This is the eighteenth 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.

Ella Van Cleave

Ella is an articulate young woman with a tremendous passion for marine life and their ocean home. What’s remarkable is that Ella has already accomplished so much yet she only graduates from high school next month. When we met her for coffee to interview her for this series, she impressed us as a very bright, dedicated, yet unassuming, young activist, mature well beyond her years.

Ella was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and moved to Victoria when she was in Grade 5. She attended Glenlyon Norfolk School from Grade 5 to Grade 10, then went to Oak Bay High School for Grade 11 and is currently at Glenlyon Norfolk in her graduating year. In addition to being an outstanding student, Ella has distinguished herself as a gifted debater. She has been debating since Grade 7 and has received numerous awards at tournaments. This past year, she and her debating partner won both the Oak Bay High School Golden Gnome and Newman-FISA debating tournaments, with Ella placing as top speaker at the latter.  Other debating successes include those obtained at the Vancouver Island Regional Debate Tournament where she won 3^rd place as an individual speaker in 2011 and 2^nd place as an individual speaker in 2012 and 2013. At the UBC High School Debate Tournament, Ella placed 3^rd as an individual speaker in 2013 and she was part of a debating team that took 3^rd place in 2014.

There is no doubt her extensive debating experience has helped Ella become a talented public speaker. She was the keynote speaker at the Glenlyon Norfolk Change Conference at her school in 2011 and has spoken at many conferences since then. Ella was the Co-Chair of the Change conference at her school in 2013. Also in 2013, Ella was Assistant Volunteer Coordinator at the Powershift BC conference, where she gave a workshop on sustainable living.

When Ella heard Fabian Cousteau (grandson of Jacques Cousteau) give a presentation in Victoria, she asked him a question and had a chance to talk to him afterward. This led to Ella being asked to give a TedX talk. At the age of only 14, Ella was a featured speaker at the 2011 TedX event in Victoria. There she identified herself as a “teenage activist” and spoke passionately and knowledgeably about the plight of cetaceans, particularly dolphins and whales who are exploited and kept captive in entertainment facilities. Ella related the extreme stress that these animals are under, from the time of their capture through their life in captivity, which can never replicate their natural habitat. Ella’s impressive TedX presentation can be viewed here.

Ella’s interest in ocean conservation and cetaceans has led her to be involved in some significant projects. Through contact with film makers Richard and Lincoln O’ Barry who created “The Cove”, an Oscar-winning documentary about the dolphin hunt in Japan, Ella was introduced to the Dolphin Project, which is a campaign under the International Marine mammal project at the non-profit Earth Island Institute in Berkeley, California. Ella is a youth ambassador and writer for the Dolphin Project and she plans to create a youth section for the project, with an education curriculum and activism toolbox to get youth engaged in this important issue.

Ella started diving when she was in Grade 8 and received her diving certification in Australia. She plans to obtain her Rescue Diver certification and work on a Master Diver’s certificate once she turns 18. She describes herself as a child of nature and she has loved the ocean as long as she can remember. She is passionate about diving and has had the opportunity to do underwater filming. Ella was invited to work with biologist and deep-sea explorer Sylvia Earle and MacGillvray Freeman Films and said “it was the coolest thing I’ve ever done”. She is involved in another film project in 2016 with MacGillvray Freeman Films Inc and the One World One Ocean Campaign that addresses the urgent need to address ocean conservation. Ella was fortunate to be invited to Key Largo, Florida, where she was able to dive to the underwater research lab and do some filming for the project.

Ella has become part of an activist network that she describes as “the most genuine group of people”. She finds that the support of a strong network is critical when you are taking on difficult issues and fighting for what you believe in.

In the future, Ella sees herself doing scientific research “on the things I care about”, which relate primarily to ocean conservation. Ella has recently been offered an impressive scholarship to attend Quest University near Squamish, BC. She’s thrilled and excited to be joining their liberal arts undergraduate program offered on a 60 acre hilltop campus near Garibaldi Provincial Park. The Quest program includes taking one class at a time, in a very intensive format over a period of 3.5 weeks. Ella’s goal is to enter the field of marine science or oceanography, to further her work in ocean conservation.

Ella’s communication skills are exceptional; her enthusiasm is infectious; her passion for marine conservation is unwavering. It probably comes as little surprise to know that we’re convinced Ella will fulfill her dreams however they may evolve. And one thing is for sure — we’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the years to come.

