Statement on BC NDP climate action plan & B.C. Liberal response
February 2nd, 2017
For immediate release

Andrew Weaver responds to Prime Minister’s reversal on proportional representation
For immediate release
February 1st, 2017

VICTORIA B.C. – The B.C. Green Party holds proportional representation as a foundational aspect of their platform and is committed to implementing the system in British Columbia.

“We support proportional representation because it is a fairer voting system, which encourages democratic participation and accurately reflects voters’ choices in the make-up of government,” said Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head.”

“I am profoundly disappointed with Prime Minister Trudeau’s betrayal of his election promise. This is a matter of trust. People put their trust in elected officials and the Prime Minister has greatly damaged that confidence.”

“As an MLA and Leader of the B.C. Green Party, I am working to prove that politicians can and should be held accountable to their commitments. I hope to demonstrate that elected officials can serve the public with evidence-based policies and honesty and still be successful. And, as a party, we are evidence that parties can ban corporate and union donations and still be effective.

“The B.C. Green Party is seeking a mandate to govern from British Columbians, and the only way to do this is to earn their trust, through showing that we stay true to our principles and will deliver on our commitments.”

“The B.C. Green Party is committed to implementing proportional representation in British Columbia, and as we near the 2017 election, look for the imminent release of our plan.

“British Columbians expect better than what they are currently getting from their elected officials, and we promise to deliver better.”

– 30 –

Media contact
Mat Wright, Press Secretary
+1 250-216-3382 | mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

Time for funding on home and mental health care
For immediate release
January 30, 2017

VICTORIA B.C. – Home care and mental health are at a crisis point in B.C. and the provincial government continues to play politics with the wellbeing of British Columbians.

“The federal government has put new money on the table for mental health services and home health care,” said Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head. “Rather than sitting down and negotiating a deal like Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the three territories have, British Columbia is watching the health care money be given away.”

Since Health Accord negotiations between the provinces and federal government broke down in December, four other provinces and three territories have since returned to the table and have reached bilateral funding agreements. Last week, Saskatchewan became the fourth province to reach a bilateral deal with the federal government on health care transfers. British Columbia has not resumed negotiations.

“Island Health is struggling with a budget deficit of between $10-million and $12-million dollars and our hospitals, designed to deal with acute care, are being used inefficiently for chronic care for which the federal home care money is targeted,” said Weaver, Leader of the B.C. Green Party.

“We are struggling to respond reactively to the fentanyl crisis, an approach that has come with a staggeringly horrific human cost. We need to be proactively supporting mental health and recovery services for which, once again, Federal money is already being offered.”

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Media contact
Mat Wright, Press Secretary
+1 250-216-3382 | mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

Statement on BC Government’s Approval of Kinder Morgan Pipeline
For immediate release
January 11, 2017

VICTORIA B.C. – BC Green Party Leader, Andrew Weaver, and BC Green Candidate for Saanich North and the Islands, Adam Olsen, have issued the following statement in response to the BC Government’s approval of the Kinder Morgan Pipeline.

“Only the BC Liberals would suggest the approval of a heavy oil pipeline that puts our communities and coastline at risk was done to advance our healthy environment,” said Andrew Weaver. “I reviewed the exact same material as the BC Government as an official intervenor and I can tell you unequivocally, the evidence does not support this decision. The evidence does not support their assurances that we can adequately respond to a heavy oil spill, nor does it backup the government’s misleading claims about the economic effects this pipeline will have.”

“You’d think that, at the very least, Kinder Morgan would have been expected to show that they can clean up a dilbit spill to get approval. But they haven’t – because they can’t,” said Adam Olsen. “To make the situation even more absurd, the government is responding to evidence that says we are unable to remove spilled dilbit from a marine environment by saying ‘don’t worry about it, Kinder Morgan will figure it out.’”

“This is the result of a ‘get to yes, no matter the costs’ approach to economic policy. We have a project being approved that most British Columbians are against. We have a process that actively excluded communities. Now the government is arbitrarily suggesting that its conditions have been met, while the evidence shows that’s impossible.”

Both Andrew Weaver and Adam Olsen were interveners in the Kinder Morgan Hearing process, submitting hundreds of questions and reviewing thousands of pages of documentation from Kinder Morgan.

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Media contact
Mat Wright, Press Secretary, Office of Andrew Weaver, MLA
+1 250-216-3382 | mat.wright@bcgreens.ca

A number of constituents recently contacted me regarding the high cost of upgrading high school courses. To start the new year, and in anticipation of the upcoming provincial budget to be tabled in February, I wrote to the Minister of Education to ask that he consider removing the barriers to educational access that his government put in place in May 2015.

A non trivial component of the government’s surplus has come at the expense of those who can least afford it. Cuts to those seeking to upgrade their high school education to pursue work and educational opportunities do nothing more than perpetuate the poverty trap.

I reproduce the text of my letter below.

Text of the Letter

January 4, 2017

Honourable Mike Bernier
Ministry of Education
PO Box 9045, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC
V8W 9E2
Canada
Dear Minister Bernier,

I’m writing to you today in light of concerns that constituents have brought to my attention regarding the high cost of upgrading high school courses.

Since the subsidy was removed in May 2015, adults now face a fee to upgrade grade 11/12 courses, generally $500-$550 per course. This fee is placing a huge burden on families and individuals looking to upgrade their high school education and pursue work and educational opportunities.

I have learned that at the South Island Distance Education School (SIDES) in Victoria alone, there are hundreds of students who are unable to afford the fees of upgrading their courses, and thus remain on the waitlist; many more don’t even apply to join the waitlist, discouraged from doing so when they learn the cost.

In particular, these fees harm those who are seeking to upgrade their courses at secondary schools, since only courses taken at postsecondary institutions are eligible for tax deductions, reimbursement under RESPs, or the Adult Upgrading Grant.

This situation leaves a significant gap in our support for students, leaving those who upgrade their courses at secondary schools to pay course fees and to go without the financial assistance that benefits students at postsecondary institutions. It is not always an option to attend a post-secondary school: many low-income individuals need the flexibility of distance learning to enable them to balance their studies with their work.

I have heard from families who are struggling financially to help their children cover the costs of these courses. For others, the cost is too high a barrier to overcome, preventing motivated individuals from upgrading the courses they need to attend college or university, and therefore foreclosing the opportunities that would otherwise become available to them.

Currently, the BC Government is penalizing people who return to school, and preventing so many from upgrading their education and realizing the associated opportunities.

Please act to make adult education more accessible. This would be best achieved through reinstating the subsidies to these courses. In the absence of these subsidies, I ask you to extend the eligibility requirements for upgrading grants, to encompass students who upgrade their courses at secondary schools.

Sincerely,

Andrew Weaver
MLA, Oak Bay-Gordon Head