In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast I am interviewed by Jason Goertzen. We discuss family life in politics. Jason is the Chaplain at the British Columbia Legislature with Leading Influence Ministries. Since my election in 2017 I have enjoyed many conversations with Jason, he has provided a kind and compassionate ear, and calm advice during my most trying times. This podcast was originally recorded for the Lead Well Leadership Course and I am thankful to have the opportunity to republish this content on my podcast. Jason and I have a wide-ranging conversation about family life in provincial politics. We cover humility in community service, clarity in understanding your "why", responding to a loss, increasing diversity, recruiting candidates, setting personal and professional boundaries and creating health habits early on.

In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast I share a recording of the second reading speech I would have stood and delivered in response to Bill 22: The Mental Health Amendment Act (2020). You will find more details about the proposed legislation in the opening to the podcast and details about why we were challenged by the language in the bill in my speech. Here is the B.C. Green Caucus media release in response to Minister Judy Darcy's decision to not proceed with the bill at this time. Click here to view the entire description of the bill and transcript.

In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast, my colleague Sonia Furstenau and I connect with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang to discuss his research on the four-day workweek. So much of our lives have been re-designed in the past four months. It was in our workplaces where the most abrupt and dramatic changes occurred. Many of us have had to quickly adapt to working from home, our children, their teachers and administrators had to develop tools for learning online. We quickly found out that our relationship with the office was perhaps not as cemented as we previously thought. It is possible to work remotely, and as companies evolve and develop their “new normal” perhaps it is not necessary to cling to the 20th century idea of the workplace. So I ask the question, is there an opportunity to reimagine our relationship with the office? The four-day workweek is one of the ideas that has been testing the status quo bias during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have written about it here and republished an editorial from my colleague Sonia Furstenau here. In this episode of the podcast I am republishing a Facebook Live conversation that Sonia and I hosted with Alex. The discussion starts with Alex providing an overview of his book Shorter: Work Better, Smarter and Less - Here’s How. He highlights the experience of many entrepreneurs who have disrupted the workweek. His findings are encouraging. While it may seem counterintuitive, companies that have embraced the four-day workweek have generally found their profits increase as has the productivity and happiness of their worker. We discuss these examples as well as ask some of the challenging questions that have been put to Sonia and I. In the past few weeks that we have been talking about this idea for British Columbia we have heard a mix of feedback. While there is a lot of interest in having more time to rest and administer the other aspects of life, there are also concerns from business owners about increased labour costs and workers fearing a decrease in their wages. This is just an initial conversation and by no means exhaustive. While there are examples of private companies embracing the four-day workweek there is yet to be a jurisdiction that is exploring the idea through a public policy lens. This is an exciting area of innovation and opportunity and Sonia and I will continue to explore these ideas and opportunities for British Columbia. I encourage you to continue to share your feedback, ideas, opportunities and concerns with us. As I say in our discussion with Alex, it is important to hear all the reasons why it could not happen in your sector of the economy because understanding the obstacles will better equip us for planning to overcome them.

In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast (the first in several months) I’m republishing a virtual town hall I hosted on Monday June 15, 2020 with Isobel Mackenzie, the B.C. Seniors Advocate. In February 2020 the Office of the Seniors Advocate published a report titled A Billion Reasons to Care. It is the first detailed review of British Columbia’s contracted long-term care sector. The office analyzed contracts, annual statements, and revenue and expenditures from 2016/17-2017/18 of for-profit and non-profit operators in the $1.4 billion industry across the province. Mackenzie summarizes the findings in her cover letter. “You will read in the attached report of a funding and monitoring system that lacks the type of accountability, openness and transparency that both B.C. seniors and B.C. taxpayers deserve. The review also illustrates some marked differences in spending between contracted providers who are private businesses and those who are not-for-profit care societies.” Our conversation begins with an overview of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on seniors and the long-term care sector. Mackenzie then presents the findings of her report followed by our discussion about the implications for all British Columbians. We also highlight that June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and the services available to seniors in reporting instances of abuse. As this recording is from a virtual town hall many of the questions come from the attendees. The B.C. Green Caucus was asking questions about the long-term care sector prior to the public health emergency and we will continue to ask the government about what they intend on doing to address the shortcomings in this report and the other vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19.

