The transition to becoming an MLA<\/h2>\n
She attended her last\u00a0SRD Board meeting, as a director rather than chair, on Nov. 4<\/a>. Last Monday, she attended her last meeting of the Campbell River City council. Babchuk was sworn in virtually on Nov. 24.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has gone relatively smoothly. I think I have accomplished everything that I wanted to do with those organizations before I move on. The transition into the legislature is still ongoing. We\u2019ll see what that looks like because\u00a0the Premier<\/a>\u00a0is going to call the session back in order on December 7th,\u201d said Babchuk.<\/p>\n She has not gone to\u00a0Victoria<\/a>\u00a0yet and, thanks to\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>, may be attending the next session virtually from her home in\u00a0Campbell River<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen the schedule for next year but, with COVID and the way the legislature is working on a hybrid model right now, we\u2019ll see what the legislature is going to look like on December 7th,\u201d said Babchuk.<\/p>\n Only a small number of people actually went to Victoria during the last session. Most meetings were on ZOOM.<\/p>\n Babchuk wants to visit the legislature, to \u2018learn who\u2019s who in the zoo,\u2019 but does not intend to rent an apartment just yet. A hotel room will suffice for occasional visits. She can always find something more permanent should it become obvious this is needed.<\/p>\n She will have constituency offices in Campbell River and\u00a0Port Hardy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Garry Beg, MLA for Surrey-Guildford and government caucus whip. Photo courtesy New Democrat BC Government Caucus.<\/p><\/div>\n Babchuk spoke about her new role, as deputy government whip in general terms.<\/p>\n She and\u00a0Garry Beg, the government caucus whip<\/a>, have not yet discussed how they will divide up responsibilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a general focus, it is making sure that this very large caucus of 57 members are all where they need to be, when they need to be and that they have everything they need to be able to perform \u2026\u201d she said.<\/p>\n This is not as crucial in a majority government, where a couple of unexpected absentees could make the party vulnerable in a crucial vote.<\/p>\n However, when an MLA needs to be absent from a session, they ask the party whip if this is possible.<\/p>\n CKTZ asked Babchuk about the environment and a green economy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of resource sector people who we automatically think of as not environmental, but still have that ethic. They still want to make sure\u00a0 that the environment is taken care of and we are leaving a legacy for our children. It\u2019s just not at the same level as someone who puts the environment as their first priority above everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there is a way we can work through that. Do we need a Green economy? Sure. Is it going to happen as fast as some people want? Probably not. Is it going to happen faster than some people want? Yes!\u201d she added.<\/p>\n In the podcast with CKTZ, Babchuk mentions some of the complexities of the local riding.<\/p>\n The key to addressing controversial situations, is to bring everyone to the table and have \u201cthose really good hard discussions,\" she said.<\/p>\n \u201cRespecting everyone\u2019s opinion around the table will help us move forward with those types of decisions. I really do believe that a community, for lack of a better analogy, is like a three legged stool. In order for that community to be healthy, it has to have economic health, environmental health and social health,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really need to bring those into balance and to be able to respect the diversity within our own riding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201d \u2026. I hope that when you have a concern, you can pick up the phone and we can can have that discussion and look at your concern \u2026 Depending on where those concerns are \u2026 I can access \u2026 information or help after that, if it is with the\u00a0Minister of Forests, Lands or Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development<\/a>, or\u00a0Economic Recovery<\/a>, or the\u00a0Ministry of Environment<\/a> \u2026 Those are the kinds of channels that, as your local MLA, I would hope we could open the door to and get those conversations happening,\" she added.<\/p>\n Babchuk added that she hopes that voters will be patient as the government works to get set up.<\/p>\n \u201cI ask that people be a bit patient with me, as the legislature rolls out all of our technology and our email addresses, which are not all there yet. We are trying to get the office up and going as fast as we can. I know I am a little \u2018unplugged,\u2019 at this particular point,\" she said. \"As soon as all the contact information and everything is in place, I will be shooting them out to everybody I know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Roy L Hales On Oct. 24, more than 50 per cent of North Island\u2019s electorate\u00a0chose\u00a0Michele Babchuk\u00a0to represent them in the Provincial Legislature. Though more than a month has passed, she has only just stepped down from her previous roles as a\u00a0Campbell River councillor\u00a0and Chair of the\u00a0Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board. Though yet to sit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":25178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[225],"tags":[3143,1630,2498],"radio":[252],"origine":[280,266,231],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25168"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=25168"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=25168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Garry](\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/garry_begg_sug_-headshot-1000x1000-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Moving towards a green economy<\/h2>\n
Bringing everyone to the table<\/h2>\n