Nurses in the Legislature
NURSES IN THE HOUSE BCNU members and first-time MLAs Susie Chant and Harwinder Sandhu are the only nurses in BC's 87-person provincial legislature. Both bring a much-needed and valuable nursing perspective to their work as members of the governing BC NDP caucus.
BCNU members Harwinder Sandhu and Susie Chant made union history last October when they were elected to the BC legislature. Both are now members of the BC NDP caucus. Sandhu represents the riding of Vernon-Monashee and Chant the riding of North Vancouver-Seymour.
Before her election win, Sandhu worked at Vernon Jubilee Hospital as a patient care coordinator. An active union member, she also served as chair of the Mosaic of Colour caucus and as the BCNU Thompson-North Okanagan region lobby coordinator.
Prior to the election, Chant worked as a team leader in community care with Vancouver Coastal Health. She was also a member of the Royal Canadian Navy Reserves for over 40 years.
Update Magazine sat down with Sandhu and Chant to find out what it is like to be a first-time MLA and how both are bringing nursing and union experiences to their new roles.
UPDATE Why did you decide to run in the provincial election?
CHANT I looked around and realized there were not that many women in the legislature. There needed to be a few other folks at the table. That's how I decided to start, and the rest progressed from there.
SANDHU I always felt like there was a little leader hidden in me and I would advocate for my community, or for patients and nurses.
I've also experienced personal hardship. My first husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer when we were living in Northern Health, and the lack of resources, such as not being near a cancer centre, not having access to childcare, and other issues inspired my interest in government policies.
Like a lot of nurses, I realized that even if didn't want to take an interest in politics the decisions that are made by government bodies directly impact our lives. Then I started researching more about party policies and the direct impact they have.
UPDATE How has your life changed since the election?
CHANT I went from a position where I was a team leader with a large program that provided health-care services to the community where I was looked at as a subject matter expert. Then I went into something where I was learning from the ground up. I will say that between the experience and skill sets that I bring from nursing, the military and from running a Brownie meeting, all those things have proved to be very useful. However, the body of knowledge that I've had to learn since then to make sure I'm working well within the team and working well for my constituents has been huge.
SANDHU It has been quite the shift. I did some homework on what's expected when running for office. I'm always very calm and collected so people around me don't panic, for example in my leadership role at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. That leadership quality has helped me.
I was still working even during the campaign and after getting elected, so that has helped me shape decisions when I bring my voice to the caucus.
UPDATE What issues are you hoping to work on in the next year at the provincial level?
CHANT First off is COVID management and getting everybody vaccinated. I maintain casual status with Vancouver Coastal Health, and I've been doing vaccinations. We've got to look at the people that we're calling COVID long-haulers – that's a whole new group of people in our client base, particularly within the community.
Also, I'm looking at seniors' care because we've got an aging population. We have to recognize that and look at the best way to maintain significant quality of life as people age, ideally in-place if we can support that in a variety of ways. We also need to be aware that we've got an awful lot of nurses that are not young, and we could be looking at some serious gaps as they retire.
SANDHU If I were to pick the top three issues, there's housing, mental health and the opioid crisis. I know that in my riding, we have made many strides when it comes to housing. The opioid crisis is the second health emergency that the province and our health-care workers, including nurses, are facing.
Childcare is another important issue as well, which we're focusing on.
UPDATE What's it been like to be a new MLA?
CHANT It's so much fun. We are learning all the time and it's interesting because the legislature is a piece of the job and being an MLA in your constituency is another piece. I always thought I was well connected with my community, and I am. However, I'm finding there are so many more people out there that I don't know, haven't met and want to meet.
SANDHU It's been exciting. I realized shortly after the election that we created history with my being elected as the first woman of color in the Okanagan region.
It was a proud moment for me when I realized that people have accepted me as a woman of colour and that I could shatter the glass ceiling.
I faced a lot of racism during the campaign. For example, my sign was defaced with a swastika and a misogynist word. But I've always believed there is more good than bad. And so far as an MLA, I've had a very positive response.
UPDATE What's the most surprising thing you've learned since travelling to Victoria?
CHANT We still live in our home constituencies and then we go to Victoria. We've been on a hybrid model. I've only been there a total of four, maybe five weeks in chunks. For me, the most surprising thing was the miniature Speaker's lawn chair sculpture outside of the Speaker's office. It has a little table beside it and it's got the Speaker's tricorn hat. I found it as I was walking around on the outside of the parliament building. I spent a long time learning the inside because it's an old building and it's got all sorts of nooks and crannies. I like to know my environment, so I've been all over that building.
SANDHU We've been using a virtual hybrid model since the first legislative session after the election. In March, after the spring session started, it was my turn to go there for a week. I made a statement on International Women's Day, and I was the very first speaker in the session. I was so amazed that I was not nervous at all. I felt passionate about what I was going to talk about.
Another amazing thing is the staff from the legislature, including the constituency office staff.
UPDATE What's it been like running an office in your communities?
CHANT I took over an office that was already established. It was my predecessor's office, so I knew I had a workspace. It took us six months to physically get into the office so we could refresh it and refurbish it. I've had a team with me since December. I've had two constituency assistants and then we hired a third one in this last month. I've been a team leader for a long time, so I'm used to being in a position where I have a supervisory role. But it's also a supportive role. We have to work as a team because when I'm not there, they are my voice. They are speaking to constituents, but they are speaking on my behalf.