Hello my name is Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands. Thank you for doing your part to limit the spread of COVID-19. We are living in an extraordinary time and its has required an extraordinary effort to protect vulnerable people from this terrible illness. Thank you to all our healthcare professionals and essential workers for continuing to courageously do your job to provide the rest of us the products and services we need on a daily basis. We need to protect our healthcare workers and the health system from being overwhelmed and the measures that have been taken are showing that they are working. It is not the time to relax our efforts. Please continue to maintain a safe physical distance from people around you, wash your hands thoroughly, and continue to self-isolate, only go out if it is essential. I know this is an incredibly difficult time for many people in our community. I am hearing numerous concerns about the ongoing public health emergency and the economic crisis we face. To ensure government programs are effective and efficiently supporting you the way you need to be supported please do not hesitate to let us know your concerns and ideas. My constituency office is closed to walk-in traffic. However, our constituency office team continues to work remotely advocating on your behalf. Should you need our assistance please call our office at 250-655-5600. Leave a message a constituency advocate will call you back. The best way to reach us is by email at [email protected]. Send us a message, we are here to help. Thank you again for doing your part. Stay well and best wishes to all.

This episode of The Public Circle Podcast features a conversation I had with John Juricic and Kelly Darwin for their podcast Northern Conversations. I am re-publishing it here. There is a great deal of confusion with respect to the current state of Indigenous relations in British Columbia. There is even less understanding of how we got here. This has not been helped by the willingness of the provincial government to wrap themselves in the glory of being the first jurisdiction to pass the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, while failing to honour the complexity of the situation and continuing to over-simplify it in the public sphere. British Columbians are uncomfortable with the dysfunctional relationships that we see once again playing out in the Wet'suwet'en territory as part of the colonial legacy of our province and country. Who is responsible for the fact that fully armed RCMP officers are once again removing Indigenous peoples from their territory? Is it the fault of Indigenous people who can't get along? Or, is it the fault of the federal and provincial governments who created the conditions for the confusion? In this frank discussion we address these question (and many more) and hopefully create a starting point for unpacking the complexity of the challenges we face.

In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast I connect with South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP) Interim CEO Bruce Williams. This is the not the first time that Bruce and I have sat across from each other with microphones. It was the first time that I was interviewing Bruce though. Williams joined the SIPP after a successful career as a television and radio host, producer and manager. You will likely recognize his voice as he worked for many years in the Victoria market. Bruce is a networker and connector so he fits perfectly in his role building partnerships and collaborations with the SIPP. Bruce has been serving as the Interim CEO for the past year. In this episode of the podcast we discuss, The SIPP's efforts to build meaningful relationships with the 10 Indigenous communities on Southern Vancouver Island through the critical work of creating sustainable economic development, How the partnership is working to bring the business community together across many local and Indigenous governments. After all, despite the numerous boundaries it's just one economy in the region, Outline how the SIPP's Prosperity Index has created a dashboard of metrics to measure the region. The Index measures more than the GDP, it looks at economic resiliency, transportation and mobility, housing and affordability, human health and environmental health, and A myriad of other topics such as increasing connectivity and how the SIPP is working to attract businesses from international markets and encouraging them to establish a base on Southern Vancouver Island. I have been involved with the SIPP from the very beginning and support the work they do to bring our communities together. I really enjoyed this conversation with Bruce and look forward to catching up with him again in the future to get another update on the SIPP's progress.

