Adam Olsen

Every election is the most important!

I must respond to the arguments advanced by Jason Mogus in his editorial The Most Important Election of our Lifetimes? Jason is free to endorse any candidate he wishes, however the rationale he is advancing is a threat to our democracy and needs to be thoughtfully challenged. It has been an honour to serve the incredible communities in Saanich North and the Islands for the past seven years. Together, with my local and federal government counterparts, we have celebrated tremendous successes including powerful advocacy and hundreds of millions of dollars invested in our communities. Let’s unpack the theory that all communities need an elected representative that sits on the government side of the legislature because they are the only people that can get things done or bring investments to the community. Firstly, it is the opposite of the Westminster parliamentary system that is the foundation of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. It is a dangerous argument bec…

Advocating for people and communities in Saanich North and the Islands

I have a deep connection to the beautiful place we live. I belong here, and this perspective informs the way I advocate, engage, and relate to the people, to the land, and to all the flora and fauna. Reflecting on the past six years that I have been MLA for Saanich North and the Islands; I am proud of the advocacy work of our community office. From day one we have aspired to be community-centered, advocating for constituents who contact us, while proactively working to bring people together on important issues to build local resilience. My approach has been informed in part by Peter MacLeod’s work (MASS LBP) in the early 2000s on The Constituency Project. Conversations with Peter offered rich insights on how we could effectively engage with the constituency, stay connected, and also be a connector. This constituent-centered approach was inspired by my experience working in local businesses like the Butchart Gardens, where professional, personal, and prompt customer servic…

Opinion: BC NDP doubles down on magical thinking to address housing affordability crisis

During this Fall session the BC NDP government introduced dramatic changes to housing policy in British Columbia. At one point we had four active bills (35, 44, 46, 47) all related to the housing affordability crisis. My response to Bill 44: Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023, was a 12 000-word, 1.5-hour speech, a culmination of my 15-year journey in local and provincial governance. The speech broadly reflects my concerns and critiques with the current trajectory of housing policy in British Columbia and I dig into the complexities of the housing affordability crisis. However, I also call for collective action that goes well beyond housing, urging genuine dialogue and comprehensive solutions. The following offers a summary of my comments. For millennia, we worked together to deliver basic human needs—food and shelter—creating societal bonds and fostering creativity and innovation. Today, the real estate market impedes universal housing se…

Opinion: Democracy, health, housing, and transportation

In this column I will address a number of issues that continue to impact people in Saanich North and the Islands, and across British Columbia. I’ll start with our democracy. Since my election I have been advocating for improved legislative processes, and better access for private members (all members not in Cabinet) to introduce, debate, and vote on private members bills and motions. Throughout the summer, I sat on an all-Party legislative committee looking at the issue. Over decades, majority governments have wrestled control of the legislative agenda away from the Assembly and now can dictate what is debated and voted on. However, if the committee’s recommendations are enacted by the government, all elected representatives will have more tools to propose legislative changes. Primary, urgent, and acute healthcare continues to be a major issue across BC and Saanich North and the Islands is not immune. With the Saanich Peninsula Hospital emergency room closed in the eve…

Multiple crises require a coordinated, collaborative response from all legislators

As I look ahead to the next legislative session, the political landscape has changed with the emergence of the BC Conservatives as an official party in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. However, many of the issues remain, and are lacking substantive solutions. This summer has been another season of extremes in British Columbia exposing the real threat of the climate crisis. Severe drought has set in across the province, and 2023 set the record as the most active and destructive wildfire season in the history of the province, pushing the capacity of our services, and the patience of British Columbians to the limit. At the same time the social fabric we have relied on for decades is stretched to the breaking point. The chronic lack of primary healthcare continues. The Saanich Peninsula Hospital emergency room has been forced to close overnight indefinitely because of a lack of doctors, and regional surgical units are shuttered. Gulf Island healthcare societies a…

