I continue to be stunned by the people who say they stand up to hate, but continue to fail to do so. This ‘do as I say, not as I do’ hypocrisy shouldn’t surprise me anymore, but it does.

The most recent failure of leadership comes from Minister Spencer Chandra-Herbert as I informed him that his constituency assistant (CA), the person who represents him in his community office, has posted to Facebook that she believed that Jews/Zionists should not be welcome at Pride events. She had far more personal, vitriolic things to say about me and my gay, Jewish son, but let’s just sit with her belief that it was perfectly acceptable to discriminate against Jews because … Israel (or what she calls a ‘difference in politics’.) She reinforced this discrimination in her non-apology to me after I expressed my concern to Spencer, her boss.

Here is what she sent to me via email with the subject line ‘unintentional’:

I was not intending to make a personal insult when I used the phrase in question. It is an old British expression that I used to comment on what I viewed as a predictable response, not as a personal description of you. Nor was the remark intended in any way to refer to your Jewish identity or to insult you on that basis.

I recognize that you found the comment offensive, and I regret that it came across as a personal insult. That was not my intention. My disagreement with your political views remains unchanged, but my purpose was to express that disagreement, not to make a personal attack. If my choice of words suggested otherwise, I apologize.

You may now be wondering about the phrase she used to characterize my concern about Jews not being welcome at Pride events - here’s how she addressed me in a Facebook post:

As my father used to say, “What can you expect from a pig but a grunt.” I would expect nothing different from you.

My reading of her apology is that she didn’t mean to insult me … really? Last time I checked, calling anyone a ‘pig’ intends to hurt them, much less a Jew. This didn’t feel like a apology so I chose to respond to her:

While I appreciate your explanation, it does not constitute an apology for suggesting that I am a pig. Your words were intended to hurt, disparage and dehumanize. Everything from suggesting we be excluded from Pride to calling me and my son ‘toxic’ to the pig comment. That is what you ought to be apologizing for.

I checked with my son to see if he received an apology. That too seems to not be important to you. Not recognizing his intersectionality and suggesting that he, as a gay Jew, must renounce a part of his identity in order to participate in Pride is the exact issue that you should be apologizing to him for.

Finally, your comment that Jews and Israelis should be excluded from Pride because we don’t ascribe to Jew/Israel bashing is the exact opposite of what Pride is supposed to be about. Furthermore, according to our own government you are engaging in antisemitic commentary. Our Premier, David Eby, has twice noted that as a government we ascribe to and have adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism. He noted this in 2024 and reiterated it in 2026 Estimates. The IHRA definition explicitly identifies that holding Jews responsible for military decisions made by Israel is antisemitic as is holding Israel to a different standard than any other sovereign nation - both of which you seem to have adopted. Perhaps you should actually read this definition and adjust your thinking accordingly.

This is my longwinded way of saying that your comments are not about a difference in political perspective (which technically shouldn’t bar anyone from participating in any civic event given our human rights code), but is about your perspective on who we are as Jews.

You know nothing about who I am, although I suspect that you were thrilled when I got elected in 2013 when I won an extra seat for the NDP in that challenging election - I can tell you that your boss was certainly thrilled. You were likely also pleased when I was housing minister delivering the first housing plan in this province in nearly 20 years and then finance minister delivering the largest surplus this province has ever seen. In all that time I was (and still am) a proud Jew and someone who believes in a two-state solution (which makes me a Zionist by definition) - I have lived in Israel (and it’s still a crappy piece of land with no oil, no water and very limited natural resources) and visited the country several times in the last 10 years. I am guessing you have never been there so don’t know that Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze all live side by side (no apartheid). I am also guessing that you have never had to worry if the public bus you are on has a suicide bomber on it, or heard the sirens sound as Hamas lobbies dozens of bombs overhead as it has for years even before October 7. I don’t know you, but from your comment I suspect that you don’t have very deep knowledge of the history of the conflict or how Jews are tied and connected to the Land.

As I told Spencer, I am willing to connect you to those who will help you to better understand how your words and your attitude toward Jews makes our lives unsafe here in Canada where antisemitism has exploded and synagogues, Jewish owned businesses and Jewish students on campuses are the target of Jew hate (all well documented) - it’s comments like yours that result in those actions. We know from Holocaust Education (which our government made mandatory several years ago) that the Holocaust didn’t start with gas chambers, it started with words that dehumanized Jews, like calling us pigs and rats or suggesting that we are somehow toxic. It also started by excluding Jews from public spaces - all tools that you used in your comments on Matt’s page. These actions are the building blocks of hate that leads to violence.

I expect better of New Democrats, people who say they are open to learning and I invite you to take me up on the offer.

Perhaps when you have more information you can provide me with a proper apology that I can accept.

Upon reading that Spencer’s CA felt that Jews should be excluded from Pride events several folks who read the post told me that they too reached out to Spencer’s office to express concern. As of this writing, not one of them have received a response from him.

I forwarded the CA’s non-apology to Spencer asking if he thought this was an adequate response to my concerns. I never heard back about the non-apology so I pursued him one more time sending him information about the rise in Jew hatred and this is what I finally got from him :

Thank you for writing to follow up. I have been on the road for work, and out of cell range a fair bit so am sorry for the delay.

I have spoken to her and she told me she had deleted the post and sent an apology to you, but that the matter was between each of you, and not employment related. (my commentary - sounds like it was the CA who decided it was not employment related).

On the broader question of what I am doing to make a more welcoming and inclusive community office, I have asked a few people I know who provide workplace anti discrimination, and inclusion training with an antisemitism lens for advice on a workshop for my community office. If you have suggestions I would welcome them.

From what I can gather, Spencer thinks the apology is sufficient (he didn’t respond to my query about it) and he doesn’t believe that this is a workplace matter but is prepared to do a workshop on discrimination and inclusion with a focus on antisemitism. A rather illogical conclusion given that he thinks there ought to be some training about antisemitism but his CA’s apology is sufficient and isn’t a workplace issue to be resolved.

What does this tell us?

It tells us that the BCNDP still have no idea what to do with the antisemitism and antizionism in their ranks. From Mabel Elmore who several years ago commented to a journalist that ‘Zionists must be removed from her union’ to Jennifer Whiteside commenting that Israel ‘pinkwashes’ (uses Pride to soften its image). And let’s not forget former MLA Aman Singh (now BCNDP party president) and former MLA Katrina Chen who in the days immediately following the October 7 massacre appealed to the BCNDP caucus to put out a press release acknowledging the pain and suffering of Palestinians. Israelis were still picking up body parts but these two couldn’t even pause for one second to acknowledge the carnage of Hamas on Israelis and the impact that had on their Jewish constituents.

When I walked away from the BCNDP in March 2024, the Premier had no problem sending out Minister Ravi Kahlon, a South Asian man (who knows nothing about being Jewish), to deny the concerns and lived experience of a Jewish woman expressing concerns of antisemitism in caucus.

How does that resonate with sound anti-racism practice?

And let’s not forget those who chose to be silent when I asked them if they had concerns about growing antisemitism and antizionism. When I asked MLA Fin Donnelly if he had concerns about a November 2023 letter we both received from the Coquitlam Teachers Association, a letter that was also posted to their website. The letter accused Israel of genocide, apartheid and a host of other ills resulting in Jewish parents in the school district expressing concerns to me about the safety of their children in our public school classrooms. Fin told me he was just going to ignore the Coquitlam Teachers Association letter (and by extension ignore the concerns of Jewish parents in School District 43). And there was Minister Murry Rankin who would privately share his observations and concerns with me about the growing antizionism and antisemitism we were seeing in the party and in civil society, but when I asked him to speak up, he explained to me that he ‘had no context or role’ in which to use his voice given that he was the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. More recently former MLA Bob D’eith reached out to me after seeing me at an event and asked how I was. When I shared with him my growing list of concerns and experiences with increasing antisemitism and antizionism, he merely suggested that I ‘ignore’ those people, as though if I pretend they aren’t there then I have nothing to worry about. He should tell that to the Jews who gathered at Bondi Beach last December.

At times, when these leaders have had absolutely no choice but to appear concerned they kind of show up with gestures of handwringing and ‘this isn’t who we are’ commentary. After the firebombing at the Schara Tzedeck synagogue in Spring 2024 the Premier along with several ministers including Brenda Bailey, George Heyman, Mike Farnworth and Niki Sharma showed up at the Saturday Shabbat service to demonstrate their ‘concern for the community’. I wanted to scream, to shout at them that this is what I was talking about - not one of them looked me in the eye that day because they all knew that I was right.

The BCNDP continue to be tone deaf to the rise of Jew hatred. The December 2025 Vancouver Chanukah lighting, the evening after the Bondi Beach terrorist attack that required the positioning of police snipers on our downtown buildings, was another such event. As Vancouver’s Jews brave enough to gather in community downtown for the first night of Chanukah gathered, the Premier didn’t even acknowledge our fear and worry for our safety. For him, it sounded like another Chanukah candle lighting that his staff put in his calendar as a must attend event. He had no prepared remarks and spoke about the holiday gathering as if nothing had changed for us. I was stunned that he couldn’t even acknowledge our fear that night, seemingly pretending that all was okay. Much like Bob, the message was just ‘ignore’ those who scream for your annihilation.

The pattern is there: the silence, the gaslighting and the hand wringing, which only appears when absolutely necessary.

The Premier has said several times in the legislative chamber that just as John Horgan’s government adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism to be in alignment with Canada and 40 other nations around the world, so has his government

But this adoption means nothing without action.

It would appear that Spencer’s CA isn’t aware of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and Spencer clearly doesn’t have any idea what it means given that he thinks it’s okay that his CA believes that Jews should not be welcome at Pride events - I wonder if he would be more concerned if say, his CA believed that other marginalized or minority groups should be denied access to public events.

Spencer wrote that he was ‘asking around for someone to do a training on inclusion with a focus on antisemitism’. I had already advised him to contact Friends of Simon Wiesenthal - folks who use the IHRA definition of antisemitism, the working policy of our government, to lead a training for his staff. I doubt he will call them, choosing instead to take the lead from the Premier who has been asked over and over again to do a antisemitism/antizionism training with caucus and has continued to shirk away from educating his MLAs on government’s own policy.

It would appear that their preference is to just ignore the problem and hope that it just goes away.

Shame on all of them.

I never planned to be a politician. It sort of just happened.

I’ve always had a strong sense of justice. I remember accusing my father of running a sweatshop when he owned a children’s clothing manufacturing operation in Montreal’s ‘shmata” sector. I was 8 years old and had toured the factory - it wasn’t a sweatshop, but in my 8 year old mind, seeing rows of immigrant women hunched over sewing machines coupled with stories and headlines that I had read - I decided that it had to be a sweatshop.

