Saturday, November 11, 2017

MLA's Week: November 6-9, 2017

Housing on the North Coast would by the end of the week be the dominant theme of attention for  MLA Jennifer Rice, as a homeless tent city began to assemble at Prince Rupert City Hall.

The week started out on more familiar themes of late for the North Coast MLA however, with Ms. Rice sharing some notes on emergency preparedness in the province.

Through her duties on the government side of the House, the North Coast MLA provided notes on Tsunami Awareness and the success of a recent marine emergency exercise in the waters of Georgia Strait/Salish Sea.

Our look at the work week that just concluded, can be found below:

On the week, Ms Rice was listed three times  in the accounts of the sessions of the Legislature from November 6 to 9 .

Monday afternoon, the Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness delivered a statement on Tsunami Awareness (13:45 PM from the Hansard Report)

On Tuesday morning, she offered a review of a recent maritime emergency preparation exercise off the coast of Vancouver Island.

Success of Two Day maritime preparation exercise hailed by Jennifer Rice

Ms. Rice also entered the discussion on proportional representation this week, providing her support on Thursday afternoon for the NDP/Green initiative currently under study by the Legislature.

Legislature hears support for Proportional Representation plan from North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice


By late Thursday however, the majority of the North Coast MLA's discussion points would turn towards housing, as a tent city at City Hall brought the long running issues of affordable housing much greater attention.

North Coast MLA to provide Housing update at Tuesday's Council session
As tents go up, Prince Rupert finds itself off the housing radar with Victoria
In comments on Prince Rupert Tent City, MLA Rice points to Liberals; highlights NDP achievements and plans
Tent City protest sets up at City Hall

This week also saw the province announce plans for the next intake of applications from communities and organizations for funding under the Rural Dividend program. With local governments and community groups able to take advantage of a one month window to get in their application.

BC Government launches latest intake for Rural Dividend program

Ms. Rice is also a member of the committees listed below, Transcripts of their work are available on the individual pages for each Committee.

Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs

Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth

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For our readers from the Terrace-Kitimat region, this week finds that Skeena MLA Ellis Ross has had another productive few days in Victoria, with the MLA continuing to raise attention and ask questions of the government on the fate of the LNG industry in the province.

The Skeena MLA spent a good portion of the start of the week directing questions related to the province's energy policies, providing a stark review of the wide gap between the NDP and the BC Liberals on the issue.

Our item recounting the Monday afternoon encounter between Mr. Ross and Minister Michelle Mungall, provides a glimpse into the nature of the discussion.

MLA Ross and Minister Mungall in spirited discussion on LNG in BC

But for those looking for some deeper background on how the two parties are approaching the topic of LNG, a review of the scope of the two days worth of discussion is worth a look.

You can review the follow up from Tuesday here,  with the discussion starting at the 17:30 PM point.

Earlier in the afternoon on Tuesday, Mr. Ross explored themes related to BC Hydro rates as they impact on the residents of lands controlled by the Nisga'a Lisims Government.

That discussion starts at the 15:35 PM mark.

Mr. Ross is also a member of the Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives, Transcripts of the work of that committee is available on the Legislature website

The Legislature takes a one  week break now in observance of the Remembrance Day weekend, the MLA's will return to their work on Monday morning, November 20th.

There is more background on the North Coast and Skeena MLA's available from our MLA's Week Archive as well as our General Archive on the Legislature.

A larger overview of provincial issues can be found on our political portal D'Arcy McGee 

Cross posted from the North Coast Review


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