Opinion: Police Reform

This summer I’ve been engaged in personal and academic inquiry. I’m examining leadership, values, and systems. As an elected official, this is important work. We benefit from critically analyzing ourselves, the groups and teams we are affiliating with, and in service of our constituents, the systems that we create, maintain, and transform. Nowhere on the Elections BC or political party application forms for becoming an MLA does it ask about previous experience in systems thinking. It’s not a prerequisite, and yet it is the basis of our work. However, unless there is an enlightened and clandestine conversation happening in some dark corner of the BC legislature that I am unaware of, there is no useful dialogue about how our political system, affects the myriad of critical systems we are responsible for: housing, health, education, transportation, social services, public safety services, and so on. Consider the fact there are two applications, on…

Opinion: State of the Salish Sea

I am deeply concerned about the health and wellbeing of the Salish Sea. The Government of Canada has proven to be incapable of managing our marine environment. It’s unlikely their intention, but together Environment Canada, Transport Canada, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans are successfully overseeing the demise of the W̱SÁNEĆ territory. Only Parks Canada has shown recently a desire for improvement, transforming episodic consultations into actual relationship building. One of the first big issues I confronted as a Councillor in the District of Central Saanich in 2008 was the multi-jurisdictional swamp that governs the waters around our communities. The province owns the land below the water, and they grant limited power to municipalities to make “land” use decisions. The federal government controls the surface and the water column. First Nations have unrealized inherent rights and jurisdiction. It’s a total mess that often results in finger-pointing and administrati…

BC NDP reluctant to ensure BC Conservation Service has independent oversight

British Columbians would be shocked to learn that the BC Conservation Service (BCCOS), a small, heavily armed service with no independent oversight, can be directly controlled by the BC NDP government through the Minister of the Environment. The Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act report submitted to the legislature last year recommending the Minister of Public Safety, Hon. Mike Farnworth fix this glaring lack of independent oversight and he has ignored it. The BCCOS website describes Conservation Officers as “highly trained, dedicated individuals responsible for enforcing 33 federal and provincial statutes, they hold Special Provincial Constable Status under the Police Act and have unrestricted appointment to enforce Acts and Statues, and protect the public and preserve the peace. Conservation Officers dress like police, drive police-like cars, use police-like tactics, carry police-like assault rifles, have all the powers of police under section 9 of the Pol…

Join the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rob Fleming and MLA Adam Olsen to discuss transportation on Salt Spring Island

I am excited to host Hon. Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, this Friday at ASK Salt Spring to discuss transportation issues on Salt Spring Island. I invited Minister Fleming following a visit from Minister Mike Farnworth earlier this Spring where we discussed public safety on Salt Spring. Transportation was repeatedly raised as a top public safety concern and it remains a high-traffic topic of correspondence to me from Salt Spring residents. We will hear from you about a range of issues including BC Ferries, road maintenance and repairs, and upgrades to the Fulford-Vesuvius corridor to accommodate active transportation like walking and cycling more safely. Minister Fleming has been responsive to our advocacy regarding the needs of Salt Spring Island, and I look forward to his visit so you can raise your ideas and concerns with him directly. A year ago, the Ministry commissioned a cycling safety review of the corridor, and with the recommend…

Opinion: BC NDP are investing a lot of money in fulfilling a 2017 housing promise and not being driven by data

The housing crisis has been growing since before the 2017 election. In 2018 and 2019, as part of their 30-point plan, the BC NDP tightened rules on reno/demo-victions, capped rent increases, introduced the speculation and vacancy tax, and the multi-billion dollar Housing Hub. Following that the BC NDP required local governments to keep an updated housing needs assessment, then last fall they introduced the Housing Supply Act, which gives the provincial government additional powers to ensure local governments are making decisions to create supply to meet the housing demand. This fall we are expecting legislation that overrides local zoning bylaws -- effectively turning single family zones into multi-family zones. Recently, I had an hour in budget estimates with Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon. I asked Minister Kahlon how many housing units existed in the province. I noted that the province has been collecting data and should have a sense of the profile of our housing sto…

