Media Statement: October 8, 2014
Response of Greater Victoria councils to calls for governance questions on the November ballots welcomed

For Immediate Release

Victoria B.C. – Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head and Deputy Leader of the B.C. Green Party, welcomes the response of local councils to calls for governance questions to be on the November 15^th local elections ballots in Greater Victoria. Saanich, Oak Bay and six more of the thirteen municipalities within the Capital Regional District will place a non-binding question seeking public input on shared services, local and regional governance and, in some cases, the potential for amalgamation. A positive vote will trigger a study on local governance and publically-funded services, leading to recommendations on the future of local and regional governance.

“This is welcome news. It is encouraging to see democracy at work with local mayors and councillors listening to their communities,” said Andrew Weaver. “I am hopeful that this kind of public engagement will serve as a catalyst to increase voter turnout in the November municipal elections”.

Today, the Honourable Coralee Oakes, Minister responsible for local government, congratulated the municipalities that have placed a governance question on the November 15^th ballot, and stated her office and staff are available to assist with resources and support.

“The Minister’s announcement that resources and staff are available to support a governance study, is appreciated and demonstrates that they too are listening to residents of the capital regional district,” said Andrew Weaver. “It is vital the province and local governments work together to ensure residents are fully consulted and have an opportunity to voice their questions and ideas as this moves forward.”

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Media Contact
Mat Wright – Press Secretary, Andrew Weaver MLA
mat.wright@leg.bc.ca
1 250 216 3382

Today I rose in the legislature to give the required two day’s notice that I will bring forward an amendment to the Throne Speech. Delta South Independent MLA Vicki Huntington seconded my notice of motion.

When I speak to the Throne Speech, and subsequently the amendment on Thursday, I will outline an alternative vision for diversified, sustainable, 21^st century economy.

Notice to Amend Motion

Be it resolved that the motion “We, Her Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, in session assembled, beg leave to thank Your Honour for the gracious speech which your Honour has addressed to us at the opening of the present session,” be amended by adding the following:

And that the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia accepts the responsibility of demonstrating the leadership to choose growth, to move forward and create a legacy for our children, but also recognizes that this leadership means not gambling our future prosperity on a hypothetical windfall from LNG, and instead supports the development of a diversified, sustainable, 21^st century economy.

This is the sixth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Jake Rimmer

You’d never know from his unassuming, humble and polite demeanor that Jake is an accomplished athlete and musician, a straight-A student (with a 97% average) and a student leader. But after our meeting with him at the Starbucks in Oak Bay village, it became apparent to us that Jake is a very talented and compassionate young man. Whether it be busking on government street to raise funds for his piano and vocal lessons, or volunteering in Mexico to help the less fortunate, Jake is passionate about what he does and an inspiration to those around him.

Jake was born in Australia, near Brisbane in the small town of Nambour, Queensland and he moved to Canada at 6 months of age with his mother and brother Talen, both of whom continue to inspire him. His closeness to, and admiration of his older brother (who is attending the University of Victoria) were obvious. He told us that his brother was “a hard act to follow”, having served as valedictorian for his graduating class and receiving the prestigious Merit Cup in Grade 12 at Oak Bay High School. We were left wondering if  Talen would have told us the opposite if we had interviewed him instead! Jake’s maturity and accomplishments to date certainly set a very high standard.

Jake is in Grade 12 at Oak Bay High, having attended the Lansdowne middle school french immersion program prior to that.  He’s loaded up his timetable with Math 12 (AP), three Science 12 classes and Physics 11 through SIDES. Yet Jake still finds time to participate in numerous other activities including Peer Counseling, the Environment Club, coaching volleyball and he is a co-leader of Oak Bay High’s Best Buddy Program. Jake recently joined the debate club. Led by Mr. Tim Bradshaw, the Oak Bay Debate Club has a rich history and hosts the annual Golden Gnome debate tournament in December. In Grade 11 Jake took on a Youth Philanthropy initiative as a Planning 11 project. This involved choosing a charity, giving presentations and competing with others to receive a cash prize for the charity. Jake chose LifeRing, which is an organization that provides community-based support groups for people struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. His pitch, in slam poem format, took him to the finals.

Sports have played a significant role in Jake’s development. He played baseball competitively for many years, volleyball from Grade 6 to Grade 10 (making it to the Nationals in Grade 8). An unfortunate injury during a volleyball game a few years ago (which resulted in a separated shoulder that later required surgery), has sidelined him from that sport. Nevertheless, to stay physically active, Jake has taken up cross country and track this year.

