showed us what principled, evidence-based, compassionate, collaborative and highly effective political leadership looks like in British Columbia. And most importantly, leadership that demonstrates how Green Party values form the solid foundation for putting people first while also preserving and protecting the natural world. 

Sonia’s successes and achievements would fill a book rather than a newsletter. Often she would achieve positive results on challenging issues that many of us toiled on for years without success.

A recent and important example is the raising of the weir on the Cowichan River to protect fisheries and other critical values in this time of accelerating climate change and droughts. Many individuals, organizations, First Nations, local governments and even myself, when I was legal counsel to Cowichan Tribes, advocated for funding and support to raise the weir. Ultimately, Sonia succeeded in getting this critical project approved. 

Local successes under Sonia’s leadership include a new High School and new Hospital in Duncan, and the Cowichan Leadership Group that brought leaders together around the table from local governments and first nations. Her exhaustive province-wide accomplishments include: professional reliance, banning big money, lobbyist transparency, CleanBC, DRIPA, Child welfare advocacy that worked to reduce the removal of Indigenous children from their families within the child welfare system, ending birth alerts, and promotion of early childhood education, robust childcare and early learning programs. 

Thank you Sonia, and your family, for your incredible contributions. I know I speak on behalf of everyone in wishing you the very best in your future endeavours. 

TRUMP Tariffs 

Here we are again with Donald Trump dominating the news cycle. After becoming President, he wasted no time before making good on his tariff threat of 25% on all goods crossing the border from Canada to the US (except energy at 10%) . He justified ignoring legal constraints like the Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico, as well as congressional approval, by declaring Illegal immigration and fentanyl as crises that required this action. However, when you sift through all the analysis, Trump’s rationale is quite simple: extracting tariff revenues from trading partners pays for tax cuts to US citizens and perhaps a reduction of the US deficit. 

What is the path forward for British Columbia? Rather than invoking failed policies dating back to the 1950’s like expanding oil, gas and coal as well as fast tracking other resource development, this crisis presents BC with a unique opportunity to make significant investments toward a zero-carbon economy. We need to diversify away from our reliance on US markets, oil and gas, low value added lumber, and carbon intensive minerals, while at the same time supporting families and businesses impacted by the tariffs. 

The BC Green Caucus supports a united BC response by proposing and supporting measures that truly help affected families and businesses. This while we continue to fight against accelerating climate change, while taking steps to build a 21st century economy. 

Addendum – Since writing this update, it appears that Trump has given us a 30-day reprieve from the imposition of Tariffs. While this is good news, we must not step back from reducing our reliance on trade with the USA and transforming our economy into one that is resilient in the face of accelerating climate change. 

Last but not least, we had a productive meeting with Water Lands and Resource Stewardship Minister Randene Neil on the dock and fallow deer issues on the Southern Gulf Islands. 

Conclusion 

2025 will be one for the history books. I look forward to representing you in the Legislature and doing all I can to work with you to ensure Saanich North and Islands interests are well represented and that the Green Caucus carries on the amazing and principled legacy of Sonia Furstenau and Adam Olsen. 

Over the Next Few Weeks: 

• Meeting with Minister Khalon to address issues surrounding Non-Profit Housing projects 

• Salt Spring Island Meetings: ASK Salt Spring and SSTN (Salish Sea Trail Network) re: Salt Spring Multi-use Trail 

• MLA School to prepare for our first Session, beginning February 18th 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to our office with any questions, concerns, event notices, community news... 

Until next time,