Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Here’s day number two of "20 for 2020"


Yesterday was New Years day ... and the first installment of what I am calling “20 for 2020” ... ideas which I believe should be implemented by any political party who wishes to govern us.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, each of these suggestions and ideas, despite being number from one to twenty, will be random in order; and so they should not be interpreted as being presented in order of importance.

Yesterday, I paraphrased an idea which was presented by the BC Conservative Party back in May of last year. There will be four others from the Conservatives, however there will also be many ideas from my own experiences being involved in BC politics for over two decades, as well as suggestions from friends and political acquaintances.

Now, as today is January 2nd, here is suggestion number two ... there should be a review of services provided to areas and regions where much of the provinces revenues are collected from.  


Many would likely say these areas are left to fend for themselves, while the majority of government spending goes to larger centres, far from rural and northern BC. The result of this is that many residents have to travel hundred of kilometres away from home, and this is more than just medical care and education. Living in rural BC should not be reason to treat local residents like second class citizens.


Second to today's thoughts; any political party hoping to replace the NDP, should also be willing to set up independent regional councils to decide where, how, and to what projects, monies in the Rural Dividend Program are allocated. Hopefully, in this way, residents will be able to feel more secure knowing that the monies in this fund go to projects which will have the best impact in their communities.


Government should also commit to ensuring that funding for the Rural Dividend Program is not hijacked for other programs, such as the BC NDP did recently, when they removed millions to instead be used for a forestry program. While the forest industry urgently needs a strong well crafted plan for recovery, robbing Peter to pay Paul was unjustified.

As I stated yesterday, I hope these thoughts and suggestions will have you thinking about ways in which we can have input into creating a better governing process.   

Hopefully you’ll also have your own suggestions that can be put forward to those who wish to lead us.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back with number three on “20 for 2020” ... I hope you’ll join us then.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RCMP gag order comes after BC NDP catch heat for diverted safe supply (Northern Beat)

In the wake of several high-profile police drug seizures of suspected safer supply that put the BC NDP government on the defensive last month, BC RCMP “E” division issued a gag order on detachments, directing them to run all communications on “hot button” public safety issues through headquarters in the lead-up to the provincial election. “It is very clear we are in a pre-election time period and the topic of ‘public safety’ is very much an issue that governments and voters are discussing,” writes a senior RCMP communications official in an email dated Mar. 11 in what appears to have gone out to all BC RCMP detachments . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story
Post a Comment
Read more

KRUGELL: BC NDP turns its attention from BC United to BC Conservatives

The BC NDP turning its attention, from BC United, to BC Conservatives was reported over the weekend from a variety of sources. It is the result of the surge in the BC Conservative's polling numbers and the subsequent collapse of BC United. The NDP has largely ignored the BC Conservatives, instead they opt to talk about issues directly or attack their old foes BC United. Practical politics says that parties closer to the centre tend to ultimately prevail over the long haul. They do wane but often make comebacks. A good example is the federal Liberals going from third party to government in 2015. Centrism has a lot of appeal on voting day. The NDP shifting its fire from United to Conservative is a reflection of reality. BC United did buy advertising online and radio over the last few months. Did that shift the polls back to them? Nope. The reality is today, the BC Conservatives are the party of the Opposition, and day by day the Conservatives are looking like a party not ready to fig
Post a Comment
Read more

Baldrey: 2024 meets 1991? How B.C. election history could repeat itself (Times Colonist)

NOTE ... not the original image from Keith Baldrey's op/ed 1991 BC general election -- Wikipedia   A veteran NDP cabinet minister stopped me in the legislature hallway last week and revealed what he thinks is the biggest vulnerability facing his government in the fall provincial election. It’s not housing, health care, affordability or any of the other hot button issues identified by pollsters. "I think we are way too complacent,” he told me. “Too many people on our side think winning elections are easy.” He referenced the 1991 election campaign as something that could repeat itself. What was supposed to be an easy NDP victory then almost turned into an upset win for the fledgling BC Liberal Party. Indeed, the parallels between that campaign and the coming fall contest are striking ... CLICK HERE for the full story
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more