Fast forward and my youth group involvement, summer camp activities, student council engagement and even career choice (family therapist) all speak to a deep commitment to the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam - healing or repairing a broken world.

In hindsight it’s not too surprising that I wound up in politics, but it wasn’t what I had planned. I fell into it. Actually, I think I was pulled into it which is not unusual for women. As women, we don’t often don’t see ourselves as people designed for political life and women often have to be asked several times before they consider putting their name on the ballot. I was no different.

It all started in 2007/8 with a church around the corner from my house that had joined with other churches in the community to each host about 30 homeless people in their facilities for 30 days each through the cold, wet winter months. The folks who lived in tents down by the river and in our parks would be bussed to these churches, given a warm meal, a mat to sleep on and a warm breakfast in the morning before being bussed back to their daytime outdoor locations. Each church would be a host for a month. The program was called the ‘Cold Wet Weather Mat program’. In order for these churches to legally have people sleeping on their premises, they needed permission from the city and the city had to host a public hearing before granting the churches a permit for these new activities.

I decided to speak up and support the program. I worked in the social services sector and I saw a need for this kind of program. I was thrilled that members of the faith community were stepping up to contribute to the well being of our community. Hundreds of residents showed up to the public hearing, half in support and half against this much needed program. I was pretty nervous as I read my five minute prepared speech in front of my neighbours and the Coquitlam Council. That seminal event, that five minute speech, would change the course of my life. While the public hearing lasted until 3 am making it the longest public hearing in Coquitlam’s history, I was asked to run in the next municipal election. I was asked again and again forcing me to consider how my drive for ‘tikkun olam’ can be met in a different role, a role that was about policy, not therapy. I began to consider how healing a broken world can be achieved through a policy and decision-making lens on behalf of an electorate, decisions that could make life better BEFORE therapy is needed; decisions that could make my community a bit better by contributing at the Council table.

And the rest, as they say, is history. I ran for council, was elected twice there. Then ran provincially for the New Democrats and was elected three times, securing a greater percentage of the votes with each election.

And now, after 16 years at council and cabinet tables, I am no longer making decisions on behalf of an electorate. I am often asked to run again for other political parties and while my progressive values haven’t changed, its how the New Democratic Party here in Canada, and British Columbia have been manifesting those values that has become unpalatable to me so I, like many other progressive Jews, am politically homeless. While this might make voting in elections more difficult, it is quite freeing. I am no longer beholden to the group or the political party that once reflected what I thought were shared values. I am free to comment on cowardly leadership or poor financial decision making. I don’t have to hold back when I see former colleagues contradict themselves, or when they attack an opposition member for some comment or behaviour, but had no problem when one of their own acted in the exact same manner. I no longer have to bite my tongue when an opposition member offers up a good proposal worthy of consideration. I always believed that good ideas can come from any political party. The same holds for bad ideas and in my post-partisan life I am free to offer my opinions and thoughts on all ideas, good and bad, regardless of their origin.

I am really beginning to enjoy this new found freedom.

I swore I wouldn’t be one of those mothers who pressures their children to procreate.

I lied.

I lied to my kids and I lied to myself.

I indeed became one of ‘those mothers’.

Sometimes when I was in the legislature during the Introductions time of the daily agenda one of my MLA colleagues would announce that they had the gift of another grandchild born, taking great pleasure at making the announcement.

I was so envious.

Whenever I made a speech in the Legislature or at events and my speech talked about what government would do for the next generation, my standard pitch was “and should I be so lucky to become a grandmother” - sorry kids. I couldn’t help it. My arms and my heart were aching for a baby. My ovaries were starting to dry up and while menopause didn’t come until I was almost 60, my body knew that the next generation had to make an appearance and once menopause actually hit, my desire for a grandbaby exploded.

I wanted the pleasure of becoming a bubbie (Yiddish for grandmother). I wanted to hold a baby, to smell a baby and to get lost in a world of awe and wonder that little ones bring. I wanted to know that my genetic line would continue and wanted to experience the hope and possibility that comes with the next generation. I wanted to see my children become parents and I wanted to be a young enough grandmother that I could witness the next generation mature into adulthood.

And then it happened.

My daughter couldn’t wait to tell me that she was expecting (for which I was grateful) but I was sworn to secrecy until the pregnancy was established and passed the 16 week mark, an indication that the pregnancy is more likely to go full term. Keeping it to myself when I wanted to dance with jubilation because it was finally happening was almost painful, but I managed. However, those weeks were not easy as I giggled to myself that it was finally happening. When I was finally permitted to tell others of the pregnancy it was like a volcano erupting telling everyone I knew and I took to counting the weeks of pregnancy on my calendar. Those weeks of counting …week 18 …. week 21 ….. week 25 ….. of waiting and counting seemed to drag on and on.

I had had three pregnancies. I know what it means to count the weeks of pregnancy, but this felt different. I was on the outside of this much wanted baby. I didn’t get to feel the changes as this baby grew. I was only left with counting the weeks and time seemed to slow to a crawl.

And he finally arrived and I was instantly in love.

Holding him, watching him, smelling him and just breathing him in filled my heart with something beyond joy … at first I couldn’t explain it. I couldn’t find the words that filled my heart and brought a smile to my face. And then it dawned on me …it was hope.

It was hope for the future and a new adventure and role for me.

In the months since his birth I have chosen to be somewhat restrained with sharing photos of him and talking about his milestones when I meet friends and strangers. I have also restrained myself from visiting him daily and I even put him down in his stroller or cot when falls asleep in my arms.

My parents have told me stories of my grandfather who came to see me daily on his way home from work in the days, weeks and months after I was born. I was his first grandchild and now I understand what drove him at the end of his work day to poke in to see me. He too saw his grandchildren as ‘hope for the future’, a reminder that the future belongs to the next generation and how fortunate we are to get to witness and transmit our wisdom and learnings to those who will be responsible for the future.

With this hope that this new generation brings there are also responsibilities.

I think of my grandparents and great grandparents a lot these days. I was fortunate to have four grandparents and four great grandparents when I was born. Of these eight ancestors I have strong memories of seven of them from when I was a child and teenager and I have had the gift of adult relationships with two of them.

I can’t wait to tell my grandson about these people, his ancestors, who emigrated to Canada, raised families, built communities, fought for our freedoms and left a legacy so that he could have a good life of love, family and community.

All told, there are now going to be five generations of stories that I get to share with this new, sixth generation. There are stories from my great grandparents: David & Sonia, Jenny & Abe, my grandparents: Max & Lily, Jack & Molly, my parents: Irv & Rhoda, my stories and stories about his mom, my daughter.

That’s a lot of stories and I can’t wait until he’s old enough to say “Bubbie, can you tell me another story?”

I have had the pleasure of having so many loving, caring and compassionate friends in my 60+ years. I am still friends with some folks I met in nursery school in the suburbs of Montreal. I still have friends from elementary school and youth groups. I have friends that I met in summer camps and friends that I have accumulated from various workplaces over my 40 year working career. I have friends that I met when my adult children were in preschool. And I have friends who live in my neighbourhood. I have been so fortunate to have so many friends from so many parts of my life.

I have valued these friendships. Some of these friends helped me navigate a traumatic move to BC when I was 14 years old. Others helped me get through graduate school. I have friends with whom I have laughed and cried. I have friends who I can be silly with and friends with whom I can sort through complex problems. Over the years I have come to collect an eclectic cadre of friends who were there for me when I was a surrogate who wound up on bedrest and friends who were there for me when I was diagnosed with cancer. I have friends who have supported me politically and friends who have stood by me as I was ousted from Cabinet because the Premier didn’t like the noise of the frenzied mob who came after me because I am a Jew and that they thought describing the land of Israel as a ‘crappy piece of land’ somehow made me Islamophobic and no longer worthy of the privilege of serving British Columbians.

I am a proud Jew. A relentless Jew - it’s the same relentlessness that I brought to the public arena. As the Housing minister, I busted my ass to make sure we were treating unhoused individuals with respect and as the Minister of Finance I made sure that we were treating the taxpayer and the public purse with the same respect. I don’t know why anyone should be surprised that given the meteoric rise in antisemitism, that I would not bring that same passion to the issue of Jew hatred that appears to have consumed the sanity of what used to be the ‘progressive left’.

So what does this have to do with my friendships?

As it turns out … a lot.

I have been surprised at the silence of so many in my social circles.

At a young age, I decided that I did not want my social circle to be comprised of mostly Jews. I believe that a truly diverse community means having friends from diverse backgrounds. So, I purposefully decided to live in a community that does not have a significant Jewish population. I also purposefully decided that I didn’t want to work in the Jewish community (although I did for several years and I also knew that I didn’t want to stay there for very long). As a result, most of my friends aren’t Jewish.

As a politician, I was outwardly Jewish, although with Robinson as a last name, many people had no idea that I am a Jew. I detail some of that experience in my book, Truth Be Told, but suffice it to say, I brought all of my Yiddishkeit (Jewishness) into my work: Jewish values, Jewish culture and Jewish practice. I believe that bringing all of me to my work on behalf of British Columbians paid off and that British Columbia is better for it.

So here we are, almost three years after Hamas attacked Israel, slaughtered 1200 people and kidnapped and tortured 251 others for over two years. While the day is etched in my mind for its barbarism, it’s also a day that many in my world fell silent. This act of barbarism also unleashed a torrent of unrelentless propaganda intending to dehumanize and delegitimize Jews and the Jewish state. And it has worked.

The propaganda has captured those on the left of the political spectrum because it is wrapped in the values of ‘social justice’. It no longer matters if the ‘data’ is verified, if the ‘narrative’ is balanced or if the ‘source’ is legitimate - if it’s shared, then it’s true. If it has captured the left ‘as truth’, then it is seen to be true. Understanding history, context or facts are now irrelevant.

I have countless Facebook posts and X responses that can easily demonstrate how my ‘supporters’ have succumbed to this propaganda. As an MLA I received hate mail and death threats the likes of which are absolutely stunning - especially telling are the ones from those that once supported me. (By the way, I was a Jewish Zionist even when they supported me, but that didn’t seem to matter at the time).

This ‘capture of the left’ has also demonstrated the political cowardice of our times. I will admit that many of my friends tend to lean left (although I do have lots of friends who lean right - see my belief and value on diversity of friends above). In recent months I have challenged some of these ‘left’ leaning friends on some of their performative comments and positions as it pertains to Israelis and Palestinians. My queries are not about whether Palestinians deserve to have a good life; to live in safety and security and to have opportunity. I believe that should be the case for all peoples. It’s when antisemitism, often in the modern form of antizionism presents itself and attacks Jews and Israelis for being Jews and Israelis. When confronted with these accusations and their double standard pointed out, these friends often become tongue-tied. They feel caught somehow because the propaganda puts them in a bind with their declared values and they choose to be silent in the face of hate, hate that they would not even hesitate to comment on if it was directed at any other minority.

