As I mentioned earlier, we’ve had a couple of odd bills introduced during this legislative sitting. In the case of  Bill 37, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, (No. 2), 2015, things are no different. The government introduced a bill that simply corrected a few commas, a bracket that shouldn’t have been italicized, and a couple of spelling mistakes.

Below is the text of my not to be taken too seriously comments on Bill 37. I encourage those interested in other comments on this bill to read the Hansard transcript of Leonard Krog’s second reading speech. He had me in stitches as he unpacked the (non)complexity of the bill.

Text of Speech

A. Weaver: I bound to my feet in enthusiasm to speak in support of Bill 37, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, (No. 2), 2015. Like my colleague from Nanaimo, I have been waiting many months to read about the many provisions that have been made here with respect to commas and periods.

Now, I take social media very, very seriously. I believe it’s important, as legislators, for us to engage our constituents and ask them what their views are on bills. So I form my opinion based on the opinions of the constituents and the input I get from talking to my staff and so forth. Now, I had a torrent of information come my way — really, more enthusiasm as to this bill. I had a couple of other suggestions that I think are relevant, and I think a couple of them should be read in because there are new ideas that the people of British Columbia are bringing to this government.

They’ve offered me an opportunity to give this government some more ideas for bills that they can bring forward this session to complete the legislative agenda. Here are a couple — I quite like these — from a fellow called Dave Hutchinson. He suggested Bill 39 be introduced — an act to replace the dash with the semicolon. I’m impressed with that. He has also suggested Bill 40, the act to eliminate redundancies act. Quite clever, actually.

We’ve had a comment from an Andrew Park, who was quite taken aback by the fact that the government’s agenda seemed so void of ideas. He said: “What’s up next — a bill to outlaw the selling of Twinkie bars in months that have two full moons?” Now, hon. Speaker, you will not believe it. It must have been a boring day on Facebook, because a discussion ensued, after that comment, as to whether or not you could still buy Twinkie bars in Canada. That’s the level of discussion that this bill is provoking in British Columbia. Turns out, there is good news. I was able to provide my constituents with an address that they could write to, to order Twinkies on line.

But it doesn’t end there. There have been other ideas. Truly my favourite, which we could debate for probably a couple of days, was suggested to me by my press secretary. That would be Bill 41. And those going back as far as my fellow alumnus Pierre Berton, a 1937 grad from Oak Bay that I mentioned in a statement today…. Sadly and ironically — just a sidebar with respect to the statement. For the first time in recorded memory, the Hansard blacked out. But it didn’t black out; it greened out. A green screen came up through my statement, so it’s no longer available as a video with other than a green screen there. Appropriate? Perhaps it’s seeing something in the future, I don’t know. But let’s come back to the bill. I sway. I move off it.

Bill 41, Mat Wright, press secretary: the double space after a period re-enactment bill, 2015. Say it again: the double space after a period re-enactment bill, 2015. That’s an issue that we should debate. Some people, sloppily, only put one space after a period. Within the legislation here, there are sometimes two spaces, sometimes one. We should have consistency on this — consistency.

Bill 42, the wilful and willingly act of willingness act, 2015. Bill 43, the healthy heath act, 2015. And one that I’d like to expand upon further, Bill 44, the two l’s or one act of decision, 2015.

Let me expand upon that a bit more. You know, we wonder whether “wilful” was willingly and wilfully worded wisely in the bill brought before us. Why I say that is that it appears, as the member for Nanaimo pointed out, that government has chosen to pay tribute to my former alumnist Pierre Berton from Oak Bay but has done so not consistently. It turns out that there are a further 15 acts that have spelled “wilful” wrong, one of them being — and I say this with the deepest sadness and shame on the government — the School Act. Heaven forbid that the School Act is not being corrected to change the way “wilful” is spelled. Yet we are doing it in others.

