Thoughts on BC Politics and More

  In BC, residential electricity customers pay almost twice as much as big businesses.  As demand for power spikes, the cost of infrastructure and daily use is only going to go up... CLICK HERE for the full story

... While he is emphasizing his usual campaign priorities including his leadership experience and plans for the future, Black also revealed a philosophy that he has yet to speak of publicly. While in the forest-sector dependent community of Castlegar, Black told Castlegar News that if he were eventually elected as premier, he would like to re-locate some bureaucrats from Victoria to the areas rich in the resource sectors they represent. “Why is the chief forester of British Columbia in Victoria, why isn’t that office out where the forestry is?” asked Black. “We need to get senior officials, that impact the livelihoods of our communities, out of Victoria and in offices elsewhere ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Nationally, Léger puts the Liberals at 48%, unchanged from its late-March survey. The Conservatives gain three points to reach 37%, while both the Bloc Québécois and the NDP stand at 6%.  In other words: movement at the margin, but no meaningful dent in the Liberal lead. Regionally, the Liberals continue to dominate in the country’s largest provinces. Léger measures an 11-point Liberal lead in Ontario (51% to 40%) and a 20-point advantage in Quebec (47% to 27% for the Bloc) ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A commentary by a former ­senior associate member of the University of Oxford. British Columbia’s Bill 9 does not remove the right of access to information, but it risks making that right harder to use in ­practice. That should concern anyone who believes government should be answerable to the public, not insulated from it ... ... delays are not, by ­themselves, a reason to ­narrow public rights. More often, they reflect under-resourced access offices, weak records ­management and outdated s­ystems. If government cannot process requests efficiently, the answer is to improve capacity, not reduce accountability ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

The first two debates with all five candidates featured tough attacks. Conservative Party of BC leadership candidates have used the first two debates with all five hopefuls to make a pitch for what sets them apart.   CLICK HERE for the full story 

The BC government says several construction contracts for long-term care homes that were delayed as part of February’s budget have now been cancelled, as has the contract for Phase 2 of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment. Mayors, hospital foundations and the provincial seniors advocate have all protested the decision, saying it means needed health-care resources won’t be built even as demand continues to grow ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Scott McInnis, MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, and Critic for Indigenous Relations, is calling on the NDP government to abandon the third failed version of its Heritage Conservation Act overhaul, after municipalities, builders, developers, and the business community rejected it for the third time in a row. "This isn't a one-bill problem. It's a pattern," said McInnis. "Negotiate in secret. Consult after the fact. Ignore the pushback. We've seen it on DRIPA, on the Mineral Tenure Act, and now three times on the Heritage Act. At every step, this government has chosen secrecy over consultation, and every time it has blown up in their faces." The latest revisions, drafted on a 30-day timeline to meet the government's own deadline, were rejected by UBCM, the Urban Development Institute, the BC Business Council, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, and the City of Kelowna. UBCM asked the province to pilot the changes before rolling th...

The federal government’s Spring Economic Update is a remarkable document casting economic success against a backdrop of crisis. Despite a trade war and the impending doom of a renegotiated CUSMA, the economy in 2025 was surprisingly robust, growing the second-fastest in the G7 and nowhere near the apocalyptic scenarios of massive drops in GDP and unemployment surges forecast in early 2025 ... CLICK HERE for the full report 

Image Credit: Seniors Advocate BC     “ Eight years. That is not a wait time. That is a system failur e” Seniors in British Columbia are now waiting years, not months, for access to long-term care, according to figures confirmed during Health Estimates this week. Brennan Day, MLA for Courtenay-Comox and Critic for Rural Health and Seniors’ Health, says the numbers paint a clear picture of a system falling behind the needs of a rapidly aging population. “Yesterday, after repeated questioning, the Minister finally confirmed that 7,829 seniors are currently waiting for long-term care in British Columbia,” said Day. “That’s an 11 percent increase in just one year.” The delays are not measured in weeks, they are measured in years. Across the province, average wait times now exceed a year in many regions. In Vancouver Coastal Health, the maximum wait time has reached 2,825 days, nearly eight years. “Eight years,” said Day. “That is not a wait time. That is a system failure.” At...