Carole Taylor's Journal

How did DRIPA, the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act – supposedly a step forward in reconciliation – become such a political and legal mess?On this edition of Journal, we speak with a man who was a member of the British Columbia legislature that gave birth to the now-controversial DRIPA bill, Mike de Jong.No stranger to this file, Mike served as the aboriginal critic when in the BC Liberal opposition and then Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation in the Gordon Campbell government.This was, of course, in addition to serving as Attorney General, Minister of Finance, Minister of Health, and on, and on. In other words – a senior politician to be taken seriously.Not surprisingly, on this complicated and controversial DRIPA bill, Mike had questions. A lot of questions. How would it work? Had the bill been vetted by the province’s lawyers?And there were other voices expressing concern. Jody Wilson Rayboud also warned this would be unworkable.Yet, even after a passionate speech from MLA and former Haisla chief Ellis Ross, warning of the dangers of this bill, DRIPA was voted on and passed – unanimously.Two years later, adding more fuel to the fire, the government introduced an amendment to the Interpretation Act, saying all provincial laws “must” be consistent with UNDRIP. It’s that word “must” that has been taken seriously by the courts.What happened?Well, we know what’s happened: court decisions against the government, lawsuits, accusations, and flip-flops. A fine mess.To bring context to how we find ourselves in this position, Mike de Jong.---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal, we lift the curtain on the chaos of the NDP in British Columbia.If you are shaking your head in disbelief at some of the stunning flip-flops and bad policy choices of our current provincial government, you are not alone.Decriminalization: a disastrous policy now abandoned.How about the infamous Land Act, which would have given First Nations co-control with the government of all the Crown land in the province? It was so controversial that it disappeared.Premier David Eby loudly and repeatedly said that private property wouldn’t be affected by the aboriginal title agreements being negotiated – until a judge ruled in the Cowichan decision that maybe private property could be affected after all.Another court has now ruled that the provincial system for mineral claims staking violates their own act, saying that all BC laws and regulations MUST be consistent with the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIPA).Interesting that David Eby was the Attorney General at that time, who helped draft those very words – “MUST be consistent.”Realizing that the act would now have to be rewritten, Premier Eby presented changes that he said were urgent and non-negotiable – until they weren’t, and instead there would just be a 3-year pause on the troublesome phrases.Then the Premier declared even this pause motion to be a matter of confidence, meaning the government would fall if it didn’t pass. Then lo and behold, he changed his mind yet again and announced it wouldn’t be a confidence vote.Then the 3-month pause became 1-month and now it's completely off the table for this legislative session.What is going on in Victoria? To help make sense of it all, Alec Lazenby, one of the top reporters covering the provincial government for the Vancouver Sun, joins us.---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal, mayor Brad West of Port Coquitlam walks us through some of the failures we are seeing in our governments at all levels and some of the solutions.Brought up by his mother after his father died, Brad remembers the importance to the family when she finally got a union job, good wages, and good hours. Brad went on to study at the University of Victoria before taking a job in communications with the United Steelworkers.You can see with his personal experience he would be a natural fit with the NDP of British Columbia, a social democratic party. So how surprising was it when, last year, Brad West took a swing at the NDP government by saying they were more interested in pronouns than jobs?In other words, ideology over workers.Recently in another op-ed, the mayor elaborated. This time, about how governments in general are failing and frustrating their citizens.People, he says, want results not announcements. Service, not ribbon cutting.Based on his successful time in municipal government – elected as a councillor in 2008, the youngest mayor elected in Port Coquitlam’s history in 2018, then re-elected by acclamation, meaning no one chose to run against him. Based on that alone, his ideas are worth listening to.For instance:Less high school behaviour in the legislature, more listening to citizens and their needs.Fewer studies and more action.And stop overspending taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars.Mayor Brad West joins us to outline a road to recovery and a way for politicians to regain the public trust.