This is the first in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Alysha Rose

We knew that there was something rather remarkable about Alysha when she phoned up just before we were supposed to meet to say she would be a few minutes late. “I just rescued a crow with a broken wing and called the animal rehabilitation centre” she told us.

It was easy to spot Alysha as she approached the Broadmead Starbucks where we had arranged to have coffee. She was carrying a small yellow, cloth-covered basket containing an injured crow she’d already named “Cashew”.

At 17 years of age, Alysha’s accomplishments are impressive. Growing up in Saanichton, Alysha attended Keating Elementary, Bayside Middle and Stelly’s Secondary schools. She graduated from Stelly’s this past June and has accepted a prestigious $60,000 Schulich Leader scholarship to Dalhousie University where she will study Medical Sciences. Why medical sciences? Because in her own words “A doctor can do a lot with their hands, helping one person at a time, but they can also do a lot with their mind, pursuing scientific advancements capable of impacting entire populations”. Alysha wants to work with people in less fortunate parts of the world.

It is perhaps not surprising that she has such a clear vision of her future. Alysha spent the summer of 2013 volunteering in an orphanage in Fiji and as early as Grade 9 was recognized as one of Save-On-Foods Amazing Kids.

Alysha has made a significant and lasting contribution to her school community in starting the Best Buddies program when she was in grade 10/11 (she completed both in one year – while maintaining a 100% average). Best Buddies is a weekly lunchtime program with a goal of inclusivity and friendship for students of all abilities. “Everyone needs a community” she realized as she became aware of the isolation that students with disabilities often experience “No one deserves to be alone”. Participating in Best Buddies was “the best part of my week” at school. Working as a mentor to a younger student who will take over leadership of the program next year, Alysha told us of plans to develop Best Buddies to include activities outside of school.

Alysha’s passions include writing spoken word poetry, singing and public speaking. She finds fulfillment in helping others, and volunteering on projects that involve important work, such as fundraising for the aforementioned orphanage in Fiji.

Alysha and teacher Kate Reston co-founded the Model UN program at Stelly’s and at a conference at UVic in November 2013, Alysha was awarded “Best Delegate” and “Best Position Paper” honours for her role on the Security Council representing France. Her paper was on food scarcity and conflict. Alysha loved the Model UN experience, especially the opportunity to debate and learn valuable lessons in collaboration and cooperation with other youth. She spoke passionately about its value of assisting the participants to “learn to respect each others’ differences”.

For Alysha, human rights and social justice issues are of paramount importance. For her it is important to speak up for the “fundamental dignities for which we are all entitled” and to give everyone the opportunity to succeed. When asked what inspires her, she responded without hesitation, her teachers.

Alysha plans to become a physician and a scientist – to treat one person at a time in the developing world and conduct research in malaria and cancer. Her dream would be to be part of the development of a vaccine for malaria.

Whether it be quilting for a local hospital, running the Stelly’s Best Buddies program this summer or fundraising for the orphanage in Fiji, Alysha approaches everything she does with infectious optimism and enthusiasm.

We are inspired by Alysha and her determination to do her part to make the world a better place. We spent just one hour with her. But that hour has left its mark forever. And we are sure that Cashew the crow would also agree.

The BC Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth is seeking input on youth mental health issues. The Committee will be meeting with stakeholders and experts on this important issue and they are also inviting written submissions from the public until Friday, July 25, 2014.

The Committee is an all-party committee of the Legislative Assembly.

Interested individuals may make a written submission, or learn more about the work of the committee at: https://www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/cay.

Today I had the privilege of attending the Oak Bay Young Exceptional Star (Y.E.S) awards ceremony at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre where ten exceptionally talented youth in grades 6 to 10 were honoured for their achievements.

As noted in the nomination announcement, “The goal of the awards is to emphasize the positive achievements of Oak Bay’s young people by recognizing those who have distinguished themselves in such areas as volunteerism, arts, citizenship, academics, athletics and/or who have overcome obstacles to achieve their goals.”

Congratulations to this year’s award winners: Candra Barber, Owen Chow, Cam Henderson, Owen Jaques, Jessica Maitland, Isabella McNamee, Jean Newell, Oleg Saldyga, Leah Smith and Ruby Tang.

I had the pleasure of presenting the award to Jean Newell. Below is the text of my speech.

Fourteen year-old Jean Newell won the Karate Canada Nationals in Team Kata in Toronto last year, and then went on to win silver in the Junior Pan Am Karate Tournament in Medellin, Columbia. To put this into perspective, for those of us who don’t know the competition well, this is the first time Canada has placed in the finals in the 24 year history of that tournament, putting Canada on the map!

Jean qualified to become a National Karate Referee, which breaks with tradition, as normally you have to be at least 19 to hold this position. As a result, this March Jean was asked to referee at the North American Cup for Karate at the Richmond Oval. In 2012, Jean won double silver in the annual US Open in Kumite (sparring), as well as in Kata in Las Vegas, the largest karate tournament in the world.