The Community Charter, Insurance Premium Tax Act, the Local Government Act, the Logging Tax Act, the Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act, the Mineral Tax Act, the Motor Fuel Tax Act, the Perpetuity Act — I don’t even know what some of these are — the Personal Property Security Act, the Property Transfer Tax Act, Railway Act, Tobacco Tax Act — we’re amending that one; that’s good — Trustee Act, and Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement Act.

Why are we just wilfully changing the spelling of “wilful” in a couple of acts when staff, in a matter of literally maybe 30 seconds — maybe it was 45 seconds — did a simple Google search with “site: B.C. Laws” and you can find all these other acts that have the misspelling. I don’t really quite know what’s going on here, but it actually goes further.

There’s an inconsistency with the use of the number of l’s and in other areas. One of my staff researchers gave me a lot of fuel to actually further this discussion. “Fuelled” is either spelled with one l or two l’s throughout the legislation in British Columbia. It’s sloppy. The environment act, the Environment Management Act, the Clean Energy Act, the Motor Vehicle Act, the Safety Standards Act and the Wildfire Act — the regulations there — have “fuelled” spelled with double l’s.

“Fuelling” is spelled with double l’s in the Assessment Act, the Nisga’a Final Agreement Act, the Park Act, Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement Act, the Clean Energy Act regulations, the Environment Management Act regulations, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act regulations, the Utilities Commission Act regulations.

Yet single l’s in “fueled” are used in the Local Government Act, the Wildfire Act and regulations, the Workers Compensation Act regulations, and “fueling” with single l’s is used in Forest and Range Practices Act regulations, the Wildfire Act and regulations and so forth. In fact, what’s even worse is that in some, double l’s are used and single l’s are used, so it’s not only inconsistent across laws but within laws.

The same thing. As you travel through these documents, you quickly realize that “travelled,” indeed, also is spelled with single l’s or double l’s. I won’t belabour the point. But why I’m raising this, honourable speaker….

Interjection.

A. Weaver: The hon. member for Nanaimo, very hon. member, points out that…. As soon as I get downstairs, I will be tasking my staff to search “colour” and “color” and “labour” and “labor” spelled with “our” or “or,” because this is critical.

Interjections.

A. Weaver: The member for Cowichan Valley points out that this is a can of worms that has been opened. British Columbians from Victoria to Fort Nelson, from Rossland to Haida Gwaii are going to be combing through B.C. bills looking for spelling mistakes. We’ve already started with the School Act, because we really wanted to find a few more spelling mistakes in the School Act. We’ll work on it. It’s a long act. We’ll find a couple. But it’s a challenge that I put out today to all British Columbians.

We’ve got nothing to do in this Legislature. Go through the act, find the punctuation errors, find the spelling mistakes and send them to me, andrew.weaver.mla@leg.bc.ca, and I will bring them to the Legislature to enable discussion for months ahead as we debate the matters of importance to British Columbians.

Interjections.

A. Weaver: I’m getting comments on my e-mail as not being correct from the member for Powell River–Sunshine Coast.

Interjection.

A Weaver: I’m sorry. I cannot say my name, the member points out. But I think I was quoting an e-mail.

You could do…. It’s a good point. The e-mail is member.memberslastname.mla, where I am that member, at leg.bc.ca. Thank you to the member for Powell River–Sunshine Coast.

With that, I do encourage my fellow citizens of British Columbia to please spend hours, send us more of your money, so that we can spend hours to go through with a fine-tooth comb and find those misplaced semicolons, to find those split infinitives, to rightly find those split infinitives, because that doesn’t do justice to our fine English language.

I really don’t have much more to say on this. But I do realize that the people of British Columbia expect us to debate these issues, and I’m having a hard time filling up the time with anymore substance here, because I’ve just run out. I just don’t know what to say. I honestly don’t know what to say.

Here I thought, being elected an MLA, you would actually debate matters of substance — and I say “debate” matters of substance. Here we are talking about spelling, talking about red tape, while real issues affecting British Columbia go by.

I would love to talk about LNG. I would love to talk about the fact that recent news article out of Malaysia points out that Petronas is actually going to move on, to the mid-2020s. I’d love to talk about that. But, no, we have to talk about punctuation.

