In The News

IN THE NEWS: Port Alberni raises $55,000 in Coldest Night of the Year walk

Elected officials were at the walk to support Sage Haven with Member of Parliament Gord Johns, MLA Josie Osborne and several city councillors attending.

Johns noted this is the first CNOY walk without Ellen Frood, Sage Haven’s former executive director who passed away in the fall.

“It was Ellen’s compassion and leadership that helped build Sage Haven into the safe haven it is today. So her legacy lives on in every life supported and every person who finds safety because Sage Haven is there for them,” Johns said.

IN THE NEWS: MP Gord Johns connects Port Alberni class with Nunavut through flag, culture

Johns was in Nunavut recently for the NDP’s caucus retreat. He and other NDP MPs visited Rankin Inlet, and Johns said he left the hamlet “humbled and energized” after speaking with workers and residents. He attended a traditional feast with other caucus members at the Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre.

“Nunavut is an experience that will stay with me always,” he posted. “I came away from this (feast) and our entire experience in Nunavut with even greater wonder and pride for the diversity of our country.”

IN THE NEWS: NDP health critic calls on federal health minister to challenge Alberta’s Bill 11

“We cannot let this happen, not in Alberta, not anywhere in Canada,” said Johns. “Public health care is one of the things that defines us as a country. It’s not a business opportunity; it’s a shared commitment we make to each other. We cannot allow it to be dismantled.”

IN THE NEWS: Seed protections for farmers supported by NDP Agriculture Critic Gord Johns

“Canadians know how important it is to keep seed in farmers’ hands. Thousands have signed an e-petition asking the government to drop its plans to restrict the age-old practice of saving farm seed. I am honoured to present this petition in the House of Commons today,” added MP Johns.

“I will keep fighting to make sure farmers’ voices are heard,” said Johns, who supports the NFU position that further entrenchment of largely foreign private plant breeding in the fruit, vegetable, and ornamental sectors will be a direct threat to food security, seed sovereignty and farmer autonomy.

IN THE NEWS: Make federal funding permanent for Canada’s suicide crisis helpline, say Conservative and NDP critics

NDP health critic Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni, B.C.) said the service “saves lives” and reduces pressure on emergency rooms.

“How do you attract long-term staff and how do you build the infrastructure that’s necessary? 988 is essential health infrastructure, so it needs to be treated like that,” Johns said about the short-term funding.

IN THE NEWS: Canada is claiming credit for tackling ghost gear, despite eliminating funding

MP Johns says he’s repeatedly questioned the program’s fate in the House and presented a public petition calling on the government to restore it. The coastal MP has also met with Fisheries and Ocean’s Minister Joanne Thompson to present ways to finance the successful program.

“It was one of the most effective ocean protection programs Canada’s ever created on plastic pollution and whale entanglements," MP Johns said.

“I’m getting nothing but crickets from them. They just let it collapse. It’s just so disappointing.”

IN THE NEWS: Feds ‘on track’ to connect every household to high-speed internet by 2030, as critics point to gaps in rural and Northern Canada

NDP MP Gord Johns may love connecting with his constituents, but, oddly enough, a lack of connectivity remains one of his riding’s most pressing issues.

“I got an email [recently] from a woman who said her husband had a heart attack and, while he was under cardiac arrest, he had to drive to a gas station because he couldn’t access the internet,” Johns (Courtenay–Alberni, B.C.) told The Hill Times in an interview. “These are the kind of stories I get all the time.”

“This isn’t about it being a luxury,” he continued. “It’s essential infrastructure, just like roads, clean water, and power.”

IN THE NEWS: Courtenay-Alberni MP looks back on 2025, forward to 2026

“Obviously it was challenging for the NDP and I’m certainly grateful to be re-elected and be sent back to Ottawa,” Johns said. “I’m just focusing on what I’ve always been doing, that’s working with people, working together and just continuing to make sure that voices of coastal and Island communities are heard in Ottawa.”

IN THE NEWS: UPDATE: Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns comments on lifting tanker ban

“There’s a proposal that’s going to be talked about later this week. The Prime Minister is meeting in private with Danielle Smith, the Premier of Alberta. He is not consulting with the province of British Columbia. He is not consulting with First Nations to lift the tanker ban,” said Johns when addressing parliament.

IN THE NEWS: Coastal communities ‘running out of time’ without fisheries fund renewal, say opposition critics as DFO faces $544M in cuts

“We saw the Harper cuts to science investments in habitat protection and conservation, and we saw the stocks collapse,” Johns said. “We’re finally seeing wild salmon bounce back in certain areas; now’s not the time to take the foot off the gas.”

Alongside the lack of renewed funding for the Ghost Gear Program, which removed abandoned and derelict fishing gear and marine debris from coastal waters, Johns said the government is “basically blowing off coastal communities and the environment” in its latest budget.

However, Johns said those communities can’t wait until the next budget, or even a spring economic statement, given the March funding sunsets.

“Time is running out on these programs, and we need the government to come out in the next month and announce what their plans are,” Johns said.

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