"Let us come here and do the job we were elected to do ... let us clear this confusion up and get this settled ... let us put some rules in place for a change ... let us do our job"

Honestly, what was the purpose of yesterdays so-called 'emergency meeting' between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ... BC NDP Premier John Horgan ... and Alberta's leader Rachael Notley (also of the NDP persuasion)?

I really would like to know, because other than spewing additional carbon emissions into the air, with the jets required to fly to Ottawa, NOT A SINGLE THING WAS ACCOMPLISHED. 

Well almost nothing.

Hogan is entrenched as he ever was in that he has always said, and continues to basically say, there is no way in hell I'm going to allow the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline to be built.

Rachael Notley, ever fearful of Jason Kenny's United Conservative Party (and an up-coming provincial election in Alberta), is fearful that not only is Horgan refusing to allow the pipeline to be built, he is now also threatening to disallow additional shipments of oil, through BC, by rail.

And 'Sunny Ways -- Sunny Days' Trudeau?  Well he just wonders why all of us in the West can't just get along. 

The late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (L) with his son,
and now current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau (right)

He also has an election to be concerned about in the not so distant future -- and standing up forcefully for the legal right of Kinder Morgan to build the pipeline, means the potential lose of a number of Liberal seats in BC -- seats they only just won after decades of zip, nada, goose eggs.

And why, until the last election, has that been the state of affairs for the Trudeau led Liberals?  Well of course it's because of a previous Trudeau, Pierre by name, who also pissed off the people of the west!

So what did change on the weekend?

Well it appears that our brutally debt ridden federal government is now talking about throwing wads of cash at Kinder Morgan, to try and keep them in the game (past the May 31st deadline they announced a week ago).

Oh and by the way, Kinder Morgan NEVER ASKED FOR THAT MONEY.  They only asked that obstructionist -- and illegal -- road blocks to the construction of the pipeline be lifted!

While he was talking about a totally different situation back on April 27th, 1998, I appreciate the plain-speak of BC Reform MP Daryl Stinson when he said; "Let us come here and do the job we were elected to do ... let us clear this confusion up and get this settled ... let us put some rules in place for a change ... let us do our job."

Rhetoric however, is all we do hear from the federal Liberals. If ONLY Trudeau 2.0 could paraphrase some additional words, from Daryl Stinson, and say to BC NDP Premier John Horgan, "Do you have the gonads to continue standing in the way of this project. This project has been approved, and it's going ahead.  Stand in the way and you're going to jail?"

Of course not! Not in a million years could that dream ever come true. Trudeau's too busy being concerned about 'people-kind'.  If he did however, he just might grant the wish of a majority of British Columbians. 

Premier John Horgan stated yesterday, “My obligation is to the people of B.C. and I’m going to defend them until I’m no longer the premier.”  If he's in jail won't that mean he's no longer Premier?  We can only hope!

Finally, let me say this.  There is a national emergency -- it's about the application of the rule of law.  People (and businesses) need to know their rights will not be trampled on. After all, that is a good part of what democracy is all about, isn't it?

In Kamloops, I'm Alan Forseth, and that's my rant for today.  The floors now open for you, so feel free to share your thoughts below in the comments section.

The bcLIBERALS claim to be the Free-Enterprise party. By their actions, or should I say inaction, they have proven that to be a lie

It's Tuesday (April 10th) --- three days now since Kinder Morgan declared they needed an answer on if they are going to be able to go ahead, without further delay, on getting the Trans Mountain pipeline underway. 

They've drawn a line in the sand, and that line is dated May 31st!

So what's happened in the meantime, since then?

Well from everything I have read, heard and seen, BC NDP Premier John Horgan appears to be completely indifferent to the chaos he's creating across the resource sector.

Meantime, the bcLIBERALS, with leader Andrew Wilkinson, have finally come out of their comma to realize we have problem.

So you might be wondering, "Where does that place the BC Conservative Party?"

Only the BC Conservatives have been consistent on responsible resource development; development to support ALL British Columbians ... development which will create thousands of jobs ... development which will create tax revenue to build schools, hospitals, and replace aging infrastructure.

"The prosperity of many BC communities and the provincial economy as a whole is dependent upon the responsible utilization of our abundant natural resources"

I know where my political support lies ... with the ONLY party to be consistent in its demand for resource development that is responsible, and sustainable.

