This is the eighth 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.

Erinne Paisley

Our first opportunity to hear Erinne speak and witness her remarkable leadership skills was at a student rally held on the steps of the BC legislature on September 9^th. Erinne had coordinated and organized the event. It brought students together from across Greater Victoria and gave them a venue to express their concerns as to how the teachers’ labour dispute was affecting their education and their future. Erinne spoke passionately and articulately about the wish of students to get back to school. And over the next few days she was extensively interviewed by the media as a spokesperson for students affected by the strike.  Erinne handled herself like a seasoned media veteran and told us “I really enjoy speaking with media”.

Erinne was born in Edmonton and her family moved to Victoria when she was one year old. She attended Selkirk Montessori from Kindergarten to Grade 8, then moved to Reynolds Secondary where she is now in Grade 12.

Erinne became very active at Reynolds Secondary right from Grade 9 with involvement in Leadership, Youth in Philanthropy/Vital Youth Group, the Principal’s Advisory group, Open 4 Change leadership group, Get R.E.A.L. Reynolds Environment group, the Outdoors Club and Reynolds Action NOW activist group. It was in the Principal’s Advisory group where Erinne met several older students who had a positive influence on her life. This group met weekly to discuss improvements to the school, plan assemblies and build and nurture a healthy relationship between students and Reynolds’ Principal. Erinne particularly enjoyed touring visitors through Reynolds and visiting feeder middle schools as an ambassador for the school.

Erinne is an honour roll student and she has won many academic awards, including the Principal’s Shield Award. Her service to her school and community has also been recognized with numerous awards for outstanding volunteer service. Erinne has also studied violin for 8 years and completed the Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 4 level. She loves to write and she entered a national writing contest in Grade 8. She even wrote a 25,000 word novelette while in Grade 7. This year, Erinne started interning at a communication company — Reboot Communications — as a Youth Content Developer. She loves social media, speaking at conferences and organizing events.

Erinne praised the mentorship she received from the former principal of Reynolds, Alana Charlton. “She has had a lot of influence in my life” noted Erinne. In turn, Alana Charlton described Erinne as “an exceptional young woman with outstanding leadership skills”. Erinne has also been inspired by her parents and Reynolds teachers Sara Reside and Heather Coey, all of whom have “taught me so much about life”.

Erinne has fully engaged in We Day and attended their BC event every year since Grade 8. In Grade 11, she was chosen as one of ten Canadian students to attend a We Day event in London, England and a conference in Berlin, Germany as part of the National Global Citizen Scholarship Program. Erinne submitted a video to the We Day evaluation committee and was subsequently interviewed by Skype prior to her selection. She has also produced other videos on her youtube channel as part of bullying awareness and we share campaigns.

The Reynolds Action NOW group was co-founded by Erinne and two other students while Erinne was in Grade 10. Its purpose is to bring youth together to discuss and take action upon societal issues of importance to them. The  Action NOW group arrange for external speakers at their meetings and they initiate awareness campaigns within the school. About 10 core members join Erinne in the present Action NOW group and one of Erinne’s goals is to act as a  mentor for younger students so that they can take over once she graduates.

Erinne was very excited to tell us about Reynolds’ involvement in the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock and she was overjoyed with the success of the campaign this year. Reynolds ended up bringing in just over $100,000.00 after Rudi Hoenson wrote a $7,000 cheque on the day the Tour de Rock visited the school. This sum added to the $93,202 the students had already raised.

It was an unusual year for Erinne and the Cops for Cancer team at Reynolds due to the teachers’ strike. In addition, Dean Norris-Jones, a teacher at the school who played a critical role in previous fundraising efforts, was participating as a rider in the tour this year. Remarkably, their $100,000 fundraising goal was met. As one of the co-leaders of the campaign, Erinne told us that “it was very different this year, but we persevered as a school community”.

Erinne Paisley is an incredibly talented young woman who will complete any task and do anything she puts her mind to. She already has an impressive list of accomplishments and awards in recognition of her leadership. It’s clear to us that we will be reading a lot more about Erinne in the years ahead.  Thank you, Erinne for your commitment, passion and leadership.

Quite a number of constituents have written to me expressing serious concerns about the proposed changes to the Societies Act. Here is the action that I have taken so far.

To provide some context, starting in 2009, the Ministry of Finance began a process to review and update the 1996 Societies Act in order to “modernize and update the statute that provides rules for the incorporation and governance of not-for-profit organizations in B.C.”

The Ministry released a White Paper that outlined a number of policy recommendations and included a revised draft of the Societies Act. The public consultation process for this White Paper ended on October 15^th.

During the public consultation period I heard from a large number of constituents (and from others across British Columbia) concerning section 99 of the draft legislation, entitled “Complaints by Public” .

In order to summarize the public feedback I received during the consultation period, I sent a letter to the Minister of Finance on October 16^th to ensure that the public, and my, concerns were brought to the direct attention of the Minister.

