Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Sixteen mayors from Metro Vancouver have penned an open letter to BC Premier David Eby, outlining concerns with bills 44 and 47 and provincial overreach into municipal decision-making. “The letter… expresses our collective concerns with the limited coordination and consultation by the province with local governments in developing Bills 44 and 47 (2023), the misalignment of province-wide requirements with the Metro Vancouver region’s land use and infrastructure context and regional planning frameworks,” the letter states. “We’re just writing to the premier appealing to them to roll back this legislation, allow local governments to do what they were elected to do,” Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said at a press conference on Thursday ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

New interim BC Conservative leader Trevor Halford has been quick out of the gate to try and stabilize the party’s lagging finances and crumbling relationships after the departure of John Rustad. Halford, who took over for Rustad last Thursday, flew to Ottawa to meet federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday. The two leaders met for more than half an hour on Parliament Hill, as Halford attempted to mend fences in a relationship between the two parties that had become strained in recent months. “Our relationship with the federal Conservatives is vitally important,” Halford said in an interview. “We share a lot of the same platform ideas, and we share a lot of the same ideology. I wanted to make it very, very clear to Pierre and his team that I am very interested in working together and uniting on similar issues, whether it’s extortion, whether it's the challenges we are seeing on affordability ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

With public attention focused on a proposed bitumen pipeline to British Columbia’s northwest coast, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith let drop that Premier David Eby had told her he agreed to a different proposal to expand oil shipments through BC. That proposal would see a 40 per cent increase in the capacity of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline to BC’s Lower Mainland and an increase in tanker traffic in the Salish Sea. “I will acknowledge through gritted teeth this is not something we’re keen about, but we understand the role that we play and we have access to ports that we need to partner to Alberta”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Premier Danielle Smith sounds frustrated. Here she is, answering questions about a campaign to fire her as a member of the legislature. ... there are these recall campaigns where UCP politicians are targeted for firing and now Smith is on the list. The story makes the national news. There is analysis on what this all means. Is Smith in trouble? No doubt many newshounds hope the answer is Yes. This avalanche of recall campaigns , complete with a snazzy website on how to try and get a member of the legislature punted, really took off after the striking teachers were sent back to the classroom by the Smith government with a contract offer of more pay, more staff, more schools but still not enough on the table to soothe the irate educators. Smith says lefties have weaponized democratic processes ... CLICK HERE for the full story

I want the pipeline to the West Coast to succeed. And I want the federal Conservatives to knock off the Liberal government.  So why do I agree with the Liberals that Tuesday’s opposition motion in the Commons to get MPs to show support for the pipeline was a “cheap political stunt” and “immature?” Because it was ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Provinces call it “revenue,” but it looks a lot like exploitation of the marginalized The odds of winning Lotto Max are about 1 in 33 million. You’re statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than to win it. But your government is betting that statistics won’t hold you back; they’re counting on it. Across Canada, provincial governments not only regulate gambling, they also maintain a monopoly on lottery and gaming by owning and operating the entire legal market. That means every scratch card is government-issued, gambling odds are government-set, casino ads are government-funded and lottery billboards are government-paid. And these are not incidental government activities. They generate significant revenues that governments have powerful incentives to expand, not constrain. It would be one thing for our governments to encourage us to engage in healthy activities. We can quibble about whether the government should be trying to convince us to be more active or eat more vegetabl...

As 2025 wraps up, Canada faces big economic changes. Years of building pressures have collided all at once, reshaping how businesses and governments operate. This isn’t temporary either. It’s the start of a new era—one that will shape economic outcomes and policy choices for decades. The sharp turn in U.S. foreign policy raises fundamental questions for Canadian security . But many other challenges are closer to home: rising uncertainty and the restructuring of global production, widening regional divides, a decades-long productivity problem, and mounting fiscal pressures that limit what governments can do. Each deserves a closer look ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

Finally accepting that the turmoil within his caucus was untenable, John Rustad resigned last week as leader of the BC Conservatives, a party he took from nearly-nothing to nearly-government in little more than two years. But it was inevitable that the rise of the Conservatives from a fringe party to a government-in-waiting would come with a change at the top. Because, for all his accomplishments in the whirlwind year that was 2024 in BC politics, Rustad was in many ways a leader who was installed by default. Before he took over the Conservatives, the party had no MLAs in the legislature and no reason to believe they’d soon elect one. Rustad had been ejected from the B.C. Liberal caucus and was offered the leadership by a party that was only registering in the polls thanks to the power of the federal brand. In the 2020 election, the BC Conservatives had managed 1.9% of the vote. They hadn’t hit double-digits in vote share or elected a single MLA since the 1970s. Fundraisi...

Self-described "agitator" Yves Engler has been denied entry to the NDP leadership race, after the party's vetting committee said it has credible evidence of harassment ... ... NDP national president Lucy Watson said in a statement that candidates in the leadership race need to uphold values of integrity, honesty and respect for human rights. "After reviewing Mr. Engler’s full application, the leadership vote committee determined he did not meet the eligibility standards that apply to every applicant. He exercised his right to request a review, and an independent review committee upheld that decision," Watson said in the statement. "Our focus is on supporting a leadership race that strengthens our movement and advances the kind of politics our members and communities can be proud of." In a virtual press conference Wednesday, Engler said the NDP's reasoning was "sloppy" and the party is scared to have him in the race. He said it should be u...