Josie Osborne leads new natural resources ministry

New provincial ministry formed as a ‘necessary and natural evolution’ to be er manage B.C. natural resources

By Melissa Renwick Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Vancouver Island MLA Josie Osborne has been appointed as minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship and the minister responsible for Fisheries by Premier John Horgan. “The new ministry for land stewardship refl ects the fact that natural resources are foundational to our province and they are the backbone of many local economies,” Horgan said in a release. Since 2017, the B.C. government said it’s been working on three broad land and resource management goals: reconciliation with Indigenous nations, environmental sustainability, and economic activity. Over the last year, the Lands and Natural Resource Operations Secretariat’s organizational eff ectiveness review showed that to keep making progress, changes to how ministries work and are organized needs to take place. The move is a “necessary and natural evolution” of resource management, the government said. “Osborne will work with First Nations, local communities and industry to build a vision for land and resource management that will embrace shared decision-making on the land base and to build certainty and create further opportunity for everyone,” the offi ce of the premier wrote in a release. The ministry will be responsible for developing a path forward with First Nations to create a co-management system of B.C.’s land and resources. Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Natural Resources Manager Saya Masso said he looks at the new ministry with “hope.” “[Resource] decisions shouldn’t be made in a vacuum,” said Masso. “They should be made with sustainability and with the interests of the people who are going to be inheriting those lands in mind.” Masso said there needs to be an uptake from the new ministry in engaging nations on their land visions to identify how they can symbiotically work with the province’s expressed land vision. “When nations look at their territories, they’re looking at their kingdom,” he said. “How many old growth trees do I have left? Do these forests produce clean

Photo supplied by Province of BC photo Premier John Horgan appointed Josie Osborne as Minister of Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship, and Nathan Cullen as Minister of Municipal Aff airs in a swearing-in ceremony at Government House on Feb. 25. water? Do they produce salmon runs? Do we have clam beds? All of those [resources should be] managed together – as one decision.” Osborne said the new ministry will work in partnership with First Nations to create a new vision for how land in B.C. is used. Before being elected MLA for Mid Island-Pacifi c Rim in 2020, Osborne served as the mayor of Tofi no from 2013 to 2020. She moved to Tofi no over 20 years ago to work as a fi sheries biologist for the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. During the coming weeks, Osborne said she’s beginning to engage with First Nations partners to lay the groundwork “for the important work ahead” in lead up to the new ministry’s offi cial start on April 1. The fi sheries, aquaculture and wild salmon fi les will be moved under the new ministry and Fin Donnelly, parliamentary secretary for fi sheries and aquaculture, has been appointed to work with Osborne. Through “inclusive processes,” the ministry will also be responsible for strengthening the province’s commitment to land-use policy and planning so that investors, communities and First Nations are provided clarity about social choice on the land base. “Minister Josie Osborne’s experience and skill will help government bring more predictability to the land base, while protecting B.C.’s natural heritage and ensuring the benefi ts are shared more widely now and in the future,” said Horgan.

Set to begin in 2023, the provincial plan now seeks input from educators and the public to defi ne requirements

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Victoria, BC - A plan is in place to ensure high school graduates have a better understanding of the ancestral history of British Columbia, with a requirement to complete coursework that focuses on Indigenous culture. Announced by the B.C. Ministry of Education on March 4, this development would begin for high school students in the 2023-24 school year. To earn a Dogwood Diploma, all high school students would need to complete coursework with an Indigenous focus among the 80 credits they currently earn to graduate. A typical, one-semester course earns four credits towards the diploma. It’s still yet to be determined how many Indigenous-focused credits would be required, as the province has launched an initiative to gather feedback from educators and the general public. Comments can be given to an online engagement website at https://engage.gov.bc.ca/govtogetherbc. Mary Mollineaux, K-12 policy manager for the First Nations Education Steering Committee, said that the new graduation requirement is being introduced after a survey of elementary and high school students revealed that only one third reported learning about B.C.’s Aboriginal peoples in school. “We’re hoping that students who are graduating with this new course will have had a chance to spend some time and refl ection learning about Indigenous peoples in B.C., getting to having a better understanding of Indigenous perspectives and histories – and a better understanding of the land on which they live,” she said. In recent years a growing amount of Indigenous content has been introduced into schools, from Kindergarten through high school. In the Pacifi c Rim School District, which includes Nuu-chah-nulth territory in Port Alberni, Tofi no and