With that, I thank you, hon. Speaker, for your time.

Video of Speech

Today in the Legislature we moved to second reading of the absurd Bill 34 – Red Tape Reduction Day Act. The sole purpose of the two-line Bill is to enshrine in law that in British Columbia, the first Wednesday in March would be declared Red Tape Reduction Day. As I noted yesterday, I was taken aback by the hyper partisan rhetoric embodied in this bill.

Thank you to all those who posted comments on my Facebook page yesterday on Bill 34. I quoted from them extensively in the legislature today.

In British Columbia’s history there have been only five other Bills that legislated the dedication of a particular day. These are:

1. British Columbia Day Act [1996]
2. Douglas Day Act [1996]
3. Holocaust Memorial Day Act [2000]
4. Family Day Act [2012]
5. Terry Fox Day Act [2014]

These dates correspond to either public holidays or profound events or individuals in our history. The normal process for government to recognize an event or occasion is through proclamation. In fact, there have been 148 such proclamations this year alone. Ironically, January 19-23 of this year was already proclaimed Red Tape Awareness Week. 2014 saw 165 such proclamations made by the Ministry of Justice.

Not only is introducing and discussing Bill 34 a ridiculous waste of our time and taxpayer money, but it also devalues the importance of other days that have previously legislated designations.

On a personal note, my mother came to Canada from the Ukraine as a refugee following the second world war. Her family were farmers and subjected to Stalin’s collectivization of farms and forced starvation. Bruce Ralston, NDP Member from Surrey-Whalley introduced the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day Act on November 17, 2014. The government did not even allow that bill to come forward for debate. Yet today, we spent the day discussing this ridiculous and frankly insulting piece of legislation. You can imagine what British Columbia’s Ukrainian community are thinking right now.

Below I reproduce the video and text of my speeches as well as the result of the second reading vote.

When you look at the vote you might have a number of questions. I do. First, every single NDP MLA who spoke did so passionately, articulately, and forcefully against Bill 34. As I noted yesterday, I expected the NDP to vote against this legislation at second reading. Yet collectively, each and every NDP MLA voted in support of this legislation. To me, this is an indefensible, unprincipled position that simply cannot be justified. It demonstrates yet another of example of the BC NDP saying one thing then voting against everything they believe in. I was dumbfounded when the BC NDP voted the way they did. In the end, I alone voted against this bill.

Secondly, I was flabbergasted that fully 24 MLAs were not present to vote. What were they doing and why were they not in the legislature? I think these are fair question to ask you MLA if he or she was not there.

Video of My Speech

The Vote

Text of My Speech

A. Weaver: I think it’s important that I start off my speech with a little bit of history of where the term red tape actually comes from.

It all began during the reign of King Charles V in 16^th and 17^th century Spain. Back then, his administration differentiated the most important documents from those that were more mundane by tying them with a red ribbon instead of a rope. In honour of this tradition, I entered the chamber today with my papers, my important papers on this topic, tied in red tape. More recently the term red tape is used to describe unnecessary bureaucratic regulatory roadblocks.

Let’s be clear. Let’s be very clear. This bill has nothing to do with red tape. This bill is yet another example of a narcissistic government trying to take credit for the things that were done by the previous administration. This government is out of ideas.

This government calls an emergency session in July to discuss the project development agreement for its LNG pipedream, continually chasing that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that keeps never being found. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars — taxpayers’ dollars —were used to bring back the session to debate a bill that we should be debating now? But instead, what are we doing? We’re debating the absurd. We’re debating a bill that should have been done through proclamation, to name a date the red-tape-reduction day.

I’ve put a motion on the order paper, and you will see that in your order papers tomorrow. I take exception with the date proposed. My motion that I’ll bring — and give notice now that I will be calling a division on — is to move the date to April 1. There’s a very real reason why that date would be April 1.