MLA Adam Olsen hosts community meeting with local government colleagues

In the W̱SÁNEĆ 13-moon calendar mid-February to mid-March is the WEXES (frog) moon. It is a time of sacredness and purification, and the time to gather food and medicine. The days grow longer, and the sunshine begins to warm the earth. The frog, as witness and messenger, awakens from hibernation and announces the coming Spring, the sacred season of plenty. This is the exciting time of re-birth and renewal. It is in this spirit that I renewed in-person public engagement by hosting six community meetings across the riding. I invited my local government colleagues from the Capital Regional District and Islands Trust to join the conversation as we work closely on cross-jurisdiction issues on the Southern Gulf Islands. We heard how each community is unique, and also the many similarities in the challenges facing the Southern Gulf Islands. They include all forms of transportation, suitable and affordable housing, and access to primary and urgent healthcare. Another similar…

MLA Adam Olsen, Hearing from the Chambers of Commerce in Saanich North and the Islands

I keep a pulse on the local business community through regular meetings with business leaders. At the end of British Columbia Chamber of Commerce week (February 13-17, 2023), I invited the Chambers in Saanich North and the Islands to a video call to hear how I can better advocate for them with the provincial government. Our riding is diverse, as are the needs of the businesses. In addition to supporting the tourism economy with safer transportation routes and visitor-friendly infrastructure, there was overwhelming agreement that workforce housing was the top priority across the peninsula and Southern Gulf Islands. We have a range of housing needs - for frontline workers, skilled trades, healthcare, the technology sector. The Sidney commercial centre, and the Keating and West Sidney/North Saanich business parks generate more than a billion dollars of activity annually making them critical contributors to the local and regional economy. The enterprises in these commercia…

Does the BC NDP see the exciting economic engine of a re-capitalized Island Coastal Economic Trust?

I followed my question on Tuesday, with another on the topic of re-capitalizing the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICE-T). In her response to my initial question, Minister of Economic Development, Hon. Brenda Bailey pointed to the $33 million REDIP (Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program) as an example of how the provincial government is supporting rural communities. The REDIP is not a suitable alternative to ICE-T. I note the exciting economic potential of a re-capitalized Trust with a minimum of $150 million in a permanent fund will supply rural communities on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast with between $7-12 million annually and generate a billion dollars of economic activity over the next 25 years. There is simply no comparison. So while Minister Bailey takes exception to the way I framed the question, by highlighting REDIP in her response she introduced it for comparison, likely to deflect that the BC NDP has not provided a long-term so…

MLA Adam Olsen's Efforts to Increase Transparency and Accessibility with "The Public Circle"

Over the last few months, I have written and spoken a lot about the erosion of our democracy because of a lack of respect by our provincial government for established and time-tested legislative processes. Among other offences, they have manipulated the parliamentary calendar for their own partisan purposes, time-limited and closed debate on complex legislation before public scrutiny is complete and limited the media access unnecessarily. When the government undermines itself by turning our legislative assembly into performance theatre, a farce, the consequence is the erosion of public confidence in the institution. Unfortunately, it creates the ideal conditions for conspiracies to grow. When I was first elected in 2017, I reached out to Peter MacLeod from Mass LBP because I was curious about his “Constituency Project.” As part of his graduate studies, he travelled the country visiting constituency offices to see how they were advocating for and engaging the public. …

Protecting Biodiversity in British Columbia: A Priority for 2023

In December, thousands of delegates from 192 countries gathered in Montreal for COP15, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. This is a critical topic for world leaders to be discussing. While they negotiate at the global level it is important to recognize that many of the actions that need to be taken to protect biodiversity will be done at the sub-national and local level. Unfortunately, British Columbia has a deeply established culture in our provincial government that prioritizes the economic values of natural resources over protecting ecosystem health. However, with the direction given by Premier David Eby to his Cabinet it appears protecting biodiversity may be a priority. Managing ecosystems for health and well-being protects biodiversity and is essential for maintaining natural functions so they can continue to produce the clean air and water that are necessary for our survival. Resilience and adaptability are key features of biodiverse ecosy…