Somehow, when it comes to Jews, they become immobilized - their thought processes glitch and silence becomes the preferred, easier stance.

Given my tenacity and relentlessness, I push. I can’t help it. I need to hold people accountable to their declared values. I can’t permit them to contradict their stated values. If you say you stand up to hate, in all its forms, then I expect you to stand up to hate, in all its forms - that is what I expect from my friends, especially my left-leaning friends.

In recent months however, some friends and former colleagues have really struggled to ‘stand up to hate’ and when I challenge them, a response has been … ‘but you know what’s in my heart’.

Wow!

They profess to love me, to care about me, but standing next to me to push back on hate directed at me seems to be a bit too far and they expect that somehow, given our friendship, and knowing what’s in their heart should be sufficient enough for me to back off.

What????

Here is my message to my silent, immobilized friends whose fallback position in the face of Jew hatred is about what’s ‘in their heart’:

What’s in your heart doesn’t keep me or my family safe.

What’s in your heart doesn’t ensure that me and my family can be visibly, fully and joyfully Jewish in public life.

What’s in your heart doesn’t address the rise in antisemitism and antizionism.

What’s in your heart doesn’t tell others who are spewing hate that you will stand against hate.

I don’t doubt what’s in your heart. But I worry about what’s not in your heart.

I don’t doubt that you love me - I doubt that I can count on you to stand with me.

I don’t doubt that you want to stand up to hate - I doubt that you have the strength to publicly do so.

I don’t doubt that you want to make the world a better place - I doubt that you have the backbone to weather the hate that you know will come your way if you do stand up to Jew hate.

I don’t doubt that you would love for this rise in antisemitism in its new form of antizionism that is ultimately threatening our democracy and faith in our institutions to dissipate - I doubt that you have the wherewithal to take a strong stand against this form of Jew hate and protect our social fabric from the erosion that this hate brings.

I do know what’s in your heart, but I am far more distressed by what is not in your heart: Courage.

Without courage, what’s ‘in your heart’ means that I am standing alone.

At least have the courage to acknowledge that.

I spent a large portion of Canada Day reaching out to various community groups and organizations asking them if they support a recent ‘solidarity statement’ put out by the Tri-Cities Pride Society (TCPS) - a statement that they put out in the days before hosting their Pride events in the Tri-Cities - three suburbs east of Vancouver.

Here is their full statement:

We’re reposting our Solidarity Statement from last year, as we continue to commit to the values and actions firmly stated here!

“The Coquitlam Pride Festival is rapidly approaching and we are so excited to hold this celebration of our vibrant and diverse 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities. While doing so we want to ground this celebration in the politics and ethos Pride grew from and to reflect on the structural contexts in which we exist and resist.

Cis-heteropatriarchal structures are responsible for the existential threats that folks of diverse gender and sexual identities have faced and continue to face. This structural violence against queer, trans, and Two-Spirit people has its roots in and is continually maintained through settler-colonialism and imperialism both near and far. As a pride society we will keep aiming to platform and amplify Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, and other Indigenous queer and trans folks. While we take part in these joyous celebrations of identity and diversity we never want to forget that we do so on stolen land and the responsibility that entails. We strive to continually deepen our solidarity with all individuals, nations and movements practicing, reinstating and defending Indigenous sovereignty. This means Land Back!

We also want to unequivocally state our support for a Free Palestine and opposition to Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism. We aim to align our procurement and sponsorship practices with the BDS movement and screen potential sponsors and partners to ensure their operations are in agreement with our values and those of the communities we serve.

Additionally, our events and programming will always be spaces where police, armed forces, and other instruments of state violence are not welcome in a professional or promotional capacity. This is in the spirit of community care, the sentiment of “we keep us safe” and in remembrance that Pride is a commemoration of an uprising against police brutality and violence.

Accountability to our community is top of mind for us. We always welcome engagement, discussion, and constructive feedback from you on how we can best uphold the values of a liberatory politics! We wish you all an abundant and nourishing pride season and hope you will join us in our vision for Queer Joy and Liberation.”

With care, love and solidarity,

The Tri-Cities Pride Society Board

First, let’s review the misinformation/disinformation, also known as lies.

The ‘Free Palestine’ movement was established by Hamas and proxies in North America and Europe. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that this wasn’t a grassroots movement, but a coordinated effort to delegitimize the only Jewish state - an effort backed by Iran. It’s why so many of my Persian friends reached out to me after the rise of Jew hatred and anti-Israel sentiment exploded in the days after October 7, 2023. They saw and knew that Iran was orchestrating and funding the activities that took over our campuses and our streets.

For the record, all Israelis - Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze - are governed by one set of laws. There is no apartheid in Israel - it’s a lie. As my friend Celeste Haldane, former Chief Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission likes to remind me - if folks want to see real apartheid they can look right here at Canada where we have an Indian Act governing one group of people and other laws for other people - that’s apartheid. Israel isn’t an apartheid state.

And as for Israel being a ‘colonial state’. That too is a lie. In order to be colonial there must be a central location of power elsewhere from which to colonize - think Britain and its activities abroad like in Canada or Australia. The same goes for France, think of Martinique or Cote D’Ivoire. Through thousands of years there has always been a presence of Jews in the Levant (the region of the Middle East) and in the current State of Israel. During those years there have been various invaders: Romans, Greeks, Crusaders, Turks and more, but the Jewish people have always had a presence in their indigenous lands. From where could the Jews have had a seat of power outside the region from which ‘to conquer’? They didn’t. In fact, the opposite is true. The Jewish State is a decolonized state, a place that Jews have been able to reclaim after years of being denied access to self governance in their indigenous lands, lands that have continuously been the focus of Jewish worship, history, storytelling, cultural practices, language and common ancestry.

Second, why pick on Israel?

There are many, many geopolitical conflicts in the world right now. The war in Gaza that was started when Hamas slaughtered, maimed and raped thousands and kidnapped and tortured hundreds has not been the only war that is being waged in recent times. People are being slaughtered in Sudan. Thousands of Christians in Nigeria are being killed and no one is talking about these conflicts. Why just pick the only Jewish state to make a geopolitical statement when we see how China treats its minorities or how Russia invaded Ukraine? This is part of a broader effort to dehumanize Jews/Israelis and delegitimize the Jewish state - the latest iteration of antisemitism.

What’s even more stunning is when an LGBTQ+ group chooses to ignore that Israel is the only safe place in the region for people who identify as LGBTQ+. Hamas and other nations governed by Islamists and/or Sharia law strictly forbid homosexuality and regularly torture and kill those who are LGBTQ+.

Third, ‘aligning procurement and sponsorship practices’ makes it sound like this organization will only work with and receive support from those who agree with them on all of these principles - including the one that dehumanizes and delegitimizes Jews and the Jewish state.

(They also maligned the police and armed forces … that’s a substack for another day).

So I spent Canada Day determining who these partners and sponsors are so that I could determine if they agreed with this statement made by the Tri-Cities Pride Society. I reached out to representatives of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody. I reached out to some MLAs and an MP. I reached out to the Port Coquitlam Foundation and the Port Moody Arts Centre as well as Freshet News - all of whom are listed as sponsors or partners on various social media posts. (I didn’t reach out to the Coquitlam Teachers Association or to CUPE because their actions and statements have led the antisemitic and Jew hating charge - that I will detail in another substack later - but suffice it to say, reaching out to them would not be worth the effort).

I shared the ‘Statement of Solidarity’ with everyone of these groups. Representatives from all three cities were not impressed by the statement and promised to get more information. The MLAs expressed concern to me and assured me that they were not at all impressed with the groups TCPS statement of solidarity, one MLA noted that participating in this event didn’t mean that you endorsed their position - really? That really surprised me given that the MLA claims to stand up to antisemitism but had said absolutely nothing about it - guess it’s all a ruse.

The leadership at the City of Port Moody was quick to respond and was pointed out that the Port Moody Arts Centre, which supported a youth Pride event a week earlier is operated independently of the city. To the credit of the Port Moody Arts Centre, they responded immediately and published a statement that they did not support the TCPS Statement of Solidarity and told me that they would be reconsidering any future partnership given the known position of the TCPS.

The leadership at the City of Coquitlam was minimal at best. There was an effort by one city councillor to engage the TCPS leadership. One of the other MLAs did the same. They both said they offered TCPS advice about how to apologize to the community. The advice wasn’t taken when the group published a follow up statement (see photos below) that didn’t apologize to the Jewish community, that only explained that they were just following ‘their values’ and ‘of course Jews are welcome’. They continued to note that only Israel, the Jewish homeland is to be singularly identified as a pariah state, they don’t mention any other international conflict that concerns them - only the one that is the result of a terrorist group that slaughtered and raped 1200 and kidnapped 251 on October 7. The TCPS don’t actually apologize for making Jews and Israelis feel unwelcome, they certainly didn’t seek to learn more about how antisemitism and antizionism hurts Jews They also didn’t apologize for the misleading comment in their ‘Statement of Solidarity’ that implies that all their sponsors and partners ‘align with their values’.

TCPS claims that learning is important to them, but they have learned nothing and don’t appear to be interested in learning.

To make matters worse, for their follow up statement, the TCPS chose to demonstrate that they did their due diligence in this second statement by referencing Independent Jewish Voices and Jewish Voices for Peace - two fringe groups who are antizionist and seek the dismantling of Israel. These two groups represent less than one percent of Canada’s 400,000 Jews. Think of it this way: Using these fringe groups as references is like going to a group of gay people who believe in conversion therapy for gay people and using them to defend your position on conversion therapy. That is exactly what TCPS folks did.

Deciding to note these references tells me that the TCPS was looking for cover and they thought that by referencing this group, their anti-Israel, anti-Jewish position is legitimate - this is called tokenism and it’s racist. Moreover, I learned that when explaining their follow up position to mayors and others, they credited the councillor and an MLA for their help in crafting the follow-up statement, even though they didn’t really take the advice from either the city councillor or the MLA.

The Port Coquitlam event is not for another two weeks and while they have been made aware of this statement and have expressed concern, I await their formal response.

Freshet News, a fledgling news cooperative is also listed as a sponsor of one of the TCPS events. A representative of Freshet let me know that they received my information about the solidarity statement and rather than acknowledge that they did not agree with the statement as put out by TCPS, they looked forward to reading this piece. I am not sure what that means for them, but given that they have chosen not to acknowledge any problems with the TCPS Statement of Solidarity, I have to assume they are okay with it. Silence is complicit. Suffice it to say that I won’t be giving them any more money to help them find their way as a struggling cooperative news source in our community. A good reminder that we all get to make choices about who and what we support.