This is a government that is void of ideas. This is a government that has no vision. This is a government that recognizes that its small business base is lost. I know that that small business base is lost. I’ve toured the province. I’ve spoken to businesses. I know that they look at this government, and they see a lack of leadership. They see a lack of leadership because they feel that this government is singularly focused on LNG, at all costs, at all expenses.

There are small businesses — left, right and centre — talking to me about this issue. They wonder where their government is for them. Where is their government actually reducing red tape? Where is their government actually supporting them? Where is their government putting their interests, the interests of British Columbians and small businesses first, instead of spending all of its time, all of its legislative agenda in trying to land its pipedream of an LNG.

Yesterday evening, I was flabbergasted that we are actually debating this. I mean, this is not even a serious bill. The taxpayer of British Columbia should be astonished that we are wasting their money, their time, to debate this, astonished that this government is debating a bill like this. Maybe we should “om the bridge again” and think about it deeply and sincerely as we contemplate more bills like this.

When I put this on my Facebook page, I had no idea. I put it out as a joke. It’s not a joke. I have some comments that were posted on my Facebook page. In my career here in the Legislature, I have had very few posts that have had such a viral organic reach in such a small amount of time. Let me tell you, the comments are not pleasant.

This bill is precisely the reason why voters in British Columbia are turned off by this government, are turned off by politics, are cynical about politicians, cynical about the political goals that they have. The reason why is because this bill has nothing to do about the well-being of British Columbians and everything to do with the narcissistic, self-congratulation government out of ideas, out of direction, visionless and losing its base in small business.

It’s a very sad day for British Columbia. Politics should be serious. We should be discussing serious issues. I welcomed the chance yesterday to discuss the Site C dam. Too bad that it wasn’t seven months ago, but nevertheless, we were able to discuss real issues. Again, it should have been done seven months ago when it would have actually meant something.

Let me read some of these comments. My favourite one, I thought, was…. Well, there are a lot of them. Here’s one: “I can’t believe there is such a thing as a Minister of Red Tape Reduction. Ludicrous. Sounds like something made up in a children’s story. There should be a minister of regulatory affairs, maybe, who is responsible for ensuring regulatory measures to ensure public safety are equitable and achievable and enforceable.”

Another one here: “Is there not anything else they could work on, like — oh, I know — child welfare, the homeless, education, etc.?” “Isn’t that, by nature, an oxymoron?” “I was looking for the line with the words ‘the Onion’ beside my post.” For those who don’t know, the Onion, of course, is a comical, satirical magazine in the U.S. “While they’re at it, can you ask them to make an official silly walks day?” “We’ve already got a Ministry of Red Tape.”

I’ve got to read a few more. “Ha, ha, ha. Let’s do yoga on the bridge.” I’ve already used that one. “What about hard hat day?” somebody posted. “Got to be bright blue.”

Let’s do some more. Well, this one is very dear to my heart. It says: “We could easily reduce red tape.” In capital letters: “Get rid of the Liberals.”

Here’s another one: “Well, that is what the federal Conservatives are touting, 40 percent less red tape, and Clark is a….” With respect. I’m quoting here. “The person, the Premier, is a con,” it says here.

“The stupidity of the B.C. Liberals never fails to surprise me.” Another quote. I could go on and on. “Words escape me.” “Who are these people?” “This is too absurd for words” “Face palm. No, wait. Is it April 1?”  That comment on my Facebook page — I really like to engage my constituents on Facebook — prompted me to put in this amendment to this bill, this ridiculous bill, to change the date to April 1.

“Why? Why? Why? No direction. No leadership. No brains,” is another comment. I’m not picking and choosing. I’m just reading the comments. “What’s next, anti-provincial holiday day?” “How much did it produce to then reduce?” That’s a good one. How much red tape are we introducing to then reduce it?

We could keep on going. “Did it pass?” somebody asked. “Baffling, staggering, stupefying.” “I solemnly swear never to vote for those responsible ever again.” “Give me a break. With PCTIA taking over the language sector, the B.C. government has shown they have no concept of red tape and the harm it does to businesses — businesses that support B.C. residents and the B.C. economy in general.”

