Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Only weeks ago, Canada was on the verge of a Federal election. If the NDP had stood beside the Conservative party, they could have toppled the Trudeau government. Our Member of Parliament, Rachel Blaney, explains why they didn’t and what she thinks the prospects are for a Federal election in 2021.

Shortly after the management of a $900 million student grant to WE Charity was announced, the Federal government came under fire for WE’s alleged connections to both the Trudeau and Morneau families.

Every Canadian party with at least 12 MPs is allotted times to propose motions, for discussion and a vote.

So, Blaney Explained, the NDP proposed, “that we should have a special committee set up to address the We scandal. We could take it out of all the other committees and have one committee come together for a short time, do that work and come back to the House of Commons.”

“The Conservatives took that idea and expanded upon it quite substantively. First of all the language around it was about studying the corruption in the Liberal Government. Of course, the Liberals were not a fan of that title. But it also gave the committee a lot of power. The committee would have been able to call the Prime Minister, or any minister, whenever it felt like - without consulting with them to find out a date that would work for them. It would have really put this committee in a place to decide how everything worked at all times.”

“No Government would ever support that. So we had conversations with the Conservatives and said, ‘Come on, you gotta tone down the motion. We really want to see this work happen, the important part is to address the We scandal and what happened there. It should be addressed. Let’s put it in a special committee … so it doesn’t get in the way of all the other committees and the important work that those committees have to do.”

“The Conservatives did not want to back down and when they formally put forward the motion, the Liberals said this is a confidence motion. If all the opposition parties support this motion, we will go to an election.”

“The NDP had already told the Conservatives,’If you cannot make this a motion that makes sense, that really deals with the issue of we and doesn’t make it a political power grab, we’re just not interested in supporting it.”

The Conservative motion was defeated, 180-146, with the NDP, Greens and Independent MPs all supporting the Liberal governments.

>> A possible 2021 election?

Since that vote, there has been some speculation about a possible 2021 election. A Global News poll found that 47% of Canadians want Trudeau to wait until his term his over. CBC’s poll tracker’s latest projection (Nov 17th) is for another Liberal victory, though not necessarily a majority. There were several references to a possible Spring election in a recent ZOOM call of the North Island Powell River Greens.

Cortes Currents asked Rachel Blaney, what do you think about the probabilities of our having an election in 2021?

“When you are in a minority government, you’re always waiting to see if there is going to be an election around the corner,” said Blaney.

“ … Usually when there is a minority federal government, they last about a year. We’ve just passed the year mark … So I expect there will be an election next year, I’m just not certain when, and I certainly have not heard any gossip yet.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Our MP, Rachel Blaney, was appointed the NDP Deputy Critic for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Indigenous Services.

Blaney said NDP party leader Jagmeet Singh is passionate about the issues that indigenous communities across Canada are facing. So after the last election, he assumed the role as the principal party spokesperson for these concerns.

She added, “He made the decision, after the last election, to take on the role of the main spokesperson on these issues. He has asked me to be the Deputy because he is the leader and it is good to have a couple of people on the file. That means I would be very working very closely with the leader on both of those important departments and ministries to address concerns that Indigenous communities and people are bringing to us.”

When her appointment was announced, Singh said, “Rachel has proven that she is a strong ally for Indigenous people across the country and I have every faith that she will continue to work hard to push the government into making significant improvements in the lives of Indigenous people.”

Blaney explained, “I think what he sees reflected in the work I’ve done is a lot of connections with Indigenous communities across the [North Island-Powell River] riding. We have over twenty communities and a fairly significant urban population. He has seen the work that have done in building those relationships up.”

>>> Vice Chair of the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee

Blaney’s recent term as Vice Chair of the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee brought her into contact with communities across Canada.

“Probably the most important [project] that we worked on was worked the legislation that was brought forward towards the end of parliament: Bill C92 - that talked about “that talks about a framework for indigenous communities to take back the power and capacity to address indigenous children in care.”

“There are more Indigenous children in care now than at the height of the residential system. There is obviously something wrong. When you see that many children in care, you know there is something broken in the system as well as in some of these families.”

While Blaney is proud of the work that the committee did, she feels the resulting legislation falls short.

“Unfortunately, after a lot of hard work and a lot of support from stakeholders, we did not get the government to change that. There were some changes that we did get them to do, but that fundamental one - not putting a dollar figure in the legislation, but making sure that there was something about equitable funding - would have made that legislation so much stronger.”

“As of today, I believe Canada has been served with eight non-compliance orders. They found that Indigenous children are getting less money invested in them; less support for foster parents, especially ‘on reserve foster parents.’ Not enough in supporting families that the children can stay. They were identifying that some children were being taken because their housing was not called ‘good enough’ - and that was of no fault to the community members, who were living in housing the community provided. We had communities that lived in more remote areas that talked about the challenges when children were often taken so far away that there is no ability for them to be in contact in a meaningful way with any of the family. And there is no problem solving around any of those issues.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Our MP, Rachel Blaney, was appointed the NDP Deputy Critic for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Indigenous Services.