When asked from where he gets inspiration, his answer was his mother and father, his teachers Mr. Brent Garraway and Ms. Tessa Kubicek, “the most inspirational people I’ve ever met”, and “music”.

Jake’s passion is music. It would be his dream to be able to make a living as a musician, “doing what I love the most”. Jake played percussion in band during middle school and his earlier high school years. A singer and songwriter, he taught himself  guitar and started busking on government Street during the summer. He saved up his earnings from busking to purchase music recording software in addition to paying for his piano and voice lessons. Jake describes his genre of music as a combination of soul, folk and acoustic hip hop. His musical influences include Ed Sheeran, The Script, Sam Smith and Hedley. Jake plans to pursue a music degree at the University of Victoria starting next year.

An experience that took place in March 2014 when Jake was in Grade 11 had a huge impact on his life. A group of 34 Oak Bay High School students took a trip to Mexico on a “Hero Holiday”. The students raised $34,000.00 for the trip and over a period of 10 days, they built two houses for Mexican families. The effect on Jake was profoundly emotional and he had a hard time explaining to us how much it meant to him. He got to know a family whose home he helped build and learned how they were content, despite having so little material wealth, especially compared to the luxuries we enjoy in Canada, “they have a fraction of what we have but they are some of the happiest people I’ve seen”. Before he left Mexico, Jake wrote a letter to himself about the experience. He recently received the letter in the mail from Mexico. For Jake, rereading the words that he had previously written was an extremely moving experience. He told us the time in Mexico was an “indescribable experience” and “it changed me”. Jake hopes to once again undertake another Hero Holiday in the not too distant future.

Jake is truly a remarkable young man who has so much to give – and he does so with a big heart. Thank you Jake for all that you do to enrich the lives of those around you.

Media Statement: October 1, 2014
National Energy Board Ruling on Adequacy of Trans Mountain’s Answers Deeply Troubling

For Immediate Release

Victoria B.C. – Dr. Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and Deputy Leader of the B.C. Green Party is calling the National Energy Board’s ruling on the adequacy of Trans Mountain’s answers “deeply troubling”.

After weeks of anticipation, the National Energy Board handed down its ruling on the adequacy of Trans Mountain’s answers to intervenors’ first round of information requests on the details of the pipeline proposal. Roughly 50 intervenors challenged more than 2,000 responses that they were given by Trans Mountain on the basis that those responses were incomplete and inadequate. In the end, the NEB ruled in favour of only a very small fraction (less than 5%) of intervenors’ requests for better answers.

“In the case of my submission, I challenged more than 100 incomplete and inadequate answers,” says Weaver. “To be clear, I wasn’t challenging answers that I disagreed with. I was challenging answers that simply did not respond to my questions. Yet despite this, the National Energy Board still only ruled in my favour four times.”

As a part of the first round of information requests, Dr. Weaver submitted nearly 500 questions on a variety of topics, including the risks and impacts of a potential oil spill, Trans Mountain’s ability to clean up such a spill and the extent to which the public on Southern Vancouver Island was consulted about the pipeline proposal.

One of Weaver’s key areas of concern is the apparent contradiction arising from land-based tank experiments conducted by Trans Mountain and those undertaken independently by the federal government. According to a federal government report published in November 2013, diluted bitumen has the potential to sink when it mixes with suspended sediments. Trans Mountain’s experiments were conducted in the absence of suspended sediments. “One thing we have no shortage of in our coastal waters is suspended sediments” notes Weaver. “Next time you travel on a BC ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, have a look at the water. Water originating from the Fraser River has a very distinct milky colour associated with its high sediment content.”

Identifying whether or not diluted bitumen sinks is essential for determining whether or not we have the capacity to respond to a spill. BC government reports have made it clear that we currently don’t have the capacity to respond to a submerged oil spill and Trans Mountain has not proposed any measures to address this gap.

In its ruling, National Energy Board concluded that Dr. Weaver’s attempts to address the contradictory evidence “would not contribute to the record in any substantive way”.

“That the NEB can say that questions on the science underpinning whether Trans Mountain can even respond to an oil spill are not a ‘substantive’ contribution to the record should be alarming for all British Columbians,” says Weaver. “This is an unfortunate ruling that puts our coastline at unnecessary risk. In the absence of an opportunity for cross-examination, it is decisions like these that make people seriously question the integrity of the entire hearing process.”

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Media Contact
Mat Wright – Press Secretary, Andrew Weaver MLA
Mat.wright@leg.bc.ca
1 250 216 3382

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.