As a final comment, I invite you to take a look at the photo at the top of this piece, this is the banner used by the TCPS Facebook Page, a page from which I am now banned. You will notice a woman at the front of the photo with short gray hair wearing a rainbow scarf - that’s me. I remember that day well. The Coquitlam Library was hosting a Drag Storytime and there were anti-Queer protesters coming to protest the event. I grabbed some of my family members and we joined the counter-protest, committed in the our values that love is love.

I remember talking with a queer person that day, a woman who is a prominent leader in the labour movement who was teary because they were tired of the fight to be included and valued for who they are. The words being hurled at her were hurtful and they were penetrating. I told her to go home, that we, straight folks, have her back. She didn’t need to stay to be insulted and made to feel like she doesn’t belong. I have yet to see her or many other leaders reciprocate in any meaningful way now that Jews are a target of hate.

Many leaders tell us that they stand up to antisemitism and Jew hatred but they don’t actually DO that. They are happy to talk about how ‘it’s not okay’ or that ‘it’s not who we are as a community’. Some leaders might even go a step further and try to reach out to the group to ‘better understand their perspective’ and in this case, try to ‘help the group better understand how they are hurting the Jewish community’. But to actually take a public stand and announce how this statement is not acceptable to our community standards - I have not heard that from a single community leader. I had one leader even tell me that I shouldn’t have to carry this burden alone, yet she says nothing that demonstrates that she is ready to take on the burden - so we go it alone while community groups make statements that excludes Jews and Israelis - all in the name of love.

Leading a government is hard work.

You not only have to manage a cabinet and caucus colleagues, but you also have to manage relationships with numerous boards and other government leaders. You have to work with a professional public service, and you have to find a way to get all these moving parts to all swim in the same direction.

Not an easy task.

A good leader, one with solid ‘people’ skills, uses a variety of tools to help make this happen. Good listening skills, mutual respect, patience, kindness and charm are all techniques and characteristics that good leaders embody. The task of leadership is to find ways for others to feel comfortable so that they will follow. John Horgan is an excellent example of a good leader. He loved meeting people and hearing their stories. He trusted his team and paid attention to who they were and what they needed to be successful. In response, he was trusted and others followed him willingly.

A poor leader, especially one who doesn’t particularly like people, will use other skills to get what they want. Threats, fear and intimidation rate pretty high. Looking over my time working with Premier Eby and some of the actions he has taken since I left, I can see how he uses these poor leadership tactics to get what he needs.

When I was Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing, I was the de facto ‘Mayor’ of the University Endowment Lands (UEL). David Eby as the MLA for this area, asked to meet with me just a few months after taking government in 2017. He was insisting that I fire the administrator responsible for overseeing the local needs of UEL because he was getting complaints from residents that they were having a tough time getting the administrator to act on their concerns – concerns like overgrown bushes that were blocking the sidewalk. The Premier’s first response wasn’t to find out what wasn’t working, or to determine if this was indeed a human resources issue that couldn’t be rectified. It was to fire the individual responsible because that would demonstrate action. I chose a different path.

Fast forward to Summer 2022. John Horgan asked David Eby to take on the Housing file after the 2020 election and there was some concern coming to light about the senior administration at BC Housing. Rather than work with the BC Housing board to find a resolution that would work for the board and for government, Eby announced, without any warning, that the entire BC Housing Board was fired. He didn’t contact Board members to give them a heads up, he didn’t reassure the public that these professionals did nothing wrong. He decided that he didn’t like the direction they were going. He was starting his leadership race and I think he wanted to be seen as a ‘man of action’, so he fired them.

Premier Eby showed the same tactic when he decided to fire me. Pro-Palestinian/Anti-Israel activists took umbrage with a statement I made. At first, the Premier texted me with a message offering full support. But as things continued to heat up and several Imams threatened that the New Democrats wouldn’t have access to mosques in the upcoming 2024 election the Premier decided that firing me was easier than taking a principled stance so he did as they desired – he fired me. (You can get the full story by reading my book)

Which brings us to the most recent firing and subsequent reinstatement – the Victoria School Board. The entire board was fired in January 2025 for blocking a police liaison program. We learned last week that government failed to produce documents for the courts, documents that were unprofessional and showed a level of disrespect for the elected school board officials. The Minister of Education, Lisa Beare, suggests that this was inadvertent, but the skeptics don’t believe this is the case. Government’s case against the Victoria School Board has been thrown out of court. The Judge seemed disgusted by this ‘inadvertent’ failure and now government has to pay backpay and court costs as the elected school trustees get back to work.

Firing a board of elected trustees is a pretty big deal. It’s an override of democracy so I am pretty sure the Minister of Education didn’t make this decision on her own. It would appear to me, given the Premier’s propensity for firing folks when they don’t agree or make leadership difficult for him, that this has his fingerprints all over this fiasco.

Using dismissal as a tactic once, maybe twice might be warranted, but we have seen this tactic being used over and over again. It’s a pattern of poor leadership that can have pretty dire consequences.

British Columbians deserve better.

As a very social person I have always valued my friendships. Some are more superficial than others, waiting for the opportunity to deepen. Other friendships are just beginning to bloom while others have been around for a lifetime.

Some have strengthened over time, like those friendships where you might not see each other for months, or even years, but you can seemingly pick up from where you left off the last time you had a conversation or had a visit.

And then there are those friendships that end abruptly. I can count on one hand the number of friendships that I have purposefully chosen to end because I was deeply hurt, offended or taken advantage of and I found the friendship damaging to my psyche. However, most of my friendships that have ended have been the slowly disappearing kind, the ones that just peter out over time; it wasn’t about a fight, there were no words exchanged, the energy for the friendship just slowed real sloth like, the texts or calls not returned and the contact just disappeared.

But over the last three years, I have lost friendships because people either didn’t like that I believe that Israel has a right to exist or they didn’t like that I was outspoken about it. It’s been stunning to me because during these friendships Israel was never a topic of conversation, so why would it become so central to our relationship now? With some of these friends we have had huge political debates about homelessness, the economy, addictions and childcare - we didn’t always agree but having a different perspective on these items didn’t challenge our friendship the way Zionism has.

There are other friendships that I have questioned because, in spite of efforts to educate and familiarize these friends with how antisemitism, misinformation and disinformation are continuing to threaten my life and the well being of my family, they insist that posting one sided ‘news’ articles about Israel and its military efforts on social media is justified and from my perspective it appears that posting performatively is more important to them than protecting my family from hate, harassment, intimidation and violence.

How did we get here?

How is it that posting about a foreign conflict so that others will somehow see you in a certain light has become more important than protecting the people that you say you love?

How it it that friendships that focused on your shared history, shared values of empathy, kindness, and personal responsibility have descended into an untenable situation where believing in Israel’s right to exist suggests that all that history was for naught. And this is from a friend who sat at my Passover table year after year ending the seder with “Next Year in Jerusalem”?

It’s still just a few friendships, but these hurt, big time.

On the other hand, there have been some heartwarming surprises from friends who I didn’t think were paying such close attention.

I have a neighbour who within weeks of the October 7 massacre let me know that she would hide me and my family - something that many Jews have wondered over the past three years - who will hide me? This doesn’t come from a vacuum. Eighty years ago the Jews of Europe asked the same question. Just knowing that someone can ‘read the room’, see the fear and go out of their way to let you know that they are there for you, whatever the future holds, is incredibly comforting.

I have friends who have checked in regularly to say that they are stunned by the hate that I, and other more prominent Jews, have been receiving. Acknowledging that you see what we see, reaffirms that what we are experiencing is real. Those engaging in acts of hate toward Jews are telling us that we are making it up, that they are only engaging in ‘social justice’, that our fear isn’t real and that ‘intifada’ isn’t threatening. Discounting the experience of Jews is antisemitic so when our friends say that they see it too, we find comfort in that.

And there are other friends who have stood tall next to me and called out the hate, challenging those who spread blood libels. These friends choose not to remain silent at a time when defending a Jew, or the Jewish community has become a liability. These friends are our heroes. Standing up for yourself is really hard these days. It’s exhausting to defend your right to exist, to have an identity and commitment to yourself, your family and your community and to be told over and over again that you are filth, vermin, disgusting ‘baby killers’. The lies about Jews and the Jewish state are relentless and when your friends stand tall next to you and exclaim “not on my watch, not toward my friend” our load feels considerably lighter and the desire to weep with relief is tangible.

I have one friend in particular who, early on, recognized what was happening and poked by last week handing me family heirloom photographs that a long dead family member took when they were part of the armed forces that liberated Jews and others from the concentration camps. This friend understands what is at stake and the vow of ‘never again’ drove him to part with these photos, to share them with a Jewish friend with the understanding that we have failed, as a society, to make sure that ‘never again’ really does mean ‘never again’. This act, of entrusting me to make sure that these precious records get into the proper hands, is an act of courage, defiance and commitment to protecting Jews and the Jewish community.

I have included some of these shocking photos below (not AI generated).

So be warned.

They are hard to look at.

As I look at these photos, weeping for those who were humiliated, terrorized and dehumanized 80 years ago, my mind keeps superimposing these old photos to the well documented massacre at the Nova festival - the dehumanized bodies of Jews, treated like trash, mutilated in unimaginable ways on October 7, 2023.

What happened to never again?

Some may be upset that I am using these photos for shock value - so what if I am?

How else are we going to get your attention that what happened on October 7 and what is happening now to Jews in our communities is similar to what happened 80 years ago in Europe?

I cannot, not see it.

I cannot, not see the same thing happening again.

We cannot look away. You cannot look away.

And now, almost three years after the October 7 massacre, Jews around the world are being terrorized, as if October 7 didn’t even happen. We are the targets of attacks throughout Europe, Australia, the US and here in Canada. These are not just social media or verbal attacks. We are being targeted for harassment, intimidation and destruction. When we point this out we are accused of lying or overstating. We are silenced and chastised. Our institutions are being threatened. We are dehumanized and delegitimized for being Jews. We are being killed too.

And we are exhausted.

So if you have a Jewish friend, here is what you can do:

Call them.

Tell them you see what they are experiencing.

Don’t argue with them. If they point out that what you are doing makes life for them, their family and their community less safe, believe them and act accordingly.

Stand up for them. Fight along side them to push back on the hate, the lies and the manipulation.

We have a lot of work to do to get to a better place, but the world’s 15.8 million Jews can’t do it alone.