These are not my friends and relatives. These are random people commenting on this. Here, “Oh, can we start with the B.C. Liberals?” another comment about reducing red tape. “Comment: no comment.” “Oh, seriously? It’s not even April 1.What a waste of time.”

Here we have another one, and this one is truly my favourite. This one makes me happier than all of the others combined. I will not say this person’s name, but he said the following. This is somebody who never voted in his life before because he thinks that all politicians are corrupt. He thinks that politics is a waste of time. He has lost hope in politics. He thinks the government is corrupt. With respect. He doesn’t believe in support of the opposition either, and he said this.

“Mr. Weaver” — Mr. MLA for Oak Bay–Gordon Head — “I have been thinking long and hard what you told me when I commented on not voting. You made some very valid points, and I have decided to vote. I wish to thank you, and I wish you good luck in the next election.” It is precisely this type of bill brought to us today that is encouraging these non-voters to regain their democracy.

I keep going: “The only thing missing was Mayor Quimby in his sash.” “On that point, I have to agree with you. A bill is not needed to reduce red tape. That requires a minister who knows how to accomplish that within his or her department.” “Seriously? Are we being pranked?” “Stranger than a Monty Python skit.” “What a waste of time and the paper it is written on.”

I keep going on: “This is the kind of waste of time we have to shed. We have a lot of serious issues that need our senior levels of government.” “The Premier leaves me speechless, but Andrew, you and others like you give me hope.”

I won’t bore the House. I’ve got another four pages of them, and not a single one of these comments…. And I come from a riding that was for 17 years the home of a Liberal cabinet minister, a riding that was the only Conservative riding in the province of British Columbia when Dr. Scott Wallace sat in this Legislature here. This is what my constituents are saying — my constituents, who this government would honestly believe form their base.

Well, let me tell you, they don’t have a base anymore, because this government has lost touch with its base, it’s lost touch with the people of British Columbia, it’s lost touch with small business, and this is a desperate attempt for them to try to regain some control of their base. Sadly, it won’t work. It isn’t going to work, and it sadly — well, happily for us — in only two years, this government will be replaced.

Today was a day I never thought I would ever see in the BC Legislature. It was a day when the BC Liberals, void of ideas and a vision, introduced the most ridiculous bill I have ever seen — a bill that I voted against being read even a first time. The sole purpose of the two-line Bill was to enshrine in law that in British Columbia, the first Wednesday in March would be declared Red Tape Reduction Day.

Now voting against a bill at first reading is not something you do lightly. There is a tradition and an unwritten rule in the legislature that MLAs unanimously vote for all bills (government or private member) to be read a first time so that they can see it printed. Substantive debate typically follows during second reading deliberations. But after hearing the introductory remarks from Coralee Oakes, the Minister of  Small Business and Red Tape Reduction and Minister Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch, both Vicki Huntington (Delta South) and I felt we were left with no choice.

Below I reproduce the introductory remarks for the Bill.

Introductory Text for Bill 34

Hon. C. Oakes: I am pleased to introduce Bill 34, the Red Tape Reduction Day Act for 2015. Bill 34 introduces a commitment by our government to host an honorary day devoted to reducing red tape through regulatory reform and the repeal of outdated or unnecessary regulatory requirements on the first Wednesday of March of each year. This legislation institutionalizes accountability and transparency of regulatory reform. It demonstrates our government’s commitment to ongoing…

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

Hon. C. Oakes: …commitment to reduce the red-tape burden imposed on citizens and small businesses.

Since 2001, we have reduced regulatory requirements by over 43 percent. Bill 34 will impose on government a requirement to reduce red tape and demonstrate its continued commitment to regulatory reform on the first Wednesday in March of each year. Reducing the regulatory burden on citizens and small businesses is critical to ensuring British Columbia’s economic competitiveness and providing all citizens with easy access to government services and programs.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members

Hon. C. Oakes: Bill 34 will also make positive and effective shifts in the management and continuous improvement of our regulatory environment to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of citizens and businesses while maintaining our cap on the number of regulatory requirements.

