BURST
The chambers of Victoria’s parliament buildings, a mixture of classical, Renaissance and Romanesque styles, are well-known for bruising debate and belligerent heckling.
But there’s a softer side to the building that sees camaraderie between opponents, quiet moments in the library and snack breaks in the Speaker’s Office.
Here are just some of the stories and anecdotes that add freshness to a building that is usually thought of as only being full of hot air.
The library sanctuary
The legislative library is on the second floor of the legislature, only steps from the chamber, and is by far one of the grandest spaces in the building. The entranceway has walls coated in Italian Carrara marble and columns made from stone and plaster soar up three storeys.
Behind the desk where the librarians sit are rows and rows of books, old newspapers and reports from MLAs, and analyses spanning decades.
While many MLAs and staffers use the library frequently for pleasure or professional research needs, there are few who use it as much as Energy Minister Adrian Dix.
Dix has been an NDP MLA since 2005 and before that served was the chief of staff for premier Glen Clark in the late 1990s. He is well-known for using literary references in speeches and publishing articles on his favourite books of the year in publications like The Tyee.
He said on Friday that he has always been amazed at the breadth of information available in the library and has made use of it many times, whether it be for research on energy policy or simply taking a book by Charles Dickens out for some light reading.
“It’s beautiful for me to be able to go, when you’re working on the Site C Dam, for example, and get the reports that were written in the 1980s about that dam on paper two minutes after you thought about consulting them,” he said.
“Just the fact that there are books here, whether it’s Dickens, which I occasionally quote in the legislature, but also just mostly the books about the history of British Columbia politics and British Columbia life, which really form a real basis of decisions.”
He said some books he would recommend people read on the history of B.C. include Pillars of Profit: The Company Province 1934-1972, by Martin Robin; Politics in Paradise, by former physician and Social Credit cabinet minister Pat McGeer; and A White Man’s Province, by Patricia Roy.
Snacks in Speaker’s Office and life of House leader
For Áʼa꞉líya Warbus, the Conservative House leader, the start to her legislative career has been a busy one as she was thrust into her position as the member of her party responsible for deciding speaking order during question period and during debates on legislation.
It’s a critical role and she says it has her in the building from 7:30 a.m. to sometimes past 10 p.m. as she meets with MLAs for question period and debate prep and has meetings with party Leader John Rustad, caucus whip Bruce Banman and caucus chairperson Jody Toor to go over strategy in the House.
She said that she often enjoys grabbing a quick snack from the Speaker’s Office, which provides light refreshments for MLAs such as Ritz crackers, Welch fruit gummies, Lay’s potato chips and an assortment of granola bars. They also often have soft drinks and clementine oranges.
“I don’t know if this is highly sensitive information or not. I don’t know if I should really divulge to other MLAs things that they may not be aware of, and then they’re going to be digging into my secret places,” she said.
“But I do have to say that, usually, I’m not reaching for the healthy things.”
Barbecue ribs and post-session toast
From the outside looking in, it might seem as if there is very little opportunity for cross-party camaraderie but it surprisingly occurs more than people might think.
Andrew Reeve, a former B.C. Liberal and B.C. United press secretary, said some of his favourite memories of the building are having a toast with then Green leader Sonia Furstenau and MLA Adam Olsen at the end of a long session and lawn bowling with Bhinder Sajan and Aileen Machell of the Premier’s Office.
He said that regardless of party affiliation, people are still working long hours in the trenches together and friendly relationships do form.
“When you’re working at the legislature, you’re working 12-hour days with people you know every single day for years on end. So you become quite close with your colleagues. Real strong camaraderie forms, not just with those in your caucus, but also the people on the other side of the aisle,” he said.
Besides the camaraderie, Reeve said each caucus also hosts fun events internally to boost morale and improve working relationships between MLAs and staff.
He said one of his favourites was when the B.C. Liberals would split MLAs off into teams to cook ribs, with party staffers serving as judges.
“I believe the MLAs with the winning records were often whichever MLAs were on John Martin’s team, who had an extensive background as a pit master and had a lot of barbecuing skills,” said Reeve, referring to the then Chilliwack MLA.
These stories are just a few of the anecdotes that people in the building have and it’s certain that even more will be formed during the coming long months of this session.