With retirement comes the ability to slow down. I no longer fill my calendar with back to back meetings and tasks. I look at my calendar and try to have at least one commitment every day, sometimes two commitments or even three, but I no longer want to, or have to squeeze in more than that. I want to take my time while I am engaged in my tasks. I no longer have to race up and down grocery aisles because I only have 15 minutes to grab the things I need for a new recipe. I now have the luxury of perusing the grocery aisles. I am able to identify new products and I can even compare prices knowing that I have the time to actually go to a different grocery store to get a better deal.

As part of the discovery of time and a slower speed, I am able to explore new walking routes through my city, to see the changes that are happening in neighbourhoods other than my own. Last week I walked from my home on the mountainside and headed to city centre, about three kilometers away. As part of this new route I saw Hoy Creek new co-op homes that had been rebuilt recently and I reflected on how the original co-op buildings had fallen into disrepair about a decade ago and the very likely possibility that these affordable homes could have been lost given that the co-op board didn’t have a plan to rebuild these homes and some of the units had become uninhabitable - this was only going to get worse for the hundreds of people who called this co-op home.

I remembered how worried I was for these folks and the subsequent phone calls I made to Coquitlam city councillors and to a developer friend to explore what could be done to secure these affordable homes. I reached out to Thom Armstrong with the Cooperative Housing Federation of BC and engaged him to work with Coquitlam council and the developer to find a creative way to leverage some of the value of the co-op land and use the potential development potential to rebuild these affordable homes. I didn’t have all the knowhow to put together a plan, but I knew others who did. It was a Herculean effort by all parties that required creativity, trust and patience, but these partners came together and made it work.

And here I was, about eight years later walking by hundreds of new affordable homes because I sounded the alarm and yanked people into a working relationship to solve a complex problem. Then it got me thinking about some of the other things I made happen over my career, from clients who made great strides in their relationships as a result of our work together when I was a family therapist, to the current fundraising successes at SHARE Family & Community Services. I was SHARE’s first Director of Fund Development in 2005 and as I recall, our first gala raised less than $12,000 and now they are raising more than $280,000!

I reflect on some of the land use debates and decisions I made as I worked with others pushing Coquitlam Council in the direction I thought we ought to go. I think about working with Linda Heppner as we collaborated; me, as BC’s Minister of Housing and she as Surrey’s mayor, to move over 150 homeless individuals from their tent city in the Whalley neighbourhood of her community into proper housing and shelters. It took eight or nine months, many phone calls between her team and my team but we got it done. I think of the Indigenous Housing Fund I proposed to our cabinet that has delivered much needed First Nation Housing on reserve (BC is still the only province doing this). And there is so much more that I was able to do in my various portfolios in government.

I look back on a 30 year career - from addictions counselling, to family therapy, to social services management, to city councillor, to member of the legislative assembly, to member of cabinet. It was certainly not a trajectory that I would have predicted but it is a trajectory that I would not change.

In retirement I get to look back and reflect on how I worked with others to facilitate these changes whether I was working with clients, with counselling teams, with management teams or with other elected people. All of these successes would not have been possible without the learnings that came along with me in that trajectory. It is with the benefit of time and space that I can see how the relationships I made along the way built on each other and made it possible to reach out to solve complex problems, like the rebuilding of a co-op housing complex.

It is this reflection that brings me some peace in knowing that I made a difference in people’s lives. I set out as a 20 something year old eager to leave my mark, to somehow make the world a better place, guided by the Jewish principle of ‘tikkun olam’ - to heal the world and, upon reflection, I can say that I was successful in my goals. I do believe that I have made a contribution that makes the world a little bit better and knowing that makes it ok to pass the baton to the next generation.

I just hope they don’t screw it up. ;-)

Two stories this week caught my attention and got me thinking about how trust in our institutions seems to be eroding and has me worried about our democracy.

First the stories.

The first one that caught my attention was the work of independent journalist Negar Mojtahedi who broke the story about Canada’s immigration system providing a technically inadmissible visitor (a former Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard) an alternate path to enter our country for the FIFA games via a Temporary Resident Permit. It was Negar’s persistence and reporting that caught the “error” that forced Canadian immigration officials to renege on Temporary Resident Permit and send the member of the IRGC packing. As a result of Negar’s efforts, traditional media is now catching up and asking follow up questions. Our government leaders and those who work for government have some explaining to do - why was this exception made? Was it payback for something? Did FIFA (not known for its good governance) apply certain pressures? Make certain promises? Canadians have a right to know how this came to pass … and we should all be grateful for Negar’s work.

The second story that caught my attention comes from Alberta. It’s a fascinating story by Jen Gerson of Read the Line, about a group that has placed the Alberta voters list on line - a major breach of privacy - and after Jen raised this concern and provided evidence to Elections Alberta, it was deemed “compelling”, but did not warrant a full investigation. It was only later, after Jen alerted others to the breach, did Elections Alberta take action. And now, traditional media is picking up on the story. Thankfully, Jen did all the right things and continued to pursue the issue even after authorities initially dismissed her concerns. Albertans have a right to know how this was dismissed … and should be grateful for Jen’s tenacity on the issue.

Both of these stories were brought to our attention by independent journalists doing real journalism. They were doing their research, seeking answers and asking the hard questions. And they were doing this work with tenacity, not letting anyone off the hook. In both these cases, these institutions, government institutions designed to keep us safe, keep our information private and help to keep order here in Canada have utterly failed at their missions.

What the heck is going on?

How is it that an official with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) decided to even ‘seek’ an alternate way to permit someone who is ineligible to visit Canada with a workaround?

What happened to enforcing the rules that have been enacted because we decided they were important?

How is it that the Alberta Elections commissioner with Elections Alberta decided that a preliminary review did not find any evidence of a breach and closed the file, but a month later the same evidence constitutes a breach?

In order for democracy to work we need to have faith in our institutions. We need to know that the rules are being followed by everyone. If we know and believe that others are following the rules we have agreed to live by, then we can trust our institutions. We can also trust each other and our elected representatives who govern these institutions. When these institutions fail to be fair and just we lose faith not just in the institutions, but in our government and each other. Without this trust, we risk our social fabric and we ultimately risk peace.

Good government means trusting our institutions and if we can’t trust our institutions, we can’t have good government. Good government is not a partisan issue, it is not about right leaning or left leaning policies. It’s not about having a Conservatives or Liberal government, it’s about believing that our governments represent the will of the its citizens. This is how democracy works. In a functional, healthy democracy every citizen gets to make a choice every few years about who will make the rules for us to live by. If we don’t like the current decision makers, we get to pick new ones. The application of this democracy requires the rules to be applied fairly to everyone, and while there might be some exceptions on occasion, these exceptions have to come with very reasoned, thoughtful, public explanations.

When rules are not applied fairly, when exceptions are made that are not well reasoned, or made public, then it starts to look and feel like corruption. This is not ‘good’ government. When elected leaders, public servants and community leaders start to apply our collectively shared rules inconsistently or to make exceptions (like for a FIFA official) we lose faith in those people, the institutions and in our democracy. Democracy is based on trust and if our institutions are no longer trustworthy, then democracy itself is eroded.

So what do we do?

Firstly, if there is a gap in how the rules are applied, then the gap must be fixed. and we need a public explanation on how that gap is being fixed.

Secondly, if the issue is that there are some who have failed to uphold our existing rules, or who changed the rules to suit a particular purpose, they need to be held accountable. More so, they need to be held accountable in a public manner. Changing the rules to accommodate a ‘special’ request borders on corruption and must be dealt with quickly and publicly so that we have confidence that our systems (elected and otherwise) are trustworthy.

Restoring trust is not an easy process. As a family therapist I worked with many couples where trust was broken and the path to restoration is not an easy one. It’s certainly doable, but it requires diligence and nurturing. In order to restore trust, Canadians need to know that the problem has been fixed and that this issue/department will be closely monitored. If it’s a policy issue, then the policy gap must be identified and addressed quickly. If it is a corruption issue, then the corruption has to be outed and rectified with additional checks to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

All this is to say that democracy belongs to all of us, it feels more fragile these days and we need to protect it. We need to make sure that our elected leaders are doing their jobs and protecting our democracy. We, too, have the responsibility to protect our democracy so be sure to let your elected representatives know that you expect them to hold those responsible to account for their failures to uphold our shared rules.

As Winston Churchill famously noted, "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried."

I was part of the John Horgan government that brought in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). The intent was to recognize Indigenous Rights and Title and to use this act to guide decision making and policy development. The intent was there and everyone in the legislature, all MLAs, stood up for the principle and voted unanimously to support the act.

Historically, BC governments were spending way too much time (and money) in court and, time and time again, were told that they had to recognize First Nations rights and title. It was clear that it was time to find another way to work with First Nations, to co-create a different path that kept us out of court and permitted us to focus our energies and our resources on productive policies that supported all people in this province. Both Indigenous and non-indigenous communities needed government to strengthen our economy and ensure that British Columbians’ basic needs were being met. Spending all that time in court was keeping us all from this important work.

At the time, we knew the work of reconciliation wouldn’t be easy and that the core of the work ahead was about relationship. Government and First Nations leadership would need to invest in understanding each other and stay focused on moving forward with the commitment we made through DRIPA. Relationship work is not for the faint of heart. It requires diligence and focus. It requires ongoing maintenance, empathy, and understanding. It requires listening, humility, creativity and collaboration. We knew that there would be bumps along the way as we committed to find a better path forward, but we agreed that we were prepared to do the hard work as we walked this path together.

In August 2025 government learned that the courts were interpreting DRIPA and its accompanying legislation in a way that raised concern for government and alarmed the public (See Cowichan Decision). Government’s public response was to push back, back stop mortgage holders financially and attempt to get a stay of the decision. This was the moment to start some sort of engagement about DRIPA with First Nations leadership. This was a signal that the courts, in reading the law, were implementing it in a way that wasn’t necessarily intended. This was the time to recognize that DRIPA needed a frank discussion with First Nation leadership to start to problem solve how the courts were interpreting the law. While government did call a meeting with First Nation leaders, I can’t find any message from government that indicates that they actually said “government and First Nations leadership have a joint problem - this isn’t government’s problem alone to fix, we co-developed DRIPA, we have to co-fix it too”.

In December 2025 government learned that, yet again, DRIPA was being interpreted in a way that wasn’t intended when the BC Court of Appeal released its judgement on Gitxaala vs BC government stating that DRIPA, as written, is legally enforceable and that the government’s mineral claims process is inconsistent with DRIPA. This decision reinforces the fact that government indeed has a problem with how DRIPA has been operationalized and that a fix is desperately needed.

Signing on to DRIPA means engaging, consulting and collaborating with Indigenous leaders, especially on the laws that directly impact them. I can’t think of a more substantive piece of legislation that requires engagement, consultation and collaboration with Indigenous leaders than DRIPA.