In this episode of The Public Circle Podcast I connect with youth climate activist Emma-Jane Burian. We recorded this conversation in late Fall 2019 and admittedly I have been slow in publishing it. No matter, here it is. Burian is a grade 12 student who lives in Victoria but grew up in Burnaby with the Trans Mountain pipeline running through her backyard. She asks a lot of questions and as she learned of the risks of pipelines and climate change she became more active. Emma-Jane's passion is clearly evident in this conversation. We discuss her efforts, Organizing with Our Earth Our Future Victoria, Organizing with Climate Strike Canada, a grassroots, cross-country, youth-led group coordinating climate strikes, and Participating in the City of Victoria Youth Council. It is inspiring to hear how Burian and her peers invest their time in raising awareness on the "biggest issue of our generation" and the challenges of developing voting structures for a consensus-driven democratic organization. Emma-Jane's goal is to work on social justice issues as a human rights lawyer. I wish her all the best as she pursues her education in political science and philosophy.

After a brief unintended hiatus from the podcast Adam Olsen and Nick Gilchrist resume their conversation about life in British Columbia politics. It has been a busy year and with the original week 7 episode languishing in the dustbin of unpublished podcasts, this second attempt will be much more successful - it will be published. Part of the challenge of producing a podcast is editing and writing the show notes. So until there his a team producing this show, the show notes are going to be brief. In Episode 7 Nick and Adam discuss: Nick's amazing new microphone (Shure SM7B), The missing podcast  (mentioned above), Taking a break (replacing work with puzzle-making), Embracing a new role as the Interim-Leader of the BC Green Party (https://www.bcgreens.ca/leadership_2020) A question from a listener about what is meant when people talk about unceded territory, Looking forward to 2020, - Focusing on personal health and well-being, - Improving communications, - Forestry, -- The economic perspective and resource harvesting practices of the W̱SÁNEĆ with the SX̱OLE (reef net), -- Embracing the restoration economy, -- Having new conversations with the leadership of resource communities about their future, - Education, -- Protecting and enhancing public education as the cornerstone of our modern society.

Episode Summary - In Week 6, Adam Olsen and Nick Gilchrist have a lengthy discussion about jurisdictional issues and frustrations. - The conversation begins with Adam reflecting on the transition between the legislative and constituency focus of his work. There is always a backlog of meeting requests in the constituency when the legislative session ends and it usually takes a few weeks to get caught up. Adam also highlights the series of community meetings he is hosting in early December. Find out more here. - Last week Nick's wife (and Adam's sister) Joni was re-elected to Tsartlip First Nation Council. This is her seventh election since 2007. Nick and Adam take a few minutes to honour Joni's work and the challenge that First Nations governments face with respect to the Indian Act and their relationships with the federal and provincial governments. - One of the more frustrating aspects of governance for the public is confusion around the responsibility of the different levels of government. Who is responsible for what? Nick and Adam turn their attention to the complexities of overlapping jurisdictions and how the difficulties that surround them can often overwhelm and cause a lack of engagement by the public. - As part of the discussion about jurisdiction they cover the shortcomings of the "world class oil spill response" and the criticisms of elected officials from Washington State in their attempts to get the Province of British Columbia and Government of Canada to the table to address issues of mutual interest. - In addition, Adam and Nick canvas issues around salmon, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the provincial ministries with decision-making authority over salmon policy and endangered species legislation. - The discussion turns to the relationship between government and industry. With resource extraction being an important part of the British Columbia economy, Nick and Adam discuss the extensive use of subsidies and incentives and the work ahead in transitioning away from such a heavy reliance on extracting natural resources to a more diverse and sustainable economy for the future. - Finally, the conversation lands on some of the more philosophical thinking that Adam has been doing around leaders, leadership and the violent narratives that emerge as politicians and political parties play the partisan games that are often associated with political campaigns. Adam discusses this further in a recent blog post. If you would like to contact Adam, please send him an email here. If you would like to contact Nick, please send him an email here.