Saturday, July 1, 2017

MLA's Week: June 26-29, 2017

The first session of the Legislature following the 2017 provincial election of May 9th, brought the re-elected and newly elected MLA's to their seats for their first week of business.

A gathering of the elected, which by the end of the week found us with a new Premier and the NDP making their plans to take to the government side of the Legislature for the first time in 16 years.

The Throne Speech formalities from last week made for the backdrop to the work for this week, as now former Premier Christy Clark's attempts to form a government quickly were knocked down through a non-confidence vote.

The formal procedure in the House put the new Legislature partnership between NDP and Green members to work to bring down the Liberals and turn the political process over to Lieutenant-Governor Judith Guichon for further direction.

The week proved to be a fascinating lesson for students of parliamentary democracy as the Lieutenant-Governor first received Ms. Clark, accepted her resignation and then asked Mr. Horgan to form the next government.

How long the NDP will be able to hold power in the Legislature with such a slim majority thanks to the Green support remains to be seen and will make for a good portion of our political intrigue moving through the summer and into the fall, if the new NDP government survives that long.

For North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, the last two weeks found her offering up her thoughts on the current state of BC politics, calling for the Liberals to resign and to let the NDP govern.

With the events of Thursday, she gets her wish, where she will fit in with Mr. Horgan's plans will be determined once he makes his cabinet choices.

Among the other themes Ms. Rice took note of in the Legislature was to return to the call for a replacement facility for Prince Rupert Middle School, as well as to share the success of the first ever Grade Twelve graduating class for the Coast Tsimshian Academy in Lax Kw'alaams.

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

Ms. Rice opened the week Monday morning with a statement in celebration of the Alaska Highway which is commemorating it's 75th anniversary this year.

The MLA, speaking in response to the Speech from the Throne, also reminded the Legislature of the need for replacement for the Prince Rupert Middle School.

MLA Rice calls for confidence vote in Legislature; seeks progress on PRMS issue

On the theme of education, Ms. Rice also rose in the Legislature to share the story of the first ever Grade Twelve graduation class for the Coast Tsimshian Academy in Lax Kw'alaams.

MLA pays tribute to Lax Kw'alaams Graduating class at Legislature

As the week came to its close and John Horgan prepared to take on the Premiership of the province, Ms. Rice shared a few more thoughts about the historic nature of the week.

Jennifer Rice hails John Horgan's rise to power in Victoria

Ms. Rice was also a member of the Committee on Children and Youth, that committee did not meet in the past week, and it's unknown if she will retain that possession when the Legislature next returns.

Mr. Horgan has not yet outlined the NDP plan moving forward and when the return for MLA's to the Legislature will next be called.

To follow the latest from the provincial scene digest to track notes of interest through the campaign, it is available on our political portal Darcy McGee.

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


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