The bcLIBERALS claim to be the Free-Enterprise party. By their actions, or should I say inaction, they have proven that to be a lie.

In Kamloops, I'm Alan Forseth.  Got a comment to make?  This is your chance to share it now.

Justin Trudeau has been nothing BUT hypocritical in allowing dictatorships, with tin-pot despots at the helm, to ship tanker after tanker of oil to east coast refineries

Oh boy ... we are indeed in trouble on this one; Kinder Morgan has now set May 31st as a deadline to get things under way on the Trans Mountain pipeline.  And fair enough. 

As you will note in the following, this whole project has drug on for far too long.  And through it all, the federal Liberal government of Justin Trudeau has been nothing BUT hypocritical in allowing dictatorships, with tin-pot despots at the helm, to ship tanker after tanker of oil to east coast refineries. 

Business Council Of British Columbia:

"The B.C. government's decision to prolong a process that rendered a verdict two years ago and move the regulatory finish line by imposing new barriers that would undercut its potential, threatens the credibility of our country's regulatory and project approvals systems and, by extension, the foundation of our federation." stated Greg D'Avignon, President and CEO of the Business Council of BC

Financial Post:
As federal and provincial politicians pat themselves
 on the back for their climate change ‘leadership,’
and pipeline opponents gloat about stalling
construction of new Canadian pipelines,
tanker-loads of foreign oil are delivered regularly
to Eastern Canadian refineries, including increasing
volumes from Saudi Arabia.

Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA):

Trans Mountain pipeline was approved two years ago after a 29-month long process and had 194 environmental and legal conditions attached that Kinder Morgan has to meet during the construction and operation of the pipeline. But the deliberate and unfair interference of the B.C. NDP and Burnaby city governments saw the province and city hall actively engage in activities designed to deliberately terminate the project.

“By strangling Trans Mountain, the BC NDP government would throw away $5.7 billion in provincial tax revenue, $1 billion in municipal tax revenue, and the opportunities that come with 15,000 construction jobs and 189,000 person-years of employment,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA president. “This decision will send a simple chilling message to businesses looking to start or expand major projects here – stay away from B.C. because you cannot rely on the government to honour its commitments or follow the law.”

BC NDP Premier John Horgan ... "we will use every

tool in the tool box to stop the pipeline expansion"

Michael Campbell's 'Money Talks':

$47 billion lost in government revenue - 800,000 man hours of work gone if the Trans Mountain pipeline gets scrapped. And for what? Best case scenario is .03 of a % reduction in global emissions. But don't worry - there's one big winner - San Francisco based Corporate Ethics, who in 2008 launched and financed the campaign to land lock Alberta oil. Oh yeah, US oil producers are smiling too 

Business Council of British Columbia:

"This is no longer about a pipeline project or whether one supports or opposes the legal movement of energy in Canada, which all Canadians and our economy rely on," stated Greg D'Avignon, President and CEO of the Business Council of B.C. "Provoked by the B.C. government's continued position, this is a referendum on whether British Columbia is open to investment and whether a legal enterprise can, with any confidence, invest, build and operate a business within the province and the country."

BC Premier John Horgan

In the 2017 election campaign, the John Horgan led NDP said it would block the Edmonton to Burnaby Trans Mountain expansion.  He declared he would use “every tool in the tool box” to stop the pipeline expansion.  Now as premier of the province, this clown swears he will not give up the fight to block the Trans Mountain pipeline. 

The BC Liberals, over a number of years, with Christy Clark at the helm, had multiple opportunities to push for the expansion to go ahead, and to insist on the federal government moving forward to see the expansion get underway.  Christy Clark is of course gone, however since the election of Andrew Wilkinson as their new leader, he (and they as a party) have done little but provide lip-service.

In fact, a former BC Conservative, who left to join the BC Liberals, was saying over the weekend, "Where was Wilkinson on this file?  Three paragraphs and he (Andrew Wilkinson) still couldn’t say he was for it, for energy infrastructure, or that it was vital for the nation or the economy. Remember when we used to talk about the economy! 