SANDHU I had to start from scratch. When I was looking for an office, it needed to have free parking for accessibility and because I didn't want constituents to worry about plugging coins into the meter before it ran out. It took me two or three months to find the office, then my next search was to find office staff. Until mid-December, I was working by myself. I'm glad there's staff now. We're a great team, and the staff are also well-versed in the community.
With COVID, there are frustrated people and there was a point where my staff did receive some verbal abuse. I was proud to stand up to that because nobody has a right to be disrespectful to someone who's trying to do their job.
UPDATE What have you heard from your constituents about issues that are important in the community?
CHANT My constituents run the whole gamut. As an example, on the environmental side, I've got some very strong advocates for banning rodenticide. The use of rodenticides has already been banned in our community however it's not banned at a provincial level for agricultural or forestry use, so we're looking at that.
My constituency has a large seniors' population. A gentleman I met said, 'you know we voted for you because we need somebody [in Victoria] that knows about seniors wanting to stay home as they age.' He then said, 'I'm rethinking the thought of going to any kind of long-term care facility ever because of what happened through COVID.' That gave my brain a shake, because if a large group of people don't want to go to long-term care that's going to be a real challenge for community nursing and nursing in general.
SANDHU With the BC NDP, we've made great progress on protecting old growth forests. But in my riding, there will be people who are concerned about that issue as they want more opportunities and jobs. You have to find the balance and make sure that you are a bridge between both sides. Sometimes you can't find solutions for every problem but when you make a sincere effort, it goes a long way.
There's also a large senior population in my riding, so there are a wide variety of issues that we face.
UPDATE Are there any MLAs who have been mentors to you during the election and afterwards?
CHANT Everybody has been extremely supportive. We've been getting amazing support from people who were incumbent MLAs prior to the election and from each other as new MLAs. There's been some stuff where, if I've got a question, chances are, so does everybody else.
I don't think I can single out in individual person. Everybody has brought so much to the table in terms of skill sets, presentation, how they do business, their view on things, and of how they include people in discussions etc. It truly is teamwork because we are working together to move the government and the province forward and promote opportunity for everybody who lives here.
SANDHU Initially, we were each assigned one veteran MLA because there are so many new MLAs. Mine was Minister Selena Robinson, the finance minister.
Everybody's been an amazing mentor. This caucus is very approachable. The veteran MLAs and ministers, including the premier, make you feel you're part of the family.
UPDATE Are there any other nurses at the legislature and how has your experience as nurses contributed to your new roles?
CHANT At the moment, Harwinder and I are the only nurses in the legislature, and it's pretty rare. I will say that Harwinder and I bonded almost instantly. I think it's very nice for us to have another nurse in the place.
Nursing has been very useful regarding the new legislation being brought in around disability and barriers to accessibility. Nursing, I believe firmly, has broadened the discussions at the legislative tables and informed some of the decisions that have been made.
SANDHU When I heard another nurse was running, I felt an instant connection. Susie and I started having long conversations over the phone before we met each other. When it was our turn to go to the legislature each week of each month, we would go for walks and strolls and have conversations about how we can help shape policies.
I'm still advocating for people, but I feel grateful that I have a bigger voice now than when I was a nurse. I would like to see more nurses become MLAs.
UPDATE It has been a challenging time with COVID. How has the pandemic affected your work life?
CHANT As an MLA, it has been an artificial environment right from the word go. When I was campaigning, normally you go out and you knock on doors, and you say hi to people. You hold events where you can mingle, speak to people and go to things that are happening. We've had none of that.
We've not yet managed to meet a good chunk of our colleagues in person in the legislature. And since I've been elected, my capacity to meet people is still severely limited. By now I would have been at many events if COVID had not been in place and got my name out there because I want people to know I'm here to represent everybody.
SANDHU The virtual world has its pros and cons. We haven't met more than half of our colleagues yet. But we've been able to do more with Zoom, such as holding more meetings.
Zoom technology was not new to me – we were using it a lot at BCNU. My previous work with the union gave me a good understanding of how Zoom and technology work. And I can't imagine us going through COVID without having the ability to connect virtually.
I still deeply miss the personal connection, meeting constituents. You build stronger relationships and people feel more comfortable. We are optimistic we will be attending the fall sessions in person.
UPDATE As nurses, what do you think the provincial government should be prioritizing next?
CHANT When I look at all of the communities throughout British Columbia, every place has needs. We recognize those needs and work toward meeting them in a variety of ways.
There is a very robust program of support for mental health. We're looking at new treatment beds and different staffing models to try and meet a variety of needs.
I've heard this all through my nursing career and it worries me that I'm saying it now, but we want to hear what will make things better and how we can make it work. We really are working with people.
And the other thing that we have to make very clear is that everything we do has an Indigenous lens to it, and certainly within the nursing realm that is critical in terms of the work that nurses do and the kind of support that nurses get.
SANDHU For nursing, the focus must be on nurses' and health-care workers' health given what we've gone through during COVID public health emergency and fighting the opioid crisis and the ongoing work we are doing. Violence in health care is an issue as well.
We're nurses on leave. And as nurses we're constantly making sure our voices are being heard.
There's been great progress. What's been reassuring is being on the progressive side of the government. That's why I chose where I'm standing today. When I looked at government policies, I needed to make sure that I'm with the party that supports well-funded public health care. •
UPDATE (Summer/Fall 2021)