This week in the Legislature could be described as the week that “democracy went awry”.

It was the week the government decided that having introduced 10 bills the previous week, making two dozen bills on the table, that there would not be enough time for their full debate.

We have a fixed session these days – which means we can do some planning. The spring session is supposed to be for the budget debate and the fall for legislation. But the government has been bringing in a great deal of legislation – in particular on health care and the environment – this spring session.

Instead of stating that we would continue the discussion into the fall, the government announced that by the end of this session – the end of May – it would ensure all the legislation it wanted enacted would be enacted, by declaring debate closed.

It is a very sad reflection on the government’s respect for democracy, and for the parliamentary process, that it just pushes through its agenda without allowing for a full and healthy debate.

This week has seen two main areas of debate: health care and forestry. There was continued discussion on Bill 21, which brings in the addition of sustainability to the Medicare Protection act. The debate on Bill 26 began; this is an important, and helpful, piece of legislation which increases the role of nurse practitioners, gives more authority to pharmacists to provide repeat prescriptions, and eases the way for doctors from other jurisdictions and countries to practice in B.C.

We also were able to start debate on Bill 25, which is welcome news for HEU workers, and in fact all union workers. It is the bill which repeals part of Bill 29 – the BC Liberal government’s anti union legislation. That law devastated the lives of many people when it was introduced in 2002; it meant job losses, wage cuts, contracting out and diminution of services.

The week also saw debate on the devastation of the forest industry, both in question period and during the estimates’ debate. Because of time limits, our forest critic Bob Simpson quizzed the minister of forest and range for the two and a half days of the debate. You can read the details at Monday’s , Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon Ministry of Forests and Range Estimates.

The failure of the government’s forest policy was daily fodder during question period, and I was able to again raise the issue of the loss of Timberwest this week.

By the end of the week the estimates debate focused on the Attorney General’s ministry and I joined the critic in questioning the Attorney on the government’s actions to prevent domestic violence.

May is child care month, and as well as touring the province meeting with providers and parents, I was able to paint a picture of the crisis facing the field in the legislature on Monday.

We only have three more weeks to hold the government to account in this session and I would be happy to hear from you about issues that you would like me to bring to the government. You can contact me at my constituency office on 250 287 5100 or 1 877 387 5100 or by email at claire.trevena.mlaleg.bc.ca