Blaney said NDP party leader Jagmeet Singh is passionate about the issues that indigenous communities across Canada are facing. So after the last election, he assumed the role as the principal party spokesperson for these concerns.

She added, “He made the decision, after the last election, to take on the role of the main spokesperson on these issues. He has asked me to be the Deputy because he is the leader and it is good to have a couple of people on the file. That means I would be very working very closely with the leader on both of those important departments and ministries to address concerns that Indigenous communities and people are bringing to us.”

When her appointment was announced, Singh said, “Rachel has proven that she is a strong ally for Indigenous people across the country and I have every faith that she will continue to work hard to push the government into making significant improvements in the lives of Indigenous people.”

Blaney explained, “I think what he sees reflected in the work I’ve done is a lot of connections with Indigenous communities across the [North Island-Powell River] riding. We have over twenty communities and a fairly significant urban population. He has seen the work that have done in building those relationships up.”

>>> Vice Chair of the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee

Blaney’s recent term as Vice Chair of the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee brought her into contact with communities across Canada.

“Probably the most important [project] that we worked on was worked the legislation that was brought forward towards the end of parliament: Bill C92 - that talked about “that talks about a framework for indigenous communities to take back the power and capacity to address indigenous children in care.”

“There are more Indigenous children in care now than at the height of the residential system. There is obviously something wrong. When you see that many children in care, you know there is something broken in the system as well as in some of these families.”

While Blaney is proud of the work that the committee did, she feels the resulting legislation falls short.

“Unfortunately, after a lot of hard work and a lot of support from stakeholders, we did not get the government to change that. There were some changes that we did get them to do, but that fundamental one - not putting a dollar figure in the legislation, but making sure that there was something about equitable funding - would have made that legislation so much stronger.”

“As of today, I believe Canada has been served with eight non-compliance orders. They found that Indigenous children are getting less money invested in them; less support for foster parents, especially ‘on reserve foster parents.’ Not enough in supporting families that the children can stay. They were identifying that some children were being taken because their housing was not called ‘good enough’ - and that was of no fault to the community members, who were living in housing the community provided. We had communities that lived in more remote areas that talked about the challenges when children were often taken so far away that there is no ability for them to be in contact in a meaningful way with any of the family. And there is no problem solving around any of those issues.”

Tan Mei Xi/ Vancouver Co-op Radio Local Journalism Initiative -Affordable housing is within reach for British Columbians with a manageable amount of government investment, says a housing expert.

The Affordable Housing Plan produced by the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA) calls for an annual $1.8 billion in government investment for building affordable housing. Jill Atkey, CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, noted that the level of investment her organisation called for is “not dissimilar from the investments made over the past two years provincially and federally”.

According to the BCNPHA, in 2016 there was a backlog of 80,000 rental units and an additional 117,000 renter households that needed income assistance to afford their rent. In addition, there were at least 6,860 people across the province experiencing homelessness.

To address these issues, the BCNPHA calls for 115,000 rental units to be built before 2026; income support for renter households experiencing challenges affording their rent; and a 'housing first' approach to addressing homelessness.

According to the Plan, investments made in housing will yield significant community benefits. For example, the BCNPHA stated in the Plan that "The proposed annual investments of $81.6 million for homelessness... have the potential to save $177 million annually in other areas of spending within BC."

Tan Mei Xi/ Vancouver Co-op Radio Local Journalism Initiative -Affordable housing is within reach for British Columbians with a manageable amount of government investment, says a housing expert.

The Affordable Housing Plan produced by the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA) calls for an annual $1.8 billion in government investment for building affordable housing. Jill Atkey, CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, noted that the level of investment her organisation called for is “not dissimilar from the investments made over the past two years provincially and federally”.

According to the BCNPHA, in 2016 there was a backlog of 80,000 rental units and an additional 117,000 renter households that needed income assistance to afford their rent. In addition, there were at least 6,860 people across the province experiencing homelessness.

To address these issues, the BCNPHA calls for 115,000 rental units to be built before 2026; income support for renter households experiencing challenges affording their rent; and a 'housing first' approach to addressing homelessness.

According to the Plan, investments made in housing will yield significant community benefits. For example, the BCNPHA stated in the Plan that "The proposed annual investments of $81.6 million for homelessness... have the potential to save $177 million annually in other areas of spending within BC."

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - There could be a federal election next Spring and Green party leader Annamie Paul is looking for promising candidates. Also, the Canadian Government is expected to release its proposed climate legislation on Monday. These were a couple of the ideas mentioned Saturday, when the North Island-Powell River Greens hosted a ZOOM conference entitled Annamie Paul in conversation.

>>> Growing support

She was joined by three Green candidates from the recent provincial election. Kim Darwin received a third of the votes in Powell River-Sunshine Coast. Alexandra Morton and Gillian Anderson received just under 20% in North Island and Courtenay-Comox, respectively.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - There could be a federal election next Spring and Green party leader Annamie Paul is looking for promising candidates. Also, the Canadian Government is expected to release its proposed climate legislation on Monday. These were a couple of the ideas mentioned Saturday, when the North Island-Powell River Greens hosted a ZOOM conference entitled Annamie Paul in conversation.