Premier Eby needs to get control of chaotic government eroding democracy

On November 18, 2022, 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 and a government that chose to shut down debate by shortening the session by a full week. There is a troubling pattern developing with this BC NDP government. Like last Fall, they continue to table important bills with just a few weeks left in the sitting, leaving little time for opposition members to do our job of scrutinizing them on behalf of all British Columbians. Last year they shut down debate on structural changes to the freedom of information and forestry laws. Again, with only a few days remaining in this Fall session, they tabled the largest bill in recent history, and among a half-dozen others, a bill …

Raising my hands in gratitude to all who serve our communities

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 forward to working with you collaboratively on behalf of all our constituents to improve our communities, protect our environment, nurture positive relationships and advocate on a wide variety of topics such as healthcare, housing, transportation, education, public safety, ecosystem health and good community governance. To all the candidates who were not elected, thank you for engaging our democracy, advancing ideas, and challenging the status quo. I deeply appreciate the contribution you have made to encourage lively and informed debate. I hope that you will stay involved in civic governance and encourage you to stay connected with …

MLA Olsen hosting Community Dialogues this summer, encourages you to get involved in local government elections

Have you ever considered running for public office? If not on the ballot, have you wondered how you can help someone who is running? The decisions at the local government table create the form and character of our neighbourhoods and communities. They are potentially the most impactful on our quality of life and that is why it is so important for all of us to take part. Fourteen years ago, Central Saanich Councillor Zeb King knocked on my door to invite me to get involved in local government. He asked me the same question, had I ever considered running for a seat on the local Council? I live on Tsartlip First Nation, I have lived there my whole life and at that time had little connection with, or understanding of, municipal politics, Council decisions about property taxation, zoning, official community plans, local and regional services. However, as a life-long resident I benefited from the services provided by the district. When I was a kid, I played baseball and so…

Southern Gulf Islands Forum addressing issues of unregulated industrial parking lot in Salish Sea

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 more vessels anchored for longer. These vessels are disruptive, creating excessive noise and light pollution, sometimes for weeks at a time, and their generators constantly pump out greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful particulates. They regularly drag their anchors destroying the ocean floor and threatening each other. And ships anchored outside the port waters are unregulated. For more than a decade the voices of community advocates have been ignored by the federal government. On March 14, 2022, I hosted a half-day meeting of the Southern Gulf Islands Forum, including First Nations leaders, elected officials from the …

MLA Adam Olsen updates on transportation, cycling and ferry services

There is always a long list of transportation issues in Saanich North and the Islands and I’m thankful for the millions of dollars invested in our riding over the past five years. I am grateful to Minister Rob Fleming and his regional team for their responsiveness to our advocacy. In August 2019 the provincial government announced a long-awaited upgrade on the Pat Bay Highway at Keating X Road. The new flyover project already has a $16 million commitment from the federal government and $2.5 from Central Saanich, the provincial contribution will be known when the design is finalized. I expect a detailed report on public consultation to be released soon with more details of how this critical project will proceed. In January of this year the Ministry announced another long-awaited upgrade to the Pat Bay Highway at Mt. Newton X Road. For years Central Saanich commuters have been requesting transit stops at this major crossroad. The $7.6 million dollar project will allow…

Building back better starts in the legislature

As the BC NDP government attempts to move into the post-pandemic world, the scars from our global fight against this vicious virus have been revealed. The pandemic has exposed divisions in our society and as I prepare for the Spring 2022 session of the BC Legislative Assembly, a major focus will be the coming budget. At the beginning of the pandemic there was a multi-partisan effort to provide the provincial government with the resources it needed to support British Columbians through the challenging time. There was hope that the government would lead us in a collective effort to build back better. COVID-19, and the series of severe weather events in 2021, has shone a light on deepening social inequality and decaying infrastructure, and how that is hampering the delivery of services like public health, transportation, and education. The impact of unsustainable resource extraction methods has led to collapsing biodiversity, wildfires, floods, and landslides. The impa…

Adam Olsen

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