October 16^th 2014

Honourable Mike de Jong
Minister of Finance
Parliament Buildings
Victoria BC V8V 1X4

Dear Minister de Jong,

I am writing to you with respect to the BC government’s Societies Act White Paper. I have received a fair amount of correspondence from constituents, societies and others across British Columbia who are concerned with the direction laid out in section 99, entitled “Complaints by Public”. I would like to ensure that their, and my, concerns are brought to your attention.

To begin, I am unclear as to what existing problem section 99 is meant to be addressing. The White Paper does not identify any specific issue that was the impetus for this provision being brought forward.

Section 99 of the Societies Act White Paper appears to lay out a mechanism that I believe has enormous potential to be abused. Relying on an extremely vague definition of ‘public interest’, this section could act as a vehicle for an unprecedented period of SLAPP lawsuits against groups that cannot afford to defend themselves.

Societies play a critical role in our province. Many of them have minimal financial resources, are staffed or supported by volunteers, and very limited access to legal support. If enacted into law, Section 99 could be used as a bullying tactic. As a result, Societies would have to operate in a culture where freedom of speech is at risk of litigation. While I am not a lawyer, it strikes me that the constitutionality of Section 99 might be called into question.

I recognize that the Societies Act White Paper is being advanced at this stage to gather public feedback on proposed legislation. Nevertheless, I hope that the Ministry recognizes the substantive concerns that are being expressed regarding section 99.

I sincerely hope that changes will be made to the Act before it is brought forward to the legislature for debate and that a legal opinion is obtained as to the constitutionality of Section 99.

Thank you very much for your consideration of this matter,

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Weaver
MLA, Oak Bay-Gordon Head

This is the seventh 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.

Claire Wood

Our first impression of Claire was that she was a teacher or an administrator at Oak Bay High School because of her commanding presence as we met her outside the East Office. She naturally, and quickly took charge and guided us to a small room for our interview. “Sorry for all the mess in here, it’s all the materials for the arrival of Tour de Rock tomorrow”.  It turned out that she was one of three co-campaign leaders for the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock.  She was immersed in last minute preparations for the big event to take place at the newly opened Oak Bay gymnasium. Yet, Claire had a calm, approachable demeanor while at the same time exuding confidence.

Clare has been involved in Cops for Cancer for a number of years. In grade 10, she shaved her head and raised $2,300.00 for the campaign. In grade 11, she became a project leader, handled media and public relations, worked on the website and emceed a benefit concert. Her role as 2014 co-campaign leader involved a speech and selection process last spring. Claire described her role in this years’ campaign as: overseeing the running of the project (extra challenging this year due to the teachers strike and late opening of school); making sure fundraising was happening; hosting meetings; setting up assembly timeline; media and public relations and assigning jobs. Claire described her leadership style as highly organized, being a good delegator and able to hold people responsible for their commitments.

Claire was born and raised in Victoria, attending Monterey and Margaret Jenkins schools before Oak Bay High. Her favourite courses are Law, Comparative Civilizations and History. She is a high achiever academically too, with an A average. “I’m not a math brain, but I loved Physics” she told us. She received Honours in Grade 9 and Honours with Distinction in Grade 10.

In addition to her studies, we weren’t surprised to learn of Claire’s many other activities. She was in Student Council (Grades 9 and 10), Community Leadership (since Grade 9) and a Connect Club Leader in Grade 11 (organizing mixer activities for international students). Last year, she joined the Environment Club and volunteered with Helping Homeless Hearts (organizing Christmas care packages for our homeless population and working at the Rainbow Kitchen). All this, and she has held part time jobs in the food service industry in her spare time! Last year, she received the prestigious Green and White Award at her school and the CTV Amazing Kid Award, along with a $1000.00 prize.

Claire has been a rower since grade 9, competing on both school teams and in club rowing. Unfortunately, this year’s school rowing season had to be cancelled due to the teachers strike. But that hasn’t diminished her passion for it. And Claire told us she’s even met one of her best friends through rowing. Claire was on the school swim and synchronized swim team in Grade 9 and last year, she joined the first girl’s rugby team at Oak Bay High.

When asked about who has been inspirational to her, Claire was quick to respond with Murray Allen, Vice Principal at Oak Bay High. “He’s a man of his word and he holds people accountable” she said, and further noted “if he says he will do something, it will get done”. It was clear to us that Claire has tremendous respect for Murray Allen.

In the long term, Claire has her sights set on a career in international relations and federal politics. She is considering a gap year with the Latitudes Program following graduation and she has already applied for a 6 month program in Ecuador. In preparation, she is taking a Spanish course in the evenings through Camosun College. Claire doesn’t have her educational goals “set in stone” and she wants some flexibility, but she did mention her dream school for an eventual law degree would be the University of Toronto. She also talked about first obtaining an undergraduate degree in political science at either the University of Victoria or the University of Toronto.

In the hour we spent chatting with Claire, it became clear to us that she was on a path to do great things. We commented to each other after the interview that we wouldn’t be a surprised to see Claire become our Premier one day. Her interest in politics, impressive leadership skills, confident yet approachable nature, and commanding presence suggest to us that Claire has a very promising future. Our democracy would be profoundly enriched by Claire’s presence, whatever political party she ends up working with.

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

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.