Yet, that is not how I witnessed government’s response (as laid out by the Premier) when the real impacts of these decisions were laid bare. I interpreted the Premier’s response to this realization as panic, not as leadership. Instead of acknowledging that the problem requires sitting down with First Nations leadership and working quickly to adjust the language to better reflect the intent of the law, he declared, what appears to be his own solutions. In fact, his solutions changed day to day. There is no evidence of consultation with anyone, much less First Nations leaders. His first proposal was to change the law as quickly as possible, then to make unilateral, non negotiable changes to DRIPA, then to suspend parts of DRIPA, then to announce a confidence vote on DRIPA, then to suspend DRIPA but work with the more than 200 First Nations directly instead of the First Nations Leadership Council and finally, early this week he announced that his Attorney General had an idea that perhaps government should sit down with First Nations leadership and actually work collaboratively to fix the problem.

This last “idea”, to spend time with First Nations leaders and work together to fix a problem, the idea that came from the Attorney General, would have been the first action of a leader who actually understood the importance of relationship in reconciliation, not the sixth idea. That it took the Attorney General weeks to ‘tap the Premier on the shoulder’ with this idea suggests that either she too doesn’t understand or appreciate the role of relationship in this work or perhaps she tapped him on the shoulder much earlier, but the Premier wasn’t interested in doing the hard work of relationship.

Regardless of how this sixth idea came to the fore, so much damage has been wrought as a result of the Premier’s inability and/or unwillingness to do relationships with leaders. It’s a pattern I have seen with business leaders and local government leaders as well. But this time, not only has he damaged government’s relationship with the First Nations leadership (and I could easily argue all British Columbians given all the uncertainty this has caused about his ability to lead and the outcomes of DRIPA), but it appears that he has damaged relationships with his own caucus and many supporters too.

However, the greatest damage with this latest debacle is to reconciliation itself. Reconciliation is not just a government to government process, reconciliation is something that all British Columbians ought to be addressing in the myriad of ways we look to heal past grievances and form relationships that help us all, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, prosper. I now worry that with the anxiety of uncertainty coupled with the promulgation of misinformation and disinformation about DRIPA that is flooding social media and being bandied about in the Conservative leadership race, we can potentially see an increase in anti-Indigenous racism and a move backward on reconciliation too.

From my perspective this is the greatest damage of all.

I suppose the writing on the wall has been there for some time, but we really weren’t paying attention.

It started off bit by bit. One local newspaper after another closing their doors in communities all over. These small outlets, often the lifeblood of community, monitored the decisions of the local council, shared information about upcoming community fundraisers and helped keep neighbours informed about the goings on. These are all things that help to build a social fabric, weaving our collective experience together so that we saw who we were in relation to one another. These newspapers helped us to understand what was happening in the immediate world around us and how we fit into our neighbourhood and our community.

Most of those smaller newspapers are now gone or are on their last legs. Advertisers have moved along, no one wants to pay for news and the internet moves with such speed, that traditional reporters and journalists simply can’t keep up.

The advent of ‘citizen journalism’ - my term for describing those who have no formal training in journalism and who don’t necessarily subscribe to any professional ethics - has completely changed the political landscape. Everyone now seems to be a ‘journalist’ as they grab their phones, take videos and tell stories as they see fit - all easily uploaded to some platform whether it’s Facebook, Tiktok or X, it doesn’t really seem to matter as long as it gets clicks. Facts are not checked, stories are not explored for balance and it would seem that the more outrageous the claims are, the better. Outrage garners clicks, likes, reposts and with it comes advertisers and revenue generation.

It’s really easy to blame Trump for the demise of good journalism given how he uses X, and while traditional media was a bit slow to shift their online presence, the reality is that in order to do good journalism, journalism that is grounded in researched facts, tells a balanced story that trusts the reader to come to their own conclusions and is grounded in a code of ethics; that kind of quality journalism requires time and in the age of internet media, time does not favour responsible storytelling. So instead of good journalism, we get sensationalized stories, not necessarily grounded in reality, much less facts.

So where does this leave our political discourse?

In many ways it leaves our discourse in the toilet.

Political operatives working in Ministers offices, Premiers offices and the Prime Minister’s offices have the opportunity to tell the stories that they want to be told in ways that favour their government. The same goes for opposition parties. The same can be applied to mayors and councils given the significant loss of local reporters who often asked challenging questions of their local leaders.

There have always been political operators working behind the scenes provincially and federally and we still have a press gallery, although substantially smaller and much less resourced; but the communications departments of governments and political parties have gotten bigger and have much more influence given the direct, easy access they now have to the public through social media. There is no obligation to tell a ‘balanced’ story, only ‘your’ story and if you can get ‘your’ story out and circulated then that is what will dominate. Whether the issue is reconciliation, gender identity or geopolitical conflicts, whoever pushes out their story with greater outrage will get the circulation needed to create more outrage, more fear and dominate the ‘facts’.

It’s not just political operatives who are using these communication tools, ‘citizen’ journalists are using these tools too, and not just to tell stories, these tools are being used to create wedges between people. These wedges have been wreaking havoc on our social fabric where we are seeing friendships dissolve and neighbours turning on each other because of a post or a ‘like’. These wedges are based on the idea of taking a nugget of information and building a story around it that makes one look good, and the other guys look bad. It’s about attacking the other person/party and smearing them with whatever might stick. By making the other look more evil, incompetent or broken then one doesn’t have to be accountable for the ways in which one has been wayward. And the more salacious, the better because outrage and salaciousness gets more clicks and with more clicks comes more profile and with more profile it is easier to win elections. It is also way easier to attack other people that it is to attack other’s ideas. In our schools we call it bullying, and in our politics we call it ‘political discourse’.

But this is not about policy anymore, our political discourse is no longer debating about ideas, ideas that would get us from A to B, ideas that might be good for people, ideas that might make life better for everyone. No, that’s not what I am seeing from our elected leaders and their communications people. Explaining policy can’t be done in 200 words or a 10 second sound byte. Explaining policy doesn’t generally facilitate outrage and without outrage, your message on these social media platforms don’t go anywhere and if you can’t generate traffic through clicks, likes and reposts, then why bother.

In the old days with traditional media, back in the time when we had enough trained media that were competing for stories, they were not only keen to do the research, they were required and supported to do it. They were trained to tell a balanced story. They were experienced in asking questions to get the information they needed to write a compelling story based on facts. They were bound by an ethical code that came with being a professional. And the readers/watchers/listeners had the patience and the focus to read/watch/listen to the whole story. It was a time when nuance in the storytelling helped the public understand what was at stake and how the policy could influence their life. The reader/watcher/listener then had the option to agree/disagree/be outraged/be thrilled.

Right now we are not getting storytelling at all, we are getting manipulated to hate. We are being told who is good and who is bad. We are usually getting some sort of nugget of truth ramped up on hyperbole, sprinkled with irrelevant or misdirected facts, topped with self-righteousness and virtue signaling. At the end of the day the messages we are getting are ‘we are good and decent’ and ‘they are bad and evil’. The debate is no longer about policy, it’s about people. We are being told that the people in XYZ party are degenerate, incompetent, evil in some way shape or form. We are getting baited into picking ‘good people’ versus ‘bad people’.

Instead of debating about ideas, we are debating about people.

I can appreciate using wedge issues to make distinctions between political parties. We need to communicate a set of values and policies based on those values and how they are different from everyone else in the political arena, but when you use wedge issues to push back on people well, that not only hurts the people being attacked, it hurts our politics and it hurts our democracy.

As soon as we move into attacking people for who they are whether it’s gender, religion, race, ethnicity, country of origin and yes, even political philosophy then we have lost the plot. We are no longer aiming to have folks govern for ALL the people they represent based on a set of values and principles. We are seeing instead, a political discourse that abandons the idea of principles and caters to those who agree with them, or those who threaten not to vote for them unless we take a certain position. In some ways it has become the ‘have you seen the demographics’ of my riding’ style of leadership that we saw from Melanie Joly when she was Canada’s Foreign Minister and it contradicts our commitments to govern for all, which is the basis of our democracy.

With the demise of traditional media we are witnessing a cycle of leadership that seems to have abandoned principles and values that are applied consistently. There is no one to hold them accountable. No one keeping track. No one to point out inconsistencies and contradictions. And if you are part of the political machinery and you want to get your message out, you just need to be outrageous to drive traffic so you get noticed and the way to be outrageous is to attack other people to demonstrate how they are bad and therefore, you are good. Leaders no longer need to deal with compromising questions or accountability. Just sling mud at the other guys and you’ve got it made.

It reminds me of Junior hockey games where two players decide to drop their gloves and the 10-12 year old boys watching from the stands all run down to the glass and chant “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” with glee, hoping for blood as the players take swings at each other. The fight draws them in and the excitement is electrifying as the fists fly and you hope your guy lands a punch. It doesn’t matter if the punch is deserved, it doesn’t even matter who started it. It’s the action and excitement of the battle that gets everyone excited - it’s no longer about the hockey (although some might want to debate this point). It’s about who can draw blood. And if you have everyone jump in and clear the bench, you no longer have anyone left to play hockey.

Without a functioning, well-resourced media we are going to continue to get citizen and political operative driven sound bytes designed to draw blood rather than educate us about policy or hold government and others accountable and if everyone is participating in these attempts to draw blood there won’t be anyone left to deliver sound policy.

When I decided to toss my hat into the political arena, I never thought that being Jewish would somehow be an issue. In fact, I thought just the opposite - to be a Jew and not participate wholly in the political arena was an abdication of our responsibilities to the collective (a very Jewish value). When I was first elected to Coquitlam City Council in 2008 I had a well known Council watcher, an older woman who never missed a council meeting, raise ‘the Jewish question’. This was before Council meetings were livestreamed. This woman would sit in the Council Chamber with a couple of other regular watchers, taking notes and eager to ask questions. In the days after I was elected, this Council-watching-woman approached me as I came out of a meeting at City Hall and asked in a nonchalant sort of way, “ I want to congratulate you on winning a seat. I heard from a friend that you ran your campaign on a Jewish Agenda”.

I was stunned and speechless for a few seconds. Thinking firstly, “you heard from a friend?”. So I asked her “Which friend? I would be happy to talk directly with your friend if they have questions for me.” The response was “I’d rather not say”. Sure, I thought skeptically. A friend. My second question was “What would a Jewish agenda for council look like, no buses on Shabbat? No pork in the city?” I suggested to this woman, who was more likely representing herself than ‘a friend’ - that if ‘her friend’ has concerns about me s/he is welcome to contact me directly. And that was that. Or so I thought.