---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal: the role arts and culture play in our lives.My premise is they are essential to a vibrant community. They lift us up out of our daily worries. They help form our identity. Think of New York: Broadway. Think of Paris: galleries. Italy: opera.So, why are they constantly underfunded here, especially since they are also economic engines providing jobs, not just for the actors, the singers, the painters, and directors, but for the people who build the sets, write the words, the music, and design the makeup and costumes?I found it incredibly ironic to see politicians proudly celebrating the work of so many Canadian artists honoured at the Oscar, when government funding and support has been unreliable for years. Go Canada!One man who has worked in the arts around the world all his life is Christopher Gaze, founding artistic director of Bard on the Beach.I mean, honestly, who would have believed that anyone could inspire 88,000 people each year to sit out on a warm summer evening to listen to the words of Shakespeare?But not one day of his journey has been easy. He has had to wiggle and squirm every day to make ends meet.I loved the story of his early days as a penniless actor. He could be seen hauling a bag of his meager belongings to yet another audition. Ah, but the secret was, in his battered bag was one beautiful, well-pressed tux, always ready for showtime.Make no mistake – for 37 years, Bard on the Beach, one of Canada’s largest theatre companies, has only been possible because of Christopher Gaze’s ingenuity.---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal, we try to untangle the evermore confusing issues surrounding aboriginal title in British Columbia and what it means for private property owners.My head is spinning with all the contradictory information that is out there. Private property is not affected, says our premier. Oh, maybe it is, says a judge.One pattern is emerging – decisions are being made by governments in negotiations with First Nations in private, then grandly announced as a fait accompli to the broader public, businesses, and property owners. That’s no way to build support or buy-in.To whit, the proposed-then-withdrawn Land Act giving First Nations a 50% say on all the province’s Crown land, the Haida title agreement, the dispute on the Sunshine Coast, the Cowichan court case, and then the federal signing of a deal with the Musqueam claiming vast sections of Metro Vancouver and surrounding municipalities as their hereditary land.It is a fact that when you lose trust, you lose trust. So now, when any of these players say, “Oh, trust us. We won’t touch private property,” it’s a hard sell, especially since the judge in the Cowichan case said her decision may give rise to some uncertainty for private property owners. Indeed.A final irony is that some of the agreements are now being challenged by other First Nations: the Musqueam and Tsawwassen First Nations are appealing the Cowichan decision, Squamish First Nation said it wasn’t consulted on the Musqueam decision, and even the Cowichan First Nation is appealing its own successful court case because they only were awarded half of what they asked for!Thomas Isaac, one of Canada’s top lawyers in the field of aboriginal law, joins us to say what worries him about the BC situation.---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal, we join the chorus of voices repudiating British Columbia’s new budget.To be charitable, Premier Eby is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (to borrow from a children’s book).Even before the actual numbers were released, one headline from Business in Vancouver magazine stated: “Eby may go down as the worst fiscal manager in BC history.”Another said, “The stunning deterioration in BC’s fiscal health during Premier Eby’s tenure will not soon be reversed.”Vaughn Palmer said, “NDP’s fiscal credibility shredded.”And on and on.The facts are these – during Premier Eby’s time, the province has gone from a $6-billion surplus to a deficit of $13.3 billion dollars.Our debt in the 3 year budget will be up 200% since 2021/22 – and the cost of paying interest on that debt will have gone up 220% during that time, making interest charges the fastest-growing line in the budget.As we all know, money going to the bank to pay for past borrowing excesses means less money for health, seniors, and our kids.As if that weren’t bad enough, in a time of economic stress for many, taxes are going up on everything from basic cable and land lines to shoe repair, accounting services, and – oh yes – on security costs that many small businesses have been forced to absorb because of retail crime and street disorder.As columnist Rob Shaw says: all pain, no gain.To make sense of all this is David Williams, vice-president of policy at the Business Council of BC.---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Journal: an examination of the worrisome new expansion of what it means when we talk about food security.In the good old days – actually only 9 months ago – when Journal last spoke with Lenore Newman, one of Canada’s top experts in this field, much of the focus was on the effects of climate change: how our supply chains must adjust and how Canada’s own agriculture would be affected.Who would have believed that Lenore would now pen an op-ed that says, “We are living in a world of sharks who don’t think twice about sacrificing communities to the whim of politics.”She goes on to say that “an irascible US government could starve us within days and we would have no easy alternatives.”Wow. This, of course, comes on the heels of our Prime Minister’s remarkable speech at Davos, where he posited that “a country that can’t feed itself, fuel itself, defend itself has few options.”So, this discussion of food security has become a lot more serious – and fast. What if CUSMA goes away? What if 100% tariffs were put on all food imports – remembering that over half of our agrifood imports come from the United States? What if the border was “temporarily” closed?So what are we to do? As Prime Minister Carney has said, “Nostalgia is not a strategy.”To help guide us in this discussion is Dr. Lenore Newman. Besides being the Director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, she also holds a Canada Research Chair in food security.