Photo by Deborah Potter First Nations students are welcomed to the Alberni District Secondary School in October 2019. With one third of the Pacifi c Rim School District identifying Aboriginal ancestry, SD70 has worked to incorporate a curriculum that refl ects its student population. Ucluelet, existing high school courses that could apply to the new requirement include English First Peoples 12, BC First Peoples 12, Contemporary Indigenous Studies 12 and Nuu-chah-nulth Language and Culture, which is available for Grades 8-12. Greg Smyth is Pacifi c Rim’s superintendent of schools, a district where 34 per cent of the student population identifi ed as Indigenous in 2021. He foresees that this new graduation requirement would bring “a deeper understanding of history, culture and language” for all students. “I think that might resonate deeper with our Indigenous learners, who will then fi nd a connectedness with curriculum that they haven’t been connected with previously,” he said. “For those students who have been disconnected or disengaged with some of the other courses, it might provide a perspective that has been lacking and certainly resonate with them.” “We think this would be an eff ective anti-racism tool also so that people have a better understanding of Indigenous peoples,” added Mollineaux. More Indigenous students are completing high school than in years past, but a gap still remains. In Pacifi c Rim the overall high school completion rate was 85 per cent last year, although 75 per cent of Aboriginal students reached this milestone. Further north in Nuu-chahnulth territory the Vancouver Island West School District saw a 43 per cent completion rate among Indigenous high school students, while the overall completion rate was 58 per cent. Sixty-fi ve per cent of Vancouver Island West identifi es as Aboriginal. “The gaps are still there in the outcomes and it’s just not closing fast enough,” commented Mollineaux. “We’re reaching out to fi gure out any barriers to success.” High school completion rates indicate the sense of belonging and connectedness students feel, said Smyth. “Often the origins of that are much earlier in their schooling experience,” he said. “One of our challenges is trying to make sure that students feel welcome and supported at school – but they also see their school refl ects them.” This new graduation requirement is one of the initiatives listed in B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Draft Action Plan, and also follows the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action No. 62, which tasks schools to make Aboriginal content a mandatory component of the curriculum.

Prescribed medical alternatives don’t reach addicts

Continued from page 1 “I feel fear when he’s not home. When the phone rings late at night, I’m so scared to hear that it might be an overdose,” she shared. Late night phone calls are a source of intense fear for Frank. It was a late-night call in June 2020 that notifi ed Frank that her granddaughter, Chantel Moore, had been shot to death by an Edmundston police offi cer during a wellness check. “It’s traumatizing, my heart races,” said Frank about her phone ringing late at night. Frank’s repeated attempts to bring her son home has caused problems in her marriage, but she makes no apologies. “He may be an adult, but he is my son, and I will always love him, until the day I die,” said Frank. And even though the cycle has repeated itself several times over the past eight years, Frank clings to hope that things will change. “There is always hope, as long as they’re alive,” said Frank. Like Jackie’s son, Grace’s son has expressed a willingness to get clean but, according to Frank, there’s too many hoops to jump through. Nearly six years since a provincial public health emergency was declared, these mothers’ struggles appear to be aff ecting more people across B.C. Last year there were 2,224 fatal overdoses in the province - the most on record, with a 31-per cent jump in paramedic calls to treat toxic drug use on Vancouver Island. Port Alberni saw a 41-per cent increase in cases of overdose due to illicit drug use. Health offi cials and elected representatives have struggled to slow this rising toll. In eff orts to remove the stigmatization of illicit drug use and better guide enforcement, B.C. has applied to Health Canada for an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and in late December MP Gord Johns introduced a bill to decriminalize drug possession for personal use. Meanwhile, province has worked to guide users towards less-harmful alternatives, citing over 15,000 prescriptions for safer medical alternatives over the last two years. “Substance use addiction is a public health issue, not a criminal one,” said Sheila Malcolmson, minister of Mental Health and Addictions, earlier this year. In recent days Frank’s son called her and asked her to pick him up. She hopes that his choice to come home is a sign of his willingness to quit drugs. “The hardest thing is to see them coming down off of the drugs – the dope-sick part,” Frank shared. She said it’s become a routine – he’s got no more drugs. She buys him sweets, like gummy bears, ice cream and pop. Then he retreats to his room where he wants to be left alone. “He doesn’t like being checked but I have to check him three to fi ve times a night to make sure he’s not dead,” Frank shared. In late February, Dennis picked up her son from Port Alberni and brought him home to Anacla, nearly two hours away. He had been off heroin for two days and was sick from the withdrawals. Dennis planned to drive him back to Port Alberni’s West Coast General Hospital before the weekend to see if she could get him medical help for his withdrawal symptoms. “Once someone is dependant stopping their use can be extremely diffi cult,” states the Canadian Association of Mental Health. “People who have used heroin for a long time often report that they no longer experience any pleasure from the drug. They continue to use heroin to avoid the symptoms of withdrawal and to control their craving for the drug.” And that is where Dennis is at – working desperately to get her son through the withdrawal process, pretty much on her own. Ha-Shilth-Sa checked in with Dennis after the weekend. While she was unable to get help for her son at the hospital, she managed to get a virtual appointment with a doctor through Island Health’s Telehealth. Telehealth uses computer technology to connect patients with a doctor no matter where they live. But the appointment is for mid-March. By that time Dennis’ son will have chalked up about a month’s wait to get on the methadone program. Dennis was able to access a small quantity of methadone from a friend to carry him through. “Without his friend’s help, he’d be in absolute pain,” she said. For now, both mothers are caring for their sons in their home communities, hoping and praying that the cycle of drug addiction has fi nally come to an end.

Jackie Dennis