Thoughts on BC Politics and More

UPDATE ... 8:15pm Thursday June 30th ... John Horgan, NDP Leader, has been invited to form government. Today in the legislature, a long drawn-out limp to the finish line played out for the BC Liberal Party.  It began this afternoon with parries between Weaver and Clark ... beginning with these words: A. Weaver: Yesterday the Premier held a press conference in the rose garden, where she stated: " This is isn't a working Legislature, and I haven't seen any evidence that it could work ." She further stated: " There's no effort on the part of either opposition party to work together ." Hon. Speaker, she implied that because her government, the government under her leadership, has been unable to advance its agenda — frankly, our agenda — the only option is to subject British Columbia to another election. For weeks, the Premier has delayed a confidence vote that she knows she will lose. Instead, her government has chosen to pl...

When former MLA and Cabinet Minister Bill Bennett muses aloud about what's to become of the so-called big tent free enterprise coalition ... people really do need to have a listen to what he is saying. In an article in the Province newspaper on Friday , Bennett (not to be confused with the Kelowna Bennett dynasty) stated: ... the abrupt changes will put pressure on the free-enterprise coalition of centre-left liberals and right-wing conservatives. “I think there’s likely to be some real angst today on the part of business and fiscal conservatives ,” ... the resource sector is likely to be particularly concerned about increasing the carbon tax ... ... challenge will be to deliver the new promises while not compromising the basic principle to balance the budget, pay down debt and maintain the province’s AAA credit rating ... going to be a tall order given some of the new commitments ... Did Bennett know something he wasn't able to sa...

Figuratively speaking, Christy Clark's speech from the throne could have been a screenwriter's outline for a new documentary on re-arranging the deck chairs on the Liberal's sinking Titanic ship of state. Knowing that her tenuous hold on the reins of government is doomed, Christy produced a thinly veiled and cynical attempt to lure one or two Green Party MLAs to double cross their party lead er and throw in their lot with the Liberals. Clark 's last ditch attempt will fail and the only satisfaction she will get is watching Green Party leader Andrew Weaver and NDP leader John Horgan vote against the throne speech which contained far more NDP/Green Party campaign promises than anything resembling a Liberal platform. Although she is a tough fighter and won't back down from anyone, Christy Clark's throne speech has not only sealed the fate of her Liberal government but could very well become her swan song as party leader. Depending on the ...

Why exactly is the City of Kamloops not issuing fines to people who put garbage out the night before pick-up?   Last Thursday, in an article ( Garbage pointed to as culprit in bear deaths ), in Kamloops This Week, it was reported that Conservation Officers had had to destroy two garbage addicted bears in Juniper Ridge ... as well as two in Aberdeen.   The story stated: While the city has a WildsafeBC program and fines for residents who leave out garbage cans overnight, Van Damme said it only takes one scofflaw to create a problem.  Some residents also don’t have a shed or garage in which to lock up cans. Research has been done on ways to lock city garbage bins.   I searched for an article (without success), however I recall a recent news or radio story which stated the City of Kamloops would be inspecting garbage and re-cycling cans.  This was to ensure that we were not putting the wrong things in to them ... and the threat of fines was being p...

Care to guess which of the following news story starts, from the BC Government News on Demand website, ran prior to the start of the BC provincial election -- and which have run since after the election? Effective immediately, the new allowable annual cut for the Quesnel Timber Supply Area is set at 2,607,000 cubic metres, chief forester Diane Nicholls announced today... Floodwaters and groundwater in many places in the Central Interior are expected to continue to rise, and the threat may not be over for some time... Effective at noon on June 15, 2017, the size of open fires will be restricted at all elevations throughout the entire Kamloops Fire Centre to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect the public... All travellers, including drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, are reminded that McKenzie Avenue will be closed while construction crews install the new Galloping Goose Trail bridge as part of the McKenzie ...

This morning, I received an email from "Nomen Nescio".   Never heard of him?   Well neither had I until this morning.   For those unaware, and according to Wikipedia, Nomen Nescio is used to signify an anonymous or unnamed person. From Latin nomen , name , and nescio , I do not know (from nescire , not to know ), it literally means, I do not know the name. So what did Nomen Nescio have to say?     "... the president and board of directors of the BC Conservative Party have failed Kamloops. Their lack of organization and capacity for making disastrous decisions in the months leading up to the May 9, 2017 Provincial General Election (e.g. not appointing a Party Leader, nominating only 10 of 87 candidates, releasing an incredibly weak pre-election platform, and leaving all major planning decisions to the last minute) undermined our Party's election performance. In the end, we captured 0.5% of the popular vote, about 1/10th of the popu...

Former BC Liberal, and Shuswap MLA, George Abbott DECEMBER 2010 : George Abbott has said the BC Liberals have lost the trust and confidence of many British Columbians, and that he intends to use this campaign to help see it rebuilt. He has also said he is traveling the province to meet with people to discuss their concerns and ideas … and one of the reasons why he is placing a heavy emphasis on reconnecting with the grassroots is because, and I quote, “ if we don’t do that, there will be othe r parties that will fill that void ” … “ such as the BC Conservative Party ” What I fail to understand however is why it has taken Abbott and the rest of the Liberal leadership hopefuls, ten years to understand the obvious – voters want government to be accountable, and we want our elected MLA’s to actually represent us. JUNE 2017 :   Hmm ... anyone care to reflect back on May 9th, 2017? The quagmire we are now in, just one short month since May's e...