In addition to his outstanding Karate skills, Jean is also an exceptional soccer player. He does much of his Karate competing with his older brother Geoffrey, and these inseparable boys are very committed to their sport and involved in the Oak Bay Community. Jean is a straight-A student who takes his studies very seriously.

As we can see from all his accomplishments, Jean gives everything he undertakes his all.
Ladies and gentlemen – please help me in congratulating Jean Newell as a recipient of a 2014 YES Award.

Today during Question Period I asked the Minister of Health about whether or not he was willing to help with the imminent funding crisis faced by the Island Sexual Health Society. I was pleased that the Minister has agreed to work with Island Health and the Island Sexual Health Society to seek ways of alleviating their funding predicament.

Below is my question followed by the minister’s response.

A. Weaver: Island Sexual Health Society provides essential primary and public services to the lower Island, with over 26,000 patient visits each year. It fills a significant gap around basic health care needs in a cost-effective manner.

My riding has both Camosun College and the University of Victoria, with thousands and thousands of students who do not have GPs or access to GPs, who require these services.

The Island Sexual Health Society is systemically underfunded by our public health system, needing more than a third of their budget — in fact, 36.4 percent, if you wish to know, of their operational budget — from non-governmental sources. As a consequence, they are struggling to stay open. In fact, you might say they are victims of their own success.

My question is to the Health Minister: will the minister make a commitment to support Island Sexual Health in continuing to provide these essential services?

Hon. T. Lake: Thank you to the member for Oak Bay–Gordon Head for the question.

Island Sexual Health is a non-profit organization that does provide excellent service to people in the Victoria area. They have a mixed funding model. They provide services on a fee-for-service basis. That continues so that health services are available through that model. They also provide some public health services through funding from Island Health, funding that has continued to increase over time.

I understand that Island Sexual Health moved into larger facilities and that the higher costs associated with those larger facilities have outpaced their revenue in terms of the MSP fee-for-service model. I know that Vancouver Island Health Authority is working with Island Sexual Health, and we will be involved in those discussions to look at ways of supporting this organization to maintain the valuable services that they do provide but also to maintain and stay within the budget that they have for those services.

In order to explore the matter further I followed up with a supplementary question. The Minister reaffirmed his commitment to work with Island Sexual Health Society to find solutions to their funding problems.

A. Weaver: Thank you to the minister for the very thoughtful response to that question.

I would like to add that just this week the board of Island Sexual Health met and agreed to cut their budget for this next fiscal year by $140,000, and they also made some structural changes by going to a walk-in model to increase client numbers and decrease administrative costs, but, as the minister noted, they still need long-term commitment of $235,000 per year to offset tenancy costs. This is the barrier to their continued success.

Again to the minister: would the minister be able to agree, again, to work with Island Sexual Health in order to solve the crisis, the short-term crisis that they face, in terms of meeting their monthly tenancy costs?

Frankly, the services they offer to southern Vancouver Island are simply too important for them not to remain solvent.

Hon. T. Lake: Again, I want to acknowledge the very good work that Island Sexual Health provides to residents in the Victoria area, particularly the university population. The member from Oak Bay and I share family members who attend the university and know that these services are very valuable.

However, whether it’s a non-profit organization or a private corporation providing publicly funded health care, it is important that they pay attention to the funding model and the revenue that comes in and the expenditures. In this situation, this organization decided to move into space that perhaps outpaced their ability to match with revenue. But we will work with them. We will work with Vancouver Island Health Authority to look and see if there are ways of supporting the organization while making sure they stay within their budget.

The Municipality of Oak Bay Child and Youth Committee (OBCYC) is proud to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 7^th Annual Young Exceptional Star Awards (YES Awards).  These awards recognize the accomplishments of youth from grades 6-10 in the Oak Bay area.  Students who attend schools in Oak Bay or those who have an Oak Bay address, but are attending a public or private school outside of the municipality of Oak Bay as well as those who are receiving a home school education are all eligible for consideration.

The goal of the awards is to emphasize the positive achievements of Oak Bay’s young people by recognizing those who have distinguished themselves in such areas as volunteerism, arts, citizenship, academics, athletics and/or who have overcome obstacles to achieve their goals.

Mayor Nils Jensen believes Oak Bay is fortunate to have so many outstanding young people who aspire to make a difference by contributing in positive ways within our community.  “The YES awards are a great way to recognize youth in Oak Bay, and encourage them to continue to make a positive contribution to the community. These youth send a message of hope to the community that the next generation is full of promise, and inspire us all to do our part to make a difference.”

Recipients will be recognized at an awards banquet to be held on May 7, 2014.

Nominations must be returned by March 7th, 2014 to Councillor Michelle Kirby, The Corporation of the District of Oak Bay, 2167 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria, B.C., V8R 1G2, or faxed to 598-9108.  Questions or comments can be directed to Mary Kelly at mkelly@sd61.bc.ca.

Please click here to view the Nomination form.