Looking ahead to 2017, I can’t help but feel incredibly excited – not the least of which is because the provincial election is on the horizon. I sincerely thank you for putting your trust in me these past four years. This May I’m hopeful that you will afford me the distinct honour of serving you as your MLA for a second term. I’m also eager to see how the election will play out across British Columbia.

The politics of 2016 were trying, to say the least, but I feel that positive change is afoot in B.C. From east to west and north to south people are realizing that status-quo politics is not serving them or their communities. We are seeing people reach their limits with parties who bend to organized union or corporate interests. People are fed up with political parties and their MLAs being reduced to puppets controlled by corporate or union puppet masters with a firm grip on their purse strings. The election, however, will put the power back where it belongs, in the hands of British Columbians.

Since the B.C. Greens, of which I am now the leader, stopped accepting corporate and union donations, we have seen an incredible ground swell of support. Politics for the people, by the people, has really struck a chord in B.C. and I know it has not gone unnoticed by other politicians. These politicians now have to leave their back room meetings and answer directly to British Columbians. And British Columbians are demanding thoughtful responses, not sound bites or media lines, to their questions about housing, affordability, public education, income security, MSP premiums and hydro rates, environmental protection, climate change, doctor shortages, and the spiraling Fentanyl overdose epidemic, to name but a few.

The riding of Oak Bay – Gordon Head had the highest voter turnout in the province in 2013, something I am endlessly proud of to this day, and I’m optimistic that the change that started in our community will spread to other ridings in 2017.

I draw my inspiration from our community that I’ve been grateful to call home for my entire life. I was born in Victoria, attended Oak Bay High School, raised my family in Gordon Head and built a career here. As a professor at the University of Victoria for the past twenty-five years, I have been fortunate enough to work with, and teach, some of the brightest minds in science.

The B.C. Greens have incredible candidates stepping up across the province. I’m convinced that this election will be the first time in a very long time that voters have a viable third choice, and no longer have to hold their nose when voting for the lesser of two evils. It’s my job as leader of the party to provide people with something they can vote for, not against.

We will face some massive challenges in our future, to be sure, but I am confident we will overcome them. As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with my office.

I wish everyone a safe and happy New Year.

In what has turned out to be a bizarre set of emails with Rachel Notley’s office today, it now appears that there will not be a public meeting after all. So the net result of Ms. Notley’s trip to BC was a closed door back room event with John Horgan, and a number of radio interviews wherein she talked at British Columbians.  This hardly builds trust especially since Mr. Horgan has changed his opinions on the Kinder Morgan pipeline so many times, I’ve lost count.

Talk about lack of transparency. If Ms. Notley wanted to engage British Columbians she would listen to them, not talk at them. She has not listened and both Ms. Clark and Mr. Horgan have remained silent.

Below I reproduce both letters I received today. Now I have asked countless people about their interpretation of the first letter. It was unanimous that people felt that this was to be interpreted as an invitation for a public meeting. The second letter is pretty clear.

Text of the First Letter

Dear Mr. Weaver:

On behalf of Premier Notley, thank you for your email. I appreciate you reaching out and I have shared your invitation with Premier Notley and her scheduling staff to organize a public meeting between you and her team.

Premier Notley’s scheduling staff will follow up with you shortly.

Regards,

Sonya McAdam
Premier’s Correspondence Unit

Text of the Second Letter

Dear Dr. Weaver,

Thank you for your letter of December 5th, 2016 to Premier Notley. Unfortunately, we are unable to oblige your request.

Sincerely,

Miriam Rycroft
Director of Scheduling, Office of the Premier

For immediate release

Nov. 29, 2016

Andrew Weaver responds to Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain approval

VICTORIA B.C. – Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and leader of the B.C. Green Party, issued the following statement on today’s federal energy announcements:

“Prime Minister Trudeau has betrayed the trust of British Columbians. The approval of this project is completely contradictory to this government’s rhetoric at the Paris climate talks, as well as their commitments to finally embrace a new era of reconciliation. This government was elected with guarantees that change would finally happen – instead we see yet another Federal government steamrolling their pipeline agenda over First Nations and over B.C. communities.

“I was an intervenor in the National Energy Board review. I have read through Kinder Morgan’s application, reviewed thousands of pages of documentation and asked Trans Mountain more than 600 questions about their spill response capacity.

“As a scientist, I can say unequivocally that we remain completely and utterly unprepared for a major oil spill.

“Instating a ban for part of the coast while increasing heavy oil tanker traffic by 580% in another is completely outrageous. It ignores basic ocean science. We need to protect the entire coast.The potential effects of a diluted bitumen spill in our waters would be catastrophic.

“It’s now up to the Provincial government to finally tell British Columbians where it stands. Premier Clark has been hedging her bets for years, appearing ready to approve a pipeline as soon as it is politically expedient.

“The B.C. Green Party is the only party that has offered a consistent, principled position, based on evidence: heavy oil tankers have no place on our coast.

“It is becoming abundantly clear that the ways in which projects are receiving approval no longer meets the expectations of Canadians or First Nation communities. The next government elected in BC will have to confront this reality.”

– 30 –

Media contact

Mat Wright, Press Secretary, Office of Andrew Weaver, MLA

+1 250-216-3382 | mat.wright@bcgreens.ca

Background

Andrew Weaver sought intervention status in the Trans Mountain National Energy Board Hearing both as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and as a scientist with a doctorate in applied mathematics and with specialty in physical oceanography and atmospheric and climate science. As an MLA, he represents the constituency of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, which is located along the Trans Mountain Tanker Sailing Route on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. He was the only B.C. MLA with intervenor status in the hearing process.

As a scientist, Weaver served as Lansdowne Professor and Canada Research Chair in climate modeling and analysis in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, where he worked for over 20 years. He was a lead author on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th scientific assessments and has authored and coauthored over 200 peer-reviewed, scientific papers. Weaver is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Throughout the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain NEB hearings, he applied his scientific expertise, particularly in physical oceanography and modelling.