What a month it has been. The months of January through March are always the busiest of the year as we prepare for the spring sitting of the Legislature, the new budget, and our committees ramping up again. As a result, this may be one of my longer emails you have received. I apologize in advance for that, but I will try to be efficient here.

This month began with the Lunar New Year and the start of the Year of the Tiger. The Tiger symbolizes bravery and strength and as we navigate COVID-19 and other challenges this year, let’s channel the Tiger and continue to care for each other and look towards brighter days with courage and hope.

We are fortunate to live in a province with rich cultural diversity, and Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate alongside, and honour the contributions of Asian Canadians. One way our government is hoping to recognize this is with the new announcement of a Chinese Canadian Museum that will be open in 2024.

February is also Black History Month, and brings with it an opportunity to honour, celebrate and reflect on the stories, experiences and accomplishments of Black pioneers of our community. From James Douglas, our first Governor, to Harry Jerome and John Braithwaite, two local pioneers of North Vancouver. I highly recommend using some time to read up on our province’s history at https://bcblackhistory.ca/

Black History Month is also a time to reflect on why this month is needed. A great local story was published in the North Shore News that spoke on how North Vancouver was built off the profits from the slave trade. As a government, we must do better to deliver meaningful action to support Black British Columbians now and into the future. We have started on this work, including last year when we formally recognized Emancipation Day, for the first time in B.C.’s history. We are also working with community organizations to identify new teacher and student resources with an anti-racism lens, support the teaching of Black history topics in the K-12 curriculum and building on the work underway through the provincial K-12 Anti-Racism Action Plan.

February was also the month where we unveiled our updated StrongerBC Economic Plan and our BC Budget 2022. I will include more details of those below, but as you can imagine this has kept me busy. I still am in Victoria Monday through Thursday with my committee work on Fridays until March 18th. As a result, it is difficult for me to take meetings during this time, but I will still strive to respond to as people as I can, and for those I cannot get to in this time, my constituency assistants can help!

As always, if you have questions or need any assistance with provincial supports, or have questions about any other provincial issue, please reach out. My office can be contacted at 604-983-9859 or by emailing us at susie.chant.mla@leg.bc.ca. We look forward to assisting you.

All the best and take care,

Susie

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