Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The federal government’s new law designed to fast-track major projects has put the true meaning of UNDRIP’s “free, prior and informed consent” provisions under the spotlight. At the core of the issue is a simple question: does “consent” mean an Indigenous veto over projects, even those in the public interest?  While the prime minister and his justice minister have tried to walk a delicate line to avoid making that commitment, British Columbia has gone all-in on the veto approach. Under the auspices of BC’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s Act, Premier David Eby has admitted that provincially significant projects on Crown land will not be expedited under its own fast-track law without the consent of Indigenous groups. At the same time, an effective veto is already being written into a growing number of agreements with Indigenous groups covering vast swaths of the province ... CLICK HERE for the full story

In this post I am republishing a commentary originally published on the brand new BC Green Caucus website . Going forward you will be able to find all the legislative work of the BC Green Caucus, including videos of our work in Question Period and on Bills to media releases, statements and commentaries. In the future, commentaries such as the one below, will be used to provide greater clarity, insight and detail that cannot be captured in a media release or statement. Over the coming weeks and months our legislative communications team will be populating the website with our work from prior to the its launch. Finally, we also have a new BC Green Caucus Twitter account . I hope you will follow us to track our work in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have continued to work with the provincial government. We are providing them feedback and input on our values and priorities to inform their initiatives on the economic recovery resulting f...

PLEASE NOTE ... this commentary, from Adam Olsen, was written on Sunday (June 21 st ) for National Indigenous Peoples Day -- unfortunately, I was unable to share it yesterday.   Although National Indigenous Peoples day was yesterday, these words, from Adam, are still important to share ...     My name is S Ⱦ HENEP (Adam Olsen). I am the son of Carl & Sylvia Olsen and the grandson of Ernie & Laura Olsen and Don & Phyllis Snobelen. I am W ̱ S Á NE Ć , from the   WJO Ƚ E Ƚ P village.   Growing up on Tsartlip, an Indian reserve, dealing with systemic racism is just part of life.   Addressing the impacts of colonialism in British Columbia has been a primary focus of my work as an MLA in the B.C. Green Caucus.   It’s no surprise to me to hear that there is systemic racism in our policing, public safety and criminal justice systems. Few people I have talked to this weekend are shocked to hear the recent allegations of racism i...