Good Sunday Morning! 

Around the world, some countries inch toward re-opening, while others shutter. Globally, more than five million people have been diagnosed with COVID19 and nearly 350,000 people have died.

We know we are lucky in Canada. We are particularly lucky in British Columbia. But nowhere in Canada are we out of the woods yet. We need to observe public health advice. We cannot let down our guard.

Good Sunday Morning! 

Amazingly enough, my time line for pandemic tells me this is week 11 in lock down. The days have blurred together, but with parliamentary committees meeting virtually every week day, at least weekends have begun to feel different. I still work through Saturday and Sunday, but mostly in zoom meetings with constituents and on projects I can no longer juggle during the week. I am covering three standing committees (Finance, Procedure and House Affairs and Government Operations), plus the virtual parliament Special COVID committee. Most days I have the feeling of being imprisoned by zoom. I feel as though the mandatory headset with high quality mic to protect the ears of our House translators is starting to grow into my skull. It is an odd old world, but at least we are able to do good work.

We did get some good news from the world outside of COVID19 – and yes the world is still there. Both rays of sunshine came from court decisions long in the making.

Good Sunday Morning! 

And to all mothers reading this, Happy Mother’s Day!

My Mother’s Day was made on Friday with a delivery call from the door of our building to say I had flowers. It was the first time my 28-year old Cate has ever sent me flowers. And what a gorgeous bouquet of local flowers and ethically sourced and packaged! (A shout out to the Victoria florist Cate found on line, for COVID precautions and ecological blooms – Bespoke Blossoms) And a note: “Happy Mother’s Day – Sending lots of contact-free love and hugs!”

Good Sunday Morning!

This Sunday marks the beginning of my tenth year as the Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands. Thanks to many of you, I have been re-elected twice and hope to hold the seat in the next federal election. (Yes, I am running again!)

If you are a constituent living in Saanich-Gulf Islands, I invite you to our second Virtual Community Meeting. It is this coming Friday, May 8^th at 7 pm. Please RSVP so the team can send you the zoom link. Email: [email protected], or phone 250-657-2000. If you want to send a question in advance, write [email protected].

Nine years have flown by. Bringing back memories, the Green Party office sent out this picture by twitter of the victory party May 2, 2011.

Good Sunday Morning!

It has been a very hard week. My home province is reeling from the worst mass murder in Canadian history. Like most people from Pictou County, I know family members of victims. For all Canadians, this week has been brutal. Our hearts are broken.

It was also a week for celebration – the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day. With my wonderful caucus colleagues, Paul Manly and Jenica Atwin, we held a Green Party webinar on April 22^nd. It was an upbeat session with good energy. Being with our Green members across Canada was a tonic.

With over 600 people on the zoom gathering, we did not get to every question, but I saw the comments fly by in the chat function of zoom. One message caught my attention:

“Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America.”

Good Sunday Morning!

In the time line I set for myself of COVID19 (March 9^th being the first day), we are heading into Week 7 of pandemic world.

Last Saturday, when I was in parliament to pass legislation to expand the wage subsidy, I was quite sure that we would not reconvene on April 20. The March 13 adjournment motion picked April 20 as the day we would return. Now, that feels unthinkable. That same motion created an easy mechanism to extend the adjournment. All it takes is a letter to the Speaker from the House from the house leaders of the 4 large parties.

No one can think it makes sense for parliament to reconvene as public health officers urge everyone to stay home and practice social distancing.

Good Sunday Morning!

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Chag Pesach Sameach!

On Good Friday, a day when I would normally shut off my email and phone, committing to quiet contemplation and fasting, I packed my suitcase for the first time in weeks and headed back to Ottawa.

For the first time ever, I wore a mask and had Lysol wipes in my carry on. And, in another first, a government plane picked me up from the runway next to Viking Air in back of the Victoria airport. Thanks to an impulse of extraordinary thoughtfulness, (and I do not know who of many possible candidates is my guardian angel), I had a call from the Prime Minister’s Office late Thursday that I could cancel my Air Canada flights.

Good Sunday Morning!

And for those of you who observe Christian holidays, Happy Palm Sunday!

It is hard to keep track of time. It is almost Passover. One week until Easter, but each day is like the one before. For most of us, we are working from home and only going out for essential things.

I continue to work at a fever pitch to resolve issues for constituents stranded in various places around the world (and making real progress getting people home!) and helping businesses access help and arguing for more help with the government for those (far too many) falling between the cracks.

Good Sunday Morning!

And for one Sunday, I am trying to focus on things non-COVID19. (And apologies for this being longer than usual. I broke it up with headings, for speed reading!)

Good Sunday Morning!

It has been one weird week. I have been self-isolating at home in Sidney. I am half-way through my two week period of self-imposed quarantine. Given the number of MPs who were in contact with people with COVID19, not to mention the numbers of people I run into on airplanes and in airports, it seemed the responsible thing to do.