Until I joined the NDP. I was aware of Libby Davies and others in the federal party that had some inaccurate views of Israel, but I hadn’t felt particularly marginalized by them and I was not particularly engaged in the federal party.

But then in May 2021 there was a protest being organized by an anti-Israel crowd in Victoria. There were posters being plastered all over Victoria calling to “Stop the Annexation of Palestine” and “Settlers Fuck Off” with the image of a person, their face wrapped in a keffiyeh. It was a way to promote a planned protest during an active conflict when 4300 rockets and missiles were being fired from Gaza into Israel and Israel had started retaliating. It was during COVID and our caucus was not all able to meet in one room due to COVID restrictions so many of us zoomed in from our respective offices. The party whip reminded folks to not attend this rally as it would be seen as a political statement fraught with challenges for us and it’s an international conflict outside the realm of our subnational government. This prompted many of my colleagues to jump in and offer their opinions of Israel. Some even offered that because they had taken courses about the Middle East, they could offer a workshop on the history of the region. Thankfully, this conversation was shut down. What was ignored by everyone, including colleagues who I had considered to be dear friends, was that my daughter was living in Israel at the time, trying to get from Be’er Sheva in the south, where most of the bombing was targeted, to Haifa in the north. Folks knew that my daughter lived in Israel but didn’t seem to acknowledge how this conversation, initiated by people with absolutely no skin in the game and that minimized the reality on the ground, might impact a mother who is afraid for her daughter.

Given that I was at the computer screen on this zoom meeting, I left my place in front of the camera, sat down on the couch and cried so they couldn’t see my tears. They had absolutely no idea what was at stake. To them, Israelis and Palestinians were simply avatars in a complex region of which they had little understanding. I felt completely and utterly alone. As a group, they demonized Israel neglecting to comment on the actions of terrorists.

And then we carried on. My daughter arrived safely in Haifa and things went quiet. There was no more discussion of Israel, Gaza or Palestine in caucus. That was the end. So, I dried my tears and did my job as was expected of me.

Yes, I had come across a small handful of BCNDP colleagues who had historically called on their union to be ‘rid of the zionists’ or who accused Israel of ‘pinkwashing’ (using LGBTQIA+ imagery to ‘hide’ political actions) but all these statements were in the past and no one seemed to have an issue with me being the Jew in the BCNDP crew, especially when it came to Holocaust Remembrance Day or making sure that BCNDP ads in the Jewish newspaper were properly reflecting the nature of the holiday. There have been a few missteps where the wrong religious symbols were being used to wish the Jewish community well. Fortunately, the communications team would run these by me before sending them out and I could confirm or correct as needed. There was also no issue under the leadership of John Horgan to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, light the Chanukah Menorah or share in apples dipped in honey to acknowledge the sweetness of the Jewish New Year.

But after October 7, 2023 that all changed.

Within days I had colleagues who refused to acknowledge the depth of barbarism committed that day. Israel hadn’t even responded and colleagues were at the ready to blame Israel, moving into the accusations of genocide, apartheid and colonialism. The conversation from that day in May 2021 was now ramped up on steroids - it was like there was now permission to demonize the Jewish state. They were just waiting for the excuse. And BCNDP folks had lots to say. On social media, in hallway conversations, at BCNDP conventions and in the Legislature.

And the hate toward Jews (aka Zionists) ramped up in ways I could never have imagined. And I was the only one calling it out. Others remained silent if they saw it at all.

I left caucus in March 2024 because of antisemitism and antizionism in caucus that wasn’t being addressed and the Premier wasn’t interested addressing antisemitism/antizionism in caucus 9he preferred to deny it was a problem) or doing the work of government to bring Arab Muslims and Jews together to try and find a path forward for healing. For me, this was important work for government, but for this Premier, that work was considered ‘too political’. In the days after I left caucus, I only had two ex-colleagues reach out in any form to have a conversation about my leaving, expressing understanding for my experience and an interest in better understanding antisemitism and antizionism. But not a single colleague spoke out publicly to defend me as a colleague being attacked for being a Jew.

Fast forward two and half years.

I recently received a Facebook message from an ex-colleague who happened to see me at a community event. He wrote that he saw me at the event and wanted to check in with me, to see how I am. So I told him exactly how I am doing. I told him I would be better when Jews (including myself) are no longer targeted as racist, colonialists and genociders. I told him I would also be much better if people stopped calling for my death and accused me and my community of killing babies.

His response ….

“Well those people are idiots”

While I might agree that those folks are idiots, ‘those idiots’ are targeting and killing people like me. Some of ‘those idiots’ are people that we worked with. There was absolutely zero recognition of my concerns and the concerns of the Jewish community. He could have responded by asking me how I manage with all that hate directed at me. He could have expressed some form of empathy for me and the Jewish community. But he didn’t do any of that. His advice to me was to ‘just ignore’ the idiots. I had to respond to his indifference and, I admit, let him have it in a torrent of anger and frustration.

I pointed out that those he calls idiots are people who ramp up hate that resulted in deaths on Bondi beach, synagogues being shot at, Jews being threatened in our streets and our safety in the world being compromised. I may have overswung by suggesting that it is the people who remain silent who are the idiots. I confess, I was pretty ramped up about the fact that he hadn’t reached out in over two years and certainly not while we were still in the Legislature together in the months immediately after my departure about which he confesses to have been ‘heartbroken’. From my perspective, if he had been heartbroken by my departure, then he would have reached out - that didn’t happen. But it was his dismissal, yet again, of the experience and the impact of antisemitism and antizionism by a New Democrat on a former colleague that hit me like a ton of bricks.

Then it dawned on me.

He may not be seeing the threats the way I do.

Just like that conversation my colleagues had about Israel/Palestine back in 2021 when they didn’t see my fear or my tears and carried on with an academic conversation about a conflict that is thousands of kilometers away that had absolutely no bearing on their safety - their kids were not living in a war zone trying to find the nearest bomb shelter.

So I sent him one last message. I included some photos of protests from Toronto’s Al Quds parade with images that are likely more familiar to his understanding of antisemitism, imagery that is right out of Hitler’s Germany. If he couldn’t see the new form of Jew hate in antizionism as it’s being presented, I would hope that he could see the hate, harassment and intimidation of Jews in these particular photos.

I sent these photos to him saying, “This is my last post to you because I don’t believe you truly understand what is happening to Jews here in Canada and around the world. If you truly want to reach out, then take a close look at these photos and ask how you can help.”

It’s been over a week and I haven’t heard back, and perhaps I never will. But I offered him a path and it would require him to be open to understanding what it’s been like for me and most of the world’s Jews when he asks ‘how are you?’ … and really wants to know the answer.

If he can’t do that, then what’s the point of asking how I am?

When I started in politics at the local level, I relished in the idea and skills of artful debate, where our conversation around the council table was about principles and values. As a group, we had to make decisions on behalf of our community and as long as they were grounded in consistent rationale that made sense I was generally fine with our decisions. Sometimes, however, there were competing principles or values that made the decisions more challenging. We had to make choices between competing principles and the debate was on.

Do you permit increased density in a particular neighbourhood?

Some residents from the existing neighbourhood often didn’t want the increased density and their voices mattered, but they also complained that their kids couldn’t afford any housing.

Do you permit an off leash dog area in a park in a quiet residential area?

Some living on that street didn’t want the noise or the traffic, yet their neighbours and friends wanted to be able to throw sticks and balls for their dogs where it would be safe and there were no other options.

Do you permit the use of cosmetic pesticides?

As a homeowner you can do whatever you want on your own property but because pesticides leach into the soil and affect other people’s property those neighbours should be protected too.

Some of these decisions were easier than others, but they all resulted in robust debate.

I didn’t belong to any particular political party at the time, but I was always a ‘leftie’. As a young person I had huge debates about social justice issues with my dad, usually championing the underdog and challenging the status quo that things could be better, especially for those who were marginalized by systems and power that wasn’t available to them. So it wasn’t any surprise that I took these values with me to the council chamber.

I learned pretty quickly that the way to move this decision making body toward making the decisions that I thought we needed to make was through relationship and strong, principled arguments. I needed to understand who my colleagues were, what were their values, why were they on council, what did they want to accomplsih and how can we work together to make principled, value based decisions.

My favourite time on council came with the arrival of a newly elected councillor with a strong conservative bent (not a leaning - a bent). We argued and debated regularly but our debates were never personal. We never attacked the other person, only their ideas. We challenged each other to stick with our values and our principles and to use those as the basis for our decision making. We used mutual respect as a guiding principle for our often heated debates and there were times when he would concede and there were times when I would concede, but our commitment to be professional and respectful toward each other never faltered. As a result, decent decisions were made that benefited our community and our council remained as a functional body.

It is with this in mind that I have been watching some of what I see occurring in our Legislature. I am saddened by what I see happening in that hallowed place, a place where over five million British Columbians have put their faith in 93 individuals to make important decisions on our behalf.

I am more than saddened, I am embarrassed.

Many are blaming just two or three individuals for disrespecting the decorum of the Legislature. While that may be the case, many others are participating in the free for all as if it’s their first day at kindergarten and they haven’t figured out what the rules are for getting along. I know that one or two people can change the dynamics around the council table or in the legislature but as fully formed adults, I would expect that folks would know how to resist the temptation to pile on in the free for all.

I recall being in opposition and how disappointed I was when Christy Clark regularly called the New Democrats, ‘Dippers’ in a disrespectful tone as though being Her Royal Majesty’s Official Opposition was merely an inconvenience for her, rather than a legitimate part of parliamentary democracy. I also recall how, at a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon she suggested that ‘Dippers’ were the laziest bunch she had ever come across, just like her adolescent son who refused to get off the couch (or something similar to that). I learned about this comment from my son who was at that luncheon and he was personally insulted by the Premier of our province for her personal slag against his mother who he experienced as a hard working adult his entire life. It diminished her as the Premier, coming across in a mean fashion, reminiscent of some adolescent girls.

I just remember how awful Christy Clark made me feel, when all I wanted to do is represent people in my community, make good decisions based on values and principles and hold government to account as was expected by Opposition.

I have always believed that the leader sets the tone in their caucus and in the chamber. And it’s the leader of the government side of the House that has the most influence in the Chamber. A leader guides their caucus not just by what they say in a caucus meeting, but on how they conduct themselves in the chamber setting a personal example. If the leader takes a churlish tone, then so will their caucus members and members of the opposition will certainly rise to the occasion given that they have less power in the House. If a leader takes a more professional tone, then so will their caucus members as will the opposition.

They don’t call it leadership for nothing.

That’s not to say that I didn’t at times get caught up in the energy of a good shot over the bow. Those first few weeks in government were delicious as I stood up in Question Period and fired back at how the previous government failed. But I was always cautious about not attacking the people that had been on the government side of the House, just their policies. I don’t know if I was always successful but I really did try to make it about the policies.