"Additionally, on social media, he also expressed these thoughts:
BC needs a partner in this fight #readytogo ... and ... Leadership #waitingonwilkinson 

The courts have made it very clear to Premier Horgan, and his GreeNDP buddy Andrew Weaver, that jurisdiction over the Kinder Morgan pipeline is a federal matter.

SO WHERE ARE THE LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA ON THIS.  As with their provincial bcLIBERAL buddies, they too have little but words to speak on the matter.

Kinder Morgan is fed up with delay after delay and has now in frustration issued an ultimatum ... May 31st is your deadline.  Its time to act!

Dear Justin, get off your ass and act!  Canada ... and especially British Columbia .. cannot afford to have this project canceled ... nor can it afford to have it delayed any longer.

In Kamloops, I'm Alan Forseth.  Got a comment to make?  This is your chance to share it now.

BC Conservative Party leadership campaign will open on October 29, 2018

BC Conservative Party President Ryan Warawa

A leadership race timeline has been adopted for the BC Conservatives.  This morning (April 7th) current party President Ryan Warawa stated, "I would like to begin by thanking Scott Anderson for doing a tremendous job as Interim Leader of the BC Conservative Party, and congratulate Justin Greenwood on recently having been named as the Party’s Interim Deputy Leader"

He then went on to say that the leadership campaign, for the Conservatives, will open on October 29, 2018, with a new leader being selected on February 23, 2019.

The total fee to run as a candidate for the BC Conservative Party will be $6,000 – a minimum of $1,000 of which will be required at the time the prospective leadership candidate applies. 

Said Warawa, "Leadership races are expensive to conduct, and the BC Conservative Party’s $6,000 fee will ensure that the Party will have the necessary funds to successfully run the leadership race."

The timing chosen for the leadership race will allow for this fall’s referendum on electoral reform in British Columbia to be concluded; and will also allow for candidates running for a Conservative Party of Canada nomination (for the 2019 federal election) to be available as leadership candidates.

The Board will form a Candidate Review Committee (CRC) to interview all prospective leadership candidates. CRC members must be independent and impartial, and the CRC will submit a confidential report on each potential candidate to the Board of Directors.

With regards to the Candidate Review Committee, Warawa indicated that they will begin meeting this fall, and interview candidates within 4 days of receiving the prospective candidates’ applications.

The BC Conservative Party 2018 Annual General Meeting will be held on November 24, which will allow leadership candidates and their supporters to attend and speak personally with members.

Warawa concluded by stating, "For the good of our province, we need to hold the tax-and-spend Liberal, NDP, and Green parties to account. We rely on our dedicated supporters to spread our Conservative Party message, and we need your help now more than ever!"

You'd be welcome to call it the Twigg Formula - a system that would put the peoples' interests First

Through-out the province of BC recently, there has been much talk about electoral reform --- what it should look like, how it will be achieved, how we as

BC Attorney General David Eby (right), campaigning

in May 2017. The BC NDP promised to hold a

referendum on a new voting system for the province

voters will have input to the process, what a referendum question(s) should look like, what kind of majority would be required to have a change made.  These, just to name a few, are the questions being asked.

For many, the name John Twigg will be familiar.  He recently submitted his thoughts to the BC governments Citizen Engagement, as well as forwarding those thoughts to me, Bob Makin, Bill Tieleman (co-chair of the No B.C. Proportional Representation Society), the BC Pundit, and BC NDP Attorney General David Eby.

Here are those thoughts:

The NDP does have "democratic" in its name but its past and present practices too often have shown that that can be a misnomer.

I want a reformed electoral system that will still tend to elect majority governments composed mainly of people of all races, creeds, genders etc representing clearly distinct regions geographically, with very little if any gerrymandering such as Gracie's notorious finger.

The current range of population per riding needs to adjusted because there are too many big ridings with too-few people; they need to be consolidated and the MLAs and candidates specially assisted with travel costs.

I'd like to see a Legislature of up to 99 or 100 seats and no more (at least for a few elections), which would include about 90 people elected in territories as now (except with the above-mentioned population adjustments) and about 10 people chosen in one or more processes to reflect smaller parties, ethnic groups, regional interests, maybe gender balance, maybe talent and/or popularity (eg someone who lost a seat by 10 votes or so). Perhaps some could be chosen by an independent panel chaired by the chief electoral officer. Perhaps some could be selected in a subsequent election off of a list.