Applications are now being accepted for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia’s Summer Tour Guide Program. Each year, post-secondary students from across Canada are invited to participate in the program as Tour Guides and Parliamentary Players, bringing parliamentary procedure and British Columbian history to life for many students and visitors.

Summer Tour Guides present tours that interpret British Columbia’s political history, legislative process, and the art and architecture of the Parliament Buildings. Applicants must be enrolled at an accredited post-secondary institution with public speaking experience and the ability to communicate fluently in English and a second language.

Parliamentary Players shine a light on important historical characters and events that helped to define our province. Dressed in period costumes, the Parliamentary Players appear on tours and deliver lively, historically accurate monologues. Applicants must be enrolled at an accredited post-secondary institution with theatrical experience and be able to convincingly portray historical characters and creatively ad-lib with visitors.

For more information about the program or to apply to be a Summer Tour Guide or Parliamentary Player, please click here.

A Special Committee on Local Elections Expense Limits has been established by the Legislative Assembly to examine, inquire into and make recommendations regarding local elections expense limits. Specifically, the Committee is examining principles for the relationship between elector organizations and their candidates with respect to expense limits and principles for establishing expense limits for third party advertisers.

To support its mandate, the Committee is currently seeking input from British Columbians and organizations through written submissions, video and audio file submissions and participation in an online questionnaire – all available on the Committee’s website. The deadline to receive written and online input is Friday, November 21, 2014.

In addition, local residents are invited to participate in a presentation opportunity being held at a public meeting in Victoria on Wednesday, November 19^th.  The meeting will take place from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm in the Douglas Fir Committee Room (Rm 226) of the Parliament Buildings. Additional presentation opportunities are also being held in Vancouver on November 7^th and 8^th.

For more information or to participate in the public consultation process, please visit the Committee website, here. Or contact the Parliamentary Committees Office by phone: 250.356.2933 (or toll-free at: 1.877.428.8337) or by email: LocalElectionsCommittee@leg.bc.ca

Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Andrew Weaver will be hosting a community Town Hall from 7:00 pm to 8:30pm on Tuesday, October 28th. Come out to the University of Victoria’s David Turpin Auditorium for an MLA update and hear about Andrew’s latest work in the community and the legislature. Included in the MLA update will be an open Q & A, where you can bring your questions and concerns to Andrew’s attention. Following the Q & A, you are welcome to stick around for an informal meet and greet with Andrew and his staff. We hope to see you all there!

For a map of the university campus, please click here – The David Turpin Auditorium is located in Room A120 of the David Turpin Building.

Congratulations to Oak Bay-Gordon Head resident Dr. Kelli Stajduhar who was one of the recipients of the Excellence in Nursing Research Award at last week’s 2014 Nursing Excellence Awards reception in Vancouver. This prestigious award recognizes registered nurses (RNs) who demonstrate excellence in nursing research and outstanding performance in relation to CRNBC Professional Standards for RNs and Nurse Practitioners. As expert investigators these nurses conduct nursing research with a clinical focus and demonstrated practical application, and as role models they foster the development of new researchers.

Getting her start as a front lines nurse in Winnipeg, it was this experience that eventually sparked Kelli’s desire to further her nursing education. Witnessing the moral distress felt by some of her colleagues when caring for palliative patients Kelli hoped to help bring about practice change in such a way as to both improve the care of patients and reduce the moral distress of nursing staff. This desire to support patients, family caregivers, and nursing staff is what ultimately led her to pursue an academic career in applied nursing research.

Over her career Kelli has worked in the areas of oncology, palliative care, and gerontology as a nurse clinician, clinical nurse specialist, and a researcher with local health authorities. In 2004 she joined the University of Victoria School of Nursing, where she teaches in both undergraduate and graduate programs. She is also a research affiliate and faculty member at the UVic Centre on Aging and a Research Scientist with the End of Life Program in the Fraser Health Authority.

Believing that we learn and grow from each other, Kelli says that she does not see herself as a “teacher” of knowledge, but rather as a “facilitator” of learning.

“I place a high value on a collaborative approach to learning and teaching, valuing the professional and life experiences of students and believing that they have something important to contribute to the educational process. From my perspective, one of the most important aspects of teaching and learning is that we all come away from each experience with more than we bring”.

From this brief glimpse into Kelli’s extensive career it is clear to see that she is beyond deserving of this amazing award. Through her passion for nursing, commitment to patients and caregivers, and numerous contributions to the field of health services she has undoubtedly made a lasting difference to the lives of people all over BC and beyond. Congratulations on your exceptional achievement Kelli and thank you for everything that you have done and continue to do.

On April 25, 2014 the Ministry of Environment released an intentions paper on Land Based Spill Preparedness and Response in British Columbia. The Ministry is now seeking public comment on the paper, which outlines intentions to strengthen British Columbia’s land based oil spill preparedness and response regime and describes the progress that has been made so far.

The public has until July 25, 2014 to submit their feedback on the paper. Comments can be submitted by email, letter, or by completing an electronic response form. To read the Condition 3 intentions paper, please click here. To submit your feedback on the paper, please click here.