---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal; an opportunity to look back at British Columbia’s failed experiment of decriminalization – and look forward to what might come next.Dr. Julian Somers, a clinical psychologist and distinguished professor at Simon Fraser University, was one of the first voices to speak up about the perils of decriminalization and safe supply of drugs when these initiatives were first announced, and the powers-that-be didn’t like that – or him. At one point, he was told to destroy his report and not rock the boat.Initially, we were all told that the goal of these policies was to destigmatize drug addicts and prevent overdose deaths. But as the Minister of Health, Minister Osborne, has now admitted, it didn’t work. What it did do, however, was lead to increased public use of drugs on our streets and in our neighbourhoods, raising disorder and public safety concerns – an unintended consequence that should have been anticipated.So, now we are moving on. To what, you might ask? And how?Is there a consensus on first steps? I would suggest one of the most important changes that must happen is a sea change in attitude away from just supplying drugs to addicts, to the consideration of other strategies for care or recovery.For sure, it will involve more treatment beds, more available social services for support, and – in some severe cases – involuntary care models. But are we ready to even have this conversation?Dr. Somers believes that underpinning any future success must be data. “We need to state how our interventions are expected to result in improvements and how we’re going to measure progress.”---Carole Taylor's Journal is a public affairs dialogue that digs deep into the most pressing issues of our times. For more, see our website at http://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca.ctj064 #decriminalization #britishcolumbia #bcpoli Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal: another hitch in the plan for a smooth path to reconciliation in British Columbia.First, we had the BC government’s introduction of the Land Act, which unsettled many of its assertions of co-management with First Nations of all the Crown land in the province. The Act was withdrawn, but not before some name-calling.But then in a splashy press conference, Premier Eby announced the granting of aboriginal title to Haida Gwaii. When people of all stripes and professions raised questions about what that would mean for private property owners, the Premier announced again and again it would not affect private property.And then, boom – there was the court decision granting aboriginal title over land in Richmond to the Cowichan, with the Judge suggesting – despite what had been asserted by Premier Eby – there were issues around private property rights.Finally, last month in another twist on this reconciliation journey, a different judge in a separate case found that BC’s mineral claims regime, fundamental to our hoped for resurgence in mining, is inconsistent with the province’s own declared law, DRIPA – the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act – because mining claims were made before receiving free, prior, and informed consent from First Nations.With all of this cumulative confusion and uncertainty, is it any wonder that support for reconciliation has fallen in recent polls?Joining me to make sense of all this is Thomas Isaac. As one of our country’s leading experts on aboriginal title and the law, he has concerns about what he is seeing in BC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal, we examine what is happening to the City of Vancouver – and what can be done, if anything, to turn this situation around.When I was a councillor in the late eighties, I remember one example of how neighbourhood planning was done in those days: on the street, not in backrooms.A brand new False Creek residential development, to be built on industrial land, while controversial, was to be a centrepiece of new urban planning principles. Immediately, questions arose. How can you have density without amenities like parks? Or the idea that you can’t start building without thoughtful plans for infrastructure and traffic management. Most importantly, you have to talk to residents (or future residents) about their needs.Larry Beasley, an urban planner for the city, was not content to just send paper reports to Council – he took a group of us councillors down to False Creek so we could actually see the design initiatives that were important to liveability, rather than just plunking down apartments.As a sidebar, part of the lesson was about quality, dramatically emphasized when he was mid-sentence explaining why a certain kind of rock – rip-rap – had to be used along the shoreline to prevent rats from infesting the residential area. Just at that moment, a rat appeared and scampered up to us. Alright, alright. Pay for the right rip-rap! But the point actually is, Larry Beasley was always hands-on: walking the streets, talking to residents, asking questions, listening and responding, ensuring we built a city for its citizens. It is a big reason why Vancouver has so many unique neighbourhoods. And for many years, those streets became mini communities – safe to walk, shop, and talk to your neighbours.Larry is not happy with what he is seeing today: that the province has decided it can design our cities from Victoria. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal: healthcare.How can we ever have a meaningful discussion on how to improve healthcare delivery in Canada when we aren’t even allowed to ask the question? Medicare is perfect – until it isn’t.Tangentially, this reminds me of the President Biden situation, when all his spokespeople were insisting that he was in perfect health until the public saw with their own eyes during the debate – that, in fact, something was very wrong.So what are we seeing with our own eyes about healthcare delivery?All seven OB-GYNY doctors – the entire unit – resigned their positions in the Kamloops hospital, citing unsafe working conditions and staff shortages.People in Kelowna were told in the spring that the entire pediatric team at Kelowna General Hospital was being closed down due to poor working conditions.Last year, British Columbia started sending some of our cancer patients to Bellingham, in the US, because we couldn’t guarantee timely treatment.And of course, our headlines are filled with ER closures around the province: Merritt, Mission, Delta, and on and on. I can’t imagine the family that showed up in the middle of the night with a sick child, only to find the ER closed, thinking our healthcare system is just fine.And I haven’t even mentioned waitlists and the shortage of family physicians.One man who has been warning of this impending crisis since 1995 is Dr. Brian Day. He has devoted years – 13 of them – in court fighting provincial and federal governments, trying to be heard.Brian has recently written a book: “My Fight for Canadian Healthcare.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal: an in-depth look at the recent federal budget with one of Canada’s top economists, Jock Finlayson.You know, a lot has changed recently in how budget information is released. It used to be considered a major failure if anything was leaked before the minister stood up in Parliament and officially read the document into the record. This was to prevent insiders from using information for their own benefit.In 1983, Marc Lalonde found himself in hot water because he had let a television crew into his office while the yet-to-be-released budget lay on his desk.In 1989, Michael Wilson took responsibility when a leaked copy was handed to a reporter from a recycling plant. Michael didn’t resign but this was recognized to be a serious misstep.Not anymore. Now, prereleasing budget initiatives is regarded as performance art. In the weeks leading up to Budget Day in Parliament this year, minister after minister would discuss initiative after initiative that would be included. Housing? We’ve got something for that. Critical minerals? We’ve got that covered.Prime Minister Mark Carney even gave a speech promising the budget would be transformational, generational – whatever that means.So while politicos probably regarded all the early positive stories to be a successful manoeuvre, it kinda backfired when Budget Day headlines said: “Over promised, under delivered” or “Big day wasn’t quite as advertised” or “Carney’s budget misses the mark.”So what should we really be taking away from the government’s financial blueprint in 2025? Jock Finlayson has some warnings we should pay attention to. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of Journal, we look at what is happening in our economy. It is a tumultuous time, quite apart from tariffs. Housing prices, while falling, are still unaffordable for many. Real estate companies have been forced to lay off long time employees. Forestry companies are in big trouble. Youth unemployment hit 14.6% this summer – highest since 2010. And governments are announcing unbelievable deficits.As well, many citizens are turning against one of the principles of what it means to be Canadian: immigration.A Nanos poll showed an erosion of support, with 71% of Canadians either strongly or somewhat strongly wanting to reduce the number of immigrants. Most of the wrath is focused on the careless way in which the numbers of Temporary Foreign Workers and international student visas were allowed to balloon, putting pressure on housing, healthcare, education, and social services across the country.As mayor of Port Coquitlam, Brad West is no stranger to taking the brunt of policies designed by another level of government – the forced densification of British Columbia’s municipalities by the provincial government, which he calls “throwing urban planning out of the window.”Brad also laments the lack of real action on involuntary care, when we need at least one other forensic psychiatric hospital to care for those who are in desperate need of help. Then there is decriminalization that precipitated such disorder on our streets.So, it is not surprising that Brad West also has something to say about our economy and immigration. However, his analysis may surprise you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.