Today I had the privilege of attending the Oak Bay Young Exceptional Star (Y.E.S) awards ceremony at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre where 15 exceptionally talented youth in grades 6 to 10 were honoured for their achievements.

As noted by the  Oak Bay Child and Youth Committee that administers the awards, “The goal of the awards is to emphasize the positive achievements of Oak Bay’s young people by recognizing those who have distinguished themselves in such areas as volunteerism, arts, citizenship, academics, athletics and/or who have overcome obstacles to achieve their goals.”

Congratulations to this year’s award winners: Georgia Alexander, Andrei Bielay, Jack Carson, Owen Crewe, Sophie de Goede, Christopher Graham, Rachel Hughes, Nicholas Kojima, Alisa Lyesina, Anika McDonald, Zachariah Mears, John Mossie, Carson Rust, Rubee Twohig and Annika Weir.

I had the pleasure of presenting the award to Sophie de Goede. Below is the text of my speech.

Text of Speech

Sophie stands out amongst her peers in all aspects of life around Oak Bay. She is known around Oak Bay High School as an incredibly talented athlete. While this is a well-deserved reputation, it only tells part of her story. She was nominated for this award by two of her teachers – Mr. Kinnear and Mr. Garraway.

When it comes to athletics Sophie is elite in all aspects. Her desire, drive, and passion is unmatched. She spends several hours everyday training with an elite group of young athletes at the extremely prestigious Canadian Sports School at the Pacific Institute of Sports Excellence. She has parlayed this hard work into an already stellar sports career at Oak Bay High School as a Grade 10 student.

Sophie has been a starter for two years on the Sr. Girls Soccer Team. Mr. Garraway says that Sophie was the first grade 9 player in his 13 years as the Sr. Girls Soccer coach, to make and start on the senior team. She helped lead them to a Provincial Bronze medal and this year is an assistant captain — an honour which has never been given to a grade 10 player before. Sophie is also a big point getter for the Sr. Girls Track and Cross Country Teams, starter for the Sr. Girls Volleyball team, starter and multiple MVP for the Sr. Girls Basketball team, as well as team captain in what most would consider her main sport of rugby. She excels in nearly all these sports in the community as well. This includes as an underage member of the Provincial U-17 Basketball Team, and competing internationally on both the 7 & 15 aside rugby teams.

Sophie also is an academic leader at Oak Bay High School. She thrives in the classroom boasting straight A’s in all her academics. What’s even more remarkable is that Sophie also pursues volunteering opportunities around the school. This year she applied, and was accepted, to be a member of the Hero Holiday crew. These students partake in various fundraising opportunities over a two-year period. And I had the pleasure of being jailed then bailed at one of these fundraisers! The students use this money to purchase supplies to build and furnish homes in impoverished communities in Mexico. Over a ten day period they travel to Mexico and build these homes for families in need. The students immerse themselves in the community and get to know the importance of giving back to those in need.

Selfless, hard working, and determined — these attributes allow Sophie to be successful in all aspects of her life. In less than two years around Oak Bay High School, Sophie has excelled amongst her peers in all pillars of excellence. She has already created a legacy that many of our most elite students struggle to conjure up over four years. What truly makes Sophie exceptional is that despite all her success you would be truly hard pressed to find a member of staff or the student body that has even an ounce of ill will towards her. She does all these things with such class and dignity the whole school has become Sophie de Goede fans.

We are fans too Sophie, and are extremely pleased to be presenting you with a well-deserved YES Award!

Today was my turn to read a member’s statement in the house. I took the opportunity to highlight the impressive work being done by the ALS Society of B.C. to promote ALS awareness, treatment and research.

There are somewhere between 2500 and 3000 Canadians presently afflicted by ALS. More generally, ALS strikes about 2 per 100,000 people each year. My first experience with ALS was while I was a graduate student at Cambridge University. When leaving a class I literally stumbled into and then onto Stephen Hawking who was being brought in to give a lecture by one of his graduate students. The father of one of my son’s friends has ALS and the father of one my son’s teachers also had ALS.

My Statement

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS is a debilitating, progressive neurological disease that leads to the death of neurons that control voluntary muscles. Each of us in this chamber probably knows of at least one person who has struggled with this disease. In my case, it’s three.

Honourable Speaker, 2014 was a very busy year for the ALS Society of B.C.

