Thoughts on BC Politics and More

IMAGE CREDIT:   Darryl Dyck, the Canadian Press. I thought I had already made up my mind who I would be ranking on my ballot, in the Conservative Party of BC leadership race; now I am not so sure.  That means that, at least for me, and perhaps many others, it’s a good thing voting hasn’t already taken place. There were initially only one or two of the candidates that I thought might be a little too right of centre for my liking, now it seems that list is growing. I consider myself more closely aligned with what used to be called a Progressive Conservative, regardless, I feel more than comfortable within the Conservative Party of BC.  Some, however, in messages to me on my political Facebook page, have been rather, shall we say, a bit mean-spirited in comments they’ve made about my ‘purity’ as a conservative. To tell you the truth, I really don’t care! Some leadership candidates, in comments made online, have also been raising the issue of who is a pure enough conservati...

The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA), Canada’s largest construction association, is strongly endorsing a new Private Member’s Bill introduced in the BC Legislature that would require labour-neutral procurement on all public sector construction projects in British Columbia – and save taxpayers billions of dollars over the next decade. The Public Sector Construction Projects Procurement Act was introduced today by Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens. The Bill would prohibit government and crown corporations from issuing calls for construction that require building trades union-only labour or mandate that contractors enter into a specific collective agreement as a condition of bidding. It would also bar solicitations that require non-union-only labour, ensuring a genuinely fair, open and level playing field for all qualified workers and contractors. The timing couldn’t be better. As MLA Giddens noted in his announcement of the bill, since the ...

IMAGE CREDIT:   Prince George Citizen  Kiel Giddens, MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie and Critic for Labour, has introduced the Public Sector Construction Projects Procurement Act, legislation aimed at ensuring publicly funded construction contracts are awarded through labour-neutral, merit-based procurement. “Here’s the simple question: if labour shortages are driving cost overruns, why would government limit who can work on public projects?” said Giddens. “Public infrastructure belongs to all of us. The opportunity to build it should be open to every qualified worker and contractor.” Giddens says restrictive tendering rules introduced by the NDP in 2018 through CBA’s and restrictive project labour agreements have reduced competition on many public sector capital projects by limiting who can bid based on labour affiliation. Since the NDP introduced restrictive tendering, he notes that cost overruns on capital projects have grown to more than $17 billion and are a combined 158 ...

In a commentary in the Hill Times today,  Andrew Caddell wrote that: BC’s Eby may not be long for the job The premier won’t have time to turn the economy around as the prospect of an election this year looms large. The article really doesn't give us any meat to argue that an election or a palace coup is on the horizon. In fact, people keep saying there's an early election coming but no one calls an early election when they have a majority and their lead in the polls isn't solid.    It is practical politics 101. If you control the date of the next election then you pick a date that works best for you.    The only reason, if I were Eby right now, to call an early election would be because the BC Conservatives are in the middle of a leadership race and I have a slight lead in the polls.    That sounds great on paper. Except, there is a w...

Conservative Interim Leader of the Official Opposition and Critic for Citizen Services and Caucus Chair Jody Toor, are calling on the Eby NDP government to withdraw Bill 9, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2026,warning it will further erode transparency and make it easier for government to hide information from the public. "Bill 9 is out of touch and unaccountable," said Halford.  "After Freedom of Information requests exposed tens of thousands spent on government gift cards, the NDP's response isn't to cancel the gift-card giveaway but to make FOI harder so similar programs don’t get out, that tells you everything about this government's priorities." Bill 9 would expand the grounds government can use to ask the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) to dismiss requests and would add new fees for records that should be proactively disclosed. Halford said Bill 9 fits a growing pattern of the Eby NDP ...