The legislation solidifies British Columbia as the Canadian leader in regulatory reforms by being the first Canadian jurisdiction to enshrine in law a commitment to reduce red tape and repeal outdated, unnecessary requirements on an annual basis.

Madame Speaker, I move that this bill be placed on the orders of the day for second reading at the next sitting after today.

Vicki Huntington, MLA for Delta South, and I were taken aback by the hyper partisan rhetoric embodied in this bill. Below is the result of the vote at first reading. I am reasonably confident that the NDP will vote against the Bill at second reading.

For interest, I also reproduce the printed text of the entire Bill which became available once it passed first reading.

The question I ask you is this: do you think that BC MLAs should spend their time debating this Bill? The government spent an enormous amount of money holding a special summer session designed to try and land a project development agreement and hence final investment decision with Petronas. Surely that money could have been better used and we could have instead debated Bill 30, Liquefied Natural Gas Project Agreements Act during the present session.

The 1^st Reading Vote

Full Text of Bill 34

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Red Tape Reduction Day

1 The first Wednesday in March is Red Tape Reduction Day.

Commencement

2 This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent.

Text of my Opening Remarks

Your Honour, Mayor Jensen and Distinguished Guests:

Today is a glorious day; one in which we recognize and honour the magnificent achievements of Queen Elizabeth II. Today, Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest reigning monarch in British History.

Since Confederation in 1867, only six monarchs have ruled over Canada – Elizabeth II has been our Queen since she was 25 and for 43% of Canada’s history as a nation. I was not even born in 1953 when the Queen ascended the throne and my father, who marched in the Queen’s coronation procession with the University of Bristol Training Corps, was a twenty-year old undergraduate student.

During her reign, Elizabeth II has witnessed the election of twelve British Prime Ministers and eleven Canadian Prime Ministers (and possibly twelve a month from now). Eleven Governors General and twelve Lieutenant Governors of British Columbia have served as her representatives.

Canada has been the country most visited by The Queen throughout her reign of sixty-three years and, at eighty-nine years of age, the Queen still travels and keeps a full schedule of engagements.

Queen Elizabeth has participated in twenty-four Royal trips to Canada; She has often stated that it is her ‘second home’, feeling totally at ease in our wonderful nation. Here in Oak Bay we will never forget Her Majesty’s attendance at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. And Canucks fans across the province will recall her dropping the ceremonial puck (with Wayne Gretzky) at an exhibition game between the Canucks and the San Jose Sharks in 2002.

Her Majesty’s Canadian tours have included visits to each of the thirteen provinces and territories, frequently playing a key role in national celebrations and honour ceremonies. Though many of the Queen’s duties in Canada have been delegated to her Canadian representatives, she describes having a very deeply held affection for, and loyalty to, our country – which she first toured as Princess Elizabeth in 1951.

Our Queen is also a dedicated supporter of many Canadian charities and public organizations, such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Nurses’ Association, the Canadian Red Cross Society, the Royal Canadian Humane Association, and Save the Children – Canada.

Elizabeth II has shown remarkable dedication and commitment in her role as our Queen. I am sincerely grateful to Councilor Hazel Braithwaite, Mayor Nils Jensen and the Municipality of Oak Bay for creating this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s tremendous accomplishments. Thank you for allowing me to participate in this historic event.

Long Live the Queen

This is the 21^st 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.

Austin Sawyer

This past June Austin Sawyer was one of fifty Canadians awarded the prestigious $80,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship. In Austin’s case, it was his application of the scientific method that led him to rise to the top of  the distinguished 2015 class of nominees. Austin joins Alysha Rose as the second Schulich Leader Scholarship winner we have highlighted in our celebrating youth in our community series. And this remarkable young man partnered with fellow Lambrick Park Secondary School student Vicki Kleu (another previously featured student in our series) in the development of method to improve the cleanup and retention of oil spills.