Prior to last year’s Ice Bucket Challenge (which I had the distinct honour of participating in), the society found it challenging to raise awareness about ALS. They found it challenging to attract the type of funding required to advance ALS research. These challenges were literally ‘washed away’ temporarily in August last year. And a new era of hope has begun.

Three years ago the Society established a five-year goal to raise an additional $2 million for ALS research.

Remarkably, by itself, the 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge raised nearly that amount through the generosity of British Columbians. And the ALS Society of B.C. directed 100% of this windfall to ALS research. As a result, five new research grants have already been awarded in Canada, including one to Dr. Charles Krieger at Simon Fraser University for his studies concerning the use of bone marrow cells to deliver single chain antibodies in ALS.

In British Columbia, we are extremely fortunate to have some of the best ALS specialists in the world caring for patients at the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. The Province’s continued partnership with the Centre is crucial to providing the best quality of care service.

On August 6^th, members of the International Alliance of ALS/ Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Associations will be staging events around the world to report back on how the funds from the Ice Bucket Challenge have been invested.

However, it is important to note that despite this recent fundraising success, ALS is still not a treatable disease. More patients are being diagnosed daily, and the cost of equipment and critical services increase every year. Until there is a cure, we cannot afford to let up.

Honourable speaker, June is ALS awareness month. There will be many events taking place across BC during this month. And if you’re looking for information, it can be found at the ALS BC website: www.alsbc.ca .

Video

Earlier this month I wrote a piece on the wisdom of dumping contaminated soils in the Shawnigan Lake watershed. I visited the region with Shawnigan Lake Area Director Sonia Furstenau. Together with a few other Shawnigan Lake residents, we hiked around on parkland owned by the Cowichan Valley Regional District. I took this opportunity to take a number of photographs. More importantly, I took the opportunity to collect water samples.

The results of these water samples, together with my observation that a significant amount of fill had over run Lot 21 and was on the neighbouring parkland, led me to ask the Minister of Energy and Mines and the Minister of Environment questions in Question Period today.

Below are the questions and the Ministers’ responses. I gave the Ministers my questions in advance as I wanted to give them time to check with staff prior to providing answers. The answers I received in my view are very helpful in providing information to the CVRD as to how they might proceed.

Question

A. Weaver: I have in my possession two letters [here and here] sent from the Ministry of Energy and Mines to South Island Aggregates in Shawnigan Lake concerning “sloughing or material that encroached onto Cowichan Valley regional district property.”

The April 1, 2014 letter from the ministry’s regional manager for the coast area states that “the property impacted by the encroachment must be cleaned up and returned to its pre-encroachment state to the satisfaction of the property owner.”

The story continues. I also have a letter from the CVRD clearly outlining the fact that the property impacted has yet to be cleaned up, let alone to the CVRD’s satisfaction. South Island Aggregates needs an amendment to its mines permit before its Ministry of Environment permit can become active.

Will the Minister of Energy and Mines commit to ensuring that before an amended permit is issued, the infractions and issues of non-compliance at this site have been addressed?

Answer

Hon. B. Bennett: It’s actually refreshing to get a question where the member has a good grasp of the facts. I don’t think that this quarry is in the member’s riding so, honestly, he deserves a lot of credit for having done the due diligence that whoever the MLA is for that area hasn’t done.

To the member’s question, he is correct that there was a commitment made by the Ministry of Energy and Mines that we would ensure that the company that had encroached on regional district land would, in fact, remediate that land. An engineering plan has gone to the regional district, about eight weeks ago.

I don’t know why we haven’t heard back from the regional district, but I will commit to work with the member, work with our ministry, work with the regional district and make sure that they know they have that plan. They can take some time to look at that plan, and that RD land will be remediated.

Supplementary Question

A. Weaver: Thank you to the minister for the answer.

For several years soil has been dumped in lot 21 for later use as backfill for the neighbouring quarry in lot 23, which we just discussed, where the amended permit is required. I recently visited the location. I collected and subsequently analyzed water samples and noted that runoff from this site entering Shawnigan Creek had extremely high iron levels that failed drinking water standards locally.

The Cowichan Valley regional district is very concerned about the long-term safety of drinking water in the Shawnigan Lake area. They want to conduct an independent environmental investigation of lots 21 and 23 and are willing to pay the costs of doing so themselves. There will be no expense to the government.