I do remember there was one instance when I was asked to accuse an opposition member of house flipping because it was discovered that this MLA and his wife were buying up teardowns in his community, rebuilding them and selling them for a profit. They were doing this at the rate of one a year and when you looked at their purchase price and then their selling price it looked like they were making a killing - but of course no one was including the cost of gutting the interior and rebuilding a house that was no longer habitable. I refused to engage in this personal attack, so Eby volunteered to do it. It was a cheap shot and did nothing but reduce this MLA’s wife to tears. It was an inaccurate accusation and was just plain mean. I apologized to the MLA and his wife because the accusation was inaccurate, totally unnecessary and diminished us all.

Just last week I watched as our Premier decided to deride an opposition member for his attire. Yes, his attire wasn’t appropriate and there was a reason for it (he was in transit when a vote was called and his luggage was delayed) but really? This is what is most pressing for our Premier?

I know that our representatives and the leadership can be better than this.

I recall when COVID descended on us in March 2020 and the way that Premier John Horgan and Interim Opposition leader Shirley Bond came together to actually work together to get us through the unknown. This was a principled decision based on a shared commitment to British Columbians. Both came together bringing their respective caucuses with them with the understanding that while we might differ on many policy decisions, we all understood what was needed in the moment. Our shared value of preserving life and protecting people and the economy took precedence over political cheap shots and scoring political points. It was quite magnificent and speaks volumes about good leadership from both John and Shirley.

Leadership matters.

It sets the tone and right now the tone of our legislature is mean and discouraging. Rather than take personal responsibility for how they permit and participate in this melee, some continue to blame the two independent individuals who continually say outrageous things in the Chamber. Here’s the thing: there have always been folks who say outrageous things in the Chamber and these two individuals are getting more airtime and coverage than is worthy of them and their awful words. Yes, they should be admonished for being divisive, but they are not worthy of spending so much legislative time driving that home.

Where is the professionalism that comes with leadership?

Where is the gravitas that comes with the responsibility for five million British Columbians?

I have been hearing from people from all sides of the house just how awful and toxic that place has become - leadership matters and British Columbians deserve better from their leaders.

When John Horgan told his cabinet that he was leaving politics, that he had taken a walk with his wife Ellie on the beach and as they talked about their future he realized that the ‘fire in his belly’ for fighting for the things worth fighting for was gone, it got me thinking about the ‘fire in my belly’. This was John’s second go round with cancer and it diminished that fire in his belly. He was done and we were all worse off for it.

I wept that day.

I wept because he was leaving and I wept because I knew that I would be leaving too. I had already (mostly) decided that this would be my last term in office. I was exhausted and felt like I was missing out on other parts of my life. I felt inspired, supported and valued by John’s style of leadership and given my level of exhaustion, I wasn’t sure that I had it in me for another four years, even with John leading the way. But with John leaving I became more certain that I was done. Now, I say ‘I had mostly decided to retire’ because even though I was exhausted, the idea of ‘retirement’ terrified me.

Some prefer to tell a tale that I was forced to retire by David Eby - but that is a lie. I had told David that I would not be running in the 2024 election in December 2022. He expressed surprise at my decision, noting that he wasn’t expecting my response. I told him that with a second cancer diagnosis earlier that year, with aging parents and adult children who I had hoped would have their own children soon, I wanted to be around for those who might need me and I, truthfully, wanted control over my calendar and my life, something you don’t have as a dutiful cabinet minister. I also wasn’t a fan of David’s leadership style, but I chose not to share that bit with him.

That he fired me from cabinet five weeks later and I quit the caucus four weeks after that is a tale for another day (or - shameless plug - you could read all about it in my book Truth Be Told ).

Here I am, 18 months after retiring and having the emotional space and freedom to reflect back on these 18 months and to figure out what retirement should look like for me.

The transition into owning my calendar and my time wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Besides not knowing how to actually put meetings and events into my phone calendar on my own (I’ve had staff do that for me for over a decade), I had to figure out how to spend at least 15 hours in the day and to create a brand new routine.

I also had to find a new speed - to slow down.

I no longer had to jump out of bed, make coffee, shower, grab a bite with that coffee, take my chemotherapy pills (yes, I am still on a daily chemotherapy that keeps cancer from coming back - another tale for another day) and charge out the door to either make my way to the Legislature, my community office in Coquitlam or to some other event or meeting. I no longer had to check my phone at night before going to bed to look at the following days’ schedule so that I could sort out what outfit was needed and which shoes I would need to wear. Knowing whether I was at a ground breaking on a rainy November morning and then going to a Vancouver Board of Trade Luncheon had significant impact on what I needed to wear and how I was going to make the outfit transition from mud to meeting.

Speaking of outfits ….

I have fabulous closets full of amazing suits that I have collected over more than a decade and there they continue to hang, in my closets, yes closets with an ‘S’. Upon retirement, I learned that I had little by way of casual wear, clothes that one wears without heels or a suit jacket. But in these early days of retirement, I resisted a shopping spree, not sure of exactly what kinds of clothing would meet my retirement needs.

So now I don’t check my calendar the night before because I know I don’t likely have anything to do before 10 am. I decided that I will rarely make a commitment that requires me to move through the morning at break neck speed. As a post-menopausal woman I am often awake well before 7 (although this morning I ‘slept in’ until 8!) but I take my mornings slow. I have a second cup of coffee because I can. I read 2-3 newspapers because I no longer get it synthesized for me by others and because I have the time to actually read them myself. Taking my mornings more slowly gives me appreciation for the day ahead and to figure out how I want to spend my time - whether it’s going for a walk (which I do pretty much every day), reading a book or practicing tying flies onto fishing line.

Having this time is a gift that comes with retirement, but there is little guidance on what to do with my energy, my passion for social justice (aka tikkun olam, the Jewish concept to heal the world), my belief that we should all be engaged in making the world a better place - what do I do with that?

In many ways this has been the bigger struggle than how to spend time. I’ve been learning new skills, engaged in travel and spending more time doing things I love to do, but I have learned that I needed to ask myself a different question.

How do I want to spend my time in a meaningful way?

I decided to retire when I did because I want to do the things I want to do, and I am doing many of them and I truly wanted to be available to my family as their needs changed and I am doing that too and it’s incredibly meaningful, but it’s still not enough.

The meaning in retired life is wide open and I had thought that a little volunteering here and there might do the trick, but it’s not ‘fire in the belly’ stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it’s meaningful and it makes a difference in people’s lives, but it’s the ‘fire in the belly’ stuff that keeps the churn going and in many ways keeps retirement ‘peace’ elusive for me. I see how our social fabric is being eroded by not so ‘peaceful’ protesters each week. I see how ineffective our governments are (municipal, provincial and federal) at addressing the meteoric rise in Jew hatred, whether in the traditional form of antisemitism, coming from extremists on the right, or the modern Jew hatred of antizionism coming from extremists on the left - both have the same impact on Jews and our broader communities. I see how decisions made by our current provincial government are saddling our children and grandchildren with incredible debt that will make the likelihood of much needed investments in accessible, affordable childcare, education and healthcare unlikely or near impossible in the near future. I see how discourse in the legislature is being abased to new lows that make watching the interaction unpalatable and discouraging. I see how the ‘have you seen the demographics of my riding’ is influencing those who are tasked to represent ALL of us. I see an erosion of values, principles and moral clarity in our political discourse along with the disappearance of curiosity and understanding. I see too much self righteousness and not enough humility among our leaders. I see the naivete (willful or not) of our leaders who refuse to acknowledge the nefarious foreign characters who are influencing our democracy and making us more polarized.

These are the things that disturb me these days during retirement.

Sounds like there is still ‘fire in my belly’ after all.

Sigh.

Today, March 6, 2026, is the two-year anniversary of my departure from the BC New Democrat Party. I think of that day often as it was the day that I was able to breath again. So today is an anniversary of sorts, a day worthy of acknowledgement.

It’s also been 18 months since my retirement from politics, and I had made a commitment to myself that for the next year and a half I would not make any ongoing commitments except for activities that bring me joy and peace.

I have had the gift of time and space to do the things I have been wanting to do these last 18 months. I regularly post about my Retirement Activity of the Day on Facebook and Instagram: golf lessons, learning to flyfish, daily hour long walks in the park, time in the gym, skiing midweek, cycling, kayaking, daily Duolingo Spanish, reading several newspapers every morning while enjoying a second cup of coffee, starting a book club, travelling to far away places, cooking new recipes, baking challah every Friday, spending time with my 85 year old dad, being with my kids, spending time with my new grandson. And while I have found joy in most of these things (that golf swing and fly casting have yet to bring me much joy), peace has been elusive.

My mind continues to churn about the state of affairs in the world. Having been highly tuned in to my community, my province and my country for the past few decades, it is hard to suddenly turn off the antennae that have served me well as I served my community in public office. I tried abandoning social media and newspapers; but then I felt blind to the world and that caused even more anxiety, and less peace.

I find myself continually writing imagined speeches or responses to what is happening in the world, as I take my daily walk or when I am supposed to be ‘zenning’ out on the ski hill or in my belly boat as I gently kick my way to where the fish might be biting. Peace continues to be elusive.

Why can’t I let these things go?

I spent 16 years serving my community and going to community events, listening to my neighbours and constituents, reading reports, delivering speeches, advocating for others, making policy and building budgets. I have been responsible for making sure our community operates well by making decisions that helps to build thousands of units of housing, delivering balanced budgets and making sure our post secondary education system delivers. I have fundraised, campaigned and worked with thousands of people to deliver a progressive government for over five million people who call British Columbia home.

I have lived apart from my husband while I served my community in the Legislature in Victoria. My work meant that I missed birthdays and anniversaries, Jewish holidays and even vacations. I worked 60–70-hour work weeks as a cabinet minister and even had my reputation called into question by the Premier and my colleagues.

Why can’t I just walk away? Move on. I have given enough, haven’t I? (that’s a rhetorical question).

After 18 months of chewing on this idea of ‘walking away’ I have decided that what is keeping me from ‘peace’ is that I still have more work to do. I can’t completely walk away because the world, as I see it, is on a precipice. We, are on a precipice and walking away is giving up …. And I don’t like giving up.

So, what to do?

Perhaps it’s time to share my thoughts and imagined speeches in a public way instead of stewing in them.

Perhaps it’s time to put my musings into the written word. If I put my thoughts and musings out there into the world on a weekly basis, then perhaps they might make a difference, perhaps these words and musings might help put us back on track … and perhaps, once back on track, I can focus on that golf swing and the fly casting and maybe, just maybe, I will find peace.

Until next time,

Selina