September 13, 2024: Eighteen joined us for all or part of the time for this very special ASK Salt Spring gathering welcoming Adam Olsen for his last time with us as our MLA. (Be sure, he is very likely to join us again in one of his future community roles!) 

We began with a Territorial Acknowledgement exploring the concept of reciprocity,(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/reciprocity) a social norm of honest communication in which each can share their needs and is willing to meet the needs of the other person. This is often giving and getting something in return either immediately or in the future. Adam spoke of this as the core of most religions and its central importance to his culture, seeing our land intricately related, its people all relatives reciprocally supporting each other. 

Adam noted that, with the exception of Gary Holman when he was our MLA from 2013-2017, it was too easy for MLA’s to ignore our islands and focus on the more populated areas in their riding, forgetting that we are all related. Adam understands that we are all related and, from his first days as our MLA in 2017, he endeavoured to understand and include Salt Spring and our neighbouring islands in his deliberations and actions.

He did admit that, with dauntingly busy days, there were always excuses to avoid getting on the ferry to Salt Spring. That changed in the fall of 2019 when Adam gave his resounding “YES” to the concept of ASK Salt Spring, committing to be with us the first Friday of every month. Beginning with a launch party October 4, 2019 nearly five years ago, Adam has kept his commitment to be with us every month. Given our spotty cell phone coverage, this has resulted in leaving other pressing legislative and constituent issues for that day to focus his attention on Salt Spring needs.

These monthly visits to ASK Salt Spring gave Adam the opportunity to be accountable to us, answering all of the widely variable questions lobbed at him. It also allowed Salt Spring to get to know Adam, becoming his friend as well as being confident that he was there for us when we needed him. When asked whether he would have come to us frequently without ASK Salt Spring, he responded “Absolutely!” As regularly or as often, “Probably Not.” 

 An unintended consequence has been the full day of Salt Spring meetings he has scheduled in addition to ASK Salt Spring, building relationships, gaining an extraordinary understanding of our needs, and collaborating to find solutions to address our issues. 

When asked by candidates for the upcoming provincial election to list his accomplishments, he refused to document the “What’s” of his years as our MLA. He was willing, however, to speak of his “How’s.” And those “How’s” are, quite simply, creating the space for community engagement over and over again. 

While Adam’s participation in ASK Salt Spring is one of those important community engagement initiatives, it is only one of many important and regular circles and information sharing events in which he has participated and created. 

1. For over three years, he has chaired the Salish Sea Trail Working Group (https://islandpathways.ca/salish-sea-trail/), initiated by Salt Spring Solutions and recently led by Islands Pathways. These meeting are also attended by local government officials (Islands Trust and CRD), Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) staff whenever possible, and MP Elizabeth May. This group, united in their goal to complete a bile trail from Vesuvius to Fulford, worked hard to secure funds for needed planning and advocate energetically for the long-delayed completion of this important trail. 
2. Adam also established the Gulf Islands Forum, (https://southerngulfislandsforum.ca/). Established in 2021, this forum includes federal, provincial, local, Regional Districts, and First Nations leadership. They gathered monthly to coordinate, discuss and advocate for the economic, environmental, cultural, and social well-being of the Southern Gulf Islands communities.
3. In addition to these three regular events, Adam attended a dizzying number of community meetings every month concerning the a wide variety of our most important issues. Adam has also furthered his commitment to local engagement through community circles, dialogues, his newsletter, weekly blogs, live studio videos, and the list goes on. . . .(https://adamolsen.ca/.

It is these “How’s” of community engagement with communities separated by water and with unique needs that Adam will share with candidates throughout the province hoping to be our next MLA. 

Later in our time together, Adam did relent, however, by telling us with joy of one “What” for which he is delighted to take credit: While waiting 15 minutes after his recent flu shot, he had a conversation with one of the staff of the Parliamentary Education program. She told him that the $200,000 funding allocated for youth to participate in BC Parliamentary activities had been cut when the BC Liberals shut down the Provincial Capital Commission. While the program still exists, funds to participate must be raised by the youths, making it very difficult for those with limited financial resources to participate. Adam raised this issue and put it on the agenda for the legislative management committee to designate an ongoing $250,000 in the annual BC budget to fund this program so that all youths have the opportunity to participate. He was successful.

When asked what he would be doing on September 21, the day he will no longer be our MLA, Adam knows it will begin with placing campaign signs. . . only this time with someone else’s face on them. While he has not charted his endeavours after September 21, he knows much of his time will be spent supporting his family – parents, wife, and children. Only the evening before, he had been on his son’s soccer field as assistant coach, something he could not do as our MLA. 

Despite the joy in creating time for family activities, he has been surprised by the numerous entanglements he has been forced to untangle from. Bittersweet at times, Adam is looking back with satisfaction, looking forward with optimism. 

Among these memories, he remarked that improving roads is an exhausting energy drain, requiring constant pressure, never giving up despite the stress and frustration. And, BC Housing. . . . Taking a very delayed victory lap for the concrete now being poured for the Drake Road supportive housing, Adam wondered whether this long-delayed project and the frustrating delays of SeaBreeze Inne had forced BC Housing to grow. “Could they at last begin to ask Salt Springers what they need rather than assuming that they know better?” 

Always asking “Where are we in reaching our goals?” Adam acknowledged the many miles, some bumpy, he has travelled with Electoral Director Gary Holman, once a competitor and then a colleague; and Trustee Laura Patrick, soldiering on together in the often-challenging advocacy needed to address our most important issues. 

 Veering briefly into the upcoming provincial election (https://elections.bc.ca/2024-provincial-election/), Adam told us to vote for the candidate most likely to represent us best, reminding us that every one of the 93 MLAs must have a voice in the new government. He dispelled what he sees as the myth that majority party back benchers are more powerful than opposition MLAs. 

When asked how we can get youth involved in this election, Adam responded that getting volunteers is getting more and more difficult in every organisation. With many dogged volunteers aging out, a new generation of volunteers are simply not replacing them. Service clubs, churches, youth sports, and the multitude of nonprofits all struggle with too few volunteers. Given our challenging economic times, working volunteers are even harder to recruit, many required to work multiple jobs to survive. 

While all the factors making any volunteer recruitment challenging apply to political volunteers as well, Adam also believes that politics is veering toward being a closed door club. He laments too many are nominated by acclamation. He also sees the diminishment of the party conventions that brought people together to robustly debate public policy. 

As our time together drew to a close and preparations for the party celebrating Adam surrounded our circle, a participant asked Adam to speak about concerns with Community Services. Making sure that the strong programs and staff of Community Services was acknowledged, Adam surprised us by stating that these problems are not in the provincial wheelhouse but rest clearly with our community. He left us with the statement that concern about Community Services is the “single most pressing social issue Salt Springers must address, fully engaging to seek solutions.” 

And, with the Community Services Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled in December, he told us that we must become a member of the Community Services Society, attend the meeting, and vote. 

Need more details? This AGM will be held before the end of this year. It is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, December 3. 2024. Please watch for more details. . . .

To vote, you must be a member of the Society. To become a member, you must fill out an application and pay $1 at least 30 days before the upcoming AGM. Please see this link for information about becoming a member of the Community Services Society as well as its bylaws:https://saltspringcommunityservices.ca/society-membership/.

As our time together was over and it was time to party, we bid a loving farewell to Adam, acknowledging his monumental contributions to our community, his enduring (and endearing) optimism, unwavering support for us, and simply being with us month after month. (Thank-you, Adam!)