His partnership with Vicki was very productive as they shared complementary skill sets with Austin particularly loving the presentation and “making the pitch” component of the science fair competitions. Their project won them national recognition at the 2014 Canada Wide Science Fair and it played a pivotal role in the success of Austin’s Schulich nomination for students who want to study science, technology, engineering and math (academic disciplines known as STEM fields) at a Canadian university. Their science project, a reusable and biodegradable oil boom, won the pair a $500.00 cash prize as well as a Manning Innovation Achievement Award and the Senior Excellence Bronze medal.

Vicki and Austin’s invention of an inexpensive absorbent boom that picks up over 32ml of oil per gram of fibre was featured in Douglas Magazine earlier this year. And if you’re interested in further details about their impressive findings, check out their TedX Talk entitled A New Approach to Oil Spill Recovery. Austin and Vicki have recently been working with some oil companies to do further research and try to market the oil boom.

In 2015 Austin branched off on his own and once again qualified for the national science fair competition, after finishing third in the Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair for his innovative project aimed at developing low-cost solutions to increase the longevity of wood railroad ties. Janet Dawson, a grade eight student at Gordon Head Middle School also mentored by Cheryl Nigh, and coached by Austin, finished fifth and also qualified for the national competition. At the nationals, once again Austin made it to the podium winning won a bronze medal of excellence in the senior category. Janet Dawson for whom he served as a mentor and coach earned a silver medal of excellence in the junior category at nationals, along with wining top discovery project and top astronomy award.

Austin, now 18 years old, was born in Victoria and attended Torquay Elementary and Gordon Head Middle School prior to graduating from Lambrick Park Secondary this year. We were a little surprised to learn that he disliked science (and school in general) until Grade 8 when he was influenced and inspired by Cheryl Nigh, a talented science and math teacher at Gordon Head Middle School. It was Ms. Nigh who got him interested in science fairs. In Grade 8, Austin entered the regional science fair and ended up winning a Canada wide silver medal of excellence. And Austin has excelled academically ever since he arrived at Lambrick Park Secondary; he obtained a 5.0 GPA every year and a 92% average in Grade 12.

As might be expected, Austin was also involved in a number of extracurricular activities including the Leadership program and the Green Team at Lambrick Park Secondary, as well as its Student Council. He was elected as Vice President of the Student Council (after dressing up as the character Napolean Dynamite during the campaign) and during his tenure he had a liaison role between student council, Leadership and the student body. He loved the role and describes himself as “very social”.

To be nominated for the Schulich Award, Austin had to submit an essay to the Principal and Vice Principal of his school to explain “how being an all around student was more important than strictly grades”. Then he wrote an essay to the Schulich Board based on the following quote by David Suzuki about future and continued fossil fuel extraction: “We’re in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone’s arguing over where they are going to sit”. Austin envisions a future “where the car is being driven away from the wall toward change and leaving the world a better place”.

In ten years, Austin would like to own a biomedical company and design prosthetics to help people with physical disabilities. In September, he will begin his studies at the University of Victoria in engineering, with a focus on chemical or biomedical engineering in the future.

Austin also excels in sports. He started playing soccer at age 8 and admits to being “very competitive”. He scored the winning goal in a shootout in Grade 11, while playing for his soccer club Saanich Fusion (Gold Level). He also ran track in Grade 9, 10 and 11, including relay and 100 metre events. In Grade 12, he was sidelined with an ankle injury and bone issue that required surgery. Back in form now, he likes to go running, hiking and play soccer for fun.

Austin has a job at Berwick House, a retirement residence in Victoria where he works with his brother in the kitchen. He enjoys interacting with the seniors and loves to hear their stories. He has been a volunteer in the community at marathons, at the Campus View elementary craft fair and as a mentor to younger students at the Science Fair. He loves mentoring students and brings his tremendous enthusiasm to the role.

This very well rounded young man has clear goals, an engaging personality and a brilliant future. Those young students he mentors in science fairs are fortunate indeed to know Austin.