>>> Growing support

She was joined by three Green candidates from the recent provincial election. Kim Darwin received a third of the votes in Powell River-Sunshine Coast. Alexandra Morton and Gillian Anderson received just under 20% in North Island and Courtenay-Comox, respectively.

Odette Auger/ Cortes Currents - The following article is an excerpt from a program that was originally aired on Cortes Radio. This program was funded by a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada and the Government of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative.This is Odette Auger with Cortes Currents.

In the parking lot at Strathcona Gardens Recreation Complex, COVID-1919 Ambassadors take in screening checklists, supervise hand sanitizing, as the novice hockey kids arrive at the arena.

The ambassadors are basically replacing the parents- without dressing rooms, the kids show up in all their gear, walking through the parking lot with skate guards. They ensure kids hand sanitize before putting on their gloves, and the masked ambassadors take the guards off and space them out 6 feet apart along the hallway in the arena. 

CRMHA sends out regular emails outlining COVID-1919 protocols, updates to how this translates to the arena. Assessing how measures were working, making adjustments to trouble shoot.

Jeanine Sumner and Jodi Check Broer are two of the covdi19 ambassadors trained to support the novice age group. They share their thoughts and explain how things are different this year. 

“Upon the kids returning to play,” says Sumner,  “Parent volunteers, such as ourselves, also known as COVID-19 ambassadors were identified and trained and that included new entry and exit points, no use of the change rooms. The kids were not allowed inside the building due to the capacity COVID-19-19 restrictions in 19 restrictions yet. So wearing masks, hand, sanitization health check screening for all the kids, ambassadors and coaches minimal contact with any inside the facility and arena, thorough disinfection protocols, tracking number of players, coaches, and volunteers.”

Odette Auger/ Cortes Currents - The following article is an excerpt from a program that was originally aired on Cortes Radio. This program was funded by a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada and the Government of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative.This is Odette Auger with Cortes Currents.

In the parking lot at Strathcona Gardens Recreation Complex, COVID-1919 Ambassadors take in screening checklists, supervise hand sanitizing, as the novice hockey kids arrive at the arena.

The ambassadors are basically replacing the parents- without dressing rooms, the kids show up in all their gear, walking through the parking lot with skate guards. They ensure kids hand sanitize before putting on their gloves, and the masked ambassadors take the guards off and space them out 6 feet apart along the hallway in the arena. 

CRMHA sends out regular emails outlining COVID-1919 protocols, updates to how this translates to the arena. Assessing how measures were working, making adjustments to trouble shoot.

Jeanine Sumner and Jodi Check Broer are two of the covdi19 ambassadors trained to support the novice age group. They share their thoughts and explain how things are different this year. 

“Upon the kids returning to play,” says Sumner,  “Parent volunteers, such as ourselves, also known as COVID-19 ambassadors were identified and trained and that included new entry and exit points, no use of the change rooms. The kids were not allowed inside the building due to the capacity COVID-19-19 restrictions in 19 restrictions yet. So wearing masks, hand, sanitization health check screening for all the kids, ambassadors and coaches minimal contact with any inside the facility and arena, thorough disinfection protocols, tracking number of players, coaches, and volunteers.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - On Friday, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Chief Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced there were 16 new COVID cases in Island Health. This is our region’s highest daily total since the pandemic began.

Over the course of the last five days, the number of active cases on Vancouver Island has increased from 39 to 67.

Two people were admitted to Intensive Care Units, which hasn’t happened for months.

While a series of media reports are coming out of two schools and the hospital in Nanaimo, the number of active cases in North Vancouver Island quietly increased from 8, on Monday, to 15 by Friday. After five days, the number of cases is close to double.

Yesterday, November 13th, Island Health issued a press release stating they had been contacting patrons of Browns Socialhouse, in Courtenay, about a possible exposure to COVID-19 on November 3rd and 5th.

“Contact tracing has been completed and anyone identified as a close contact has been instructed to self-isolate.”

“ … If you have not been contacted by public health, then please be assured you did not have a high-risk exposure related to this case. No ongoing COVID-19 risk from this exposure has been identified.”

 Island Health’s Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Richard Stanwick, has also issued a Public Health Order stating “Effective November 13, all owners and operators of campgrounds and RV parks must collect information from each patron that would enable contact tracing, including names and phone numbers. This information must be kept for a period of 30 days.”

 

North Vancouver Island is divided into four Health areas:

Comox Valley

Campbell River, which includes Cortes, Quadra and the other Discovery Islands.

Vancouver Island North

and Vancouver island West.

The most recent statistical breakdown of cases within those areas shows the cumulative total of cases up until the end of October. Comparing those numbers with those of the previous monthly summary, there were 8 new cases in the Comox Valley, 6 in Campbell River and 1 in Vancouver Island North during October.

Most of those people have recovered and there more active cases,

A monthly update of the cumulative cases in each health area, up until the end of November, should be released about this time in December.