My question to the Minister of Environment is this. Does the CVRD require a contractual agreement with the ministry to allow them to conduct such an investigation? If so, will the ministry consider entering into such an agreement? If not, is it the minister’s understanding that the CVRD have full authority to conduct such an independent environmental investigation on lots 21 and 23?

Answer

Hon. M. Polak: Thank you to the member for providing some details ahead of time. That enabled me to pursue and seek some advice with respect to jurisdictional issues around environmental testing.

Here’s what I can tell the member. With respect to lot 21, it is private property. Now, that means for the Ministry of Environment that we have full authority to be able to enter that property, conduct testing, investigate if there are concerns with respect to pollution. We intend to do so. We have done so, and I will talk a little bit more about that in a moment.

There is, however, though, no authority — the minister possesses no authority — to be able to allow another party, even through a contractual arrangement, to engage in that kind of investigation on private land. Here’s what we can do, though. Staff, after meeting with representatives from CVRD have developed a sampling plan for the site. I understand they will be discussing that with CVRD today.

We cannot order the private property owner to allow CVRD members to attend and observe. However, we will be discussing that with them, and we’re hopeful that on a voluntarily basis the landowner will allow us to bring along CVRD representatives to observe the testing. In the absence of that we will certainly make sure that all test results, all test processes are discussed and shared with the CVRD.

Video from Question Period

On Wednesday, April 22 (Earth Day) I rose to speak to Bill 22: Special Wine Store Licence Auction Act. This Bill provides government with the legislative power to create an auction for wine licenses in support of a wine-on-shelves in grocery store model. In my opinion, this bill creates a multi-tiered system that preferentially favours large grocery chains over small business. It is following a similar pattern to what we are seeing emerging with government legislation. It’s a pattern that is putting more and more power in the hands of the minister to do whatever he or she wants to do, with little legislative accountability. The only reason this legislation is being brought forward at all is because the auction “bids” that government receives are ultimately defined as a “tax” whose collection requires consent of the legislature.

To give a specific example of how this bill might hurt small business, we have to look no further than the locally-owned Peppers Food Store in Cadboro Bay Village.

In 1962 John Pepper opened a Shop Easy grocery store at the location. In the early 80’s  John Davits and his partner bought the store after working in the meat department for Mr. Pepper. Once they took ownership, the community voted on a new name and it was renamed Pepper’s Food Store. John then became sole owner in 1990, although he has been either employed there or owner for over 35 years. Currently, he is in the process of turning over the day to day operations to his son, Cory, who has worked at the store in many capacities for over 25 years. Peppers is a grocery story with an area of 7,500 square feet. It does not qualify as a “grocery store” under the government’s definition that a “grocery store” referred to in the act has an area of at least 10,000 square feet. Peppers Foods owner John Davits publicly expressed concern over the fairness of this Bill. I concur.

Of course Pepper’s isn’t the only grocery store in Oak Bay-Gordon Head that doesn’t qualify. For example, the local grocery store that my family and I get most of our groceries from is Mount Doug Market owned by Carol and Cori Lau (it’s walking distance from our house). They too have an area less than 10,000 square feet yet they too only sell groceries to local residents.

This legislation grants government regulatory power to prescribe “…the number of special wine store licenses in respect of which bids may be accepted under this Act.” In essence, claims made in the media that there will be no new licenses are certainly not evident from this act. The legislation exempts “grocery stores” that win an auction license from the “one-kilometre rule” (prohibiting “store within store” grocery store liquor outlets being established within one kilonmetre of an existing distributer).

Here I worry about the Tuscany Village Metro Liquor store that has developed an excellent reputation for it’s special focus on wine, especially BC VQA wines. There are three larger grocery stores very close by that could undercut their market significantly, especially in light of the special pricing specialty wine store license auction holders are entitled to. Locally-owned small businesses are being unfairly treated. This is not right and I am absolutely bewildered why government wouldn’t ensure that small business in our community is protected. Small business in the engine of our economy.

Finally, the fact that these specialty wine store licenses restrict grocery stores to carry BC wine, cider or sake on their shelves may not be allowable under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). If we look specifically at Annex 312 of NAFTA it seems pretty clear to me that this act is simply not going to stand up to a NAFTA challenge. I wll be raising this at committee stage when we continue debate on the bill next week.

I was not alone in opposing the Bill as is evident in the second reading vote below.

The Vote