Saturday, December 1, 2018

MLA's Week: November 26 & 27, 2018

British Columbia's MLA's brought the fall session to a close this week, with two final days of discussion, debate and a fair bit of controversy, the latter coming from the ongoing concerns over the suspension of two senior members of the staff of the legislature itself.

That story, which will still echo around the capital in the weeks to come, began last week  and has put the governing NDP and their partners the Greens on the defensive, while the opposition Liberals put the pressure on for more transparency on the role of the Speaker and his special assistant in the affair.

Controversy swirls around Legislature Speaker over ousting of officials

The concerns raised by the surprising developments made for some of the themes of the session ending media conference from the Premier, who tried to squeeze in some of his government's achievements of the fall session in among all the mystery of the Speaker's fate and the suspension issues.

BC Legislature breaks for Christmas with NDP looking to showcase highlights; but trapped by public's view of chaotic end

With the MLA's heading for their Christmas break, the Legislature will not be in session when the votes are counted in the election reform referendum which has the extended mail in deadline coming up on December 7th.

Last week we noted that by mid-week the returns from Northwest were still quite low, with the North Coast constituency delivering but a 19 percent return rate so far, while Skeena and Stikine were somewhat better at 21 and 22 percent respectively.

Referendum campaign not resonating for North Coast Voters, with but a 19 per cent return rate with one week to go before voting closes

As for the final two days of actual debate in the chamber, our notes on both North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice and that of Skeena MLA Ellis Ross can be found below

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Ms. Rice, had another quiet week with no exchanges in the Chamber on the topics of the final two days of the fall Legislative session.

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

On the week, Ms Rice was listed once in the accounts of the sessions of the Legislature from November 26 and November 27 .

That making note of her comments of welcome on Monday afternoon for Tamara Davidson, or Laanas of the Haida nation.

Ms. Rice also attended a Committee of the Whole session on Monday afternoon, serving as the Chair for a portion of the afternoon session.

The North Coast MLA is also a permanent member of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, serving as the convener of that forum.

Transcripts of the work of the committee are available on the Legislature page for the Committee.

Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs


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For our readers from the Terrace-Kitimat region, Skeena MLA Ellis Ross was mentioned twice for his work in the Legislature from November 26 and November 27.

With the Legislature about the head for its two and half month recess, the Skeena MLA turned to the election reform process and mail in vote for his final thoughts on the work of the fall.

Ellis ross returns to themes of electoral reform for final day of Fall session

Mr. Ross is also a permanent member of the Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives.

Transcripts of the work of that committee are available on the Legislature website

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

North Coast constituency

Skeena and Stikine Constituencies


The Legislature is now on its Winter Break, with the next call to the Chamber expected to come for Tuesday, February 12th, 2019

That schedule could change in the event of an emergency situation, or some form of procedural requirements during that period.

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

To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.

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