MLA Ellis Ross on the return to the legislature, COVID funding and transparency concerns, as well as growing divisions in BC

Skeena MLA Ellis Ross participated in the opening week of the
Legislature by way of his remote video feed from the riding

The first opportunity of the new session for Skeena MLA Ellis Roos to speak provided a forum for a range of themes, as the returning MLA first thanked his constituents for their faith in relecting him and then to explore a number of key themes that have been prevalent since the election campaign.

"I just wanted to talk to my constituents of Skeena. Who actually, I was surprised at how energetic they were, two weeks before the election, to get me back here. I didn't really understand my role back in 2017. I wanted to learn as much as I could before I could actually give some type of analysis back to my constituents, but I've always taken the role of public service very, very seriously. 

I really put that above anything else. I even said it one time as an elected chief councillor that my own council didn't matter to me as an entity. The people mattered. If I could see an entity not doing anything for the good of the people, then I didn't want to support the entity at all. I was blessed, though, to be surrounded by people that thought likewise. I know there are people in the Legislature that think the same way. 

I am quite impressed by the Legislature, by the whole thought of the institution, because I'd never seen this before: where accountability and transparency is not just talked about; it's actually acted upon. 

Where I come from, there is no opposition. There is nobody holding government accountable. There is nobody picking apart our decisions bit by bit. There's none of that." 

Much of the Skeena MLA's debut address for the new session focused on his view that the re-elected NDP government is wavering in its efforts towards transparency and accountability, with Mr. Ross calling on both his experience as a returning MLA and as a former Band Councillor to frame his commentary.

"I don't understand why this government wants to get rid of transparency and accountability measures. I don't get it. I mean we're living in a democracy. We're living where people sent us to the Legislature to protect democratic principles. 

I mean, the NDP. You've even got it in your name — democratic. When you talk about a government that wants to get rid of transparency and accountability measures, you're not talking about democracy. You're talking about some other country that doesn't have democracy, that can do whatever they want. 

I learned this on the job. I learned transparency and accountability on the job over 16 years. It actually came from the Indian Act. It was kind of silly, because the Indian Act actually proposed every single measure that you had to do as elected chief and council for transparency and accountability. 

I ignored it because it didn't actually speak to transparency and accountability, in my mind. It spoke to transparency and accountability to the federal government, but it didn't speak to my people, so I went above and beyond. I went and toured Vancouver, where my membership was.  I did social media, told them exactly what I proposed do, gave them updates, and then at the end of the day, I told them whether I had succeeded or failed. 

That's transparency and accountability."

Towards the topic of the afternoon and debate on the Finance Statutes Act, the Skeena MLA explored what he views as a lack of accountability to British Columbians on the spending plans.

"Why, when you already had a $1.5 billion fund forwarded to you before the election, do you want more, without any transparency and accountability mechanisms? You're talking about a bill that will probably cost you anywhere from $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion, but you're asking for $2 billion with no accountability, no budget. You want nothing. 

This is a scary trend ...  

We truly appreciate the idea that we're going to help out people, with $500 or $1,000, you know getting through the COVID recession. 

But what is the result going to be if we're getting rid of the transparency and accountability principles that you're actually proposing? Why do you want to do things in secret? 

A lot of my colleagues already talked about why those provisions were put there in the first place. And you keep trying to do better, especially in a democracy, one of the messiest systems you can have in terms of trying to progress. "

Mr. Ross also explored themes of the government's approach towards the ongoing COVID challenges and how it may be contributing towards divisions in the province.

 

"I don't like a lot of things that government does, but I do see the bigger picture on why government does what they do. I can disagree; I can agree. It doesn't bother me but as long as you do it aboveboard. 

And what time better than now to do it aboveboard, when we're talking about an international crisis that has affected everybody? 

And now everybody in the whole wide world — 7 - 8 billion people — is wondering what's next. What are we going to do next? We're talking about the measures that are coming down, the restrictions, but nobody seems to really put emphasis on what their governments are actually doing or the deficits that are coming. 

I don't understand why, because it is going to affect affordability. It is going to affect the quality of life. It is going to affect what is basically a really good country. 

I've heard a number of people talk about this already. The one thing that I do note when we're talking about Canada, is the tremendous appreciation that immigrants have for our country. 

In terms of freedom of speech, in terms of our freedoms, freedom of religion. It's an incredible country to live in. 

In that respect, I've seen some of the comments come from government denouncing and insulting people that want to exercise free speech. 

And here's a government that actually called an election during the biggest crisis the world has ever faced. But then you turn around and then you criticize everybody else for speaking up against it. How hypocritical is that?

Not only that, you called this session for one bill. 

You invite all the MLAs back to Victoria to travel on the planes, to travel on the boats, to sit in that Legislature. What is it, 24 people sitting there right now?. 

It goes back to a comment that my colleague made, that said when it comes to the citizens, you're willing to make those sacrifices, but when it comes come to yourself, you always find a way to make it work. 

Now, if we're truly in this all together, then stop dividing our people. Stop dividing British Columbians. They're going to do that on their own. 

The stresses that this has placed on citizens right now — they don't need politicians diving into that fight and making it worse. They don't need that."

To bring his contribution to the conversation to an and, and the Wednesday session to a conclusion, the Skeena MLA offered up a final thought towards the current challenges and a glimpse towards the future.

These are historic times. 

And it's time to put away the politics. This is politics. This is absolute politics what we're doing here. Hopefully it does come out and help those people that truly need it, especially the ones that lost their jobs. 

But in 20 years, we're all going to be asking ourselves where we were in the middle of the pandemic. The same way we talk about 9/11, the same way we talk about the Berlin Wall coming down, we're all going to be talking about what we were doing. 

I hope to say in 20 years: "Well we got rid of the politics in B.C. We stopped the vote-buying, and we got down to business. We pulled back the economy. We made sure that people were okay coming out of it." 

I hope. I'm not very hopeful right now, but in 20 years, I hope.

You can review his full speech from Wednesday from the BC Legislature Hansard pages here, as well as from the Legislature Chamber Video Archive, with his presentation starting at the minute mark.

Update: Mr. Ross picked up on his themes as part of the Thursday morning debate period as well, with his commentary beginning at the 11:05 mark, you can review those comments here.

For more notes on the BC Legislature see our Archive page for the Skeena MLA here, our notes related to North Coast NDP MLA Jennifer Rice can be viewed here.